Well, dear readers, I’m running as fast as I can and yet I can barely keep up with everything that’s going on, and yet I must keep up with everything that’s going on, hence I’m running as fast as I can. There does not seem to be even a moment to breathe, and yet I must breathe because breath is important if one is to be alive and in the moment. Sunday, of course, is supposed to be a day of rest, but Sunday must have missed the notice because I did everything BUT rest. I did get up rather late, but that was because I didn’t get to sleep until two in the morning. Once up, I had to go do the four-mile jog where I was most definitely not running as fast as I can. You know how, at the end of a jog or any exercise program, you have a cool-down period. I have that at the beginning, middle, and end. I do nothing but cool down. Just once, I’d like to cool up, just for the HELL of it.
I then finished preparing the LACC script, which took quite a while, after which I rewrote the beginning narration a little, to focus it a little better. And then it was time to leave to see a production of Falsettos. An actor in the show wanted Adryan Russ and I to hear him in regards to perhaps doing one of the Gardenia shows. The first annoying thing was that there is literally no parking anywhere around the theater, which was on Third Street and Crescent Heights. Permit parking only – and not a car parked anywhere, but still no one can park. The city ought to re-think this permit parking crap in neighborhoods where there are a lot of stores. I mean, the surrounding streets were virtually empty of cars – it is a pathetic joke. So, one had to spend five dollars to valet. The theater, called the Third Street Theater is actually located in what used to be the Roland Dupree Dance Studio. For those who’ve read Kritzer Time, you know that I took dance classes there from both Mr. Dupree himself and then David Winters. In the program history of the jernt, they say that it became the Roland Dupree Dance Studio in the 1980s. Great research there, folks – it was certainly the Roland Dupree Dance Studio in 1962 when I went there. You can still see the old dance floor as you walk in. The space is fine, but the seats (nice-ish folding chairs) are really uncomfortable. We’d asked the length of the show before going in and were told that it would be a little over two and a half hours with intermission.
I’d never seen the put-together of March Of The Falsettos and Falsettoland – in fact, I’d seen In Trousers, missed March, and seen Falsettoland at Playwrights Horizon. I was not a huge fan of the two shows I saw – I thought they were the kind of show that we used to write in college – very much of that feel, especially Falsettoland under the direction of Mr. Lapine. I have no idea if it’s standard operating procedure to include the In Trousers song “I’m Breaking Down” in March Of The Falsettos, but it was there. No need to go into the specifics of this particular production other than to say it didn’t really get to me and I just sat there like so much fish.
After the show, Adryan and I grabbed a bite to eat at Pomodoro. I had something called, I think, Gimella – smoked chicken and pasta in a very light cream sauce (total calories, which they put right on the menu, were 1,160 – so not bad). I’d seen someone eating it and it looked very tasty, but the reality of it was not as good as the look of it. I had a small Caesar with it – that was excellent, as always. Then I came right home, where I sat on my couch like so much fish and finished watching the last of a motion picture on Blu and Ray that I’ve been watching fifteen minutes of every day.
Last night, I finished watching a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled To Die For, starring Miss Nicole Kidman. I enjoyed it when it first came out and I enjoyed it seeing it again sixteen years later. I don’t think it’s a great film, but it’s a good one, with a witty script by Buck Henry, an excellent performance by Miss Kidman (when she still looked like herself), and simple and elegant direction by Gus Van Sant. The transfer was terrific, as was the sound.
As soon as I finished that, it was right back to work – I wrote the blurb for the LACC show, then created an event page for it on Facebook. I want people to start booking their tickets now so we can get the lay of the land about how much work we’ll have to do to fill all the houses. Then we finished casting the females for the Gardenia show – it’s Alet, Kim Huber, and Juliana Hansen, along with Melody, Lucy Taylor, and of the two men we have Dan Callaway back and are waiting to hear if Kim’s husband, Roger Befeler can do it.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button because I shall shortly be running as fast as I can to get some needed beauty sleep.
Today, I must really buckle down, Winsocki and write some liner notes. I must do the four-mile jog. I must also deal with a little silly situation that arose yesterday – I’ve actually already dealt with it, but I may change the way in which I dealt with it if it’s at all still possible. I’ll know more soon and talk about it when I do. Then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages and, more importantly, an important envelope. I may or may not go to the editing room, and then I’ll have to grab a bite to eat, after which we have a four-hour rehearsal, which I’m looking forward to.
Tomorrow, we have our full cast back with us and I’ll be assembling the show from start to finish, including reading my narration so I can get used to it. I actually have to learn the opening narration by heart – I know some but not all of it, and learning anything by heart these days petrifies me. Once I finish the opening narration, then I sit and I have a script on a music stand. Once the show is assembled (which should take three hours), I’ll then drill all the numbers that have actual staging. The rest of the week will be more of the same and run-throughs every night.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the four-mile jog, write liner notes, hopefully pick up packages and an important envelope, maybe visit the editing room, eat, and rehearse. Today’s topic of discussion: I feel it should be a pasta sort of day – what are your favorite pasta dishes and feel free to share recipes you haven’t shared before. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland.