Well, dear readers, it is very late and I am very tired and therefore I shall write these here notes in a hurry so I can get my beauty sleep. My Beauty Sleep – that’s the title of my next novel. Speaking of my next novel, the first batch of copies are on their way to me, which will be followed shortly by the second batch of copies. Speaking of copies, I had a very busy day yesterday. I got up a little later than usual but only because I’d been up at five in the morning, unable to sleep. I went back to bed at five-thirty and slept until nine-thirty. I did a two-mile jog, then had a bunch of telephonic calls about the upcoming December gig. I’m now told we’ll be in the biggest space at New World Stages, their 499 seat theater. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to fill it, as long as we keep booking powerhouse names. Just yesterday, we got a tentative yes from Rosie O’Donnell, although all performers who are set are subject to schedule changes. I think I’ll reveal all the details come Monday. I did a few errands, then sat down and finished writing the liner notes for the new Kritzerland CD. I finished them, then went back and did some additions and fixes. I’ll read through it again today, and then send them off to the booklet designer. I have to do the credits page and then he’ll have everything. I’m going to try and announce the title in the next couple of weeks. After that, I got a call from Mr. Barry Pearl that he was going to be attending a show at a near-by theater, and since I was going to have to see the show at some point, I called one of the cast and she got me a seat. I met Barry and his ever-lovin’ Cindy at some frozen yogurt jernt in NoHo, and then we walked to the El Portal Theater to see Respect – The Girl Em-Powered Musical. It was in the same theater that Deceit played in and I hadn’t been in the small theater since then. Our very own Miss Alet Taylor is in the cast, so I knew that much of it would be excellent.
This production of this show is from the same team that brought us The Kid From Brooklyn – The Danny Kaye Musical, a show I was less than enamored of, much to the chagrin of the show’s writer/director, Peter J. Loewy with a box around it. I never understand this necessity to put a box around one’s name, especially in a Waiver theater, but that’s just me. I’ll keep it short and sweet – the show is a bit of an odd duck and its book, which isn’t really a book, is its weak link. The songs for the most part are really good choices, but the structure isn’t clear enough, but is probably fixable, that is if anyone cared to fix it. I’m sure the show will get fine reviews (the Times was mostly positive, with the same concerns about the book), because this is the sort of show the LA critics fawn over, at least they have in the past. Mr. Loewy’s work is much better than it was in The Kid From Brooklyn – here he has a decent choreographer and she keeps everything moving along in the numbers. The audience wasn’t really with the show until the end of the first act – very few numbers got anything but polite applause, but then Alet suddenly digs into It Must Be Him, and for the first time in the show, you can see what the show should be – she brings down the house because there’s a complete point of view for the song, and she wrings every laugh anyone could ever get out of it. It’s the high point of the show and sends the audience out to intermission on a definite high. The second act is much like the first – it ambles along pleasantly, but there are no real knock ’em dead highlights like Alet’s act one closer. Still, the audience seemed to have a good time, and the other three gals are very good. I’m not sure it’s going to reach quite the same audience as The Marvelous Wonderettes, which ran in the small El Portal space for over a year – that show was a simple, feel-good potpourri of songs and humor. This show has a little more on its mind, but it just doesn’t convey what that is in a very clear way. Tech credits are fine, save for the lighting, which I didn’t care for – too many dark spots on the stage with people completely out of light, plus those loud and annoying automatic gel change lights. The projections looked very good and were mostly well chosen.
After the show, we chatted with Alet, who really was terrific. Her father was in town for the show, so it was nice to see him again (we had dinner at Joe Allen about ten years ago), and we met a couple of other cast members, plus the understudy, the lovely Shari Jordan, who choreographed The Brain Tap in our original production. I then came home and sat on my couch like so much fish, eating some fresh fruit.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really do need my beauty sleep.
Today, I continue the arduous task of trying to set a music rehearsal. No one can meet on the same day – it’s really ridiculous. So, I may have to split this over two days, and even then it’s still nigh unto impossible. Well, we’ll do our best. I’ll also hone the liner notes, jog, and eat something amusing. Last night, I began watching Back To The Future, which I’ll finish later today.
Tomorrow, I shan’t do much of anything, because this upcoming week is going to be really busy and really stressful, so a nice day off will at least relax me.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, hone liner notes, and eat something amusing, as well as finish Back To The Future. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite fruits, and what do you do with them that’s special, other than eat them. Do you have some recipes for fruit, because I’m interested in hearing interesting things to do with fruit. Interesting Things To Do With Fruit – that’s the title of my next novel, a story of intrigue in the exotic wilds of Pago Pago.