Well, dear readers, the end of July is nigh. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, the end of July is nigh, and I, for one, say bring on August, baby. We must all pool our collective excellent vibes and xylophones and send them to all hainsies/kimlets who need them for the next two months especially, and that includes that li’l ol’ winemaker, me. July was a fascinating month, like a roller coaster ride – up, down, sideways, climbing, swerving, speeding, like a gazelle on a bad acid trip. July was certainly filled with busy days and evenings, the busiest July in years, at least for that li’l ol’ winemaker, me. We were invited to NYMF, I had to raise a bunch o’ dough, I got a book ready for publication, we premiered Joan Ryan’s club act, I began mentoring a musical comedy, and we continued to book talent for our November fundraiser event, and I also arranged the entertainment portion of the LACC Foundation benefit, too. Oh, and we also did a little polishing of The Brain, we staffed the show (almost all), and began casting it, too. And August will be busier, if such a thing is possible, what with casting the show, then booking the rest of the talent for the fundraiser, setting keys, and doing arrangements for those singers, as well as choosing the material. We have to basically do everything regarding the latter before I leave on the 22nd of August. It boggles the mind. Then, of course, we begin four weeks of rehearsals at the end of the month. It’s all very exciting, though, and I’m looking forward to all of it. I can also tell you that we’ve booked at least three cast members from the LA company of Wicked to be in our fundraiser, and are waiting to hear about a fourth. Speaking of a fourth, yesterday was one of those one thing after another days. I got up quite early, did my morning errand, visited the Kritzerland accountant (which went more quickly than I thought it would), shipped some packages, wrote a whole mess o’ e-mails, had several long and involved telephonic calls, and continued to try and get responses about the funds for the fundraiser – it’s now reached critical mass with me, and if I don’t have some sort of answer today I’ll be going down there to have a little face-to-face meeting, which will not be pleasant, because I’ve just about had it with being pleasant and not having any response. I did finally hear from one of the people involved, who told me they were supposed to meet on Friday and then that meeting never happened. He told me he’s asked to meet today at eleven and he’ll call me at noon, and I’ll have a better idea then what I’ll need to do. I’ve basically told the now-resigned president that he made promises and assurances about these funds and that we have been acting accordingly, booking the theater (and paying the down payment), booking a lot of talent, the musical director, and all that jazz, and that it is his moral obligation to see that it happens as he said it would. I have, fortunately, every single piece of e-mail correspondence from day one of his promise, and if I have to I will use them however I must. It’s simply too late to have this get screwed up, because at this late date, and with me being gone for five weeks, there’s nowhere else to turn. Hopefully, the news will be good, so keep them excellent vibes and xylophones coming, strongly. I then had an alumni association meeting and it’s becoming clear that we really need to get some other people on board to help with the fundraiser show, in terms of corporate sponsorship, auction items for our silent auction, and ad sales for our program. Oh, everyone is doing their share, but we’re only three people, and two of us will soon be in New York for a length of time. This came into really sharp focus when I attended the LACC Foundation meeting – that group, which numbers about twelve (the people working on their dinner event) is very organized, with each person handling a specific thing and each person delivering in spades on the thing their handling. Since our last meeting, they have corporate sponsorship in the six figures. The lady who’s running the show commiserated with me when I told her the trouble we’re having with our benefit in terms of sponsorships, and how none of us have a clew. Well, she’s so happy with the entertainment portion of the dinner, that she’s agreed to talk to me and help, and get us on the right road, and maybe even arrange some sponsorship. I’ll call her tomorrow to set up a meeting, but that help would be most welcome, because she’s really good at this stuff, maybe the best there is. I finally came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD that I’d been wanting to see for quite a while, entitled What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? I’d seen it several times when it was released, and just had an intense curiosity about viewing it again, so I went on eBay and found a home-grown DVD of it (which somebody taped off the Comedy Central network – what can’t you find on eBay). Despite it being a pan-and-scan abomination, with faded color, it was really fun to see it again. It was a completely odd movie to be released in 1968, but its message was fun then and it’s fun now. A toucan carrying a virus infects a bunch of New Yorkers – the virus makes them happy, caring people. Of course, the government can’t have that, because the people give up smoking and drinking and they’ll lose too much money from sales tax. It’s a corny and very typical Universal film from that era, but it really has a loopy charm about it, and there are several what you’d have to call musical numbers. One of them, the title song, I remembered as being very joyous and wonderful, all taking place on a rooftop with lots of dancing. Since the choreographer was a pre-Promises, Promises Michael Bennett, I was really interested to see the sequence again. But, alas, my memory had played tricks, for while there’s a good deal of running around and jumping there is virtually no dancing. A couple of other numbers have brief steps, but it’s not what I was hoping for. George Peppard is funny and charming, Mary Tyler Moore is adorable, and there’s a terrific supporting cast that includes Nathaniel Frey, Susan St. James, Thelma Ritter (in a one scene cameo), Dom De Luise, George Furth, and, best of all, John McMartin doing a perfect imitation of Mayor Lindsay. I don’t mean to be making this sound good, because it’s really slight and very dated, but I must say I enjoyed it. It’s written and directed by George Seaton. The score is by DeVol, but it’s the title song you won’t be able to get out of your head – it’s not by De Vol, it’s by two songwriters I haven’t heard of. Happily, I have it on a 45, which has been transferred to CD.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s late and that li’l ol’ winemaker, me, needs his beauty sleep.
I have many things to attend to today – telephonic calls, e-mails, errands, and then, hopefully, entering the final set of corrections on the book so we can get it off to the publisher. I have to write the dedication, and the acknowledgments, too. And I hope to have some sort of good news about the funding of the fundraiser.
Tomorrow night, I see Jersey Boys at the Ahmanson, which I’m very excited about. I’ll be dining with the Wechters prior to the show at Pinot, which is the outdoor restaurant at the Music Center.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, drive about in my motor car, call, write, do some whatnot, and then hopefully enter corrections. Today’s topic of discussion: We haven’t done an art day in quite some time – so, what are your all-time favorite paintings, which ones have you actually seen in person, and what are your favorite museums? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we welcome in August with open arms and legs akimbo.