Well, dear readers, I must hurry and write these here notes because I must prepare for today’s reading/signing of How To Write A Dirty Book and Other Stories at Bookfellows in Glendale. I do hope I’ll be seeing some familiar faces and some new faces, too – but more about that momentarily. One just can’t jump into today without talking about yesterday, can one? Well, I suppose one can if one doesn’t have a certain decorum, but for those with breeding one simply can’t jump into today without talking about yesterday – it simply isn’t done, except in certain less-than-desirable locations where the riff-raff and also the raff-riff dwell. I’ll just keep going on until someone stops me and tells me what the HELL I’m talking about. Where was I? Oh, yes, one simply can’t jump into today without talking about yesterday. Yesterday (which I can talk about), for example, was a very interesting day. First off, we had our haineshisway.com anniversary partay and the sentiments expressed were lovely to read and they warmed the cockles of my heart. There were many thanks to me, but I want to reiterate that it is not me who makes this site great – it is all of you dear readers. We had a five-hour rehearsal for The Brain – assembly day, as I like to call it. Over the last two weeks I have done the basic blocking for the play, and over the last two days we’ve choreographed and assigned the set changes the cast will be doing. But, obviously all of that is done piecemeal, so yesterday we put it all together, slowly but surely and also surely but slowly. We began at the beginning and went straight through the show. We had to stop and start, and we had to do a few things over, but we managed to get through everything and frankly I was rather amazed at how well it all went. The show, albeit way too slow, looks very good, the staging moves right along, people are starting to find interesting things in their characters, and one can already tell where certain things are going to work really well, and one can also already tell which things are going to need sharpening and honing and pace. And the good news is we’ve got four weeks to do that, which is exactly what I wanted. From the beginning, I wanted the show ready to open one week before we actually do open, so that the tech and dress rehearsals don’t throw us behind one bit. For the next three weeks we’ll be running the show almost daily, as well as running specific scenes and numbers that need attending to. There is time built into each rehearsal to do that, so not only do run-throughs continue, but we do get to do intensive scene work, as well. After rehearsal, I grabbed a bite to eat, then came home and decided which sections of the book I’ll be reading today. After that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching Mutiny On The Bounty, the Marlon Brando/Trevor Howard version. I loved the film when I saw it many times during its roadshow engagement at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood (I believe it’s briefly mentioned in one of the Kritzer books). It was very impressive in Ultra Panavision 70mm and six-track stereophonic sound. The photography was stunningly stunning, and the Bronislau Kaper score was amazingly amazing. I remember buying the boxed version of the soundtrack at Phil Harris Records immediately after seeing the film for the first time, and I played it until it could be played no more. So, it was with great anticipation that I popped in the new DVD, which was made off the large format negative. The film does not quite hold the fascination it once did for me, but I still rather fancy a lot of it, especially the performance of Mr. Trevor Howard. It’s well known that Mr. Marlon Brando ran amok on this film, making everyone’s lives miserable, none more so than director Lewis Milestone, who’d replaced the original director, Carol Reed, who got out early on while the getting was good. I wish I could say it was a perfect transfer, but it’s quite soft in places (especially the ship’s interiors). The colors, especially the island and ocean sequences, are accurate and lovely, and the 5.1 track is robust. I simply don’t understand why the transfer is not razor sharp, what with coming from the original large format negative. Some posit that the hi-def version will be sharper, but that, as I predicted early on, is not proving to be the case – the hi-def transfers have more detail, but if the sharpness is an issue on regular DVD, then it’s going to be an issue on hi-def, too. What still works brilliantly is Mr. Kaper’s phenomenal score – one of the great 60s movie scores.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Don’t I have a reading/signing to prepare for? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get my beauty sleep so that I don’t look 135 years old.
After today’s signing (I do hope we have a decent turnout – several people who said they were coming have now said they’re not coming – so, I really only know of about five people coming for absolutely certain – of course, last year’s signing was the same deal and we ended up with about twenty-five people, which was great), I go directly to LACC for rehearsal from four to eight – our tap choreographer is coming and she’ll hopefully be able to get the entire number done in those four hours. After that, our dance captain will drill the number, and then our choreographer will come back to keep it sharp, and to also look at my staging of the other numbers and hopefully offer opinions and suggestions to make them better.
Over the last few nights I’ve been watching the Ted Mack Amateur Hour DVD – many interesting bits on it, but it’s kind of herky-jerky in its presentation and it’s not as good as it should be. I also have the This Is Your Life DVD and I’m looking forward to it. Speaking of DVDs, I had some tragically tragic and sad news last night – my local DVD store, the one where I get stuff early and do my trading, is closing its doors in January. First Aron’s and now this – it’s enough to make you vomit on the ground. They simply can’t make ends meet, so yet another great mom-and-pop store, a store where they treat their regular, valued customers like family, bites the dust because of the world in which we live. I will mourn the loss of this store more than Aron’s, in fact, because the owners, Pete and Vivian were wonderful, warm, and friendly people.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, do a signing/reading, rehearse, and eat. Today’s topic of discussion: What was the first soundtrack recording you ever purchased? What was the first cast album recording you ever purchased (purchased on your own)? And what was the first rock-and-roll album (or 45) you ever purchased? I’ll start – first soundtrack recording: If memory serves, the first recording I remember going to the store to buy was Exodus by Ernest Gold. There may have been an earlier one, but I can’t remember what it might have been. But, Exodus is the one I remember going to the store to buy on my own. First cast album: Other than the ones my parents had, I believe it was the Columbia Record Club of Subways Are For Sleeping. First store-bought cast recording, The Fantasticks. First rock-and-roll 45 – harder to remember, but my guess is one of the early Elvis recordings. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and I hope to see some of you at the reading/signing.