Well, dear readers, I am sated, I am tired, and I am BK, hear me roar. The sated part comes from a great meal at Genghis Cohen. A few of us went after rehearsal – Cason, Shelly Markham (the composer of the long musical), assistant Ashley, Eddie Korbich, and our young leading man, Patrick Levis. We all ate like pigs and decimated two orders of orange chicken (extra crispy), green beans, steamed sole (one of the simplest and greatest dishes ever), Kung Pao chicken, and crackerjack shrimp. As if that wasn’t good enough, I got a great fortune, too. It was exactly what I needed because prior to the meal was so busy and crazy it was just amazing.
CDs arrived at nine, and assistant came over at ten, and we got everything to the post office by eleven, and then the big boxes to UPS by noon. We then went to Jerry’s Deli. I had a bagel and we did paper blocking for all the scenes we had to do. Then we headed over to rehearsal. For the two nights of the Paul McCartney concert at the Bowl, we knew Highland would be horrendous, so we came early. Today’s rehearsal was at two and I am here to tell you that today’s traffic on Highland made the previous two evenings look like a walk in the park. I could not believe it – in fact, it was at a dead standstill and thank the Lord I was able to turn left and get back on the freeway. I got off at Cahuenga, came over Franklin and crossed Highland easily directly into the parking lot.
Today’s rehearsal schedule was like a bad April Fool’s day joke. One HUGE scene and/or song after another. I’m talking about one sequence alone that was twenty pages long. I staged two big numbers (nothing major, just some formation changes), and those will be fine if everyone remembers what they’re doing and works on their own a little. But that little bit of sparkle goes a really long way to make those moments shine. I managed to get through all but three scenes. We’ve added one hour to today’s rehearsal and I’m hoping I can get these three scenes done within that hour, so that we can then begin assembling all the parts into a whole. That said, those three scenes are HUGE. And I still have two more pages to do of that twenty-page monster, but that’s pretty simple. And boy did I need a good meal after that.
I got home from the meal and thankfully didn’t have too many e-mails to deal with. I did have our new Kritzerland master to download, and I listened to it and it sounds great. However, there are still editing things to do (I’m going to combine some of the shorter tracks, etc.), and I still have to do the track titles – I’ll be watching the film tonight to do so. After that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled An Education. I must say, I’d heard that it was a really terrific film, and I’m happy to report that I thought so, too. It was just the right length, was one of the best cast films I’ve seen in years, was wonderfully written, directed very simply and well, and was funny and touching, with a wonderful, heartbreaking performance by newcomer Carey Mulligan. She not only deserved her Oscar nomination, she deserved to win. Equally as good was Alfred Molina as her dad, but everyone did a wonderful job. The transfer is as good as it gets.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s simply the thing to do and I want to get these here notes posted early so I can hit the road to dreamland. Oh, and this was my fortune: You will be unusually successful in business.
Today is, of course, another long day of rehearsals, with an added hour at the top. Prior to that, I have to go to the theater and check out the sound system. I will try to get through what’s left in an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, and then we begin assembling the show. I’m simply not sure how that’s going to go – what the cast will remember or not remember. There are thirty-two scenes in the show and a lot of numbers. But, the cast is terrific, and if they’ve done their homework, I’m hoping this will go smoothly.
Tomorrow, I have to assess where we are and how best to use our three hours. Originally we were slated to do a run-through, but if the music is really rough and if scenes need a lot of working, I may decide to do that. However, that means we really only get two runs before our first show. That makes me very nervous indeed. So, we’ll have to see.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try to work a jog in, check out a sound system, rehearse and assemble, and then go eat something fun. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – Blu-Ray, Days of Heaven and others. CD, all sorts of Kritzerland projects. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I go read the good fortune again and hope that it continues to prove true through the next many years.