Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry for she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early and also early and bright. So, I will dispense with all idle chatter and get right to the point. Of course, I have no idea what the point is because the point is always preceded by the idle chatter. You see the problem – without the idle chatter I cannot possibly know the point, and I cannot possibly know the point without the idle chatter. Speaking of idle chatter, which is, after all, the point, yesterday was a day with no idle chatter or point, but a reasonably nice day nonetheless. For example, I got up. That was reasonably nice. I then did some errands, answered some e-mails, and made some telephonic calls. I know there were other things, but that was basically it. At some point in the afternoon I toddled off to the Wood of Holly, visited a couple of stores and then had an early supper consisting of various and sundried foodstuffs. I then toddled off the the Blank Theater Company’s production of Michael John LaChiusa’s Little Fish.
The theater seats about sixty people, or at least that’s close. It was almost a full house, and sitting across the aisle was Mr. Jason Robert Brown and his lovely wife, Miss Georgia Stitt. A fellow sat down in front of me and turned around and chatted me up, saying he’d seen the benefit last week and loved it. Our second keyboard player from the fundraiser was also in the audience. I’ve seen several Michael John LaChiusa shows and I haven’t really warmed to them. Little Fish, for me, was the most accessible of the show I’ve seen, and it was a mere ninety minutes with no intermission. The story is slight, but it moves right along, and the cast was terrific, starting with the wonderful performance of Miss Alice Ripley. Chad Kimball was excellent, and Greg Jbara was really funny once he finally had something to do late in the show. Of course all three had graced our fundraiser with their bountiful talents. The rest of the cast was equally good, the direction kept things apace, and the audience seemed to enjoy it very much. After the show, I chatted with several people, then someone called my name and I realized it was my old Usenet rec.arts. theatre.musicals pal, Jeff Marx, he of Avenue Q. We had a nice talk and we’re going to try and have lunch soon. I saw Daniel Henning, who runs the Blank Theater, and I congratulated Alice, Chad, and Greg. It was a nice evening. They were all going out to eat and drink and invited me, but I was a bit all in, so I went home instead.
Just prior to writing these here notes, I managed to watch a motion picture on DVD entitled Help, starring The Beatles, Mr. Leo McKern, and Miss Eleanor Bron. I’ve always been fond of Help, and I’m still fond of it. I love the humor, the visuals, and the songs, and the script is quite witty. What I don’t like is the 5.1 remix (I don’t think they included the original mono track, but I didn’t look very hard). And even though it says that the film has been completely restored, I found the transfer wanting. The colors are fine, but it’s not sharp enough – it is nice to have it in its proper ratio, though.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can end the idle chatter and find the point.
Today, I’ll be packaging up a few more orders, then taking them to the postal office. I’ve decided to something bold and interesting for lunch, and then I’ll be seeing the matinee of the new LACC production of Recent Tragic Events, a show I know nothing about. And then I’m coming home to watch Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and La Vie En Rose.
Tomorrow I’ll be watching Ocean’s 13 and the extras on the Help DVD and perhaps drive about in my clean as a whistle motor car.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, package, ship, see a matinee, do something bold for luncheon, and then watch DVDs. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite Beatles songs, and what are your all-time favorite cover versions of Beatles songs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, which is, after all the point of all this idle chatter.