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August 15, 2011:

THE START OF A NEW ADVENTURE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry because I need to get a really good night’s beauty sleep in advance of the long day today. Yesterday, the rain came. It started quietly, but was soon pouring. That precluded a jog and I just wasn’t up for going to the gym, which is two blocks away, and using the treadmill, which I don’t enjoy. I’d had a pretty good night’s sleep so that was good. I then decided to walk to Times Square to see if I could score a last minute single to something.

It was only drizzling when I first started walking, but by the time I hit Broadway it was really coming down. Fortunately, the hotel has umbrellas in every room. I first went to the Foxwoods Theater (a horrible name) to see about Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark. They had no decent singles, so I headed up to the Neil Simon Theatre where I instantly scored a third-row center seat for Catch Me If You Can, thirty minutes before curtain. I’d enjoyed the movie for what it was worth and even though I’d heard bad things about the show I figured, why not? I guess they have some kind of rush at the theater because there were a lot of youngsters who paid twenty-seven bucks to see it. It seemed the majority of the crowd had purchased some sort of discounted tickets, but at least the house was fairly full.

I won’t go into a lot of detail about the show, other than to say it didn’t really work for me despite some excellent performances and a few good scenes. The framing device was a major distraction that’s not actually even used well. The show’s creative team knows how to do shows like this – and that’s part of the problem, I think – they do these well-oiled machines that tend to all feel the same, at least to me. The songs, while certainly professional, didn’t really come alive for me – all that 60s Sinatra pastiche. The book has its moments. Certainly it was slick and moved right along, and the performances were all fine, with really standout work from Norbert Leo Butz. It was great, as always, to see pal Linda Hart up on stage, but she’s got so little to do (barely ten minutes all in) that it’s just a waste of her considerable talents. Kerry Butler was, as always, adorable, but she, too has very little stage time and a character who just sort of shows up and doesn’t do much and then gets the evening’s eleven o’clock number, which I know some have raved about but for me was completely incomprehensible, especially stylistically – why her character would sing a gospel-flavored number is anyone’s guess. She certainly sang it well, though. I also liked Tom Wopat very much. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it just never sort of got beyond okay for me. Others, I’m sure, feel differently both in feeling more negative and more positive which is, of course, what makes horse racing. And then there was the audience, with yet more of that stupid American Idol screaming and woo-hooing – it’s just so unpleasant and is going to be the ruination of the theater-going experience. And how do people have the gall and the chutzpah to dress as they do when attending the theater. The two portly young girls sitting next to me texting right up until the first note of music played were wearing tiny little jeans shorts and believe me these two girls should NOT be wearing shorts like that. It was grotesque. But also middle-aged and older folks in shorts and t-shirts. Whatever happened to class? And now they have ushers in the aisles taking drink orders. And now they encourage the audience to bring food and drink to their seats? So, in essence, they are getting exactly the low-life behavior they deserve, which is what happens when the crass movie business takes over Broadway. Feh and feh again.

After the show, I met David Wechter, Barry Pearl, and Barry’s cousin for dinner at Ollie’s, a Chinese jernt on 42nd Street. The food was quite good (not as good as Genghis Cohen, but what is) and the company was fun. After that, I walked briskly back to the hotel in the pouring rain.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get as much sleep as possible so I can be alive and alert and at my best for the start of a new adventure.

Today, I have to be up by seven-thirty to shave and shower. At nine, I’ll announce our new title (six, West Coast time), and then I’ll walk over to Ripley-Grier studios, where we’ll be shooting all the livelong day. After the shoot, I’m sure a few of us will go sup.

Tomorrow, we’ll do day two of our shoot at two different locations, and then we’ll sup after that, too. Wednesday morning I shall be on my way to the airport VERY early and on my way home to the City of Studio. So keep excellent vibes and xylophones coming for no rain whatsoever until I’m on my way home, and also for a fun, smooth, and creative shoot.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, announce our new title, and then shoot the musical portions of two episodes of the new web series, after which I shall happily dine. Today’s topic of discussion: What’s the longest you ever went without food and why? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall begin filming a new web series, the start of a new adventure. I do love new adventures.

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