Well, dear readers, the rains came and they came hard, but in complete LA style. In other words, it rained lightly through the night, then poured heavily for a while, then stopped while the sun came out. Ten minutes later it was heavy rain again, so heavy that the corner of Laurel Canyon and my street was a total river, with water coming up almost to the top of my tires. With all the stupid, wasteful work the street services do around here, the one thing they NEVER do is address the obviously faulty drainage systems here in the City of Studio. I got to sleep around two and got up at ten, and happily found a lot of orders and, even better, a lot of orders ordering all three of the new releases. I spent quite a bit of time printing them all out. Then I had to do some errands and whatnot, after which I went to Jerry’s Deli and had a soft waffle and soft matzo brei. Whilst eating, the power went out for about three minutes. Thankfully, it didn’t go out at home. After lunch, I went to the mail place where I picked up no mail and no important envelope, the latter a major irritant. Hopefully it will be here today. Then I came home and printed out more orders, had a few telephonic conversations, was happy to see that a person I don’t really know wrote a lovely amazon review of the new book, and began liner notes.
Then we had our Melody rehearsal. She’s just such a delight and such a pro, and all the little notes I gave her last time she’d addressed and had made her own. We did some staging on one song, then she ran the entire act, which is very smooth, and then I gave her some more small notes. We talked for a moment about maybe trying to work in her Helen Keller tap routine, but even though I think that might work at some point, we don’t really have the time to finesse it and make sure it would fit organically. We’ll play with that before the next show, which is in July in Palm Springs. Then we plan to bring it to New York. After we finished, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Bell, Book, and Candle, starring Mr. James Stewart, Miss Kim Novack, Mr. Jack Lemmon, and Miss Elsa Lanchester. The film has always been one of my favorites in terms of style, color, and art direction. I loved all those attributes when I saw it in its year of release and I love them still. The film doesn’t quite work as it should and that may simply be a by-product of its source material, but the direction by Richard Quine is elegant, and the camerawork by James Wong Howe is fantastic, with deep and rich Technicolor hues and bold lighting. I had a spectacular 16mm IB Tech print so I was going to be very critical about how this looked, because that print was just one of the great Tech prints I’ve ever owned. So, I’m happy to say, the color on this transfer is wonderful and looks just as it should. The score by George Duning is a complete delight, as are the performances of the stars, especially Miss Lanchester, who is just wonderful. So is co-star Hermione Gingold. If you haven’t ordered yours yet, you should. The batting average from Twilight Time remains VERY high.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep as there is a lot to do on the ‘morrow.
Today, I shall continue liner notes, I shall hopefully pick up some packages and an important envelope, then we have another Melody rehearsal, after which we’ll all drive down towards Musical Theatre West, where we’ll first sup, and then see the opening night of Forbidden Broadway. I will, of course, have a full report on all.
Tomorrow, I’m not sure if I’ll be seeing The Drowsy Chaperone – I may have waited too long to respond, but we’ll see. If not, I have a lot to do anyway, and then I definitely have to get some relaxing in before the busy week ahead, filled with meetings, meals, rehearsals, and prepping the new soundtrack release.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, hopefully pick up packages and an important envelope, rehearse, eat, and attend an opening night. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Mr. Jack Lemmon? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall stay warm and dry.