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June 6, 2008:

HAPPY TALK

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I am put in mind of a Rodgers and Hammerstein song entitled Happy Talk, which is, of course, in the current revival of South Pacific. Because even though the annoyance I knew would be rearing its ugly little mother-loving head would be happening at some point has indeed happened I shall not dwell on such negative things and I shall, as always, try to make happy talk, keep talkin’ happy talk, talk about things you like to do. That’s the only way to get through the little annoying things that occasionally rise to bite you on the butt cheeks. Well, somehow I did manage to go an entire two weeks without it, so at least that’s good. But I’ll just keep talkin’ happy talk because I cannot dwell and/or deal on this until after Tuesday night’s reading. Then I’ll figure out what must be done, and hopefully all will be well at some point soon. Sorry to be so enigmatic, but it’s all too boring and there are many positive things to chatter about, and so, without further ado – happy talk. Yesterday, aside from the annoying annoyance (which happened very late in the day), was actually quite a busy and pleasant day. I got up early. That was pleasant. I then did some work on the computer, did a couple of errands, picked up eighteen copies of the Nudie Musical script and brought them home, played through the entire score of Nudie, then the musical I’m mentoring, did some other errands, ate some nice soup and rye bread for lunch, then began the arduously arduous task of highlighting each actor’s script, to make it easy to see where they speak. Obviously, the bigger the role the longer it takes, but I managed to get all nine principals’ scripts highlighted. I also got the very good news that Mr. Barry Pearl will be taking part in the reading – he’ll be terrific in the role of Eddie. All that took until about seven-thirty, at which point I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched another two episodes of The Outer Limits on DVD. The first episode was entitled It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork, written by series producer Joseph Stefano (he of the film of Psycho), and starring Mr. Scott Marlowe, Mr. Kent Smith, and Mr. Edward Asner. It was a terrific little show, incredibly well directed by Gerd Oswald (for those of you who may not be connecting the dots, he directed Screaming Mimi, as well as the first film version of Ira Levin’s A Kiss Before Dying – but he truly found his niche on this series). One must keep mentioning the wonderful music of Dominic Frontiere, because it’s such a key element of the series. I then watched an episode entitled The Invisibles, not quite as good as It Came From Out Of The Woodwork, but still pretty damn good. It was also written by Stefano and directed by Oswald. This time the guest stars were Don Gordon and the great George MacReady, as well as a supporting turn by Tony Mordente, he of West Side Story and one-time hubby to Miss Chita Rivera. He was wonderful in West Side Story, but his performance here wasn’t too hot. Ironically, I began another episode, and that episode, The Bellero Shield, has Miss Chita Rivera as guest star. Someone must have been a fan of West Side Story on Broadway. The transfers do vary from episode to episode – It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork was terrific-looking, The Invisibles, less so. The camerawork of Conrad Hall was unlike anything TV had seen.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so we can get to the next section where I’m quite certain the happy talk will continue. To not be able to do happy talk is to invite madness.

Today I shall hopefully not have to deal with the annoyance – if it continues to rear its ugly little mother-loving head I’m going to have to ignore it until next Wednesday. But hopefully the little band-aid that I put on it late last night will keep it in abeyance until then. At eleven, I have a music rehearsal with the gal who’s reading the ingĂ©nue in Nudie – we’ll go over her song and make sure the movie key works for her. Then I have some errands and whatnot to do, and I’ll start highlighting the ensemble’s scripts – those will take longer because I have to keep referencing a long list of who does what in each scene. At two, I have a band rehearsal for the charity event on Saturday. One of our gals booked a Cold Case part and won’t be there, but we’ll get through it all, and she’ll be at the sound check on Saturday. I’m anxious to hear what the band sounds like – I don’t think I know any of the players except our musical director. After that, I could go to see the evening performance of The Brain, but I’m just not sure I can endure the drive, especially with gas prices now at the $4.50 mark in even the cheapest station. I’m definitely going down for our closing performance. We’ll see how I feel after the band rehearsal.

Tomorrow, another busy day – highlighting scripts, sound check for the event, and then the event itself. And then Sunday, our final Brain show. All the while, I’ll be practicing the music for both readings.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a music rehearsal, have another music rehearsal, ship a package or two, and then decide if I’m taking the long drive – seems doubtful at the moment, but we shall see what we shall see. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, Jerry Fielding’s excellent score to The Nightcomers. DVD, more Outer Limits episodes, including several from the second season that I’ve never seen. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we keep talkin’ happy talk – and remember, you got to have a dream, if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make the dream come true?

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