Well, dear readers, last night’s Kritzerland at the Gardenia was really stellar. We had a full house of supportive and appreciative people. Everything worked just as it should have – the commentary seemed to go over well (I am really having fun doing those now) and the cast was just extraordinary. Michael Kerker from ASCAP was there and he was blown away by Juliana (and everyone else, but he’d never heard her before). Les Traub of Cabaret Scenes was there, as was our very own Nick Redman, his beautiful daughter Rebecca, and our pal Julie Kirgo. A complete surprise was Constance Towers being there. I’d never met her before. Apparently the friend she came with had heard about the shows and brought her. I had a really wonderful chat with her after the show and she’ll probably be back to see the Sherman Brothers show. And she looks absolutely stunning. Also seen were Adryan Russ (the co-producer of the shows), Doug Haverty, The Singer, Charlene Tilton and her beautiful daughter Cherish, teacher Rich Schraier, my pal Linden Waddell and her wonderful husband, our very own Mark and Amy, several AMDA students, a Broadway gal named Jen Malenke (she was in the Broadway revival of Into The Woods), Bukowsical’s Gary Stockale, cousin Dee Dee and our friend Nancy Lee (she designed the titles for The First Nudie Musical film), and many others.
There were only a couple of minor lyric flubs but they were covered charmingly. And I just cannot say enough about our cast of merry players – so wonderful. Alet continues to be one of the most amazing talents I’ve ever worked with – she killed with her three songs, and I have to say her Not A Day Goes by was definitive – I have never ever heard this song done the way I hear it in my head – not even on The Stephen Sondheim Album – it’s a really tricky song to negotiate emotionally and still be able to actually sing it, and Alet just got it completely – the song is like an open wound and she was breathtaking. Juliana was delightful in all her numbers, as was Zach Ford. Kim Huber is very special and so beautiful and she, too, did incredibly well. She got so many wonderful laughs with Truly Content, and she delivered one of the best Anyone Can Whistles that I’ve ever heard. And Damon Kirsche is that real rarity – leading man handsome and a voice to die for. He had the unenviable task of opening the show with the very difficult Make The Most Of Your Music and he just brought the house down. And then there was Millicent Martin who did a brilliant I Never Do Anything Twice, complete with feather boa. She, too, brought the house down. One of the comments I hear for every show is how well people think these are put together. And that is because, I think, we do very structured evenings, with nothing slapdash or unplanned. In other words, it’s a real show. I am so loving doing these and we have so many more we can do. And we seriously want to begin talking about how to tour them to schools and other venues around the country.
Prior to the show, I’d had a pleasantly pleasant day. I wrote a total of eleven pages, I did errands and whatnot, I attended a sound check, I wrote checks, and that was about it. The majority of the day was spent writing, which always makes me very happy. In fact, I finished a chapter and have begun a new chapter.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s very late and I must get some semblance of a beauty sleep as I have much to do tomorrow.
Today, I shall write one or two pages in the morning, then Xerox the latest batch and take them to Muse Margaret. I’m hoping she likes them. After that, I’ll come back and write another five or six pages (I don’t like to write too many pages until I know she’s happy), and I’ll do some errands and whatnot, but it’s a basically easy day. I do have to organize and go through the Sherman Brothers songs and assign the singers (even though we’re lacking one singer at the moment, I can still assign the songs), and I have to talk to our musical director, who we just booked – Gerald Sternbach, who’s great and who I’ve worked with many times. And then I’ll watch a motion picture or three.
Tomorrow will be more of the same, plus writing some liner notes, too. Saturday the interim helper and I will be doing some shipping, and then I’m attending a birthday partay that evening.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, Xerox and deliver pages to Muse Margaret, do errands and whatnot, write some more, organize music and assign songs, and eat something light but amusing. Today’s topic of discussion: If you could ask me to produce any singer or concept album, what would it be and why? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland singing another hundred showtunes.