Well, dear readers, what we’ve got here is The Late, Late Show, because I have just arrived back in the home environment at 2:10 in the a.m. I am overtired, yet I must awaken early in the morning for she of the Evil Eye will be here to cast her gaze upon me. So, I shall have to speed through these here notes like a gazelle on ice. So, let’s get right to yesterday. Yesterday was an interesting day. I had planned to write all day on the musical, but because of a conversation with my muse, Margaret, I had to go back to one of the short stories and see if I agreed with her problems with it. I did indeed, upon rereading it, and I spent the rest of the livelong day switching the story from the first person to the third person and changing the occupation of the lead character. Other than those two changes, which really helped, everything else basically stayed the same. Margaret has amazing intuition about things, and when she said she just didn’t feel anything for the lead character, I knew there was a problem – and the problem was the first person narrative and his occupation, both of which seemed surface and facile. Once those two things were changed, suddenly everything worked like a charm. And that’s why muses are important. I was completely exhausted by the time I finished that work, and then I had to hurry and get ready to attend the STAGE benefit at the Luckman Theater. Happily, there was virtually almost no traffic (odd for a Friday night) and I got down there very quickly. I was happy to see that our new STAGE CDs were there and selling briskly.
I ran into a few people I knew, and then sat down in my excellent fourth row center seat, right behind the still-beautiful Miss Barbara Rush, whom I’d just seen in Bigger Than Life. The show always has a long preamble with a couple of awards given out. The show proper started at about 8:15. The curtain finally came down about 11:30, but there was also a little auction onstage prior to Act II beginning. It’s just too long, but it never seems to change. The show was the usual mixed bag, but its heart is in the very best of places, so one forgives the missteps. The most curious decision was to basically present very short tab versions of On The Town, Wonderful Town, and Bells Are Ringing. That’s a very hard thing to pull off in an evening like this, and those three segments simply weren’t that successful. My favorite performances of the evening were Nancy Dussault recreating her number Make Someone Happy, Vicki Lewis doing Ella Peterson in Bells Are Ringing, and most especially our very own Miss Judy Kaye wowing them with her big number from On The Twentieth Century. Bruce Vilanch was also in terrific form and very funny singing I Can Cook, Too, which was supposed to be a duet with Marisa Jaret Winokur (“She got a pilot, the bitch,” said Mr. Vilanch). All in all, it was nice but very long evening. Afterwards, I attended the little party they have, and I actually got to spend about fifteen minutes chatting with Miss Barbara Rush. I told her I’d just seen Bigger Than Life, and we had a really nice conversation about it and other films she’d done. A very sweet lady. It was nice to see Christine Pedi, too, but Judy Kaye was a no-show at the party, so I didn’t get to say hi to her.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because The Late, Late Show is getting later and I am falling asleep at the keyboard.
As I mentioned, she of the Evil Eye will be arriving bright and early and I shall have to hie myself out of here for a few hours, after which I shall come back and try to get some rest.
I’ll be talking more about it on Monday, but the new Kritzerland CD releases (the Strouse, Schwartz, and Schwartz STAGE benefit 2 CD set, and Kevin Spirtas’ Night and Days) are up and available for preorder at www.kritzerland.com. We live on our preorders, so if you haven’t yet, do place your orders soon (should you be interested in the CDs).
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hie myself out of here all too soon, I must put two little finishing touches on the revamped short story, I must write some of the musical, I must eat, and then I must attend this evening’s performance of the play. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Comden and Green songs (the theme of last night’s STAGE benefit)? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we wrap up The Late, Late Show.