Well, dear readers, I have to tell you that there is nothing like seeing an old pro (not old in terms of age, but experience). They just do what they do and they do it so effortlessly and so winningly that you just give yourself over to them. I saw such a pro last night and it was a completely delightfully delightful evening from start to finish. And that pro was Miss Nancy Dussault. Adryan Russ and I got to the Gardenia at seven-thirty to have dinner. There was only one table filled when we arrived – but it was a pretty fun table – Charlotte Rae and Anne Jeffreys (looking fabulous). But soon the room began filling up with the likes of Billy Barnes (one of my favorite people), the great Karen Morrow (another of my favorite people), Beverly Sanders, Tyne Daly, Constance Towers, Cabaret West’s Les Traub, Jim J. Bullock, my pal Gary Stockdale, and two of the actresses who played Nancy’s children in Too Close For Comfort, plus lots of others I’m forgetting. The gentleman next to me was tall and lanky and very nice – he looked familiar to me but I couldn’t put my finger on it. He overheard me talking about our upcoming Promises, Promises release, and we shared stories of both seeing it many times for $1.50 in standing room. I finally realized it was John Glover. Go know. So, it was a stellar group there to see a stellar class act. And what a class act Miss Dussault is. She was vivacious, funny, charming, and touching. The show was sort of a “themed” show about her twenty-five year anniversary with her ever-lovin’ hubby Val. Her song choices were interesting and fun, and she did several notable renditions of classics like Time After Time, Tonight At Eight, Look At That Face, Do It Again, It Amazes Me, and many more. Her pianist, Christopher Marlowe was quite good, and together they just made beautiful music. Miss Dussault is not only a wonderful singer, but she really knows how to act a lyric. It was a wonderful evening and great to be in the hands of a consummate professional – there’s nothing really like it. And that, hainsies/kimlets is a bona fide BK rave.
Prior to the lovelier than lovely evening, I’d had a pretty okay day. I got up early. That was pretty okay. I then printed out a few orders, packaged up a few orders, answered a ton of e-mails, and worked on the liner notes. Then I grabbed a quick sandwich and fries, after which I had the motor car washed. Then I picked up two packages (all Kritzerland supplies) and finally got the errant and truant piece of mail, which according to the postmark was sent on May 27th. The USPS keeps raising their rates and the service keeps going down the toilet – over a week for an envelope to get from Virginia to California – truly pathetic. I then did some banking, and then came back home. I did the track list for our upcoming release, the credits, the cast list, and then finessed and polished and re-polished the liner notes. I also heard back from my pal Peter Filichia, who gave me some first-hand stories that I’ll now add to the liner notes. I then sent everything but the liner notes to the designer. He’ll be picking up the Playbill, the souvenir program, and the 1968/69 Theatre World, all of which have great photographs to use in our booklet – this booklet is probably going to be a twelve-pager rather than our usual eight.
At some point, I sat on my couch like so much fish and began watching one of those Warner Archive DVDs, this one entitled Mammy, starring Al Jolson. Within three minutes I’d hit the road to dreamland, so I’ll start it over again later today.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because you are, after all, in the hands of a consummate pro and you should feel safe to click away.
Today I must be up bright and early for she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early. My intention is to jog, then go do errands and whatnot until she’s finished. After that, I’ll do my final polish on the liner notes and get them to the designer. Then I’m meeting dear reader Jeanne for lunch at the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset Blvd. After that, my intention is to come home and relax and watch several motion pictures on Blu and Ray and otherwise.
Tomorrow will be a busy morning, addressing packages and putting postage on them. Once that’s done, I’ll probably grab a bite to eat, and then it will be more relaxation.
Next week is filled with writing, meetings, errands and whatnot, and having a couple of long mixing sessions for our new project. It should be a fairly busy week, and I’m sure we’ll be shipping out The Boy and the Pirates towards the end of it.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, do errands and whatnot, finish polishing the liner notes, lunch, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What has been the best cabaret act you’ve ever seen, and what made it so special? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and remember that everyone on this here site can be considered a consummate pro.