Well, dear readers, we’ve had our first Kritzerland rehearsal – as always with these shows, I get very nervous about the song choices and the show order before I have the first rehearsal. I start doubting my sanity (which is easy) and questioning everything, but then these amazing singers come to my house and our fabulous musical director, Lloyd Cooper accompanies them in our previously worked out arrangements, and I realize that I did okay – every time. I’ve never had a first rehearsal where I’ve freaked out and changed everything or even anything. And so it was with this first rehearsal. Bock and Harnick have less material to choose from and that’s a blessing and not a blessing. But the song choices all work perfectly, especially for this cast. First to arrive were our three perky young ‘uns, Jenna Rosen and Sami and Sarah Staitman, whose ages are twelve, thirteen and newly fifteen Sarah. I think you can probably figure out my song choice for them – of course, it’s Matchmaker, Matchmaker and is it adorable with them. I had fun with laying out the song, and instead of Chava or Hodel, we use their real names, since they all have the same number of syllables. I added one dialogue line that I made up – and I know in advance that it will be the big laugh of the show – I say that not out of ego or thinking I’m so brilliant, but because it’s at my expense and the delivery of Sami is precious. We ran the song four times, I gave just a hint of staging and that was that. Originally, I had it smack in the middle of the show, but after hearing it, I immediately moved it to open the show because the energy is just right. The opening was originally going to be Oh, To Be a Movie Star/Gorgeous from The Apple Tree, which was the only one that seemed to work as an opening, but I was never thrilled with it. So, we just moved Matchmaker to first and everything else moved down one song later. Easy and breezy and just right.
Next up was Lisa Livesay. She began with the haunting and gorgeous My Gentle Young Johnny from Tenderloin. We raised the key a whole step and I added a little ending that’s a bit different than the sheet music layout. Then she did the incandescent cut song from Fiorello, Where Do I Go From Here?, which I recorded with Liz Callaway on Lost in Boston. Her third song is the fun I’ve Got What You Want from The Apple Tree. It’s very brief in the show, but Lloyd and I came up with a way to make it longer and keep the fun, and build it really well. After Lisa came Michael Hawkins. His last show for us was the Schmidt and Jones show. He’s just a wonderful actor and singer and his song choices fit him like a glove. He began with a put-together of Tonight at Eight (basically the arrangement I did for the A Broadway Love Story album) and She Loves Me – he’s terrific doing them. Then it was Tenderloin’s The Picture of Happiness. All his songs are so wordy that he warned me in advance that he’d have to be on book for this song. So, we made the book a prop and it works perfectly and won’t seem odd at all. He really knows a lot of it anyway. I love the song. His final song is the cut song from The Apple Tree, I’m Lost, which is also on one of the Lost in Boston albums.
After Michael came Jane Noseworthy. Her first song is the Apple Tree duo that was to open the show and is now second – Movie Star and Gorgeous. It’s a very different number for her and she’s just great doing it. Her second song is the beautiful She Loves Me ballad, Will He Like Me?, which she does wonderfully. And finally, it’s A Trip to the Library, also from She Loves Me – that one is fun because in the song she meets her love, whose name is Paul. Jane’s husband is named Paul. Then came Heather Lee. We haven’t really worked together in thirty-something years, but I just love her. She began with a put-together of Here in Eden and What Makes Me Love Him?, both from The Apple Tree. Her next song was Fiddler’s Far From the Home I Love, in a really nice arrangement. Finally, it was a put-together of Dear Friend and Ice Cream, that just works great. Our second male performer is Dan Callaway and he’ll be doing his three songs at a rehearsal today at noon.
And last, but certainly not least, was Hal Linden. I just adore this man. I loved working with him in the Outside the Box episode, and he’s going to be fantastic as our guest star. He’s doing a song that Bock and Harnick wrote while The Rothschilds was in Philadelphia – especially for Hal. It was, in fact, the final song they wrote together before splitting up as a team. The song is called The Fair and in the show it has a chorus, but Hal had figured out how to do it solo and it just works amazingly well and he sounds incredible on it. I kept thinking that he would have made the best Tevye, but shockingly, he never did the role. He won’t be at our second rehearsal, but will be at the stumble-through on Saturday. So, all in all, this is going to just be a terrific show.
Prior to the rehearsal, I’d gotten up at nine, turned on the heat, and then got back in bed until ten, when it had finally warmed up a bit. I did my usual futzing and fixing what I’d written the day before and that took about forty minutes – I smoothed out some things, deleted some things, and added some things. Then I was asked to join the Staitmans at the Daily Grill at noon and I said yes. Before I left for the restaurant, I managed to write five pages, which was fine for me as I’d written twelve the day before. My goal with this book is an average of seven a day, but right now I’m ahead of that, obviously. I got to the restaurant and we were seated, and then out of the blue Jenna and her mom showed up to eat – they had no idea we were there. So, we moved to a bigger table and it was a really fun lunch. I had a BLT-A that was yummilicious.
Then we had our rehearsal, after which I hurried to the mail place, where I picked up one package containing a Blu and Ray of the movie Looper, and a DVD of the movie Jeanne recommended, The Hedgehog, a French movie from France. I came home, wrote another three pages and then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Looper. I’d heard very good things about it. While it wasn’t brilliant and while the first forty minutes were really confusing, after that I got into the film and enjoyed it for what it is. It purports to be a time-travel movie, and I love time-travel movies and books, but that’s only a marginal part of it. In fact, the trailer would lead one to believe that’s all it’s about – the major part of the plot, including a major character, isn’t even alluded to in the trailer. Bruce Willis plays an older version of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and both are very good. The younger actor has been fitted with a fake nose and other little things and he really does resemble a young Mr. Willis. And he’s really done his homework and has Willis’ voice down pretty well. The whole thing moves along at a good clip, Emily Blunt is very good, and if you like this sort of thing, it’s definitely worth seeing. Transfer looks great, as you would expect.
After that, I got adventurous and wrote another four pages, so once again I wrote twelve pages. I must say, I’m having a blast doing this book. I finished the first chapter before the film, and I’m several pages into the second chapter now, setting the plot in motion. All in all, it was just a perfect day, as I also got the necessary e-mail I was waiting for. 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 be up by nine or so, I shall write, then have a rehearsal at noon, just one person for thirty minutes. Then I may or may not jog, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then I’ll write some more, before relaxing and watching a motion picture called The Hedgehog.
Tomorrow (I’m so confused about which day it is) we have our second rehearsal with everyone coming except Hal Linden – each singer having a thirty-minute slot. We being at four and finish at around six-thirty and then I’m sure one or two of us will go eat something fun. Saturday is our complete cast stumble-through at three, then dinner, Sunday is our sound and video check and then show. And, of course, I’ll be writing at least five to seven pages a day or more.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, have a rehearsal, maybe jog, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, write and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite time-travel books and films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that our first rehearsal went so swimmingly.