Well, dear readers, I have survived yesterday. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I have survived yesterday, which was a completely jam-packed and fun-filled day and evening. Or was it a completely fun-packed and jam-filled day and evening? I had to get up quite early and do some shopping at Staples. Then Vinnie and I headed to the Bank of Bur to do the Stages multi-track transfer, which could not have gone smoother. Vinnie is now hard at work doing his first-pass on the new mixes. I then came home and dealt with Kritzerland issues. The pressing plant had us bring back everything on After the Ball, and they repackaged them and now they are all fine. They’re still pressing the additional 250 that they’d shorted me. I then had to get ready, and also had to pick up some packages that needed picking up. Then I met Kevin near his house, and I followed him down to Mission Viejo. Well, he did manage to twice go the wrong way – I should have led. It’s quite an easy drive in terms of directions – it’s the 5 freeway all the way to the college. The drive took us about an hour and fifteen minutes, as there was a bit of traffic every now and then (which is why we left at two o’clock). The theater was very cute, with tables and chairs set up in front of the laundromat set that the play they’re doing uses. The previous night I’d taken the script and inserted the light cues I wanted, with some suggestions as to colors and mood. The first thing we did was to get the wireless mics working, and they worked really well. We had a devil of a time getting the reverb to work (it hasn’t worked for any of the other performers, but I badgered the poor fellow and gave him some hints), but it finally worked and all was well, sound-wise. Then we went over the lighting and we figured out the four basic cues that would work for the show, and he did a fine job of running them. Then Kevin, John Boswell, and I went to Carrow’s and had a small meal (they just had salads – I had a salad and Eggs Benedict, which actually were quite yummilicious). We then went back to the theater, ran a few light cues, and then it was time for the audience to enter the theater.
To make a long story long, the show went extremely well. The audience ate Kevin up from the start of the show to the finish. The laughs were huge, he nailed mostly everything (he was sloppy on some of his “button” positions on ends of songs, and it cost him stronger applause – but he’ll get that tonight), and they were just mesmerized by the ballads (he really got these right last night – we’d had a long talk about how to make each of them different, and he did just great), and thrilled with the up-tempo numbers, especially the long section devoted to The Boy from Oz. The stuff on the piano worked really well, and he addressed all of my minor notes from the day before. He received an instant standing ovation at the end. We really couldn’t have asked for a better first performance, and the slightly bumpy sections will get smoother as he does the show more. We do have to fix one number that is not landing as it should – he’s been fighting doing it all out, and last night I think he finally saw that it has to be done that way. So, we’ll be running that before the show tonight.
I then drove home (made it in fifty-five minutes, despite some annoying work being done on the freeway). I’m now exhausted and trying to get these here notes up on time, so why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so we can have more jam-packed and fun-filled doings in the next section.
Let’s get directly to the Unseemly Trivia Question answers. We had quite a few guesses, and because there was some confusion on a few questions, I’ve basically made almost everyone a winner who had at least most of them right. A few people guessed the same actor for two questions when it was clear, I think, I was looking for a different cast member. So, here was the long-winded and endless question:
It was a fascinating theatrical season on Broadway, with many performers who would become stars, and even a handful who would become legends. There were several musical revues during the season, but we’re going to talk specifically about two of them. Both were flops and had very short runs. In the first revue, there were songs by two people who would go on to win multiple Academy Award nominations and multiple Oscars. There were additional songs by several interesting people, including one wonderful composer/lyricist who would have several Broadway shows to his credit. The writers for the sketches for this first revue included two writers who would go on to create the books for two legendary musicals. Another sketch writer would go on to become a legendary screenwriter and Academy Award-winner. The choreographer of the revue is considered a legend. And the cast included some very interesting people. One cast member would go on to star in the legendary hit musical by one of the sketch writers. One of the comedians in the show would go on to appear in not one, but two of the most legendary comedy shows in the history of television. Another person in the show would go on to appear in several movie musicals, including one the performer would rather have forgotten about. Another cast member would go on to wed a legendary performer, which was as close to notoriety as this person ever got. Another cast member would go on to appear in two classic Broadway musicals a decade later. Another cast member would also go on to star in several well-known Broadway musicals, and this person would also wed a well-known star of musical films. And finally, also in the cast was a young person just starting out who would go on to become one of Broadway’s most beloved musical comedy stars. I’ll bet you thought we were through – but, we haven’t discussed the second musical revue, which has one tie to the first. The second musical revue had a few songs by a person who wrote one of the most well-known songs ever used in a motion picture, said song not actually having been written for the film in which it appeared. This revue had sketches by a variety of people, one of whom was a hugely successful film director (just why this person wrote a sketch for this show is unknown to me). In the cast was someone who would have relationships with two other cast members, and then go on to have a relationship with someone from the first revue. Also in the cast, was an about-to-be beloved TV comic actor. Also in the cast were two future choreographers. And, finally, also in the cast was a young man who would go on to write several wonderful novels, as well as co-write the book for a hugely successful musical. Whew! Okay, if I can keep this all straight, here are the questions:
Name the two musical revues.
