Well, dear readers, yesterday’s notes caused the expected reaction – it was hilarious to see it happen. I mean, we all know that these people can post the most specious things, the most offensive things, but when someone has the temerity to question or criticize back, why that’s dirty pool. Sorry, people, you reap what you sow. I occasionally reap what I sew, but that’s another story for another day. Well, sometimes I even sew what I reap, and on very odd occasions I sometimes sow what I sew and vice versa. What the HELL am I talking about? Don’t I have notes to write? I do and I shall, not necessarily in that order.
A funny thing happened on Facebook yesterday. I got a private message from a gal who grew up watching a video called Rappin’ and Rhymin’. She told me it was kind of responsible for her wanting to be a dancer and in show business. For those who’ve read my first memoir, you may or may not remember that I directed Rappin’ and Rhymin’ for Hanna-Barbera. But that company was just about to go under and so the video was thrown out in the market with no fanfare or to-do and I honestly didn’t think anyone had ever seen it. It was a shame, really, because it was a good show with a fun cast and great choreography by my pal Gene Castle. The hope was it would become a TV series, which would have been great, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. This gal wanted to know if I could give her the rights to do it on stage. Of course, I don’t own any rights at all in the thing so that isn’t possible. And I have no idea who took over the Hanna-Barbera stuff. Hopefully she’ll be able to find out. Anyway, that got me to thinking about the show – hadn’t seen it in over fifteen years, so I Googled it and found it on You Tube. I was amazed at the comments – so many people who are now adults had loved this thing as kids and watched it over and over again. I had no idea. I watched it and I have to say it is completely delightful and holds up beautifully – nothing is dated about it, other than I don’t go crazy cutting on every second beat so you can actually see the musical numbers.
I remember when they came to me – they had the music and the idea of it, but it didn’t really have a structure to speak of, so I helped them with that part of it. We rehearsed for a week, and shot it in a day, maybe two. The producer and lyricist was a bit of a pill at times, but I remember having a lot of fun at the shoot. After I finished watching, I Googled some of the cast and was happy to see that at least a few of them are still around and working. Our lead gal, who was, I think, seventeen at the time, went on to dance in a bunch of films (including Showgirls!) and TV – she now has some exercise videos and she teaches yoga. I found her on Facebook and we’re now “friends” – and she lives right here in the City of Studio. The lead guy seems to have worked for a little while after our show, but I couldn’t find much about him after about 1995. One of our ensemble people, Eddie Mikrut, a scrawny, red-headed kid who was probably fourteen when we shot, is now a well-known ballet leading dancer with the Nashville Ballet. And Gene Castle’s choreography is just terrific. I think I did a pretty good job getting it filmed and it was fun to see it after all these years.
Prior to all that, I got up at nine-fifteen, answered e-mails, then did a three-mile jog. After that, I did some work on the computer, then went to JOS Bank clothing, where they were having a fifty-percent off sale. I bought four pairs of slacks, which were already marked down – with the further fifty percent they pants were sixty bucks – but you got a second pair for fifteen bucks – so two were sixty and two were fifteen. Pretty good. They have to tailor the bottoms so I won’t have them for a week or so. Then I came home and had two of my low-cal cheeseburgers – about 900 calories in all and I’d burned some of that off with the jog.
Then I did some work on the computer, picked up one package, ordered more boxes to ship out CDs on Thursday, got the word that we’re over two-thirds sold for the Kritzerland show (less than thirty seats left), pretty much made up my mind who the audio Hofstetter will be – I’ll be having a telephonic conversation this morning to work that out – it was between an LA gal and a NY gal, and I just think they’re both equally good but that it’s better if the gal is here rather than having to do things over the phone. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the first hour of The Great Gatsby, the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version, which was a box-office flop. I’d never seen it, and while it’s very slow going, especially in the first thirty minutes, it’s opulent and beautiful to look at. Mia is a little odd, but I really like Redford and Sam Waterston a lot. Jack Clayton, the director, was never known for having a sense of pace, but he makes nice visuals and the cameraman is Douglas Slocombe, who’s wonderful. The film was shot with heavy diffusion filters, which the transfer replicates very well. I’ll write more after I’ve finished it.
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 a three-mile jog, I shall eat, I shall write liner notes, I shall hopefully pick up some packages, and I shall hopefully get a little relaxing done, too.
Tomorrow, I have a work session with our musical director, and then I have some meetings and meals and a show to see on Saturday night. And then next week we begin our rehearsals.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, eat, write, hopefully pick up packages, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall be rappin’ and rhymin’.