Well, dear readers, this is the week that will be. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, this is the week that will be. It will be a momentously momentous week for this is the week that will be. And what will be this week you might ask and I might tell you for why should I withhold such things from dear readers such as your various and sundried selves? This is the week that our kids show, The Party Animals – Live! premieres. We still have a bit of work to do on the show, but it’s in extremely good shape and we’re all very, very happy. In fact, we’re already thinking ahead to the next step and trying to keep the show going, which would be the wise and smart thing to do. Speaking of the wise and smart thing to do, yesterday was quite a lovely day. For example, I got up – that was wise and smart. At first, I thought yesterday was going to be simply horridly horrid because when I turned on the faucet there was no water. As it turned out, the pipes had frozen during the night (it happened all over the San Fernando Valley). The DWP was no help whatsoever, but thankfully, within an hour they thawed and all was well. I’m told that if I leave one faucet dripping it will preclude such a thing happening, but it’s not nearly as cold this evening as it was last night. Still, I might leave the guest bathroom faucet dripping, just in case. One Faucet Dripping – that’s the title of my next novel. I then toddled off to our early rehearsal. The rehearsal room was about 12 degrees, but we turned the heat on and it got warmer eventually. We did one run-through, with the cast not putting out full vocal energy, and I must say it went very smoothly and I had only a handful of notes. I am very impressed with this company’s consistency – once they get a note and understand it and work on it, then you get consistent performances that never go backward. Consistency is a real bugaboo of mine and I’m always surprised at people who don’t have it – and I mean really professional people I work with. After rehearsal wrapped, Miss Adriana Patti and I went to Marie Callendar’s for some brunch and to prepare the lighting script. This is something I always do for these types of shows where we’ll be in different venues. We line-in everywhere I want a light cue change and I make suggestions as to look and feel for each cue. After that, we came back to the home environment and we sat on the couch like so much fish, because Miss Patti desired to continue her film education.
Yesterday, her film education continued with two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled The Best Years Of Our Lives. Without waxing eloquently for pages, let me just say that The Best Years Of Our Lives is on my top-ten best of all-time list, and it’s a desert island movie for me. I find it a complete and total masterpiece in every way – a virtually perfect movie. The screenplay is masterful, with wonderful dialogue, Mr. William Wyler’s direction is breathtaking in its simplicity, and he is aided and abetted in his artistry by the great cameraman Greg Toland (some of the deep focus photography in this film is the best ever done). The cast could not be better – Dana Andrews gives the best performance he ever gave, so filled with humanity and humor and pain. Frederic March and Myrna Loy are perfection, as is Teresa Wright as their daughter. Actually, Miss Wright surpasses perfection. And then there is Harold Russell, playing a soldier who has lost both hands in the war – Mr. Russell also lost his hands during the war. His performance is the rock of the film – so real, so touching, without ever being cloying. Cathy O’Donnell as his love interest, Wilma, matches him every step of the way, and the scene where she finally helps him out of his harness and into bed is one of the most touching scenes in all of cinema. There are many such scenes in the film, though, and every one of them get to me and I blubber like a baby. The film also contains my favorite film score of all-time, by Mr. Hugo Friedhofer. His music for the film is pure genius – every melody, every cue – he gets under the film and inside the characters and it’s so beautiful that it, too, causes me to blubber like a baby. In case I haven’t made it clear – I LOVE THIS FILM! If you’ve never seen it, do whatever it takes – the DVD is quite inexpensive and I guarantee you a wonderful viewing experience.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’ve got more to talk about and I feel if I don’t get to the next section my personal pipes will freeze.
The second motion picture on DVD was entitled Li’l Abner. Yes, I needed my every six month Li’l Abner fix. I’ve said all I need to say about Li’l Abner – in fact, I haz spoken. It never ceases to make me laugh and it never ceases to make me happy – and then there’s the lusciously luscious Leslie Parrish. Hubba hubba.
Today, we have a rehearsal at noon. We’ll do one run-through (I am trying not to have this over-rehearsed), then I must go to the theater to take care of business there, and hand off the lighting script. The cast will be working with makeup in the afternoon, and I’ll probably stop by to check it out. I also have many, many CDs being delivered at some point, and I’ll have to get those put away.
We actually have tomorrow off, so I’ll be able to really catch up on some things, and hopefully get back to Ye Olde Newe Book. Yes, I think this week is going to be just a lovelier than lovely week for a whole slew of lovelier than lovely reasons. At least I hope so.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog (if it’s not too cold), rehearse, do stuff, do more stuff, and then sit on my couch like so much fish. Today’s topic of discussion: We haven’t done it in ages – what are your five desert island movies – the five movies you couldn’t be without if you were stranded on a desert island. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we say a prayer that we do not have The Frozen Pipes ever again.