Well, dear readers, I would seriously like this week to slow the HELL down – there’s too much to do and these days are flying by, like a gazelle in a rubber suit. Why, just yesterday I found myself standing in the middle of the room, not going left, not going right, and screaming “I would seriously like this week to slow the HELL down.” But does the week listen? Nooooo, the week just does whatever the HELL it damn well pleases, that’s what the week does. I said to the week, “If you don’t slow the HELL down you’ll feel the back of my boot up your bum.” My goodness, that was British of me, wasn’t it? You’ll feel the back of my boot up your bum. What’s next, some bubble and squeak? Has it occurred to anyone that I have no clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about? It’s certainly occurred to me. Speaking of bubble and squeak, yesterday was an odd day all around, but not a bad one. No real annoyances to speak of – well, maybe one or two, but they weren’t too bothersome. I spent most of the day making an order for the show. It took a really long time to get even a perfunctory order, and once I did I could see that things were wrong with it, so I flip-flopped a few things and that helped, and I’m still going to be doing that over the next few days. I think some of it works well, at least it looks like it will on paper. One just wants to structure the evening so that it all keeps moving forward and building, yet with some ebbs and flows and also some flows and ebbs and also some kinder and ebbs. You can’t have too many ballads in a row or too many ups in a row and I’m trying to keep the Menken/Schwartz stuff evenly spread, and also keep the boy/girl stuff evenly spread. It’s a real puzzle, but the pieces are falling into place, slowly but surely and also surely but slowly. My stomach continues to feel weird and I’m really tired of it. I do think some of it is attributable to stress, though, so when this is all done, maybe I can just take a week off and do nothing at all. Also, I’m doing what I always do at this time of year, which is trying to figure out what my next book will be. I have several ideas floating around the windmills of my mind. At the end of the day I made some wacky noodles and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Executive Action, starring Mr. Burt Lancaster and Mr. Robert Ryan (his final film). I saw the film when it first came out and enjoyed it then. It really was, I think, the first fiction film to openly deal with a theory about who killed President Kennedy. Obviously made many years before Oliver Stone’s JFK, it’s still a plausible film in many ways. It’s not masterpiece, but it’s well made and the leading players are great – hard to beat Lancaster and Ryan. The transfer perfectly replicates what the film looked like in the theater and I’m happy to report that the color is perfect. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, Mr. Terrence Malick’s Days Of Heaven, from Criterion. I run hot and cold on Mr. Malick – I love Badlands, but don’t love The Thin Red Line and couldn’t get through The New World. I’m in the middle about Days of Heaven. It’s visually beautiful, but the story is paper thin and so I tend to get restless with all the visual beauty. I also don’t care for Richard Gere, but Brooke Adams and Sam Shepard are very good, and Linda Manz is also very good. The Morricone score is fantastic (with a little help from Saint-Saens’ Carnival Of The Animals). I’ve never been one of these Nestor Almendros fanatics – I think he’s a very good cameraman, but his style and lighting are not my favorites. The transfer could be sharper, but it’s very good and I’m sure Criterion did all they could with what they were given by Paramount. The mid-70s were not a wonderful time for prints and internegatives, especially those processed by MGM (Paramount used MGM a lot during this period, and that included The First Nudie Musical).
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? What we need is a little bubble and squeak, frankly. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below and for those who don’t, you’ll feel the back of my boot up your bum.
Today will be quite the busy day and evening. I have a lot of errands to take care of in the morning, then I’m lunching with Mr. Barry Pearl, and then I have rehearsals with Chad Kimball, Sara Rue, Rex Smith, Zane Huett, and possibly Jennifer Leigh Warren. If that’s not fun, what is? Oh, and if any of you sheet music people happen to have Lost In The Wilderness from Children Of Eden, drop me an e-mail asap.
After rehearsals, I’ll be toddling over to the Pantages to see Wicked – our very own Miss Julie Reiber is on as Elphaba. I’m excited to finally see the show, which I haven’t seen since the second reading (the cast at that reading included Kristin Chenoweth, Stephanie Block (now on B’way, I think), Lenny Wolpe (ditto), and David Burnham.
Tomorrow will be equally busy, with an afternoon-full of rehearsal and then a rehearsal with Zane and the ensemble, to block him into the opening number.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do errands and whatnot, lunch, rehearse, and see a show. Today’s topic of discussion: Those who’ve read Kritzer Time know where I was when President Kennedy was shot – for those who were alive back then, where were you, what were you doing, and what happened where you were when the news was announced. And did you buy the Lee Harvey Oswald did it alone theory, or did you buy one of the many other theories and, if so, which, and what made you change your mind if you once believed it was Oswald alone and now believe it wasn’t? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all eat a proper English breakfast of bubble and squeak (I think that’s a proper English breakfast).