Well, dear readers, it is the weekend, but I will have no time to rest or relax, oh, no, I will have no time to rest or relax. I will be going all the livelong day today and tomorrow. There will be no rest for the weary and, conversely, there will be no weary for the rest. And I can’t even pontificate further because she of the Evil Eye will soon arrive and I must beat a hasty retreat. I shan’t beat a hasty retreat very far, however – I will go to the garage environment, where I will fill out mailing labels for the rest of the packages we didn’t get to yesterday – then my shipping person can pick those up first thing Monday morning and get them to the post office. We actually managed to get quite a few out this morning, and I only hope that we weren’t going so fast that we screwed up orders and sent people the wrong things. Time will tell. I tried to be very careful when filling out the labels and putting envelopes that were getting both CDs in one place, and ones that were getting one CD in another place. So, I think I have about twenty more envelopes to prepare, and those include the International orders. What am I, The Shipping Department all of a sudden? For those that read yesterday’s posts (you know who you are), you know that we got After The Ball on time, but that the Haines album didn’t get to us until five. Still, by seven we’d gotten at least seventy percent of the orders packaged up. I was a bit dismayed to find that all the After The Ball booklets have a bit of wrinkling on the center spine area, but I’m hoping it’s not bad enough to bother anyone. I will have replacement booklets if anyone really has to have an unwrinkled one. It’s not terrible, but I’m a perfectionist. I’ll be having strong words with the pressing plant come Monday. In other news, we had a really good, strong run-through yesterday, and we were able to work on a couple of rough spots, which was very helpful. The first act has consistently been running a very tight forty-five minutes. But, I felt the second half was dragging a bit, coming in at just under fifty minutes. So, yesterday we tightened some of the patter, and we cut one more song (we were doing a little Cy Coleman tribute section, that included Witchcraft and With Every Breath I Take – but, Witchcraft, as good as the song is, just seemed like a stage wait or a stage weight, while Kevin’s rendition of With Every Breath I Take is gorgeous. So, with Witchcraft gone, and the patter tightened, the second half should now run just under forty-five minutes, which seems just right. We’ll run it that way today and see how it plays out. In any case, after doing all that stuff, I could barely move last night. I couldn’t even finish watching a DVD, partially because I was so zonked, and partially because the DVD I’m watching, A Very Long Engagement, is a Very Long Movie. I’ll have a full report on it in tomorrow’s notes.
My other excellent news is that we have got our third actor for the reading of my new play. As I’d mentioned, we have been having a devil of a time trying to figure out how to cast this part. We had readings several weeks ago, and they were just not good. It’s a very difficult part to cast, not only because you need a superb actor (the play is a three-hander), but because we need someone who is physically right for the role, because throughout the play there are many comments about the way he looks. At the Hollywood Bowl, I was sitting with Miss April Webster, who is one of the biggest casting directors in town. Yet, it did not occur to me to query her about who she thought might be right. But, as fate and serendipity would have it, when I went down to say hello to my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim, I ran into an actor I know and like, and we had a nice chat, as I hadn’t seen him since he did an Unseemly Interview right here at haineshisway.com. I didn’t give it another thought until yesterday, when it finally hit me that that actor would really be good for the play. And so, I dropped him an e-mail. He got right back to me, said the timing was good, and that if he liked the play and the part, he’d be happy to do the reading. We got him the script yesterday, he read it, loved his part and the play, and he has joined our merry troupe. The actor in question is Mr. Kevin Chamberlin, who appeared on Broadway in the musicals Triumph of Love and Seussical, and in the play, Dirty Blonde. I believe he’s currently in a TV series, but since I don’t watch TV, I’m not sure which one it is. In any case, we’re thrilled to have him be part of the reading, and I couldn’t be more pleased with our reading cast: Mr. Kevin Chamberlin, Miss Tammy Minoff, and Mr. Kevin Spirtas.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’ve got an Unseemly Trivia Contest question to unleash and then I’ve got to beat a hasty retreat to the garage environment.
Oy and vey, so much to do. After I finish with addressing the packages, I must hie myself to the bank, I must do several errands, and then we are having our final run-through before tomorrow’s final dress rehearsal for a few invited folks. I’ve been invited to a screening of Hotel Rwanda in the evening, but I’m not sure if I’ll be up to it or not.
Well, if it’s Saturday, it must be time for our Unseemly Trivia Contest. So, here it is: 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.
If this one didn’t give you a headache then nothing will. It just took me a half-hour to write that question. Remember: DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS TO THE SITE. Just e-mail them to me at bruce@haineshisway.com (and don’t worry if you get a bounced mail notice – I’m getting them). 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 do errands, I must address packages, I must rehearse, and then I must eat and then I must decide whether to see a screening or to stay home. Today’s topic of discussion: The musical revue is, to my mind, basically a lost art. Name your favorite musical revues – whether you’ve seen them or merely heard their cast albums, and name your favorite revue songs. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I attend to The Shipping Department.