Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
September 9, 2007:

A PUDDLE OF SWEAT

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, it was another hot and muggy day here in New York, New York. The heat and humidity were stultifying and to walk even a block turned one into a puddle of sweat. A Puddle Of Sweat – that’s the title of my next novel. And what am I, a weather report all of a sudden? Of course, I walked about sixty blocks all told so I was drenched with sweat for most of the day. The evening hours were just as humid and hot as the daytime hours, so there was little to no respite. Speaking of respite, it wasn’t such a bad day as days go. I got up after getting about six hours of sleep. I toddled off to our costume fittings and some music go-throughs with Alet. Our set designer, the wonderful Heather Wolensky, brought by some of our set pieces, which looked swell. All the set pieces in the show are doing triple duty, but I felt the basic table she’d bought was just too small for the opening Narrator’s desk, so she’s going to get a bigger table to use for that, and then her smaller table can be used exclusively for the patio scenes, which will be very helpful. Her alien ray guns are really cute. After rehearsal, I walked a great deal, visiting several stores and attending a little flea market. At one stall, Richie Rich of Broadway Beat, a New York cable show, was selling theatre-related stuff, although he said a lot of the good stuff went to one collector fairly early on. Still, I got a sheet music page of A Place Called Home signed by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens, which will go into the silent auction at our fundraiser, and I found a rare original window card for a flop musical entitled Platinum, which starred Alexis Smith. Since Bruce Vilanch was one of its authors, I’ll have him sign it and since he’s appearing in our fundraiser, I’ll put that in the silent auction, too. And for one dollar I got a baseball cap from a Vegas Liberace show. The entire time I walked, I was, of course, a puddle of sweat, and I felt sticky and gross, not necessarily in that order. I finally got home at four, and by that time my throat had started to feel weird and scratchy, which I’m fairly certain is a result of my not getting anywhere near the sleep I should – I’m just praying it doesn’t get worse, because I have no time to deal with a weird and scratchy throat. I got some Ricola’s and Mucinex and today I’ll also pick up some emergenC, which always makes me feel better. I may also get some chicken soup for lunch.

Last night, I had a little dinner with Juliana Hansen, at the Carnegie Deli. We hashed out some problems we’d been having and all is well now. She’s in a NYMF show, and has been working on an off since leaving Grease: You’re The One That I Want. I had a cup of chicken soup (terrible, I must say) and a pastrami sandwich (huge, but pretty good). All the waiters at the Carnegie Deli seem to be Asian, which I found fascinating. After dinner, I walked home, stopping at Duane Reade to get some needed supplies. It was still hot and humid at eight o’clock and by the time I got home I was, you guessed it, a puddle of sweat.

Once home, my throat was really annoying me, so I sucked on a few Ricola’s, whilst flipping around all the TV channels. I tuned in to show called Medium. I saw the last thirty-five minutes, and I must say, I know it’s a popular favorite around these here parts, but I found the writing just awful – trite, predictable, and a little surprising, given the great things I’ve heard about the show. Perhaps it was an “off” episode, or perhaps I just don’t know the show well enough, but the courtroom scene was just so banal and poorly written that I couldn’t get past it. And then, of course, there was no ending, just a “To be continued” card. I liked who I presume was the leading lady. I then watched about ten minutes of Saturday Night Live, a show I haven’t seen in over twenty years. I could not believe how unfunny it was, and how boring each and every cast member was. I’ve never found the show very interesting, but this new crop is especially sub-par. Or maybe they were having an off night. It did “look” great in Hi-Def, though.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really have to try and get a good night’s sleep tonight so that my throat doesn’t get worse. It helps that I don’t have to be anywhere until one.

Today is a day off, although I do have stuff to attend to, including a big street fair on the East side, where we’ll be performing a number from The Brain From Planet X. I’m a bit nervous about it, since Alet hasn’t had much time to learn the new choreography, and on top of that they all have to use hand mics, but if it goes well it’s probably good for the show to do it.

After the street fair, I’ll probably grab a bite to eat, and then I’m off to the Apple Store where I’m finally having the newer operating system installed on my laptop. I never got around to doing it, and there’s too much that’s incompatible now with the one I have. Tonight, I’m staying home and resting and attending to stuff about the fundraiser.

Tomorrow, we begin our run-throughs in earnest, starting with one for our designers. After we finish, our choreographer has to work with Alet and Rob on her number, then we’ll run individual scenes and clean up any problems. And that’s the way it will go all week.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, attend a street fair, have the new operating system installed, eat, and then relax and hopefully heal Ye Olde Throatbox. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, whilst I begin my new novel, A Puddle Of Sweat, a story of wanton lust and gay abandon.

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved