Well, dear readers, she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early, so I cannot tarry or dally or even dally or tarry. I cannot take any detours, notes-wise. I cannot go off on tangents. I cannot waste any time on drivel. I must be succinct and to the point and I must not dawdle, Amaryllis. Can I play my cross-hand piece? May I play my cross-hand piece? What am I, The Music Man all of a sudden? Well, I’ve been doing nothing but taking detours, notes-wise, as well as going off on tangents and wasting time on drivel, and not being succinct and to the point. Can I play my cross-hand piece? May I play my cross-hand piece? Well, as my close personal friends Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer once said – Enough Is Enough. Speaking of enough, yesterday was a most interesting day. I began by getting up. That was interesting. I then jogged. That was interesting in sort of a non-interesting way. I then had to do some assorted stuff around the home environment and then I did some errands and picked up a package. The package contained something interesting – the German DVD of Naked Space aka Spaceship aka The Creature Wasn’t Nice. The DVD, from Kinowelt, was taken from my 35mm print and it’s the best the film has ever looked on home video. It’s properly letterboxed (albeit not enhanced), it’s printed properly (all other TV and video versions were taken from a low-contrast print which was about ten stops too bright – removing all shadows and darkness from scenes that had them), and you can finally see that the photography is well-framed and quite nice-looking. Aside from being so happy with the transfer, it also contains a German dub of the film (they had to completely redo the music – playing it all on synth and even improving a couple of cues). It amused me no end hearing me talking in German with a different voice. I rather liked the voice they had for me, and I also really liked the dubbers of Mr. Nielsen, Miss Williams, and Mr. Graham. The songs, of course, remain in English. There were two other German DVD releases, but both were full frame and therefore of no interest. After checking out the DVD, I then wrote a little bit, and then toddled off to LACC for this weekend’s cabaret show.
We were only expecting about sixty-five people, but we had a lot of walkups and we ended up completely selling out, which was really nice. The audience loved the show and the performers. The show was Three Men And A Baby Grand and the performers were Lee Lessack, Brian Lane Green, and John Boswell. There was a lot of tight three-part harmony, some nice show tunes as well as a couple of original pop songs. All in all, a very nice evening, and the weather finally cooled down a bit, too. I think we basically have a pretty full house for this evening, too.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon.
Can I play my cross-hand piece? May I play my cross-hand piece? Today I’ll be driving about in my motor car until she of the Evil Eye leaves, and then I shall return and jog and write and do some other things that need doing. After that, I shall meet our very own Cillaliz at the cabaret show, and afterwards we shall go out for some food. I’m looking forward to meeting her.
I suppose if it’s Saturday then it must be time for an Unseemly Triva Contest question. So, here it is. I had to whip this one up in short order:
This particular theatrical season produced a few hits, a few near-hits, and quite a few misses. Once such miss managed to eke out a run of just under three months before it gave up the ghost. The play was by a writer (the writer’s first and only play) who would go on to write the book for a hugely successful musical, as well as the book for a much beloved musical. The star of the show once starred in the play that the writer would adapt to become the hugely successful musical. Also in the cast was an actress who had a very important connection with a hit musical that was running concurrently with this play. Also in the cast was an actor who played a leading role in a classic suspense film. Also in the cast was an actor who would go on to star in a hugely successful television series. So:
Name the play and the writer, and name the hugely successful musical for which he did the book.
Name the star of the show, and the play she starred in that would become the source material for the hugely successful musical.
Name the actress who had a very important connection with a hit musical that was running concurrently with this play, and name the musical and the connection.
Name the actor who played a leading role in a classic suspense film.
Name the actor who would go on to star in a hugely successful television series and name the series.
Bonus question: There is a six degrees of separation in this quiz – name it.
Remember: DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS TO THE SITE. Send them to me at bruce@haineshisway.com. You have until midnight Monday to send your answers. 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, for example, do errands, jog, write, and then attend our cabaret show as well as dine with our very own Cillaliz. Today’s topic of discussion: What musicals and plays did you love that were critically reviled and were complete failures in their runs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? Can I play my cross-hand piece? May I play my cross-hand piece?