Well, dear readers, our stumble-through was a good deal of fun but also illuminating, as they usually are. It’s one thing to do a show sequence on paper and it’s another thing to actually see and hear it for the first time in that order. I have to say that 90% of the time I get it on the first try – I’ve been very lucky that way. I am extremely picky about structure and song order but I have a way of doing these things that has worked for me most of the time. It’s a theory I began with my albums and it pretty much works for the shows and no I’m not going to tell you what the theory is or how I figure things out because every time I do that then everyone who reads these here notes and is in the same line of work is suddenly doing it. Some things I think I’ll just keep to myself if you get my drift and I know you do. So, I’d say that of the thirty-five shows I’ve only changed the show order three times, and then only by flipping one number with another. That’s pretty good, I think. The first warning sign came on the fourth song. Hearing it follow the third song it became obvious that one of the songs in the fourth song’s put-together was too similar in tone and harmonics to one of the songs in the third song’s put-together, so I saw an easy flip with that singer’s second number, which happens about five songs from then. So, that was cake.
When we got a little further, and Tessa Grady did If the Rain’s Gotta Fall and Long Ago, I saw the second problem. Long Ago was simply ending the fun of If the Rain’s Gotta Fall, which Tessa does so well – there’s a tap break in it, and so I made the decision to cut Long Ago completely and that was a really good decision. After the stumble-through, we came up with a fun and strong ending for If the Rain’s Gotta Fall, so second problem solved. Then we hit the bigger snag – and I knew it even when I did it on paper – it just didn’t seem right to me but I thought I’d done the best I could with it. But hearing and seeing it it was instantly obvious that I had to switch things around. As soon as we were done, I went to the piano with the singers and Shelly and reordered that section of the show – it was actually not that hard to do but I guess I just had to hear and see it first. I flipped several of the songs into new positions and now it should play perfectly. When you get something right you just intrinsically know it and you then wonder why you didn’t see that the first time. But in the end, it’s just all about getting it right – sometimes that happens the first time out – sometimes you have to futz and fix and that’s the nature of the beast as well as the beast of the nature.
Other than that, this cast is swellegant, they sing the HELL out of the songs, the songs are charming, and it’s just a really fun show. I did adjust some tempos (there are a couple of ballads in the show that don’t really work if they’re TOO slow – they’re more medium tempos – so we got those locked in. There was some confusion on vamps a couple of times and we got that straightened out, and the feel of the first half of our opening number was completely wrong and has been wrong every time we run it, despite my saying so every time. This time I made sure that the wrong feel could not happen again. So, hopefully we’re all set to go.
I say it over and over again but really can’t say it enough – how blessed am I to work with such incredible talent on every one of these shows. I just don’t know anything better. Everyone is so willing and eager to be the best they can be. I don’t give a lot of direction (well, a couple of times I have but it’s easy stuff), but when I do give a note it’s just so much fun to watch whoever it is take the note, make it their own, and deliver something wonderful. This morning I sent a short, sweet e-mail to one of our cast members who has a very long and tricky song – a song he knows really well. But something about it wasn’t working for me, and I asked him to make two small adjustments to it and explained why. And he just killed with the number at the stumble-through – he’d taken both little things and the performance was just superb. And that’s what I love so much about doing these. It’s funny, but in essence, these shows have become the equivalent of doing album after album back in the day. That world is gone now – we were there at the apex of it, helped resuscitate it, and it was the last of those glory days. Today, no producer could do what I got to do back then – not in the way we did it, and mostly because nothing would sell enough to even justify putting out the kind of dough those albums cost. But doing these shows is just like that – gathering together great people and making entertaining show music for wonderful, appreciative audiences. It’s daunting having to do one of these every single month – a LOT of work for me, learning for the singers, but boy am I having fun doing it, and the singers all love performing and learning songs they mostly didn’t know at all.
After the stumble-through, Shelly Markham and I got some food and had a fun chat. Then I came home and did a second jog and then just relaxed. I watched a little of the silent movie version of The Thief of Bagdad with Douglas Fairbanks. It’s fun in its quaint way and it looks very good, but it’s really hard to get past the hammy Mr. Fairbanks – even by silent movie standards, it’s a full-on ham sandwich. Plus, I so love the 1940s Thief of Bagdad, which is just about a perfect movie, and the silent version just meanders along too much and doesn’t have the strong storytelling of the 1940s version.
After that, I had to adjust the commentary to reflect the show order changes. Prior to all that, I got up after almost eleven hours of blessed sleep – I didn’t awaken until 11:45 and boy did I need every minute of that sleep. Having now gotten three good nights’ sleep in a row, I felt much better all day yesterday – my throat is still a little trashed from all the clearing of it, but I’m hoping with another good night’s sleep I’ll be in okay shape to speak the commentary. I did a three-mile jog, and then it was the stumble-through.
Since everyone has been enjoying the Kritzer songs, here’s another done for the first book – this is the third of the five songs, a song I dearly loved when I was a youngster – it’s from the Pat Boone movie, Bernadine, which I saw at a Major Studio Sneak Preview at the Village Theatre in Westwood. The song is by Johnny Mercer and this great arrangement is by Grant Geissman. The vocal is by Guy Haines, who also adored singing this song called Bernadine.
Wasn’t that a cute little ditty? Tomorrow we’ll have everyone’s favorite Doris Day song, Que Sera Sera, a Benjamin Kritzer favorite.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I’ll do a jog and then get ready, after which I’ll mosey on over to The Federal for our sound check. Then I’ll have my usual artichoke and then it will be show time. I’m sure some of us will go out for food after. I will, of course, have a full report for you.
Tomorrow, I’ll meet with the East Coast Singer, but mostly I have some busy work to do, the helper is back and has a lot of stuff to do and it’s just going to be a very busy day. The rest of the week is meetings and meals and seeing things.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, have a sound check, and do a show. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I will hopefully arise feeling tip-top and rarin’ to go.