Well, dear readers, 2009 had flown by, like a gazelle eating a prune danish or, at the very least, a prune swedish. 2009, for me, was, at times, an extraordinary year, a year filled with some bountiful and beautiful pleasures and treasures, with only the occasional roller coaster ride and a handful of annoying annoyances. It was an amazingly busy year, which I love and thrive on, even if I do get tired occasionally. I completed my ninth book – if anyone anywhere had asked me back in 2001 if I ever thought I’d complete one book let alone nine I would have laughed and laughed and just when I would have thought I could laugh no more, I would have laughed again. But I did, Blanche, I did, and I am so proud of my little babies and the fact that some people have actually read them and enjoyed them and perhaps laughed and been moved by them is icing on the cake. Back in February I was asked to direct a staged reading of a new musical – while the co-author of what I deemed the long musical was initially wary of me, he soon came to know that my heart was in the right place and soon barriers and walls came down and actual collaboration between the members of the creative team began taking place. The staged reading was supposed to happen last April. It has, to date, still not happened, and the show has gone through major changes and is still going through them. It’s taken a lot of time, but I enjoy the process and it will be fun to finally get the thing on its feet early next year.
We had a rather spectacular series of LACCTAA events (the LACC Theatre Academy Alumni Association, of which I’m president), each one very successful – we had David Lee, we had casting director Jeff Greenberg, we had me, and we had Jason Robert Brown and his lovely wife Georgia Stitt.
I began working on several new acts with various and sundried people, but due to their busy schedules we actually haven’t finished any of them. I had a couple of really nice New York trips, including one where I helped Miss Crista Moore put together her act, which I really enjoyed a lot. David Wechter and I did some rewriting of The First Nudie Musical, and then we did our staged reading of it last June. While that experience was somewhat frustrating, due to some casting problems, and working on a stage that was nothing like we’d been told it was going to be, the fact is most of the funny stuff landed and got huge laughs, and the new material, for the most part, went over really well. We learned a few things, made more changes, and the show keeps getting stronger each time we do. Happily, several productions of The Brain From Planet X were announced, including one in which our very own dear reader George will be appearing. The roller coaster stuff mostly had to do with personal things, most especially dealing with someone who was, how shall I put it, not the most truthful person, and I had to walk away from that – while walking away is not always the easy, it was necessary and the best thing to do. I reconnected with a few interesting people this year, and that’s always fun. I had many nice meals with wonderful people. I didn’t quite keep up my jogging regime the entire year, but I still get out there and do the long and/or short jogs at least once or twice a week, sometimes more, and I’ve managed to keep the weight off.
But mostly, 2009 was the year in which Kritzerland found its footing. It was a long time coming. When I began Kritzerland I began it with no money – I just started it because two projects came my way that were paid for, and a new Guy Haines album happened because there was a wonderful angel who helped make it happen. At that point, I really didn’t want to do a lot of albums, nor did we have the money to do so. So, we just ambled along for a few years. But in the summer of 2008, I began to get antsy. I managed to do what no one else had been able to do – I got the soundtrack to Evening Primrose, and that opened up the Kritzerland door to a lot of folks who didn’t know we existed. And then a couple of soundtracks became available, and we did those and the end of 2008 saw the release of two CD soundtracks that sold out within hours. And I saw the light, oh, yes, I saw the light. And then I was given the name of a lady at MGM, and meeting said lady changed everything. I was told by a couple of people that she was very tough and mean, but for whatever reasons, we just hit it off instantly, and she became one of my favorite people. And so I began mining the vaults of MGM and we got one great project after another. And suddenly I found myself able to actually do a new album with one of my favorite people and singers, Brent Barrett, our first real original album since the cast album of The Brain. Then I lucked out and got in at Paramount and was able to get two incredible Holy Grail Elmer Bernstein scores on one CD. That was a dream come true. And the other projects that came my way also included some other dreams come true. While instant sellouts weren’t always the case, as the market began to get glutted with a plethora of major releases from four or five different labels, everything still managed to eventually sell out. And I must say a big thank you to one person especially – because without said person’s support and kindness Kritzerland would simply not exist.
I’m sure I’ve left some stuff out – I really don’t remember having more than a day or two off for the entire year, and if I could have that every year, I’d be perfectly happy and content.
And so, it was a year of transition and wonderful things, culminating in me finally being able to buy a new motor car, something I desperately needed to do. I only hope and pray that the wonderful things continue right into the New Year – a little year I like to call 2010.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because maybe it’s time to talk about our hopes and dreams for 2010.
