Well, dear readers, it is already Friday and this week has flown by like a gazelle on ice skates doing a triple lutz. Every day has gone faster than the day before, so I assume today will go faster than yesterday, and, projecting ahead, tomorrow will go faster than today. I am dizzy from the speed with which these days are flying by. Yesterday, for example, I had to get up quite early, and then make my way to the Ahmanson Theater to hear the orchestra read-through of The Drowsy Chaperone. It was actually the first orchestra read-through for a musical that I’ve ever attended, other than the small band ones for my shows. They have a very good band, which includes a couple of my regular LA players. At eleven, my engineer, Michael Parnin, showed up and scoped out the situation. The band sounded great, and the orchestrations by Larry Blank sound quite nice. We had a quick production meeting afterwards, and everything is now ready for Monday’s session. I then hurried back to the Valley, packed up a few more CDs and took the ones I hadn’t been able to ship yesterday and got them to the post office. I then picked up 0 count them 0 packages, and then hurried back to LACC for a meeting with a sound man, and then our production meeting. Our production meeting was productive, and I’ve now set my first three rehearsal dates, so that’s moving right along. I then learned that we’ve finally booked a nice rehearsal space for my play, so that’s one less headache to deal with. Now if we can just cast the thing. I then killed some time, as my dinner plans weren’t until eight. I went to Aron’s, but made no purchases, just looked at lots of CDs. I then went to Amoeba, where I purchased an LP of Claus Ogerman and his orchestra playing the score to Zorba – it cost $1.99. I also got used copies of Bette Midler’s new Peggy Lee album, as well as a Peggy Lee two-fer from the UK (two albums on one CD). I then made my way over to Musso and Frank, where I met up with our very own Mr. Mark Rothman and his lovely wife. We had a fine time, and we laughed and laughed and just when we thought we could laugh no more, we laughed again. Mark had the pounded steak and country gravy, his wife had the special o’ the day, chicken pot pie, and I had the cracked crab. Mark and I both had the yummilicious bread pudding for dessert. I then hied myself home and here I sit, bloated with crap and bread pudding, trying to write these here notes without nodding off.
Last night I watched no motion picture on DVD, so I have nothing to report on that front or, for that matter, on that back. I will, however, say that I feel like a cracked crab, so inundated with cracked crab am I. What kind of crab am I? Cracked, of course. What Kind Of Crab Am I – isn’t that a song by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse?
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we all do our collective impressions of a cracked crab.
What is a cracked crab, anyway? A crab who’s a lunatic? A crab with a deranged sense of humor? Or me? Am I the best definition of a cracked crab? By the way (BTW, in Internet lingo), if anyone has a clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about, keep it to yourself or I may just get crabby.
Today I must pay a visit to my music copyist to put the finishing touches on the three pieces of sheet music she’s been working on. Then I must have a little get-together with my pal Gary Stockdale, a very talented composer-musician, who will be contributing something for the LACC show. What that something is remains to be seen – I’ll be hearing what he has in mind, and if it fits in with what we’re doing, then we’ll use it. Then I’ll be having high tea with our very own Mr. Nick Redman, and then I’ll be having low supper later in the evening. And, since I got a couple of orders today, I’ll ship those out, and I should definitely have some packages to pick up today.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, visit, meet, sip, and sup, I must try to write a page or three, and I must do some banking and a few errands as well. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, I picked up a huge boxed set of all the Beethoven symphonies conducted by George Szell. I’ve never really taken the time to listen to all that much Beethoven, because I’ve just never responded to what I’ve heard. But, I’m finding the symphonies delightful, especially as conducted by the brilliant Szell (one of my favorite conductors) – that, and the fact that the sound and the way these albums were recorded have never been bettered – I hate the way they mic classical recordings today – with all that concert-hall washy sound, where you just don’t hear any of the orchestral details. I’m all about the details, and these Columbia and Epic albums of the 60s (Epic was a division of Columbia) are the best stereo recordings ever made. DVD, depends on what arrives today, or I may just put in the new special edition of the original War of the Worlds. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, you lovely bunch of cracked crabs?