Well, dear readers, this week is already flying by like a gazelle in a dance belt. We’re all working overtime trying to get everything in order for our show. We’re still trying to get the word out as much as possible, and in one particular case we’re certainly not being helped by a former dear reader who has yanked two threads about the show off his theater message board. I’ve written several e-mails about it, said e-mails have been read, and there has been no response to any of them. And I have to say, that irks me, oh, yes, that irks me. I’ll have more to say about this should the non-responses continue with my latest missive. I think with the addition of our latest performer, the dynamic Valarie Pettiford, that we are, at long last, through casting the show. I believe we now have twenty-four performers plus our eight-member ensemble, and that we’re doing a total of twenty-seven numbers. Speaking of twenty-seven numbers, I had a very busy day yesterday, but a productive one for sure. For example, I got up. That was productive. I had to answer a bunch of e-mails and make a bunch of telephonic calls, and then I had to toddle over to LACC to do an interview with the school paper. That went very well, then I had to hie myself home to make some more telephonic calls, and then rehearse with Mr. Kevin Earley. I’ve never worked with Mr. Earley before, but he’s a really nice guy, and what a voice he’s got. I’m probably going to end act one with his number. After that, I had a nice meeting with our stage manager, and now that he’s with us full time, it’s going to relieve a lot of burden from me and others, as he’ll now be scheduling and dealing with the performers. I must say, I couldn’t have better people working on this event. A few months ago, I went to a meeting for that other event, and I came away feeling that gosh, they had fifteen people, each one working like crazy to arrange their particular part of things, and I think I told our couple of folks that I was impressed with all that manpower and seeming organization. After attending the event, however, I’m so happy with our handful of people because, for us, this is personal and we’re not about clapping ourselves on the back and saying how great we are, we’re about doing the best we can do under tremendous odds – and I’ll take that any day of the week. So, having Miss Adriana Patti and Mr. Cason Murphy and Miss Joanna Erdos working wonders every day is so gratifying and if any of this works, it’s due to them. And our publicist, as long-winded as he is, has really done his job with this show and has gotten us great ad deals and a lot of attention. Now we just have to sell a lot more tickets. As I said, my goal by next Monday is to sell 300 more tickets, and an additional 300 by show time. We’re up to about 430 now, which isn’t bad two weeks before the show – especially in LA. After the meeting, I began really preliminary work on the structure of the evening. I spoke to Cindy Williams, who’s introducing the show, and I’ll be writing her some copy, which she’ll then make her own. It will be short and sweet and, I’m sure, funny. May I just take a moment and say that at 11:55 in the p.m. my neighbors to the north are using an electric saw and making a LOT of noise. If it continues much longer, I think I’ll be speaking to them about it. Where was I? It’s so hard to concentrate when the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is going on whilst I’m trying to write these here notes. Oh, yes, I finally 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 Hangover Square, a John Brahm film, starring Mr. Laird Cregar, Mr. George Sanders, and Miss Linda Darnell. I love this film. It is Mr. Brahm’s finest hour, and that’s saying something. The direction is amazing – fluid shots that are breathtaking in their complexity, and a completely musical feel to the entire film, whose leading character is a composer (and crazy person – but only when he hears loud noises). The film runs an incredibly tight seventy-seven minutes and every frame of it works. Mr. Cregar, as I said yesterday, was a completely unique screen presence, and his performance as the tortured composer is brilliant. Miss Darnell (who I think was about nineteen) is beautiful, and Mr. Sanders is excellent. One of the key components of the film is Bernard Herrmann’s phenomenal score, which includes a piano concerto written by the leading character. The concerto ends the film in a totally bravura melding of music and image and acting. The transfer, for the most part, looks excellent, and that score sounds amazing. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Mary Poppins. I’d wanted to watch it again, after having seen the stage show. It’s really a delightfully delightful film, although at two hours and sixteen minutes it’s way too long. The Sherman Brothers’ songs are wonderful, as are Miss Andrews, Mr. Van Dyke, the kids, Miss Glynis Johns and the rest of the large cast. There was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the latest special edition DVD – the Disney Enhanced 5.1 mix came in for a lot of well-deserved criticism and it is practically unlistenable. In the US, the only other option was a 2.0 mix-down of the enhanced mix. But on the Australian DVD the original audio was present, and that’s what I got – and that sound is excellent. But, I must say I find the image very disappointing, and very few people have mentioned it. It’s too dark, it’s muddy looking, and worst of all, while the aspect ratio is correct, it’s framed too high, which causes heads to be lopped off (and believe me, I know the difference between intentional shots, and when the film is framed incorrectly). It’s very much like the Back To The Future II situation, only there the outcry was long and loud and they recalled the title, fixed the framing, and sent replacement discs. As I said, no one has really talked about the Mary Poppins framing, but, for me, it’s just as obvious as the Back To The Future II problems. I find this transfer (which is very clean) a major disappointment.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because the chainsaw is still buzzing and I’m getting ready to go out there and throttle someone.
I gotta tell you, if they don’t stop, it’s going to be the Studio City Chainsaw Massacre, and you dear readers will be the first to hear about it.
Today, it’s more of the same. I do an phone interview at eleven, and then I’m spending the rest of the day gathering music and working on the show structure and preparing a couple of new eBlasts.
Do any of you have the sheet music to All For The Best from Godspell? I think I’ve gone about as far as I can go asking my usual guy for stuff, as he’s provided so much for free and he’s been getting a little tired of it, I think. If you do, just drop me a line about it.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a phoner, do errands and whatnot and work my tired butt off. Today’s topic of discussion: We’ve done this topic before, ages ago, but we have so many new dear readers I thought we’d do it again – what was your most prized possession as a child and do you still have it, and if you don’t have you ever tried to replace it? Was it a doll, a toy, a record, or something else? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I go do a short scene from the Studio City Chainsaw Massacre.