Well, dear readers, I’m happy to tell you that The Brain From Planet X is an award-winning musical. Naturally, there was no chance of it being an award-winning musical in Los Angeles, California because I have never been able to crack that particular award-giving clique no matter what I do or how well reviewed the shows are. When What If received no nominations I knew there was nothing to be done – if the cast of that show could not get a single nomination, especially in light of the fact that both of the “major” awards groups give every kind of performer permutation possible, then it was never going to happen. Then, when The Brain received no nominations in either its LACC production (how can Alet Taylor, who was breathtaking and brilliant in both What If and Brain not be nominated – it is to laugh) or the Chance Theater production, well, it’s just clear, at least to me, that those folks have other fish to fry. And I’m jiggy with that, I’m down with that. No, it took a very good production just outside Indianapolis to make us an award winning musical. And we couldn’t have asked for better – not only did the show and the production win multiple awards, but it won THE award – Best Production of a Musical. I’ll have a complete list today, but so far I’m told that in addition to the Best Musical nod, the production won for director (Scott Robinson), costumes and lighting, supporting actress (the wonderful Erin Rettig as Yoni), and best musical number (I Need An Earthman). David and I are both thrilled and I’m hoping that when the word gets out on the Rodgers and Hammerstein site, that it will lead to even more productions (there are currently three happening between now and early next year). So, congratulations to everyone at the Buck Creek Theater and especially Scott and his cast. Just saw – the production won eight awards. That was an end to a mostly lovely day. The not lovely parts actually don’t involve the day, they involve the night before the day, when I, despite being really overtired, couldn’t fall asleep for about two hours. Once I fell asleep I slept right through till eight-thirty (not late enough) when I awoke from a weird and bad dream – I was so startled that my calf muscle went nuts, which was really painful. I could barely walk on my left leg and eventually I just got back into bed and fell back asleep until eleven. Then I got up, answered e-mails and did stuff on the computer, and then I had some lunch at the Studio Café – a bagel and one of their excellent scrambles. Then I called the mail place and was told there was no mail and no packages – today there will be packages, that I already know. I came home, and did more moving stuff around, which I did right until our first cast member arrived for rehearsal at three-thirty. That was Jane Noseworthy, who is so tall and so pretty and has such a lovely voice – she’s been nominated for an Ovation award for her Carousel performance (opposite Andy Taylor, also nominated). She sang through her songs twice – I really gave her good stuff (she’s got the two Evening Primrose songs, plus two other numbers that really show off her voice), ending with the Primrose duet, which she sings with Dan Callaway. They did that together, then Jane left and Dan ran his songs. He’s just terrific and a really nice guy. After Dan, we had Dana Shaw – we couldn’t do one song as I hadn’t gotten the music to John Boswell and the arrangement is very different than the standard sheet music – so he’s figuring that out and then we’ll run it a few times on Friday. She did her three other songs and they’re all a very good fit for her. Then Doug Carpenter arrived and we ran his stuff. We had to do a quick put-together of two Cinderella songs – and that came out very well. Then he ran his other two songs, then Alet came and they ran their duet. Doug left, and Alet ran her other three numbers, and that was that. It’s a terrific group and the songs are just wonderful, and Boswell is always a dream to work with. After that, I had some snacks, and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I saw the movie when it first came out and really didn’t like it (Mark Haggard and I saw that and At Long Last Love, that year’s two musicals, just before shooting or after shooting Nudie Musical, and after seeing those two films we felt pretty good about our little movie musical). Nor did many others during its original release, where it bombed at the box-office. But soon thereafter, Fox did something quite brilliant – they began showing it at midnight at various revival houses around the country, and that’s where it caught on and became a cultural phenomenon, the likes of which has really never happened since. It’s a phenomenon I’ve never understood and I’ve watched the film every few years, trying to understand its popularity and trying to like it better. Seeing it on Blu-Ray hasn’t changed my opinion one or even two whits. It just doesn’t do it for me (nor did the revival of the stage version) – I don’t love the music or the lyrics, and the story just plods along and never really goes anywhere. For me, it’s never as funny as it thinks it is, and I guess it just appeals to people’s weird side. The new transfer, made from the camera negative, basically looks like the film looked like when I saw it on its first release – okay. It was never a great-looking film and the Blu-Ray transfer makes that abundantly clear. In other words, it’s a perfect transfer of a film that is never going to look like the Luhrmann Moulin Rouge transfer. The sound seemed fine. I was going to watch the extras but when I clicked on “Extras” I was only offered an option for an audio commentary. There’s supposed to be a lot of other stuff, and I’m sure I just somehow missed it all.
After that, I did work on the computer, and then it was time to write these here notes. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because, as we say in The Brain – the time is nigh.
Today, the helper is coming and we’ve got three solid hours of stuff to do, and that includes putting postage on packages so we’re ready to ship CDs later in the week. After that, I’ll get something fun to eat, and then I have to write liner notes, and also figure out the show order for the Gardenia show. Then I’ll have a lot of choices for which motion picture to watch, including the new Back To The Future Blu and Ray.
Tomorrow, I have a lunch at one-thirty, followed by another lunch at three – I’ll eat lightly at lunch one and lightly at lunch two and that will add up to a medium-sized lunch – at least that’s the plan. Thursday, I’m having lunch with the divoon Kelly Sullivan – she was our lead in The Roxy and the star of the recent Robin and the Seven Hoods. That’s followed by a work session with The Singer. Friday, I have a morning meeting with Miss Linda Purl and Mr. Gregory Harrison, and then a Gardenia rehearsal in the afternoon, after which I’m seeing a staged reading of a new musical that Alet is doing. I have no idea what’s happening on the weekend but I hope it’s not much.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the Madison because today is the birthday of the very errant and truant dear reader and daddy Jed. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to the very errant and truant dear reader and daddy Jed. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO THE VERY ERRANT AND TRUANT DEAR READER AND DADDY JED!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog (if my calf muscle has calmed down – so far it still hurts like crazy), I must work with the helper, I must eat, I must write liner notes, I must pick up packages and mail, and I must watch a motion picture or two. Today’s topic of discussion: I guess in honor of Rocky Horror we should do – what are your all-time favorite cult films, those just outside the mainstream films, most of which were unsuccessful on their initial release and which garnered cult followings in subsequent years. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I mosey on in to the bedroom environment so I can hit the road to dreamland, happy to know that I have finally written a show that is an award-winning musical somewhere in the world.