Well, dear readers, this week has flown by, like a gazelle wearing a Carnaby cap. Before I go any further, may I just praise to the skies a little motion picture I watched on Blu and Ray last evening – Mr. Charles Chaplin’s sublime The Circus. I know it’s generally not considered at the top of his oeuvre, but for me it certainly is. I find it deliriously funny and, at the end, extremely touching. Its leading lady is so beautiful and her timing is exqusite – Merna Kennedy. I know it’s heresy and that I will be lambasted, but I prefer The Circus to both The Gold Rush and Modern Times. It’s not quite up there with City Lights, but then what is? The gags in The Circus are some of the greatest in the history of movies. The funhouse of mirrors is brilliant and breathtaking; in fact the entire sequence at the pier is brilliant and breathtaking, with one giant laugh after another. And the bittersweet ending and final shot is very affecting. Chaplin’s clowning and mime is at its peak here and I just can’t say enough about it. I wish I could say that this region B Blu-Ray was perfection – that bar has been set by City Girl and Sunrise in terms of how great a silent film can look in high definitions. They have great elements on the Chaplins from what I understand, but the releasing company is simply using the transfers done for the DVDs – and we’ve come a long way, baby. So, while it’s a serviceable transfer, it’s never more than that, and what a shame that is. In fact, none of these region B Chaplin releases have been up to snuff, if you ask me. Now, Criterion has just released Modern Times, which was given a rave review by someone we all know, but which apparently is not the original version and I don’t know that I’ll take the review to heart until I see it for myself, because I don’t know how or why Criterion would get a better transfer than that used for the region B release. I’ll know shortly. In any case, I love The Circus and am not afraid to say so.
Prior to watching said motion picture on Blu and Ray, I’d had quite a funny little day – not funny ha ha but funny weird. I felt weird all day and my voice was endlessly hoarse, which is better than my voice being endlessly horse. I sucked on many Ricolas, drank EmergenC, had a cup of chicken soup and a sandwich at Jerry’s Deli, had a nice visit with our very own Mr. Nick Redman, and answered e-mails and didn’t go to my engineer’s house, since he had to spend a few hours converting the Carrie sound files into Pro-Tools sessions. But he began sending me the mixes on his iDisk and they sound fantastic – a few little tweaks to make next Tuesday, but he’d finished about twenty cues before six, and was going to try and finish the rest by the end of the evening. If he does, then we can do our tweaks on Tuesday morning and get this mastered on Wednesday and off to the pressing plant. So, I’m feeling a little better about all that stuff. Then the beautiful Michelle Duffy stopped by to pick up her music and CDR. And we actually managed to set all three of our rehearsals for the Gardenia show and it was pretty effortless, so many thanks to our wonderful and merry troupe of players.
Then I spent two hours writing questions for our director panel for Saturday’s LACCTAA event. I really hope we get a nice turnout – being LA and all, you never know. It’s a little shocking to me how complacent LA actors are, especially musical theater actors – here’s an opportunity to hear six hugely busy LA directors tell you what they’re looking for in casting and how they work – that’s just information that’s gold. The event is free – and yet you’d be shocked to look on Facebook and see the list of people who are not attending, several of whom, let me tell you, should be. And that’s why they don’t work more. Get off your complacent butt cheeks and learn something. Anyway, the smart ones are coming.
After that, I had some supper with my friend Debby’s daughter Olivia, the young woman who I’ve mentioned before – a fantastic young artist – assured, unique, and just terrific. You keep your eye on this gal – she’s going places, mark my words or words my mark. Then I downloaded our new show release’s master to iTunes and I’ll be listening and approving that tomorrow. Oh, and whilst in Portland I actually had a cup of tea to soothe my voice – first cup of tea in a decade, I’d guess. And last night, I had another at dinner. Go know. It did make me feel better, and I think I’ll get some tea tomorrow to have in the home environment.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I want to get these here notes posted and get as much sleep as I can before having to arise at nine – that would be sublime.
Today, I’ll be up at nine, finishing the questions for our Saturday event. Then I have many errands and whatnot to do, and hopefully I’ll pick up a package or three and hopefully an important envelope. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Carrie sold out on Wednesday night, which is great for us, especially given the extra costs we’ve incurred. Then I’ll relax for a while, and then it’s off to see some Jews and Baseball – it will be fun to catch up with edisaurus, and I do hope we’ll be supping at some point before she leaves. I’ll probably sup before the film, as I need to get home afterward and get a good night’s sleep before the event – especially if my voice is still bugging me.
Tomorrow is our event, which begins at noon. I’ll get there around eleven-fifteen to make sure everything is the way it should be – everyone’s been great at the school about getting the word out, so I’m hopeful we’ll have a decent crowd. If we don’t, I’m afraid it will probably be the end of these events. We shall see.
Sunday is now a little crazy, getting the show release ready to announce, and making sure we’ll be ready to tweak the Carrie mixes first thing on Tuesday so we can get them to the mastering guy by noon or one.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, finish writing questions, I must do errands and whatnot, I must eat, and I must see Jews and Baseball, not necessarily in that order. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, catching up on many CDs, most recently a wonderful Japanese import of a Free Design album, some Dave Brubeck Japanese imports, and, of course, various and sundried upcoming Kritzerland releases. Blu and Ray – next up, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, Spirits of the Dead, and City Lights. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I rest my weary voice and hit the road to dreamland and hope to awaken feeling sublime.