Well, dear readers, here we are, the final day of 2007. This year has flown by like a gazelle in a footbath. I swear, it seems like I was just writing that it was about to be 2007 and now here I am writing that it is just about to be 2008. Picking up where I left off – luckily up WAS where I left off. It gets confusing because last time I picked off where I left up. What the HELL am I talking about? In any case, I’ve spoken about my first half of the year, but left out directing and creating Joan Ryan’s one-woman show, which took a long time but ultimately came out well. And I left out the really fun experience of producing The Brain From Planet X cast album, along with supervising the tracking date for a Lynda Carter album. July, August, September were taken up with the NYMF production of The Brain. I wrote about that experience extensively in the notes, but I’ll just say again that it was one of the most maddening experiences I’ve ever had. Casting several of the roles proved to be daunting but we came out with a wonderful company of players. However, I will never and I do mean never do a show under the EQUITY Showcase Contract. It allows actors unbelievable freedom to do whatever they damn well feel like doing. I know they don’t get paid a lot, and I know I don’t really understand this generation of actors and I know that EQUITY is a union that delights in making nothing easy, but when I was an actor if I committed to a show, that was it. I was there, ready to work, and gave everything I had. The fact that under this contract the actors can leave to do anything they like at any time (mostly other auditions) is beyond belief. And we had a couple of actors who literally missed at least a couple of hours of every rehearsal. You can’t say boo about it, either. It’s unfair to their fellow actors, it’s unfair to the show, and, as I said, never again. To not have a leading player three days before you open is so wacky to me, but what do I know. Of course, it was great to be able to bring Cason, BJ, and Alet from the LA company – they missed no rehearsals that were required of them. Also, I had a wonderful musical director in Larry Goldberg. And hearing elmore’s grand orchestrations again, played by our expert band was very exciting. The NYMF way of doing things is also something I don’t think I’d ever need to repeat. The favoritism, the problems with all things technical, the attitudes – totally frustrating. There is one fellow at the top who was always gracious, always responded, and tried to deal with our various emergencies, but the hands on people were not hands on, which is why we had endless sound problems, lighting problems and every other kind of problem. The design of the show was my biggest disappointment – it all has to do with the fact that you’re sharing a space with five other shows, you have really limited storage space for your set, and limited money for set and lighting people. I used talented people, but their minds were elsewhere on other jobs, and several key people were not even in attendance for our load in and tech. I had wonderful experiences working with the cast, and I’d work with several of them again. And I loved our choreographer and all our dancer/singers. It was interesting being away from home for almost eight weeks, but I had so many wonderful get-togethers with our New York contingent (especially elmore and Jose, FJL, and Skip, who I saw quite a bit of), and having so many hainsies/kimlets there for the show was a real treat.
The entire time I was there, I had to keep tabs on what was happening in LA for our fundraiser, and poor Miss Adriana Patti was basically dealing with everything by herself. When I returned from New York, I had to dive into the fundraiser without even a day off. At that point we had about eight people cast and a like number of songs chosen, and only four weeks to show time. By the end of that week, I had about eighteen people, and got the rest by the week after. Material was chosen, rehearsed, arranged, and, when needed, orchestrated. Also during that time I had to rehearse The Party Animals for two gigs. Our Brain choreographer flew in to stage the opening number. Cason, Miss Patti, Miss Joanna Erdos, and I had to do so much work for the show and the silent auction that I didn’t know if we’d ever get it done in time. The show, of course, went beautifully, and it was great to have Mr. Menken and Mr. Schwartz both attend. I couldn’t have asked for a better or more talented group of stars, and I think they all had a great time, and they all said they’d come back and do it again, which was music to my earballs. The rest of the year was taken up with meetings about upcoming 2008 projects, and also the news that The Brain From Planet X would be part of the LA Festival Of New Musicals, and that I’d once again be directing it. Also, Murder At Hollywood High came out and I was grateful that people seemed to like it. I also began planning a new novel, and continued mentoring the musical I’m mentoring.
All in all, 2007 was a year of lots of work for not a lot of reward, but the work was really fun and, as you all know, the year flew by, like a gazelle doing the Hustle. In many ways, the year was maddening and frustrating and there were a few times I really felt like pulling a Jonathan Goldman from my book Rewind. But, somehow you go on. Also, Miss Adriana Patti and her mother took it upon themselves to throw me a huge birthday bash, which turned out to be my best birthday ever. I met some wonderful people during the year, and, of course, this here site continued to be the fun, positive, life-affirming place that it’s become. I lost a few friends in 2007, which is never pleasant.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below as we begin to wish a fond farewell to 2007 and we get ready to welcome in 2008 with open arms, a smile, and excellent vibes and xylophones.
I do pray that everyone here, all of our beautiful hainsies/kimlets and even my very own self has a bountiful, beautiful, creative, successful, healthy, wealthy, and happy 2008. And I’m not kidding.
Have I talked about yesterday? I don’t think I’ve talked about yesterday. Actually, there isn’t much to say about yesterday, other than I didn’t do very much, other than a couple of errands. I did manage to watch two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled The Devil’s Daughter, a TV movie from 1972, I think, starring Shelley Winters, Belinda Montgomery, Joseph Cotton, and Robert Foxworth. I’m very partial to these 70s TV movies – this isn’t one of the best, but it was still fun, and it had a terrific musical score by Laurence Rosenthal. This is a public domain DVD and the transfer is off a somewhat splicy 16mm print. Had I only known that one could do that, Kritzerland would be releasing many of these as I had 16mm prints of almost every TV movie I loved. I then watched a motion picture entitled Fail Safe, directed by Sidney Lumet, and starring Henry Fonda, Fritz Weaver, Larry Hagman, Frank Overton, Walter Matthau, and a whole slew of great character actors. Fail Safe is the straight version of Dr. Strangelove, which had the misfortune of coming out after that comic delight. But Fail Safe is a great movie, taut, tense, suspenseful as all get out, no punches pulled, with great performances and not a note of music in the entire film. The transfer is very good and I never tire of the film.
Today, I shall do a few little things, have an early supper, and then begins our Rockin’ New Year’s Eve partay, the most fun and safest New Year partay on or off the Internet. I do hope that many of you hainsies/kimlets will be with us to ring in the New Year. The real New Year will occur at midnight California time, but for those who cannot stay awake, we’ll also celebrate at midnight East Coast time, too. What fun we shall all have, and I’ve got a LOT of Diet Coke here, and even a bottle of Champagne, which I may or may not open. As most of you know, I spend most of New Year’s Eve contemplating what I’d like to accomplish in the coming year, what parts of me I can improve, what parts of me I can make more tolerant, and mostly trying to figure out how to let being positive rule my life. I know there are things I need to fix and by gum and by golly and buy bonds, I’m determined to fix them. I’m quite serious about the contemplating and it gets pretty intense, but it’s a tradition and something that I find very helpful. But, I’ll be posting and posting and posting, and I hope you will be, too.
And tomorrow – tomorrow we begin a brand spanking New Year and I’m hoping to begin my new novel right then and there.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a few little things, eat an early supper, and then post and contemplate and have a Rockin’ New Year’s Eve with all my beloved hainsies/kimlets and even our lurkers. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your favorite things that happened to you this year? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we ready ourselves to bid a fond farewell to 2007 and a big, beautiful hello to 2008.