Yesterday was an unbelievably busy day. I got up at nine, CDs arrived five minutes later, and I began packing them up. I had to be very careful in doing so because there were so many permutations of what people ordered. Therefore, it took almost twice as long as usual. My helper couldn’t get here till after noon, but she was able to stop at MGM and pick up the tapes for five potential upcoming Kritzerland projects for 2010, and that saved me a trip that I wasn’t sure I’d have time to make. Meanwhile, I finished all the domestic and foreign orders and took those over to the postal office and left them on the loading dock. It was pouring rain so I had to move very quickly. I came home and began preparing all the big orders, and there were a lot of them. Katie, my helper, finally got here at around 12:45, and she helped get everything done. By the time we got the rest of the packages to the post office and the UPS Store it was four o’clock. I then decided I deserved a nice meal and I went to Hugo’s and had pasta papa and a small Caesar salad, both yummilicious. After that, I answered some e-mails, caught up with some other stuff, and watched the Blu and Ray of The Queen, which I enjoyed very much (my second time seeing the film) and the transfer is really terrific.
And so, tomorrow begins a brand spanking New Year – 2010 and I’m hoping and praying that all the good things that began in 2009 come to flower and to bloom and yield beautiful things for all of us. There are several things that are potential projects for Kritzerland, including the mining of a new catalog, and so we’re hoping we have another year of strong and wonderful releases. And hopefully we’ll do the staged reading of the long musical, and then, right after, do the New York staged reading of The First Nudie Musical, which I cannot wait to do. I’m also hoping that 2010 sees the Blu and Ray release of Nudie. We’re also hoping to get around to a new Guy Haines CD, one that’s been in the works for over a year now.
I will, of course, be beginning my new book tomorrow. This is book number ten, which is quite serendipitous in the year called 2010. Book ten – I can’t even believe it. When I finished Murder At The Hollywood Historical Society, I began to think about what book ten might be. I knew I didn’t want to do another Hofstetter book as book ten, even though I kind of have the story for the next one and it would be the easiest thing to do. But I wanted something challenging, something I’d never done before, something entirely new to me. That’s always daunting, but daunting is good. It was during one of our LACCTAA events that the idea first sort of came to me – very blurry and out of focus, but the inkling. And as the months went on, I kept coming back to this idea and I kept liking it and the focus became clearer and I began to see what it might be. And then, about three months ago, I was having dinner at the home of my muse, Margaret, and her ever-lovin’ Richard Jones, and I told them what I was thinking, and Margaret loved the idea. And that was that. I then began making notes, lots of notes, endless notes. Not an outline, just notes and anecdotes and whatnot. I even did a test run on a few things right here at haineshisway.com. You may remember me doing a series of notes having to do with my early acting and writing/directing career. And because I see no reason to be coy about it, that’s what the new book is – a memoir of my acting, writing, and directing years, right up to the time I became a full-time record producer. During that LACCTAA event, the one with the casting director Jeff Greenberg, we were discussing the fact that I would not enjoy starting out as an actor today – the process of it would drive me insane. And he said that the process was exactly the same as when I began. So, I recounted what it was like when I started out – how I got an appointment, who I read for, how many actors I was up against, and how one got the job (or not) a few hours after the reading. He laughed and admitted that, no, it was not like that anymore. And I began to think how lucky I was to have started when I did and how much FUN it was to be a young, working actor. And how many incredible people I worked with, and the incredible people I got to meet and hang out with, in the days when legends were still alive. Well, that’s a story I think would be fun to tell, and there are so many things I’ve never spoken about, both professional and personal, and I thought this is what I should do, and hence this is what I’m going to do. In essence it will be a non-fiction continuation of the Kritzer books, I suppose. But I’m really looking forward to beginning it, and I’m nervous about it, and I’m sure it will take a while to write, and I’m sure the structure and style will come to me as I go, and I’m sure muse Margaret will be her usual invaluable self.
Today, I’m hoping Mr. Handy Man will be here first thing in the morning – I just got an e-mail from him saying he was a little under the weather but still hoping to be there, and I told him to please try his best because there are just a few urgent things that need tending to. I then have a morning meeting with a producer, and that will be that. I haven’t decided what I’ll eat – whether out, or whether I’ll make something here. And then it’s our annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve partay – the best partay on all the Internet, or anywhere for that matter. It’s fun, it’s safe, and it’s a blast, so come one, come all, and come all, come one and welcome in 2010 on what will soon be the most popular site on all the Internet.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully have Mr. Handy Man here to do some Handy Work, I must have a meeting, I must eat something amusing, I must attend our New Year’s Rockin’ Eve partay, and then, around eleven-thirty, I will do my New Year’s Eve thing that I always do – my time of contemplation, and then we shall ring in the New Year. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your hopes and dreams for 2010? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I tell you that my hopes and dreams for 2010 are health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all good and positive things throughout the year, including merriment and mirth and laughter and legs – I wish it for me, and I wish it for you, with all my heart and soul.