Well, dear readers, this week has flown by, like a gazelle singing an Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz song. In two days we’ll be one week away from the show, and that frightens me, excites me, and gives me a rash. There are so many things that should have been handled months ago that are just being handled now – no one to really point fingers at, it’s just because in reality there are only three people really working on the show, with a couple of people devoting whatever time they have. All along, I have been a little weirded out by the fact that no alums stepped up to the plate to help and the fact is, as far as I can see, very few have actually booked tickets to the event. I know the game, unfortunately. Because the organization has basically been dormant for so many years, people aren’t used to getting this many e-mails and I’m not sure they even believe what’s going on, or that they care. I know what will eventually happen – if my plan works out and we really turn this into something and we have our seminars and master classes and stuff early next year, as soon as we’re happening and hip, they’ll all suddenly say, “Oh, yeah, I want to come to these for ten bucks.” I don’t know how I’ll feel about that, however. We’re doing it for them, and this lack of support is really wacky to me. Perhaps they’re all waiting until the last minute. Thank goodness we’re now over 500 reservations and that number seems to be climbing every day. If the alums would step up to the plate, we’d sell out. Here’s hoping they will. All we can do is mush on and do the best show and silent auction we can. We now have about twenty really wonderful auction items, but we need more, so anyone who has anything they’d like to donate are encouraged to do so. End of blatant advert. Speaking of blatant advert, yesterday was a pretty nice day when all was said and done. For example, I got up. That was pretty nice. In fact, I slept until ten, which was more than pretty nice. I then had to hustle to catch up, which I did. I answered e-mails, made telephonic calls and did errands. By the time I was finished, it was rehearsal time. First up was the divoon Valarie Pettiford. We ran her song, the title song from Weird Romance, which she performed in the original production. In that production, the title song is a duet, and she asked if she could do it that way, and I said sure, as long as she knew someone who could do it. She called a friend of hers, he was available, and so we have added Mr. Raymond Del Barrio to our cast of players. He’s a choreographer/performer, who recently did Chita Rivera’s latest show. After Valarie, Mr. Kevin Spirtas arrived and we went over his solo. Then fellow Days Of Our Lives actor Matt Ashford arrived and we rehearsed their duet, which is really fun. After that, I had to toddle over to the rehearsal studio to block in Zane Huett to the opening number. I worked with him for thirty minutes on his solo section which precedes the ensembles’ entrance, and he picked it all up very fast – he’s just adorable and I think the audience will adore him. Then the ensemble arrived, we went over the second half of the number, I gave Zane some stuff to do in it, and then we ran it about seven times in a row and everyone seems to at least have a handle on it, and I think we’ll get through it fine. It’s a fun way to open the show, and we’ll hope for the best that everyone remembers what they’re doing, as we only really get one more shot at it before the show, and it’s a brief shot at that. After that, I grabbed a bite to eat, then went home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Breathless, un film de Jean-Luc Godard. I don’t enjoy all films of the Nouvelle Vague, but I do really enjoy Breathless, which has retained its freshness and audacity despite being an extremely influential film that has been ripped off countless times. Jean-Paul Belmondo is wonderful, and Jean Seberg is so beautiful that it takes the breath away (yes, I was Breathless). Fellow film director Jean-Pierre Melville makes a cameo appearance, and the entire film just revels in the fact that it’s a film. It’s playful, exhilarating, and a good deal of fun to watch. The new transfer, supervised by cameraman Raoul Coutard, is great – Mr. Coutard, along with Henri Decae, is my favorite French cameraman. I haven’t watched any of the extras, but I will be.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because I must soon be on my way to the bedroom environment and sleepful sleep.
Today, I’ll be riding herd over everyone, making sure we’re all on the same page and that everything is getting done. I may even try to have a meeting about it all, just to really nail down what needs to be done and the order in which it needs to be done. The more organized everyone is, the better.
Tomorrow, I may try to not do too much, as it’s the last day I’ll have to relax until after the show. This next week is going to be intensely intense, and we’ll all be working from morning until evening every day, dealing with everything that needs dealing with. Now, who among the hainsies/kimlets are coming in? Laura? Kerry? MusicGuy? Have tickets been booked?
I gotta tell you. Breathless is what I’ve been feeling all week, in terms of very little breath – every time I take a deep breath I launch into a fit of coughing or, to put it another way, a coughing fit. I wonder if all these little ailments will just disappear on November 6th? We’ve set my book signing for December 8th at 2:00, too, for anyone who’d like to attend. I’m still hoping books will arrive this week, but I haven’t been notified as to their having been shipped, which doesn’t necessarily mean that they haven’t been shipped. All packages will have been addressed and the special something that the folks who preordered will get is waiting and ready and I think people will like what it is. So, if you haven’t ordered (and there are many who haven’t), what in tarnation are you waiting for?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, make lists, organize and perhaps have a meeting, as well as perhaps cook something for dinner, which I haven’t done in ages. Today’s topic of discussion: What do you think are the most influential films ever made – the ones that in your opinion changed the way you looked at film, the ones that were copied endlessly and which opened up the language of film? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, because I’m breathless and so very tired of clearing my throat, feeling phlegmy, and coughing like an insane person.