Well, dear readers, Kritzerland at Sterling’s 33 went beautifully. Despite having about twelve last-minute cancellations (I’m afraid I wasn’t nice about those when I knew the parties involved), we still were almost full up thanks to some people who just showed up. In the audience were some fun people, including our very own Barry Pearl and his ever-lovin’ Cindy, Outside the Box editor Marshall Harvey, cousin Dee Dee with mom Paula, plus neighbors Tony Slide and Bob Gitt, Outside the Box assistant Amy and her family, Shelly Markham, director Stuart Cooper (director of Overlord and The Disappearance), singer Sharon McNight and lots of other fun folks. Sound check went very smoothly.
The show itself was a bit longer than usual because we had three more numbers than usual, plus some of the patter set-ups were a bit longer – since I feel that Mr. Newley especially was a huge inspiration to me I had several personal stories and I included them because I always feel that’s fun. This show’s patter had a lot of laughs, which was nice. And for the first (and probably last) time I opened the show, since Guy Haines was busy on Olvera Street celebrating Cinco de Mayo. When I’m singing in these shows I honestly have no idea what’s going to come out, sound-wise, when I begin a song. Happily, A Wonderful Day Like Today went very well and I sounded okay. The cast did a bang-up job. We had one performer who flubbed some lyrics in one song, but no one knew because the singer just barreled on and covered. Another singer also had a lyric flub but that singer didn’t barrel on and cover, that singer stopped and asked to go back – it was only a moment, but it took all of the momentum out of the song and made the audience a little uncomfortable. But that was it – other than that everyone did beautifully. The audience was fantastic and seemed to enjoy themselves. There were lots of great comments after. Everything was good, but the highlights for me personally were Michael Shepperd’s Feeling Good, John Sloman’s The Candy Man/The People Tree and his What Kind of Fool Am I, Joan Ryan’s money note on Goldfinger, the Staitman girls having a blast, although I put their mics too far apart and wished they’d been closer, Lisa Livesay doing Sweet Beginning and You and I (gorgeous), and Jane Noseworthy’s beautiful At the Crossroads. All in all, a splendidly splendid evening.
Prior to all that, I’d gotten up earlier than I wanted to, did a three-mile jog, then just relaxed until sound check. I did watch a little of The Red Pony – what a musical score that film has – Aaron Copland. But the film itself is strangely awkward – I’ll finish it up today at some point.
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 jog, write liner notes, choose songs, finish casting, hopefully pick up some packages, eat, and do bunches of other stuff that needs doing. And then hopefully I can also relax a little. Hoping for the hardcover test book to arrive so I can then place my order and get books here in two weeks or so.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals, a couple of things to see, starting work on the redo of the website, and work will also start on the home environment, hopefully by Friday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, write, choose, hopefully pick up some packages, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite British musicals of the 1960s and 1970s – stuff that played the US and stuff that only played the UK. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland happy to have had such a lovely Kritzerland at Sterling’s 33.