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November 3, 2007:

WHAT, ME WORRY?

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, we’re just two short days away from the fundraiser and I, for one, say “What me, worry?” Right now we’re hovering around half-a-house, which isn’t bad, but I’m sure hoping we get a surge in ticket sales these next two days (and day of show). As I’ve said, people in LA are the worst about booking tickets in advance, and I suspect some are waiting until the last possible second, something I just will never understand. In any case, I must write these here notes in a hurry because she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early, and I’ve got a lot to do. Speaking of a lot to do, yesterday I had a lot to do and by gum and by golly and buy bonds I did it – without complaint. Normally, I like to do things WITH complaint, but yesterday there was no time. Why, I didn’t even complain when I got an updated and better floor plan for the theater and had to redo all the work I’d done the night before. No, I said, “What, me worry?” and I buckled down Winsocki and did it. I then had to get it all Xeroxed, then I had to put act two in the right order in four scripts, and when that was all done, Miss Kim Huber arrived to rehearse her song – which will be wonderful. While I won’t say what song it is, I will say there is a slight, very slight chance that she’ll be accompanied by Mr. Stephen Schwartz himself. It depends on his schedule on Monday. We shall see. After rehearsal, I did some stuff around the home environment and then toddled off to the first of our two band/singer rehearsals. We knew it was going to be a tight day, with one singer scheduled every ten minutes for three hours, but we got through it because it was built in such a way that there were two blocks of time where I knew we’d catch up if we were behind, and that’s exactly what happened. Some of the charts were a breeze, some were more difficult, but the band is great (we didn’t have two of our players, but they’ll be with us on Sunday and we have a block of time for them to go over the difficult charts from yesterday. I gave everyone their entrance and exit diagrams and discussed movement and positions with them. But, what a joy – just one brilliant singer after another and even though we weren’t going in any kind of order, one could tell it’s going to be a very varied and eclectic program. Here’s one funny thing we discovered – when I did my Stephen Schwartz album, because I’d recorded Meadowlark with Liz Callaway, I really wanted to do something different for the Susan Egan version. So, I came up with a radical idea – slowing down the first verse which, at that point, had never been done before. I wrote an opening piano part for our arrangement and it came out splendidly. Since I only had our chart, and we wanted to do it in the show key (Susan sang is a step lower), a helpful hainsie/kimlet sent me the show chart. I believe this particular chart was from the Papermill production, because lo and behold, it was MY arrangement, right down to the piano intro I created. Isn’t that funny? Anyway, this afternoon was the first time in weeks when I just sat and relaxed and had sheer pleasure for three hours. What a cast we have! After rehearsal, I came home and made some pasta, did some work on our silent auction, and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched a motion picture on a home-grown DVD that MBarnum sent me – The Cat Burglar, an ultra low-budget affair from 1961, starring Barnum favorite, June Kenney. I couldn’t figure out where in LA it was shot, save for the corner of Waring and Seward, where there was, I believe, a little film studio that was used for the warehouse sequence at the end. It wasn’t a very good film, but it gained some notoriety because Quentin Tarantino likes its director, William Witney. It IS short, and that’s a good thing. MBarnum also sent me a few other goodies, which I’m looking forward to viewing.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must abed for she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon.

Today, my main work is to create a lighting script, which will have all the cues I want, plus suggested “looks.” That will take quite some time. I will also be visiting my hairdresser Teddy for some highlights and a haircut. And this evening, I may just go to this little event for the Los Angeles Festival Of New Musicals, if I’m feeling up to it.

Tomorrow is part two of our band/singer rehearsals, and we’ll have the entire band, which will be lots of fun. And then, tomorrow night I hope to not do too much, so I can gird my loins or, at the very least, loin my girds, for the intensity of Monday. What, me worry?

Monday, of course, will be intensely intense, but I’ll try to keep everything even-keeled and going smoothly. We have a projector coming in the morning, and Cason will be running the PowerPoint for the show, so I feel comfortable with that. Our stage manager has his work cut out for him – keeping everyone’s mic numbers straight, making sure the audio guy knows who’s on what mic, making sure he knows when our helpers have to set mic stands during the show, and all that jazz. What, him worry?

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, create a lighting script, get blonde and coifed, and perhaps attend an event. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite flop TV shows – the ones you thought were great but that didn’t last more than a season, if that? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I continue my mantra – what, me worry?

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