Well, dear readers, it’s Friday, the end of the week and I hope the end of this fershluganah cough I’ve got. I also hope it’s the end of all the frustrating BS we’ve been going through with the fundraiser funds. I tell you, I have blown more gaskets this week than I can ever remember blowing. I have, in fact, been one big blown gasket. I’ve imploded, I’ve exploded, I’ve been very unpleasant to more than a few people who deserved it and I think I’ve probably moved closer to heart attack land. Bureaucracy nauseates me and that’s all there is to it. Where was I? Oh, yes, blown gaskets. Blown Gaskets – that’s the title of my next novel. And then there’s the coughing. I cough and I cough and just when I think I can cough no more, I cough again. All that coughing and bureaucracy obscures the fact that we’ve got really good people for our show and rehearsing the opening number was really fun. And I’m hopeful of having at least three more names to announce tomorrow (I’m just waiting for confirmation) – one I can announce is the wonderful Beth Malone, who was one of the stars of the musical of Sister Act, and she’ll be doing her song from that show, which is, of course, by Mr. Alan Menken. Speaking of Mr. Alan Menken, yesterday was a day and then some. I got up earlier than I wanted to get up, went to Staples to Xerox music, came home, showered, and then went over to rehearsal. Only three of our eight ensemble members were there, and we, in fact, have lost three of the four males, so we’re on a man hunt. Still, I taught those who were there the number, and then Adam sketched out the whole thing and taught it to everyone. When we finally have everyone, it’s going to look really good and be a lot of fun and a good way to open the show. After rehearsal, I had a lot of telephonic calls, one of which put me over the edge and actually caused me to blow about six gaskets. The poor person I happened to be talking to, Miss Adriana Patti, who has been saddled with dealing with the college bureaucrats, finally heard just how horrible I can be when pushed over the edge – none of it directed at her personally, of course, just me just venting about the stupidity we’re dealing with. I’m sure they could have heard me all the way to Portugal. After that, I needed sustenance so I went to sustenance central, Gelson’s, and got a couple of chicken tenders and a small thing of mac and cheese, which I gobbled up once home. The coughing continued unabated. Then I got piggish and also ate three bagels. And I was jiggy with it. I then ate some dark chocolate that dear reader Jeanne had given me whilst in New York. I then had a long conversation with our musical director and then around seven-thirty I finally got to sit down on the couch like so much fish.
Last night, I discovered that I’d TIVOd a bunch of stuff while I was away, so I decided to watch one of those TCM Private Screening things, this one a one-on-one with Jane Fonda. I must say, I enjoyed the show, which I didn’t think I would. Oh, it was all mostly surface stuff, but she was surprisingly candid and surprisingly charming and unaffected. Robert Osborne is, well, Robert Osborne, and the work he’s had done to his face makes him look embalmed. After that, I did some work on the computer and watched the trailer for Sweeney Todd, which I didn’t care for – not because it looked bad or good, but because I hate the style of movie trailers today and I think they make every film look and sound exactly the same and they bore me to tears (and actually most of the films themselves bore me to tears, too).
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, whilst I begin my new novel, Blown Gaskets, a story of rural love and inbreeding in the Deep South.
Today, I must arise at a reasonable hour, do an annoying errand, and then toddle off to rehearsal, where we’ll hopefully have five of our eight ensemble members. Adam will finish staging our opening number, and then he’ll rough out the Bruce Vilanch number. Then Adam leaves town, but his assistant will finish up.
After rehearsal, I’ll probably have a meal, because at five we have what I’m sure will be a long meeting, given the fact that our publicist will be here and he never shuts up. But, he’s going to have to understand that the thrust of the meeting doesn’t really involve him – it’s organizational and we’ve got to buckle down Winsocki and get a lot of work done over the next four weeks if we’re to sell over 1000 tickets.
Tomorrow, I’ll be going to the Hollywood Collector’s Show – a CD dealer will be there, and he’s got some stuff for me that he owes me, so that will give me some new listening adventures. There’s also quite an interesting group of celebs this time around, so I’ll say hey to a few friends and have some fun.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do an annoying errand, rehearse, sup, meet, and then maybe have the rest of the evening to relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, a wonderful two-fer from England, which includes a beautifully beautiful film themes album by Ernest Gold, along with the Herrmann/Hitchcock Phase Four album. Of course, I have several other CD incarnations of the latter, but the Gold has always been a favorite, and this is the first legit release of it, and it sounds great. Mr. Gold wrote some absolutely gorgeous film music, and many of the themes on this album conducted by him are amongst his best. DVD, next up is to be determined. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and today I shall endeavor to have no blown gaskets.