Well, dear readers, it has come to my attention that today is no longer Monday. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it has come to my attention that today is no longer Monday – today is, in fact, Tuesday, which is an entirely different matter than Monday. Being Tuesday, for example, means that it is no longer Monday. I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you find such information? Nowhere, that’s where. Speaking of nowhere, yesterday was an amazingly lovely day in which I did some things, lovely and otherwise, but did them at my leisure and my own pace. For example, I woke up at nine and had a lovely conversation with my web designer, who’s about to start work on a new site for the alumni organization. I then packaged up a handful of orders and took them to the post office, where I was surprised to see a whole slew of people at a time when there are usually no people. I don’t get people, really, and I have ceased trying to. The postal workers seemed very harried and confused dealing with the new rates and whatnot. Most of the people on line were there to buy two-cent stamps. They are the same people who’ve been keeping the post office busier than usual trying to ship every package known to man prior to the rate change. So, they couldn’t get their two-cent stamps last week? It’s not like the rate change was a secret. And the number of people who go to the post office completely unprepared – they have no clew as to how they want to ship a package and they never have forms filled out and sometimes the packages aren’t even sealed. They stand there and cluck their thick tongues and take up everybody’s time because of their unpreparedness. I just want to curse them when they cluck their thick tongues. Who am I, Norman Bates all of a sudden? In any case, I shipped my packages (which were prepared), and got the HELL out of there. I then jogged, and then did a bunch of work on Ye Olde Laptop. I then began my quest for foodstuffs – I ended up having Japanese food, something I don’t do very often. After that, I came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Queen Of The Stardust Ballroom. Since I’ve been listening to a lot of Billy Goldenberg music lately I thought it would be fun to see this lovely TV movie again. Of course, Queen Of The Stardust Ballroom was made when the TV industry and film industry were a whole other world. It simply wouldn’t get made today – period. Even then, it was quite bold – an original TV movie musical on film. Unlike today, back then the entertainment business was not cookie-cutter – you could really have unconventional stuff, and TV movies were really something back then. Queen Of The Stardust Ballroom stars Maureen Stapleton as a newly-widowed wife trying to come to terms with her new and lonely life. The pace of the opening scenes is deliberately slow, with very little dialogue. And then, about ten minutes in, Miss Stapleton starts singing Who Gave You Permission, and it’s quite moving. A friend convinces her to go to the Stardust Ballroom and, reluctantly, she goes. She meets a lonely fellow named Al, played by Charles Durning. They slowly develop a friendship and more. It’s a wonderfully told tale and the handful of songs are terrific, with beautiful, catchy tunes by Mr. Goldenberg, and lyrics by the Bergmans. It has a sad ending, as was the fashion back then. You can’t ask for better than Miss Stapleton and Mr. Durning, and they both turn in stellar performances, at once real, affecting, and charming. Their duet, I Love To Dance, as choreographed by Marge Champion, is a delight. The film’s direction by former editor Sam O’Steen (The Graduate) is perfunctory and basic. Michael Bennett later turned the film into a Broadway musical starring our beloved Dorothy Loudon. During its workshop and tryout engagement, he removed most of the book songs. I recorded three of them on Lost In Boston IV, orchestrated by our very own elmore, and they’re definitely worth hearing. The transfer is okay – not terrible, not great, and certainly nothing to write home about. However, I gather the DVD is quite rare now – on amazon a couple of sellers are asking ninety bucks and more.
Well, it has come to my attention that it’s time to click on the Unseemly Button below, so I say let’s do it!
Today, it has come to my attention that I have a lot of little things to do and do them I shall. I must make telephonic calls, answer e-mails, package up two orders, perhaps ship said orders, and run several errands. Then I shall sup with visiting dear reader Jeanne; that is if she ever returns the phone message I left her yesterday.
For fun, I went back and read about what was happening last year at this time. What drama! What turmoil! We were in the midst of doing the staged reading of The Brain, I was in the midst of ending a long-term friendship (a really wise decision on my part, I must say), and we’d also read what at that time was my new play (which I haven’t done anything with and probably won’t, despite the fact that it’s quite funny and very good). At this time, this year, I find I’m much calmer, even though I’m in the midst of several projects.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, ship, do errands, do lots of little things and then sup. Today’s topic of discussion: Miss Maureen Stapleton and Mr. Charles Durning are two of my favorite actors ever – I’ve never seen them give a bad performance. So, what are your favorite Stapleton and Durning performances? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we. And I guess I should say that it has come to my attention that May is now half over with, and to that I say “phut.”