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June 7, 2010:

IRVING BERLIN GERMANY

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I’ve been listening to a wonderful recording of Annie Schiess Los (Annie Shoot Loose). Of course, this is a German cast album of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun. What happens when you put Irving Berlin and a German cast album together? You get Irving Berlin Germany. In any case, I love foreign cast recordings of American shows and, as a matter of fact, I love foreign cast recordings of foreign shows, but that’s another story. I have many foreign recordings of American shows – some of my favorites are the Japanese recordings of Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and A Chorus Line. I also have a German A Chorus Line, a Dutch Sweet Charity, an Israeli Hello, Dolly and on and on. But I must say, this production of Annie Schiess Los, which seems to be from the 1960s (in stereo) is one of the best. The singers are great, the band is great, and the lyrics are really fun in German, especially Anything You Can Do. It’s a shame more of these don’t find their way to CD. I also wonder if there’s a comprehensive list anywhere of all the foreign versions of American musicals. I know there are five or six My Fair Lady albums. I buy them whenever I find them. Oh, I also had a German Stop The World, I Want To Get Off. It wasn’t very good, but Mumbo Jumbo in German was quite fun. Prior to Irving Berlin Germany, I had a very relaxing and nice day. Once my obnoxious new neighbor and his pal shut up (they were in their yard yakking until almost two in the morning – I finally rapped on my window really loudly and said “People are trying to sleep here!” That finally shut them up and they went in their monstrous house). I still got eight hours of sleep. Then the helper asked if we could work this morning and I said yes, but this is the second time in three days we’ve postponed and it really has to stop, so we’ll have a little conversation about it this morning. I did a three-mile jog, which was difficult but felt good nonetheless. After that, I did some work on the computer, answered e-mails, wrote, and then I went and had a sandwich and fries at Jerry’s Deli. I’d gone to Hugo’s first, but there was a wait and I don’t wait, especially at two-thirty in the afternoon. After that, I shipped off a couple of packages and a piece of mail, then came back home and sat on my couch like so much fish.

Yesterday, I watched a motion picture in high definitions on the DVR entitled La Cage Aux Folles. I hadn’t seen it since it first came out, and I must say it remains truly hilarious. I laughed out loud the whole way through. The cast is brilliant, the jokes are great, and the farce works beautifully. It’s really not all that in high definitions – I’m sure they just recycled a very old master into hi-def, which is not, you know, the idea. I then watched a motion picture on DVD, one of those Warner Archive things, this one entitled The Last of the Mobile Hot Shots, adapted from a flop Tennessee Williams play called The Seven Descents of Myrtle, said adaptation done by Gore Vidal. I’d never seen it before because it came and went in less than a week back in 1970. The film, like Midnight Cowboy, was rated X for no real reason at all. There’s a couple of small flashes of nudity, but that’s about it. Lynn Redgrave is fun but really over the top, James Coburn is fine (it would seem his character has been toned down from the play), and Robert Hooks is very good in a very odd role. But it’s really a dreadful film, although well directed by Sidney Lumet. The one truly successful thing the film has is a great, and I mean great score by Quincy Jones. The transfer is okay. I also watched another Warner Archive DVD entitled The Bobo, starring Peter Sellers, Britt Eklund, Rosanno Brazzi, and Adolfo Celi. I saw this film five or six times when it came out – I was a huge Peter Sellers fan and he simply could do no wrong. So, even though I knew The Bobo wasn’t great, there was enough to like that kept me coming back, Francis Lai’s wonderful score being one of them, along with Mr. Celi’s terrific performance, and Sellers’ understated clowning, and Eklund’s unbelievable beauty. Watching it all these years later, I still sort of enjoy it – it really peters out, but it looks great on DVD (perfect color – want to know what 1960s IB Tech prints looked like – here it is) and I had a good time revisiting it.

After that, I listened to Annie Schiess Los, did a few more things on the computer and that was that. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I want to go sing a few songs from Annie Schiess Los in German. And don’t think I can’t. And don’t think I won’t. I love Irving Berlin Germany. And now for your entertainment pleasure – Guy Haines singing Die Frau meiner traume, followed by Ich hab die goldene Sonne und den Silbermonde.
Danke schoen.

Today, the helper better be here right on time, as we’ve got a LOT of packages to address and postage to put on them. We also have things to ship, stuff to do on the computer, bills to pay and lunch to eat, not necessarily in that order. If I have time, I’ll jog, too. I also have some stuff to do for book promotion, I have to get an ETA for the arrival of The Boy and the Pirates, I have to do some errands and whatnot, and all sorts of other things.

The rest of the week will be filled with some meetings, some work sessions, and at least two mixing days, plus some meals, and hopefully some good writing.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, address packages, ship packages, pay bills, eat lunch, maybe jog, and all the other stuff above. Today’s topic of discussion: Even though I’m sure some won’t be able to contribute, I think it’s interesting enough to do – so, what are your favorite foreign versions of American musicals? Tell us your hidden treasures, and if anyone knows of a good list, please link to it. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I sing the ever popular Man sagt, Verliebtsein, das ware wundervoll and Schauspieler sind Schauspieler.

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