Well, dear readers, life is a cabaret. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, life is a cabaret and tonight we begin our Summer Evenings of Cabaret series at LACC. As of yesterday, we were two-thirds sold for both of this week’s performances, and I’m hoping that the usual pay-at-the-door people will show up and fill the rest of the house. I’ll be getting to the theater by four, because I want to just run through the lights, set the stage, and make sure the sound is cool. Then, our very own Miss Susan Egan will arrive for her sound check at five-thirty, then we’ll break and then it’s show time at seven-thirty sharp. I have to figure out my attire for the evening – probably slacks and a black pullover shirt. Anyway, I shall have a full report for you upon my return – perhaps even some photographs to share. Yesterday, I thought I had absolutely nothing to do, but that turned out not to be the case. I had to ship out about fifteen packages, I had to have several telephonic conversations, and had to deal with a few annoyances, which I dealt with swiftly. I also forgot that I had an afternoon meeting. That meeting, which lasted close to two hours, was very good and lots of things were discussed on a plethora of topics and perhaps some good will come out of it at some point. I finally got some food and arrived back home by six. I also managed to write three count them three pages (I’m still trying to find my way with the tone of the book and its structure, but it’s coming along, slowly but surely), and I smoothed out the ending to the final song in PennyO’s show. At that point I was fried, so I ate and sat on my couch like so much fried fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Loved One, a film that was advertised as “The Motion Picture With Something To Offend Everyone.” It was true back in 1965 and it’s true now. However, if they’d left in everything they’d shot or were supposed to shoot, it would have been even more offensive than it already is. Gone are many of the “gay” scenes, and there were a lot of them (I have the shooting script), one of which couldn’t be shot (a scene at a gay club where Robert Morse is working) because Robert Morley refused to be in drag. We do, however, get the very fey performance of Mr. Rod Steiger as Mr. Joyboy, one of his great performances. And, of course, we get Liberace. The cast is wonderful – Robert Morse, doing surprisingly well as an English lad (his entire performance is looped – they went line by line getting his accent as good as possible), Jonathan Winters in two roles, Anjanette Comer, the strangest leading lady ever, John Gielgud, Robert Morley, and guest stars James Coburn, Dana Andrews, Paul Williams, Milton Berle, Margaret Leighton, Roddy MacDowell, and many others. The original cut of the film ran five hours, so three hours were discarded (I suspect that’s a bit of urban legend – I’m sure that wasn’t a five-hour cut, but just an assemblage of rough put-together footage of everything shot). Still, what a shame none of that footage is on the DVD – several performances were cut entirely from the film, including Miss Jayne Mansfield and Miss Ruth Gordon. I wonder if it’s been lost to the ages, or if Warners (who now owns this film) just couldn’t be bothered to look for it. The film is wildly uneven – brilliant moments of hilarity and then moments that just sit there like so much fish. But, it’s all very surreal and I’ve always had a soft spot for the film, which I’ve seen many times. There are some interesting looping things in the film – clearly every time Jonathan Winters as Harry is talking to his brother Will, his mouth is clearly not saying “Will”. It’s saying “Al” because that was the original “real” name of the brother. Wilbur was his made up name as the Blessed Reverend. At some point, they must have thought that was too confusing and discarded the “real” name. There are other places where mouths are saying one thing but the words coming out of them are saying something else. And Barbara Nichols’ entire performance is looped by a different actress, which is very unnerving since Miss Nichols has such a recognizable voice. The transfer is really great – rich black and white, perfectly showing off the wonderful camerawork of Haskell Wexler. The screenplay (or what’s left of it) is genuinely bizarre, with great quotable dialogue courtesy of Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood. And Ayllene Gibbons as Mr. Joyboy’s mom, has to be seen to be believed and is worth the price of the DVD. There are also some fantastic shots of 1965 LA.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because life is a cabaret and I must ready myself for this evening’s festivities.
I think I located everything I need for the Hollywood Collector’s Show this weekend, but I’m waiting on pins and needles and also needles and pins to see if my Nudie Musical DVDs arrive today. They were supposedly shipped yesterday from Las Vegas, so it’s a fifty-fifty shot that they’ll arrive. If not, they won’t be here until Monday, when they will do me no good whatsoever and I’ll probably send them back and get a refund. I’m keeping digits crossed, however, as I always sell a few at every show. I’ll also have Deceit DVDs, Naked Space DVDs, some photos, and a few copies of each of my books.
Today, I shall try to do as much stuff as I can in the early hours of the day, so that I can take my time getting ready for tonight’s show. I probably will meet up with PennyO at some point, and I was invited to Kasey Rogers’ funeral, but it’s too close to the time I have to be at LACC and what with Friday rush-hour traffic I just don’t think I can go. I also really don’t like funerals. But, no matter what, I’ll be there in spirit.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write, do errands, hopefully pick up a package of Nudie Musical DVDs, and a few other things. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, a Frank Chacksfield movie spectacular two-fer on one CD (I love movie theme albums from the 50s, especially the London Phase Four ones), also a jazz cover version of The Most Happy Fella, done when the show was on Broadway. DVD, A Fine Madness, with Sean Connery and Joanne Woodward, then the Jayne Mansfield triple bill. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and remember, life is a cabaret, old chum, and I love a cabaret.