Well, dear readers, the trip back to Melodyland was wildly successful last night at Sterling’s Upstairs at the Federal. Melody, as they say, wowed them – she was totally in control, didn’t flub one single thing, and had the audience with her the entire show. All the new stuff we’ve put in worked wonderfully – I added quite a few little lines about her being fourteen and officially a woman, and then some bits of business, and all those got their laughs. Funnily, the biggest laugh in the show was the line I added at our last rehearsal – huge. It was during her thank yous – she thanks her brother Mitchell for always letting her be in the spotlight, then we added, “Mitchell is going to school now, studying to be a shrink – I’m going to be his first client.” She delivered it perfectly, with that gleam of slight insanity in her eye – a perfect moment. But everything was stellar, from her opening, through the ballads and the tongue twisters – I was very proud of her, as were her folks. It was a really nice-sized crowd – Melody had a few of her friends there, who were seeing this for the first time – the best part of them and the rest of the audience, and a measure of how well the show works and how great she is, is that the reaction was never one of “We’re your friends and we’re going to scream and hoot after everything you do.” It was honest and heartfelt and just what a cabaret audience should be. It’s easy to get up and do anything and have your chums hoot and holler, but it’s much more gratifying when they’re just totally taken with you and the show and give you a real and terrific reaction.
So many fun people there – at our table was Richard Sherman and his ever-lovin’ Elizabeth. They’re so gracious and so much fun and I just adore them. I’d brought a copy of the new book for Richard – he was really happy to get it. And I also gave him a paperback book I’d found when I was doing the signing at the paperback book show – it made me laugh so hard when I found it and I just had to get it for him – it was a 1960s “adult” book called Titty Titty Gang Bang. Richard howled when I handed it to him, and Elizabeth did, too, and she said, “Well, I guess I know what he’ll be reading before bedtime.” Also there was Cabaret West’s Les Traub and our very own Mr. Jason Graae, who left me a message after the show (he had to run out right after it finished), saying he absolutely loved Melody and the show. Julie Stevens, who made the Annie documentary, was there with a friend of Melody’s, and Melody’s manager was there with some young gal who does occasional guest shots on some CW country and western TV show. Happy to say that Barry Pearl came, with his ever-lovin’ Cindy, and also at that table was our very own Miss Adryan Russ and Mr. Doug Haverty, and musical director Lloyd Cooper and his ever-lovin’ Barbara. Jane Noseworthy was there, critic Don Grigware (he’ll be reviewing my book soon), our very own Mr. Nick Redman and his ever-lovin’ Julie Kirgo, film music fan, Henry Stanny, and the Outside the Box editor, Marshall Harvey, and lots of others. The food at The Federal really is good – I had my beloved artichoke and the fried chicken breast, which was out of this world. After the show and after everyone had left, the Family Hollis and I went downstairs and had a celebratory dessert and we all sang Happy Birthday to Melody. It was kind of a perfectly perfect evening. Now it’s on to Palm Springs in July and New York in October – I’m hoping we can do a major New York get-together with everyone coming to see Melody’s show, which will, most likely, be on a Sunday at seven.
Prior to all that, I’d spent most of the day writing the contextual commentary, which I’m happy to say I finished. I never had time to jog, unfortunately. David Wechter stopped by to give me some materials for the Blu-ray, and then it was time for our sound check.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep in advance of the busy week ahead.
Today, I shall do a lot of errands and whatnot, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, write a few large Kritzerland checks, and then have our first Kritzerland rehearsal for next Sunday’s show. I always love these rehearsals, so I’m looking forward to it. We have a musical director who’s new to us, and I like him a lot – Tom Griep. His wife and daughter were at Melody’s show last night. After rehearsal, I’ll settle down and watch the first movie of series two Wallander, and I’ll watch last night’s Mad Men episode.
The rest of the week is meetings, meals, rehearsals and then our show. And, of course, the rather shocking news that today is the last day of April. Can you believe it? This month has flown by, like a gazelle doing the Limbo. Yes, tomorrow it will be May, and I hope and I pray that May will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a lot of errands and whatnot, eat, hopefully pick up packages, rehearse, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: I am not a fan of parties, but if you had to name the best and most fun party you’ve ever attended, what was it, when was it, and what made it so memorable? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland after my wonderful visit to Melodyland.