Well, dear readers, may I just say that there is nothing funny about bumping one’s funny bone? I bumped my very own funny bone yesterday morning – I was pulling my shirt over my head and walking towards the bathroom when my elbow smashed into a door that leads to the hallway. The door was not in its full back position as it usually is so due to that fact and the fact that I had a shirt over my head, I smashed my elbow into the door. It was really painful, which is when I had the thought that there is nothing funny about bumping one’s funny bone. I mean, the funny bone is near the humerus but that doesn’t make it humorous – that is, of course, one of the reasons it’s called the funny bone. Who knew? But it’s really the ulnar nerve, which runs near the ulna bone. What the HELL am I talking about? Why am I going on about humerus and ulnar and ulna when I should be writing some notes? My elbow still hurts, isn’t that funny?
Yesterday was a day, Sunday to be specific and we’re all about specificity here at haineshisway.com. I had a nice night’s sleep, got up, puttered around the home environment, banged my funny bone on a door, did some work on the computer, looked at some packaging choices for an upcoming release, then drove my friend Caitlynne Medrek to pick up a rental car in West Hollywood. We had some lunch at Barney’s Beanery, she Eggs Benedict Florentine and me Eggs Benedict – excellent. I then came home, did some more work on the computer, then moseyed on over to the Falcon Theater to see a play entitled Shirley Valentine.
Yesterday, I saw the closing performance of a play entitled Shirley Valentine, starring Dee Dee Rescher – she’s done the show several times before. I think I saw the movie when it came out, but have no memory of it at all. But the movie is a different beast than the play – the play is a one-woman show, the film has tons of actors. One-person shows are really hard to pull off – the writing has to be razor sharp, the pace perfect, and, above all, the actress has to be compelling and able to hold the stage for two hours (in the case of this show). Well, the writing is mostly excellent – the show could stand a little pruning, in my opinion (IMO, in Internet lingo). But there are some lovely lines and affecting scenes and it hits all the right beats. And happily Dee Dee Rescher was up to the task and then some. She held the stage beautifully, found all the right nuances and subtleties of the character, got her laughs, and even cooked some friend potatoes and eggs onstage – no fakery, she really cooks it. I know this because the stage manager is our very own Dale Cooke, who has stage-managed three of my shows – he told me he eats the potatoes after the show. The first act ran close to eighty minutes, and the second about forty. The audience enjoyed themselves and Dee Dee got an instant standing ovation at the end.
Those who’ve read volume one of my two memoir things have read the name Dee Dee Rescher in that book. When I was doing the Dinah and Her New Best Friends series on CBS, Dee Dee was brought in to do the final two episodes. We became fast friends. She was, at the time, involved with a man named Roy Silver, who owned a restaurant called Roy’s on Sunset. I became a regular there – he visited CBS when Dee Dee did her two shows, and Roy liked me. Roy’s on Sunset had a few distinctions – it was a major celebrity hangout and a major cocaine dealership. But the main distinction was its food and it was great – Chinese food like you’ve never tasted. Back when eBay first began, one of the first things I won was a set of Roy’s menu cards, which I still have. Dee Dee and Roy eventually married, but I don’t think it lasted. I believe Roy passed away in the last few years after making a brief restaurant comeback called Roy’s at Shain’s, which was in Sherman Oaks. Apparently Roy took the place over once a week and served his classic dishes – had I only known I would have been there for sure.
I hadn’t seen Dee Dee since then, late 1976. We did have some correspondence about six or seven years ago. So, it was so much fun to see her again and we hugged and laughed and you can see us in a photograph in yesterday’s posts. Her daughter was there – actually Roy’s daughter from another marriage, but Dee Dee calls her her daughter. And she recognized me and she couldn’t figure out why, and then she asked if I used to shop at Z Gallerie on Melrose – and that was it – because I was in there all the time and apparently she sold stuff to me. Small world, isn’t it? Funny, isn’t it? Small and funny and fine. Dee Dee and I will be lunching at some point soon so we can really catch up. After that, I came home, had a tuna sandwich, then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched all but twenty minutes of a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Easter Parade. Here is the shocker – I’d only seen the opening and a few of the numbers, but not the entire film. I rather liked it, I must say. I was too tired to finish, so I’ll do that this evening and then have a report for you. 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 do some errands and whatnot, then I have a meeting with a singer at two, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll write a little something, but mostly I’ll be choosing the material for the next Kritzerland show, which is the songs of Comden and Green. We’ve already got three of our cast members, so two to go along with a guest star.
Tomorrow, I have the meeting with the fellow who owns the house I lease, and his business manager, and they’ll finally get to fixing the stuff that needs fixing – hopefully all of it and sooner than later. Then the rest of the week is assigning the songs, gathering up the sheet music (some of which I already have), and finishing casting, along with a few meetings and a few meals, plus seeing a show or two.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do errands and whatnot, have a meeting, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, choose material and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Comden and Green songs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where my funny bone will hopefully not try to be funny.