Well, dear readers, the seventeenth Kritzerland show is done, our first at our new venue, Sterling’s Upstairs at Vitello’s. For our shows, we’ve abbreviated that unwieldy thing to Kritzerland at Sterling’s. We arrived at four for our sound check – for once we had our entire cast so we were able to really get things right. It took me a few minutes to figure out how I wanted to handle my commentary in terms of how I’d be getting up and down quickly and where I’d be. Once I determined that, the singers sang through a couple of their songs and we decided which would be handheld and which would be on the mic stand. I talked to the sound and light guy and told him what I liked – he’s a pro and was very quick about everything, unlike the gal we’ve been using at the Gardenia. The reservations were a little disappointing, numbers-wise, but we did explain that the Kritzerland shows do tend to get folks who don’t reserve but just show up. They’re very good about setting the room up so it will always look full. In the end I think we had close to fifty people, so that wasn’t too bad for our first time out. Of course all those people who’ve been telling us for over a year that as soon as we switched venues they’d absolutely positively come – well, not a one showed up. And all I can say to these people who have never once been supportive of this little venture is, a BK never forgets. EVER.
The next nice thing was that Vitello’s fed the cast for free. I thought that was very gracious. Cabaret West’s Les Traub was there, and some other reviewer was there, too. Then we had our very own VinTek and his lovelier than lovely wife, and our very own Amy and Mark, as well as some other folks who come to all the shows. My friend Barbara Deutsch came, and at our table we had The Singer, Adryan Russ, Shelly Markham, and Doug Haverty, and at our adjoining table, Melody’s mom and dad, and then Michelle Nicastro’s husband Steve, their daughter Callie, and Michelle’s sister. I was so happy they were there. Michelle’s other daughter, Cady, wasn’t up to coming – she felt she’d be too emotional and I completely understood that.
The big upside of Vitello’s is that the food is very good. Everyone said so. Because I didn’t want to feel bloated, I just had a small Caesar salad and a piece of bread, which was just perfect. The show itself could not have gone better. There were really no flubbed lyrics and our five gals were just fantastic – Susanne Blakeslee, Melody, Juliana, Jane Noseworthy, and Annaliese van der Pol. Each of them shone brightly and delivered their three songs flawlessly, accompanied by A.J. Robb. For me, one of the truly lovely moments of the show was Melody’s beautiful and sensitive rendition of When She Loved Me, which was followed by You’ve Got A Friend In Me, which I had her sing to a giant stuffed teddy bear I’d bought her when she’d done her act.
We had a real potential problem with my commentary. At the Gardenia they have a backlight that shines on my paper so I can read it easily. At Vitello’s there is no backlight and even with the stage lights full I could barely see it. Then someone suggested a flashlight and I realized I had a flashlight app on my iPhone – I tried that and it worked fine but I didn’t love holding it and the pages. Then Michael Sterling found a clipboard and a clip light and that did the trick and was perfect. I was very free with the patter and very relaxed and there were lots of laughs, especially with my running gag of mangling the long name of the club, which I did about six times, each to bigger laughs. Even when talking about Michelle I kept it light and breezy because I know she would want it that way, she would not want it weepy. And I was fine until my final speech, just before I sang When You Wish Upon A Star, which was our favorite song from Toonful. I just said that I loved her so much and that I knew she was somewhere out there, perhaps near the second star to the right, brightening up wherever she was. I could barely speak it and I got really annoyed with myself – apologized – and got to the song. Happily my intro to the song had a big laugh in it and that insured I’d be fine on the song. After that, we had a sing-a-long as we always do at the end of our shows – to Heigh-Ho.
The comments afterwards were lovely and Steve and Callie and Michelle’s sister really enjoyed the show and they all said they’d be back for next month’s Reel Imagination, also based on Michelle’s album of that name.
Prior to all that, I’d arisen at nine-thirty after only about four hours of sleep. I simply could not fall asleep – my mind was a jumble of dates, albums, chronology, and events. Then I’d finessed the eighteen pages from the day before, and I’ve just had to keep going back and adding things that I’d forgotten happened, or fixing the timelines. This happened a lot on There’s Mel, and it’s somewhat frustrating because I’m trying to move the story forward. But I knew I’d be spending a lot of time and detail on the first two years at Varese. After that, it will get much easier because I’ve already figured out how I’ll deal with the rest of the years through 2000 in a concise manner. There’s simply no reason to talk about every single album – so for some I’ll just mention that we did it and maybe a single anecdote if there is one, or none if there isn’t. At nineteen albums a year there’s no way to have detailed detail about all of them. But the ones in the first two years, those were my formative albums and where I learned everything, and I think the detail there is necessary and I hope interesting. For me, the more detail the better it is and I only hope muse Margaret will agree. If she’s up for it, I will deliver the first set of pages this afternoon. I’ll know more when I get up.
After the performance, I had to eat an actual meal, so a few of us went down to the restaurant proper and I had some spaghetti and meatballs.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get some beauty sleep, which I really, really need.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I’ll then finesse the sixteen pages that I’d written, after which I’ll do a few new ones. If I’m up to it, I’ll do a jog of some sort (yesterday I did three miles), then eat a light but amusing lunch, then hopefully pick up packages and, more importantly, the important envelope. Then it will be more writing and if muse Margaret is up for it I will deliver approximately 160 pages to her. That is the fastest I’ve ever written anything – 160 pages in seven days. That just boggles my mind, just as it boggles my mind that in 160 pages I’m still in the year 1994.
Tomorrow and the rest of the week will be major writing days. I also have a few meetings, including one to get Kritzerland’s next Blu and Ray ready. By Tuesday evening I will have written the two sets of liner notes, as well.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, finesse, write, do a jog of some sort, eat, hopefully pick up packages and an important envelope, write, and write, and then maybe treat myself to one Maigret movie. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite songs from movies made for children? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that Kritzerland 17 was a rousing success.