Well, dear readers, I must once again write these here notes in a hurry even though it is Sunday and I shouldn’t have to because I should be sleeping in and relaxing. But, instead I must hie myself over the hill to have a two-hour rehearsal with Miss Linda Purl, after which I must hie myself back over the hill to attend the matinee. This will probably be the last weekend I attend all the shows, although I won’t swear to that. I’m very tired as I write these here notes – in fact, I can barely keep my eyes open. Speaking of keeping my eyes open, I had a full day yesterday. I began the day by waking up, which is usually a good way to start the day. I then had to leave the home environment because she of the Evil Eye was there. So, I toddled over to the Ray Courts show, day two. There were some new folks there, like Mr. Tab Hunter (longest line), Miss Marjorie Lord, and a few others. I had a mini-chat with Mr. Richard Chamberlain, who, as I said in a post yesterday, seemed like a bit of an automaton. We have mutual friends, which is always a good starting point, but he just looked glassy-eyed and didn’t appear to really be paying attention to what was being said. I bought his book for a friend. Also seen were Burt Ward and Adam West, John Phillip Law, Ellen Albertini Dow, Betty Garrett, Al Hedison (who looks incredible), Kenny Miller of Attack of the Puppet People (with whom I had a long and very nice chat), Lou Ferigno, Brett Halsey, and many others. I bought a couple of CDs and then headed back home. I met up with someone I hired to help with the Kritzerland royalty statements, and she spent the whole afternoon tallying up the sales, and then entering all the e-mail addresses of everyone who’s purchased CDs through paypal – so, we now have a nice-sized database to do e-mail blasts to. She (Jessica) did a great job and it’s nice to have that all done. After that, I showered and headed over to the theater.
I gave a couple of notes, and then went out to the lobby. I could see that we were going to have a decent-sized house, even at seven. However, I was surprised to find that just about every seat was filled by seven forty-five. We ended up filling every seat in the house, as well as five additional chairs we put up in the back of the theater. It truly was jam-packed. Act one began and it was, for me, sheer perfection. No blown lines, great energy, and the notes I gave were addressed wonderfully. The audience was fantastic, and it was very gratifying to hear the kind of reaction that I knew the play could get. Laughs landed big time, and the end of the act played like a dream. The second act wasn’t quite as sharp, due to one of the actors being a little under the weather and his problems with consistency. He was very good, but he just didn’t land several of his laughs that he’d landed beautifully the night before. I don’t get it, frankly, and I suppose I never will. Otherwise, it played very well, several big laughs, and the ending worked just right. After that, I came home and finally ate something, and then Tammy called and asked if I’d join her and some of her family at Du-Par’s, which I did.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because my eyes are heavy-lidded and my brain is turning to sludge.
Yesterday, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Daddy Long Legs, starring Mr. Fred Astaire and Miss Leslie Caron. It’s a perfectly charming film, a bit long for its own good, with terrific Johnny Mercer songs, a terrific Roland Petit ballet, and terrific Astaire dancing. It was thoroughly entertaining. The best part is the transfer – one of the sharpest Cinemascope transfers I’ve ever seen. It was, in a word, superb. Great color, spotless, and glorious 4.0 stereo sound, the kind nobody did better than Fox. The Petit ballet has music by Alex North, and it’s wonderfully wonderful. I cannot praise this transfer enough. I also picked up a truckload of other about-to-come-out DVDs, such as the new special edition of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Julia, Lust for Life, Hallelujah, Johnny Belinda, Kitty Foyle, Cabin in the Sky, Jacques Demy’s A Very Pregnant Man, and a nifty new release of a Sherlock Holmes film, Hands of a Murderer, which just happens to be written by our very own Pogue. I’ll have full reports on all of them. I’ve started Breakfast at Tiffany’s and should be finished with it later today.
Have I mentioned that my eyes are heavy-lidded and my brain is turning to sludge? I hate when that happens, don’t you? There is nothing more unseemly than brain sludge, especially a fifty-eight-year-old’s brain sludge.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must rehearse, I must take in a matinee, I must celebrate various birthdays, I must watch a DVD or three, I must write, and I must eat reasonably. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Sunday – the day in which you dear readers get to choose the topics o’ the day and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely posts, shall we?