Well, dear readers, the wind is fierce here in Los Angeles, California, USA. Yes, Virginia, the wind is fierce or, to put it another way, fierce is the wind. The wind is blowing and blowing is the wind. Just a moment ago, for example, the power went out for three seconds. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s just enough to totally screw up everything in the house. The cable modem box freaked out, which made the wireless device freak out, the clock on the microwave freaked out, and the TV shut down and then freaked out when I restarted it. I reset everything in a matter of moments, and I certainly hope it doesn’t happen again or I shall have to have to shake my fists and say, “Gone with the wind.” Speaking of wind, I had quite a lovely day yesterday. I awoke very early and had breakfast with Mr. David Wechter. We’re back working on our long-dormant musical comedy. I then came home, did a bit of cleaning up around the home environment, finally finished my short story (the ending of which I was more than pleased with), then toddled over to the theater to attend the matinee. The first thing I noticed was that there was an event taking place on the mainstage. And this event, for the Buckley School, involved a full student orchestra. My house manager assured me he’d done as much sound-proofing as possible. There were hundreds of kids and their parents yakking loudly in the lobby and I found the noise level completely irritating, and it was very difficult for our customers to even find our side of the theater. The parking was so awful we had to hold our curtain for ten minutes because audience members were having to park four and five blocks away. In any case, we had a small but lively audience of about thirty-five people, and the show went very well. The end of act one was especially powerful. Also powerful were the elephant-like patter of school children’s feet – I don’t know where they were, but it was really, really loud. Happily, we didn’t really hear the orchestra, so that was good. Their intermission annoyingly coincided with our intermission. Well, there’s wasn’t exactly an intermission – there were apparently two completely different classes involved in their show, so during our intermission, the first group and their parents were leaving. Except that they weren’t leaving, they were screaming and laughing and whooping it up in the lobby. I did see Mr. Warren Beatty hanging about with Miss Annette Benning and their children. We again had to hold our curtain while our house manager had to scream at the top of his lungs that our intermission was over, that there was a show about to resume, and for everyone to either leave or shut up. We finally resumed the show, and act two moved right along and that was that (except for more elephant-like footsteps). On my way to my car I overheard three elderly ladies raving about the play, and going over each twist and saying how clever they thought it was, and how taken in they were by each twist. It’s funny how those LA critics are so much smarter than real people, isn’t it? We resume shows on Thursday.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Butch and Sundance: The Early Years. It wasn’t as bad as I’d heard it was, but it wasn’t that good, either. It did have its moments, most of them humorous, thanks to director Richard Lester. The basic problem of the film is that it has no real story – it’s just episodic, going from one bit to another with no real point, which makes the 111 minute running time seem endless. Tom Berenger is adequate as Butch, and William Katt is better than adequate as The Sundance Kid. The film has a nice score by Patrick Williams. The transfer was very soft, but the color was accurate. The film also has an interesting supporting cast, including Brian Dennehy, Peter Weller, John Schuck, Jeff Corey, Christopher Lloyd and quite a few others.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because the wind is fierce and these notes are blowin’ in the wind.
I’ve got quite a busy day ahead of me today. I have to view some promo spots, then I have to have a meeting at The Disney Channel, and then I have to screen a bunch of tapes, mark footage, come up with an editing plan, and then write a script for the two spots. I’ll probably have until Thursday to do it, but I’m going to try to have it by Wednesday, so that they can give their notes and I can do the rewrites over the weekend, then begin editing the following week. I’ll also be resuming rehearsals with Miss Linda Purl towards the end of the week.
I am seriously going to lose some weight over the next three weeks. I can no longer stand looking at myself, and must lose at least ten to fifteen pounds quickly. After that, I’d like to lose an additional ten and then I’ll be happy and my clothing will fit better and I’ll be able to look in the mirror without wanting to vomit on the ground.
This weekend is the first Ray Courts Hollywood Collector’s Show at the Burbank Hilton. He has actually assembled the best group of celebs that he’s had in ages, including Mr. Richard Chamberlin and Mr. Tab Hunter, along with a host of other interesting folks. I’ll definitely be attending with our very own Mr. Nick Redman, and I’ll have photos and a full report for you.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, view, meet, plan, write, make some telephonic calls, drive about in my motor car, and eat very small amounts of reasonable foodstuffs. Today’s topic of discussion: We love charm songs from musicals. So, what are your all-time favorite charm songs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and do make them long-winded, since we are so very windy here in Los Angeles, California, USA.