Well, dear readers, what a strange day was yesterday. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, what a strange day was yesterday. I started the day by having to deal with the annoying phone call from the previous day. The first call I made at 7:30 in the morning went fine, and I was told that what needed to be done (a fax sent) was done while I was on the phone. I waited a bit, then called to see if the fax had arrived at its destination. I was told to check back in two or three hours, which did not make me happy, since the day before I’d been told they could just check right then and there. I called back as I was on my way to the auction I was attending. After much going around and being on hold, I was told that the fax hadn’t arrived (the person who told me this actually seemed to have glee in her voice). I told this person that they were full of bull, but they told me I had to deal with it. So, I called back the sender of the fax, and, after being on hold for ten minutes was told that she had confirmation that the fax had gone through – but, being helpful, she sent it again. I waited five minutes, then called back and got the same person on the phone. I told her that not only was she full of bull, but we had confirmation that the fax had gone through, but that we’d sent it again, just in case they’d inadvertently thrown it in the trash, being incompetent and all. She put me on hold for ten minutes, then came back and guess what? The fax had been there all the time. In fact, it had been there for three hours. She then said it would take twenty-four hours to fix what needed to be fixed. I suggested she rethink that time frame. She heard the tone in my voice, and said it would be fixed by four, which it was. But, I was very agitated the whole morning because of it. Then I joined Mr. Nick Redman at the auction house. The room was filled with the usual dealers and weirdos (there was a lot of Star Wars and Star Trek items). I got one of the two items I went there for – two fantastic Alvin Colt costume paintings from the film of Li’l Abner. They went for over the estimate because some wackjob on the telephone kept upping it. Whoever the wackjob was finally realized they weren’t going to be getting the item and the auctioneer said those blessed words, “Going once, going twice, sold.” The second item, Danny Kaye’s The Black Fox cowl from The Court Jester, went through the roof and I dropped out of the bidding fairly early on. Nick wanted a medallion that Sam Peckinpah had presented to the prop person on The Killer Elite. He asked me to handle the bidding, so I took his bidder card and did so. For a brief moment it looked like we were going to get it for under the low end of the estimate, but then some Internet wackjob thought it his duty to up the bid. Luckily, he didn’t stay in that long, but he did manage to raise the price by a few hundred dollars. We heard the blessed words, “Going once, going twice, sold,” and Nick won his item, and for much less than he’d thought (he was willing to go quite high). I abhor auctions today – what with telephone and Internet bidding allowed. It used to be that you could just go to an auction and your competition was sitting in the room with you and whoever bid most, won, but that was it – no anonymous phoners and Internet wackjobs to drive up prices needlessly because they are completely ignorant. We left happy, and then Nick, the lovely Julie Kirgo, and myself went to Kate Mantilini’s for a delicious lunch. I got back to the Valley pre-traffic, picked up the CD from the baked tapes, which, I’m happy to say, is better than I could have hoped for.
And just what was the CD from the baked tapes? Well, I’ll tell you true. Both the multi-tracks and the album masters for Together Again had gone missing. I thought we were going to have to master it from the LP, whose sound I just hated with a passion (it wouldn’t have sounded that good from the masters, due to the bad engineering on the mix, but the LP was tinnier and uglier than that, and had inner groove distortion). Well, I was nosing around in the garage and got lucky and found my 7½ips Together Again tapes, made before we actually mastered the LP. Well, for whatever reason, they sound great, with no distortion, no tinniness and, surprisingly, very little hiss. So, we’re using that, and we’ll EQ it to sound as good as possible, and then we’ll add reverb to the whole thing (the original is completely dry – horrid). However, there might be one slight problem – Together Again is longer than I remembered, and it may not fit completely with Stages and the bonus track. I won’t actually know until we master it – it will be very close. I have to talk to the pressing plant and see what their time limit is – if we can go to seventy-eight or nine minutes, we might just make it.
After that, I attended a surprise birthday party for Mr. Kevin Spirtas, and it was a blast. It took place at the home of Miss Barbara Deutsch, and was populated with Kev’s friends – Bob Garrett, John Boswell, Kev’s partner, friends Allison and Bob with their new baby, Ava, and later, our very own Miss Tammy Minoff. Barbara made lots of food – since I’d had a fairly substantial meal earlier, I tried to be good, but still managed to eat two ears of corn and some cold sesame noodles, plus a piece of birthday cake.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because shortly I must hie myself to the Bank of Bur to attend the Hollywood Collector’s Show. Mr. Nick Redman will be driving with me, and we’ll be meeting up with Pogue. So, this section of the notes is going once, going twice, sold!
Well, if it’s Saturday, there must be an Unseemly Trivia Contest. This Broadway season was not the most memorable, although it did produce a few hits. One particular play was not really a hit (running a little over three months), however, it was turned into a film, but not until over ten years later. The play’s star was making their Broadway debut. The play’s star would go on to become a beloved star of both stage and screen, who would be both a Tony-winner and an Academy Award winner. One of the supporting cast would, two years later, go on to create an unforgettable character in a film, a film that would make the actor a film star for many years. Another member of the supporting cast would go on to co-star in a beloved television comedy program, and would co-star in one of the best adaptations of a musical-to-film ever made. And, another supporting cast member would go on to be a well-liked television and film director. Because this is a difficult question, I will include the following two items, which might help folks at least get on track. Also that season a well-known and loved film star was appearing in a play that they’d written. Also that season, a new playwright made their Broadway debut – their play ran two nights. However, in just two short years, they would become very very famous.
Name the play that was not really a hit, which was turned into a film over ten years later (the film wasn’t much of a hit either, but it did have a big star).
Name the play’s star, and name the play’s star’s Tony-winning and Academy Award-winning performances.
Name the supporting cast member who would, two years later, create an unforgettable character in their first film, and who would go on to be a film star for many years.
Name the supporting actor who would co-star in a beloved comedy program, name the program, and name the role played in the musical-to-film adaptation (a role they did not play in the original production of the musical).
Name the supporting cast member who would become a well-liked television and film director.
Name the well-known and loved film star who appeared in a play they’d written that same season.
Name the playwright who whose debut play was a flop, but who would become very very famous just a short time later. And name the debut flop play.
Remember: DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS TO THE SITE! Simply e-mail them to me at bruce@haineshisway.com (and don’t be concerned if you get a bounced e-mail notice – I get the e-mails). You have until midnight on Monday to submit your answers. Good luck to one and all and also all and one.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, attend the Hollywood Collector’s Show, I must check out a potential theater for my play, and I must do other various and sundried errands. Today’s topic of discussion: Can’t remember if we’ve done this or not, but we’re doing it again even if we have – what was your most memorable birthday? What did you do, where did you go, who did you spend it with, and what did you eat? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all say, “Going once, going twice, sold!”