Well, dear readers, Kritzerland 22, The Randy Newman Album, is done and it really could not have gone better. This was a very difficult show to put together – to keep it all moving and fresh and get it in the right order. Randy Newman’s songs tend to not have endings – they end in fades or abruptly, so that was work I had to do with our musical director – to put endings on all the uptempo numbers, and even on some of the ballads. All that worked out really well. The cast did a great job and everyone delivered in spades, even the one number that I had to get a little tough about – the performer delivered it flawlessly. Only one singer went up on a lyric and I don’t even think anyone really knew – he just kind of moved around while Grant and Tom cleverly vamped and then Tom threw out the lyric to the singer who picked up and went right on. It was a very large crowd, very responsive, and the patter, which wasn’t as easy as doing Lost in Boston or musical theater commentary, came off really well, I thought. I ended up doing some impressions – it really came out of the blue, but when I was talking about people who’d recorded Newman songs early on I mentioned Tammy Grimes – and then I did a little impression of Miss Grimes, which I do REALLY well and have done since I was a teen. Then a little later when I said that the first version of I Think it’s Going to Rain Today that I ever heard was by Joel Grey, I did my Joel Grey impression of him singing the beginning of that song. And then I said, “Don’t egg me on or I’ll do Don Knotts” and of course they egged me on so I did my famous impression of Don Knotts as Tevye. I also had some really fun interplay with Grant Geissman, who did a superb job as did our musical director, Tom Griep.
Leigh Ann Larkin is now one of my favorites – and the microphone just loves her voice. She did a fantastic job. Gia Mora, tall, beautiful, really came through and everything worked. Stephen Van Dorn was excellent and had great energy, and Dennis Kyle was smashing – he brought the house down twice, once with Mama Told Me Not to Come/You Can Leave Your Hat On and then again with I Love LA. He’ll definitely be coming back. He took my little notes about the songs and just figured them out, made them his own, and I just love working with people who do that. Melody was her usual great self, although we had to get her out of the land she was in. She’s like a sponge, so if you give her a track of someone else singing the song, she tends to go to their land instead of her own. So I spent most of her two short rehearsals trying to stop it, and then I was very strong about it after the stumble-through. But once you really explain what’s going on she’s just such a pro and she made all the adjustments and delivered stellar and very Melody-centric versions of her three songs and, of course, the audience ate her up. I gave her two tiny little additions just before the show, and both got big laughs. I had a really nice time singing Marie. I don’t usually sing at these shows, but since Guy Haines had recorded the song on Haines His Way, I felt it was the right thing to do. We had some fun folks in attendance, including Sharon McNight, Andrea Marcovicci, Shelly Markham, Marshall Harvey (editor of Outside the Box), singer Rebecca Spencer, a surprise visit from former dear reader Bretty Spaghetti (friend of edisaurus), and lots of other fun folks. It was a very nice crowd of about sixty-eight people, I think.
Prior to that, I got a pretty good night’s beauty sleep, did a two-mile jog, ran my patter and song, and I watched an hour of an early Ingmar Bergman film entitled Summer with Monika, which was very good – I’ll finish it up at some point today. Then I got ready, then went to sound check. We had a new sound guy today and he did a great job – this club does have the best sound of any club in LA. For dinner, I had only the grilled artichoke. After the show, a few of us went downstairs and I ate my actual dinner, the yummilicious fried chicken breast with kale and mashed sweet potatoes. I had a slice of peanut butter pie for dessert. Really kind of a perfectly perfect evening in every way.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep, then I have errands and whatnot to do, a little writing to do, some bills to pay, hopefully some packages to pick up, then I’m having a dinner with a young performer, after which I have to attend a retirement event for an LACC teacher.
Tomorrow, I have lots of stuff going on and then a dinner, probably at the Smoke House, with friends. The rest of the week is filled with meetings, meals, writing, and then our midnight screening of The First Nudie Musical – I’m getting very excited about the latter.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, do errands and whatnot, write, hopefully pick up some packages, eat, and then attend a retirement event. Today’s topic of discussion: I think we’ve probably done this before, but it’s been a long time, so – what is the first foreign film you ever saw. Was it subtitled or dubbed? And what did you think of it? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I’m sure I’ll bask in the glow of a show well done.