Well, dear readers, I have a craving for hot nuts. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, have a craving for hot nuts. For those of you who haven’t visited New York, New York, there is a hot nuts vendor on just about every block in Times Square. I remember when they first showed up in the late 80s – at that point it was mostly hot candied peanuts, but in subsequent years they added candied cashews and almonds. I rarely have them because they’re not exactly low-cal, but I did have a small bag of hot candied almonds a week ago, and I’ve been craving more ever since. So, today may just be the day when I get more hot nuts. One can never have enough hot nuts, can one? Why am I going on about hot nuts when I should be writing these here notes in a hurry, because I’m also craving my bed and some sleep after last night’s bout of acute nausea and sleeplessness. Speaking of sleeplessness, yesterday was really fun in certain ways and really annoying in other ways, but I tend to dwell on the fun and not the annoying. For example, I got up. That was fun (well, not really FUN). I then toddled off to rehearsal, where we put Alet into all her scenes. It was amazing to watch all the other actors perk up, finally having their real scene partner. She got right back into the swing of things, and by the third scene she was back into her groove and getting laugh after laugh. We had a visitor in the morning – dear reader elmore’s good friend, singer Rodney Gilfrey, who I was very pleased to finally meet. We didn’t have much time to chat, but he’s asked me to call him when I’m back in LA, so perhaps we’ll have a fine dining experience at some point. While everyone went off to lunch, I stayed for a meeting about props. It was a meeting in which I was asked to cheap out on certain items and I sat there getting more annoyed with each passing minute, but said they could present me with alternatives. One prop in particular, which they’re trying to get me to rethink, caused me to be very unhappy, since said prop is responsible for one of the biggest laughs in the show. After digesting what went on in the meeting, I wrote a very strong e-mail about it all and I think everything will be fine once that prop is looked at realistically rather than in a knee-jerk way. I have to tell you, I have been so collaborative on this show and so willing to bend over backwards to make everyone’s job easier, but when you start asking me to compromise laughs, well, I won’t bend and no one will dig in their heels more than I. In the afternoon, we ran all the scene shifts, which are lots of fun and, unlike in LA, very much a part of the fabric of the show. We still have to sort out some staging issues on Alet’s big number, because even though I want my choreographer to put his own stamp on it, it’s become more about the accoutrements than the point of the song and, more importantly, the audience’s ability to hear they lyric and understand the points being made (which are all humorous). We’ll continue to finesse that number on Monday after our morning designer run-through. After rehearsal, I came home and caught up on many e-mails, telephonic calls, and posts here at haineshisway.com. Then Cason and BJ arrived and we toddled off the the Jerry Orbach Theater (formerly the Snapple Theater).
Last night, I saw a musical entitled The Fantasticks. I hadn’t seen the show since the year before it finally closed at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, where, frankly, the show was in terrible shape, which is one of the reasons Tom Jones wanted this little revival to happen. First of all, what a score. My close personal friend, Mr. Harvey Schmidt’s score is so beautiful it just brings tears to my eyes. Tom’s book and lyrics are perfection (with one exception in this current production), and the production is very sweet and a whole lot of fun. How wonderful to enter a theater and see a show where the show is truly the star – not the lighting or the pumped-up sound or the flashy costumes or the glitz. Just a simple, heartfelt and beautifully told tale, simply told on a stage that is made up of some poles and a whole lot of magic. When was the last time you went to a musical that had no amplification? It’s so wonderful to just hear good voices singing great music, with just piano and harp accompanying them. Burke Moses is now El Gallo. It took me a while to get used to his singing, but where Burke really shines is that he, unlike most El Gallos I’ve seen over the years, gets the comedy of the role. Most people today don’t ever find the comedy in that character, although you can hear what a field day Jerry Orbach has with it on the original cast recording. Matt and Luisa were charming and both had terrific voices. The fathers started off weakly but got better as the show went on. The fellow who played Mortimer was really amusing, but the big kudos of this production belong to Thomas Bruce as the Old Actor. Mr. Bruce, of course, created the role way back when, and he’s just as good at eighty years of age as he was back in 1960 – as he should be since Mr. Bruce is the pseudonym of author Tom Jones. I introduced Cason and BJ to Tom after the show, and we had a lovely conversation and he said he’d do his best to catch The Brain. After the show, we all went to Joe Allen, which, like a week ago, was completely dead – only about a third of the restaurant was occupied. Most of our conversation centered around these prop issues, and BJ had some excellent ideas about what we could do to make things work better, so we’ll be having a meeting this morning with the stage manager to discuss.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst I dream of a small bag of hot nuts.
Today is mostly costume fittings, but I’ll be working a little bit with Alet, Barry, and then General Mills. Rehearsal ends at three, so I’ll have a little of the afternoon to myself.
In the evening, I’m supposedly supping with Juliana A. Hansen, to see how we’re feeling about everything. It will be fun to catch up or, at the very least, to ketchup.
Tomorrow is a performance of the song The Plan at some street fair on the East side. Other than that, the day is mine all mine. I’ll probably be supping with Alet.
Monday starts run-throughs and there will be at least one a day, and sometimes two. I like to do a without stops run-through, then I like to work on problem areas right afterwards, then I like to run it again. It will be a very hectic week, but I’m hoping a fun one.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, attend a rehearsal/costume fitting, sup, and do some needed errands and laundry and dry cleaning. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite nutmeats? Do you like them salted, plain, candied, in food, in desserts – tell us your favorites and how you use your nuts in interesting ways. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and I am telling you I am going to bed where I shall dream of hot nuts.