Name two of the songwriters of the first revue who would win multiple Academy Award nominations and multiple Oscars.
Name the other songwriter who would have multiple Broadway shows to his credit.
Name the two sketch writers who would go on to create the books for two legendary musicals, and name the other sketch writer who would go on to become an Academy Award-winning screenwriter.
Name the legendary choreographer.
Name the cast member who would go on to star in one of the sketch writer’s legendary musical.
Name the comedian who would appear in two of the most beloved comedy shows in the history of television, and name the shows.
Name the cast member who would go on to appear in several movie musicals, including one that the performer would rather have forgotten about.
Name the cast member who would wed a legendary performer, and name the performer.
Name the cast member who would go on to appear in several well-known classic musicals, and name at least two of them.
Name the cast member who would also go on to star in several Broadway musicals, and who also wed a well-known star of musical films.
Name the young person just starting out who would go on to become one of Broadway’s most beloved musical comedy stars.
In the second revue, name the songwriter whose well-known song was used, but not written for, a classic film, and name the song and the film.
Name the hugely successful film director who wrote a sketch for the second revue.
Name the cast member who had relationships with two other cast members, as well as a cast member from the first revue.
Name the about-to-be beloved TV comic actor.
Name the two future choreographers.
Name the young man who would go on to write several novels, as well as co-write the book for a hugely successful musical.
And the answers are:
Alive and Kicking and Dance Me a Song.
Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster (some people guessed Hoagy Carmichael – I allowed it even though I don’t believe he was a mutiple Oscar winner).
Harold Rome.
Joseph Stein (Fiddler) and Michael Stewart (Hello, Dolly!). Some people guessed Jerome Chodorov for Wonderful Town, but I don’t find that a legendary musical by any means. But, I allowed it. The screenwriter was I.A.L. Diamond, who partnered with Mr. Billy Wilder.
Jack Cole.
David Burns (Hello, Dolly!).
Carl Reiner (Your Show of Shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show).
Bobby Van.
Jack Gilford (Funny Thing and Cabaret).
Jack Cassidy (Shirley Jones).
Gwen Verdon.
Herman Hupfield, As Time Goes By. Casablanca.
Vincente Minnelli.
Bob Fosse.
Wally Cox.
Donald Saddler and Bob Fosse.
James Kirkwood.
Whew! Our winners were Dan-the-Man, Michael Shayne, JMK, Robert Armin, MatHough, Ronald Pulliam, Macchus999, and Jed (I hope I didn’t miss anyone). We put all our winners into our Electronic Hat, which chose at random our High Winner for this week: MatHough. Please send your address and a sparkling prize will find its way to you. Congratulations to all who played – you’re all marvy, in my book. Next week’s question will not be so convoluted, I promise.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, I must attend to some Kritzerland business, I must see how Vinnie is doing, I must run many errands, and then I must head down to Mission Viejo with our very own Miss Tammy Minoff, to see Kevin’s second show. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite potato dishes – since I can’t eat them right now, I’d love to hear all your favorites in loving detail, along with the way you do your baked potatoes. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and do make them jam-packed and fun-filled, won’t you?