Well, dear readers, this week is already flying by, like a gazelle in parachute pants. I’ve almost been here a week and I barely have any memory of my last digs or what I’ve been doing, with the exception of eating too many meals at Joe Allen, which is going to change now. From now on, I shall be supping at a new place every night. I have several restaurants earmarked or, at the very least, nosemarked. Speaking of nosemarked, yesterday was so much fun, just a wonderfully paced day from start to finish. I woke up early, got myself together (parts of me were all over the room – I hate when that happens), and toddled off to our first day of blocking and choreography. For most of the day, we were only missing our Fred, Joyce, and Yoni, and Miss Patti stood in for Yoni and our ASM stood in for Joyce so it was pretty complete. We began with the opening number. Our choreographer has taken my staging structure and put his own stamp on it, so at times it’s considerably different and busier, but I really liked what he did and, of course, we have the dancers to pull it off. A couple of the moves he did were truly delightful, and you’ll all be happy to know that the show’s signature move, the Kimmel hands as it’s referred to, is there in all its glory, repeatedly. We also did the opening of act two, which is basically a slight variation on the opening number. I then blocked the opening of the show right into the opening number. Then we moved on to the act once closer – again, he kept the structure of my staging, but embellished it and put his own spin on it, and I really loved what he did and part of it solved a big problem that we’re still going to have to address in a few scenes – a scenic element that we’re not going to have in this production (the rolling general’s unit). Also, Mr. Barry Pearl has begun to find exactly how his Brain is going to work – each time he does something that lands, I point to him and say, “That’s the character.” So, he’s beginning, even at this early stage, to throw out what doesn’t work and to concentrate on the stuff that’s subtle and funny. He’s going to be really good in the show – very different than LA (even though I liked what our LA Brain did), and much closer to our original conception. By the end of the day we were about an hour ahead, so our choreographer (Adam) began The Brain Tap, which I’m already loving beyond belief. We finished up at five, and then Miss Patti, Cason, BJ and myself toddled over to Joe Allen to have a quick dinner. Again, it was like a ghost town there.
After dinner, we walked up toward Tenth. I took a detour to The Little Pie Shop and got one of their one-person chocolate cream pies, which I took home with me. I then settled down to an evening of channel flipping. I watched parts of several shows, including How I Met Your Mother (or whatever it’s called), which I found okay, but not great – just a typical sitcom of the Seinfeld variety, a bit of some hideous “reality” show called Swapping Wives (or something), a preposterous, stupid, and completely Unreal show that was just pathetic, a bit of The Closer, which I think I would enjoy if I watched a few of the early episodes, although I didn’t care for its leading lady’s Southern accent – it was nice to see old cohorts G.W. Bailey and the guy from Das Barbecue, whose name I never remember. I finally could take no more, so I turned on TCM and watched a bit of the delightfully delightful The Bishop’s Wife. Whilst channel flipping I did notice a bunch of Law and Order shows, which, I gather, are all different shows, same with CSI in a bunch of different locales. Doesn’t anyone get burned out on this stuff?
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because soon I will toddle off to bed so I can get my beauty sleep and try to figure out how one earmarks a restaurant.
Today, we have another ten to five rehearsal. I know that a good deal of it is devoted to The Brain Tap, but I also have a few book scenes to do – I find I’m making little adjustments as I restage, because different actors bring different things to the table. After rehearsal, I shall try to sup somewhere interesting, and then I’m seeing our very own Skip Kennon’s show, which I’m very much looking forward to.
At some point this week, I’ll be seeing The Fantasticks at its new home. I’d wanted to see it last year, but didn’t have time, and now Mr. Harvey Schmidt is arranging tickets for me and I can’t wait to see it again and to see Mr. Jones perform, which I never have.
Tomorrow, we have more ensemble numbers, then I really dig into the book scenes, even those with our two leads, just to get our leading lady blocked, and then we’ll block in our Fred on Monday. I do love our company.
I also have to set up a few dinners for next week, most importantly one with Miss Linda Hart, to figure out if she can do our fundraiser (she thinks she’ll be able to). I’d also love to see Legally Blonde and maybe a couple of other shows, including Xanadu – we’ll see how it all plays out.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rehearse, sup, and see a Skip Kennon show. Today’s topic of discussion: As I look out my window, I have a wonderful river view – boats, river, all sorts of gorgeous lights in the distance. Views are one of my favorite things – what are the most spectacular and magical views you’ve ever seen, both daytime and nighttime? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I earmark some more restaurants, as soon as I figure out how to both ear and mark them.