Well, dear readers, I feel like The Hunchback Of haineshisway.com. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, feel like The Hunchback of haineshisway.com. The reason for this is simple: I’ve been either sitting at the computer, sitting at the piano, or sitting proofing the galley and it has played havoc with my back and said back is so tired and achy that I cannot stand up straight and I don’t stand up all that straight to begin with. So, right now I’m the Quasimodo of Studio City – and I’m jiggy with that. Speaking of jiggy, I must write these here notes in a hurry, since she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon and also soon too all. So, cutting directly to the chase, yesterday was a non-stop day that flew by, like a gazelle shaving its legs. I got up early, got my annoying errand out of the way quickly, and then came back home and began proofing the galley. I also did more Nudie work at both computer and piano, and finalized another casting coup for the Nudie reading, this time the divoon Sharon McNight, who’ll be reading the role of Eunice, and she’s agreed to learn the song and sing it and what a treat THAT will be. Someone came by and painted the part of the wall that had been patched. I made several important telephonic calls, and took possession of 500 Skinner/Ripley CDs. And I’m happy to report that the potentially annoying things that might have been, weren’t. I then did more errands, then stopped by Marie Callender’s – hadn’t been to the Burbank location in ages, and I wanted to sit quietly and work on the end of act one. I had a new dish they have – a chili size and boy was it tasty. I also had a small salad. I completely revised all the stage business at the end of act one, substituting other things for the film’s camera crane, and I think it came out very well, and it will be a really fun sequence to stage. I also figured out which ensemble members will be reading the many roles they have to play. I still have one role to cast – I have no ideas for it, either, but will really put my thinking cap on today and tomorrow. No matter what the result, I think the reading is really going to be fun. I then came home, proofed even more chapters, found a couple of horrifying errors, and then typed in all the Nudie changes to the end of act one. After all that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching a motion picture I TIVOd entitled The Garment Jungle, starring Mr. Lee J. Cobb, Mr. Kerwin Matthews, Miss Gia Scala, Mr. Richard Boone, and a host of wonderful character people like Adam Williams and Robert Ellenstein (who two years later would appear together in the classic North By Northwest), Harold J. Stone, Joseph Wiseman, Robert Loggia, Wesley Addy and more. I’d never heard of the film before – it was made by Columbia and the director was Vincent Sherman. I was really taken by the gritty location photography and there were some really striking directorial choices and angles, none of which resembled even remotely the work of Mr. Sherman. There were, to be sure, interior sequences that were more like what Mr. Sherman’s usual work. So, I did a little research and sure enough, all was not what it seemed. The film originally had another director, who was fired three days before he completed the film. That was the great Robert Aldrich, and it makes perfect sense, since the exterior scenes reek of his kind of mise-en-scene. Mr. Sherman shot the final three days, then did eleven days of reshoots, but Mr. Aldrich still has about sixty percent of his work in the film. In any case, I really enjoyed it – terrific acting (especially Boone) except for Kerwin Matthews, who was much better as Sinbad than a gritty drama. The film had a good score by Leith Stevens.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because frankly I cannot sit here too much longer, or I truly will be The Hunchback of haineshisway.com.
Today, I have a noon rehearsal with the gals who are doing the charity event, then I’ll be heading directly to the book fair in Pasadena, to hang out and visit with my dealer pals. From there, I’ll mosey on down to the Heim of Ana, have a nice, leisurely meal, and then see The Brain From Planet X.
Tomorrow, I will finish proofing then try to get over to Mr. Geissman’s to enter final corrections, double check those pages, and lock it up so it can be sent to Ye Olde Publisher this week. I’m sending the book out for blurbs on Monday.
This upcoming week will be very busy, finalizing the Nudie changes and printing scripts, having a couple of rehearsals with the people who’ll be singing their material, a band rehearsal for the charity event, the charity event itself, and I’m sure I’ll be seeing The Brain on Friday and Sunday, Sunday being our closing performance. We were originally going to run a week longer but our leading lady has other commitments and I didn’t feel like trying to find someone to replace her. They were talking about us doing one final performance on the 15th, but since I haven’t heard anything about it, I doubt it’s happening – plus Mr. Rothman probably wouldn’t want to hang around an extra week for just one performance.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a rehearsal, go to a book fair, and see The Brain From Planet X. Today’s topic of discussion: Who amongst us has their own personal cure alls for things like headaches, backaches, and other aches and pains – those things you know how to do that relieve pressure or pain without aid of pills and such. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I get my beauty sleep and hope that tomorrow I shall no longer be The Hunchback of haineshisway.com.