Well, dear readers, another Tony Awards Do is Done and we have yet another top-ten posting day for the record books. What a swell party it was, too, with the usual sorts of postings – happy, cynical, annoyed, bitchy, ranting – in other words, business as usual here at haineshisway.com. For me, all I can say is I wish they would put this show back in a Broadway theater, get rid of the screaming teenage fans they load the theater with, and make it the classy event it used to be. This show never got and never will get winning ratings, so just do the damn thing the way it should be done. But, as always, the boards are filled with people shouting to the high heavens that it was the best broadcast in years. Of course, these same people say that every year, no matter how bad the show. This year’s show wasn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, but technically it was a total shambles and they really need to get a team in there who knows what they’re doing. There is no excuse for the sound problems they had – ridiculous. This is not some low-budget affair – this is a multi-million dollar affair and just get people who know what they’re doing and can do the job that need be done. They’ve just become so intent on making the Tonys look and sound like every other award show and, for me, it’s sucked the energy and life out of what used to be a really fun evening. Showing the three road tour numbers was a total miscalculation, especially Mamma Mia, which was embarrassingly bad – was Dancing Queen always in the cellar, key-wise? The opening number was tepid and ill thought out – it could have been okay, I suppose, but it just wasn’t put together interestingly, and the technical problems, including Brett Michaels getting hit on the head by the set, were ridiculous. Also, it’s the shows and their casts that are performing on Broadway eight times a week, not Dolly Parton, Elton John, and Brett Michaels. Neil Patrick Harris was fine as host, and there were, as always, some very touching and nice moments. The only real surprise for me was Marcia Gay Harden’s win – I really thought Miss Fonda, with all her blogging and Twittering (Miss Fonda does know how to work the room) would get her the win (I’ve heard she’s terrific in the play). I was especially happy for the wins of Gregory Jbara and Alice Ripley, two friends with whom I’ve worked many times. Jbara has been on quite a few of my albums and, of course, Alice and I have done the two Duets albums, the Live At Town Hall album, plus she’s done a ton of tracks on various other albums, including the sublime duet with Guy Haines, Here You Come Again. Both of them were kind enough to appear in my Two’s Company benefit, too. Bravo to both of them. Highlights were several acceptance speeches and a few audience shots. Lowlights were Mamma Mia, and most of the musical number presentations, which did not show off the respective shows very well, at least not from where I sat. Oh, and wasn’t it wonderful when a show used to win and ONE producer, maybe two went up to accept. Now forty producers go up, and therein lies everything that’s wrong with theater today.
Otherwise, yesterday was a nice, relaxing day. Because the workers were off, I actually slept over eight hours. I did do the long jog, and then I finally got some foodstuffs, all of them horrid-tasting and I am now (even though I’ve said it before) officially through with Gelson’s as a source of meals (unless just for something that I’ll cook). The quality has just gone so downhill it’s disgusting. I finally made some buttered popcorn and that, at least, was tasty. I picked up all the Nudie Musical scripts and sheet music and have them ready to hand out. And I found out that we cannot go live with the new site tomorrow because the webgal is not available (what else is new), so it looks like first thing Tuesday morning will be the switchover. Do keep in mind that you’ll probably have to clear your cache if you’ve been to the site recently.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because tomorrow is going to be a very long and involved day, so I need to get my beauty sleep.
Today will be a long and involved day. I’ll get up early, do my morning ablutions, and then get the paypal glitch fixed no matter what. Orders are going through fine, but for whatever reason, the confirmations are not being forwarded to the e-mail address they’re usually forwarded to, and we need to make sure they are. The first test order we did Friday night worked fine and went where it was supposed to. An order from the old site went where it was supposed to on Saturday. But when we did a test order on Saturday from the new site, it went to another address, and that’s what we don’t understand and what must be fixed before we go live. Then I will toddle off to the first of two music rehearsals for Nudie Musical, which begin with Ted Detwiler and Michael Irish doing their number (from the first Harry and John scene – a new song for the show, and one I’m very fond of), then Michael leaves, and Ted does all his other songs (he’s in about eight numbers). Then we go on with various cast members from there. I think wrap at five, and then I’m going to have to go directly to West Hollywood to rehearse with Jan Abrams, who’s doing her act again at the Gardenia. I’ll really only be able to have this one rehearsal with her. So, it’s quite a long day for me.
Tuesday morning will be spent taking the new Kritzerland site live, which is very scary, but we’ve been through it any number of times, and we have several days before a new item gets added, just in case fixes are needed. I refused to take it live until our about to be former webgal was available to talk us through the process and to hang with us until we all see it’s up and running exactly as it should be. Once that happens, I hope to never have to have any interaction with her again. She’s a very nice gal, but has been very difficult to work with for the last year, as Kritzerland has grown, and unfortunately, the way she set up the site, only she was able to do anything. It got pricier and pricier to do new listings, and there were rush charges even if giving her two or three weeks notice. I’m hoping the whole thing will work easier now, and I’ll actually be able to deal with certain aspects of putting stuff on the site.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, clear up the paypal glitch, have a music rehearsal, and have a rehearsal with Jan Abrams. Today’s topic of discussion: I think we’ll have a joke day here at haineshisway.com. Tell us some good jokes – recent, old, classic, whatever. Let the jernt be jumpin’ with laughter. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we head into a very busy, but hopefully very fun week.