Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry because she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon. So let me begin by saying that a few people on this coast got their Follies CDs and so far I couldn’t be more pleased with the reaction. I’ve gotten posts on Facebook, e-mails, private messages, all of which are basically saying it’s like hearing the album for the first time. I sent a few of the comments to my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim, who should have his CDs by Monday or Tuesday. Hearing such lovely things makes all that hard work completely worth it.
Other than that, I had a lovelier than lovely Friday. For some unknown reason I woke up at six-thirty and couldn’t get back to sleep. I just stayed in bed until nine, when I had a telephonic call from the East Coast Singer. She and Lanny played me the song I wrote for her to sing on the Christmas album and I think it’s going to be fun. They played me a few other things, too, all good. Then I answered e-mails, nice ones. I did a two-mile jog and then I began to get word that some of the CDs had arrived. And the minute those posts began happening, I got a slew of e-mails from customers wanting to know why they hadn’t received their Follies CDs. There is a, how shall I say, certain attitude in these e-mails and I have to really bite my tongue not to return the attitude. It’s amazing that no one seems to be able to read the clearly worded statement that the CDs weren’t supposed to ship until the final week of August. I have to answer each and every one of these people, explain the deal, tell them they lucked out because the CDs came in five weeks early and that they shipped on Thursday. 90% of these people never e-mail back to say “Oops” or something nice. I picked up no packages and an important envelope, did some banking, listened to the raw material for an upcoming soundtrack release that’s brilliant, and approved the Junior High School master – it’s now going to the pressing plant along with the Bajas and the title we’re announcing on Monday.
Then I moseyed on over to Mo’s to sup with friends. I had a steamed artichoke to start, and then I gave our waitress four choices and told her to select. So, I had no idea what I was having until it arrived – fish and chips is what she chose and it was VERY good. We had a lot of fun and the conversation was sparkling. After dinner, we headed over to the Hayworth Theater on Wilshire Blvd. For some strange reason, I just assumed that a theater called the Hayworth that was on Wilshire would be at the corner of Hayworth and Wilshire, which is near the art museum. But no, this was located near MacArthur Park and, in fact, is the old Vagabond movie theater, which I went to many, many times over the years. In fact, in 1956 I made my Aunt Lily take me there to see The Court Jester. In the 1970s it was a revival house, and they played all sorts of wonderful stuff there – an MGM festival at which many of the MGM stars were there in person, a 3-D festival, and they even showed The First Nudie Musical on several occasions. The last time I was there was in the mid-1980s. It closed in 1993. They’ve totally reconfigured it as a two hundred-seat theater – there is really no vestige of what the theater looked like as a 700-seat movie theater.
Last night, I saw a kind of halfway house thing of Spring Awakening – kind of staged, kind of a concert. I’ve only seen the show once before at a tiny theater in Hollywood, and as I wrote back then it’s simply not my kind of show at all. I don’t care about any of the characters and the music just thumps away with a sameness that becomes mind numbing after a time. I like one tune at the beginning of act two and that’s about it. This hybrid of the show is a six-performance fund-raiser. They had an eight-piece band – violin, viola, cello, keyboard, two guitars, drums, and bass, plus a very young gal conducting. She kind of put on her own show, sitting in a chair and gesticulating like mad, as if she was Leonard Bernstein. And one of the guitar players was completely obnoxious, putting on his own show, drinking beer, pulling focus, dressed in a white t-shirt so that your eye went right to him. The mostly young cast was very good – lots of good singers, too heavily amplified, but they had to be because the band was so loud. My friend’s daughter Caitlin was terrific – really good voice and presence and she made the most of her stuff. But in the end it was Spring Awakening but for me it was Fall Asleeping.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get some semblance of beauty sleep.
Today, I shall definitely do a two or three mile jog in the morning. Then I’ll do errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, do some writing, and then I’ll be driving to Calabassas to dine and then see the Spelling Bee show.
Tomorrow, I have a meeting at some point with Juliana Hansen, and then I’m going to see the helper in some show she does once a month at a club downtown – big band, singing, and dancing. Next week is filled with rehearsals, meetings, meals, writing liner notes, announcing a new CD, prepping the two-year anniversary show, and lots of other stuff.
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, hopefully pick up some packages, do some writing, sup, and see a show. Today’s topic of discussion: Work-wise, what is the most rewarding thing you’ve ever done, the thing that, thus far, has given you the most pleasure? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall first be Fall Asleeping and then Spring Awakening when she of the Evil Eye arrives.