Well, dear readers, there is a first time for everything and last evening was my first time having something called an Umami Burger. Barry Pearl, his ever-lovin’ Cindy and I went to Umami Burger way out west and just next to the theater we were going to. I gather this particular Umami Burger is bigger than most of the other Umami jernts and therefore at 5:45 we had no wait at all. We got a table on the patio, were given our menus and I ordered a Diet Coke, which came in a teeny-tiny bottle. I asked a lot of questions about the menu items and then chose the Umami Burger – I thought their signature burger would be the one to try. I was told that if you order medium rare it’s really rare and medium is rare, etc. He suggested nothing over medium rare – naturally I ordered medium because I don’t like raw meat on my burger bun. Barry had something called the BUB, which was two burgers on one bun with cheese and bacon and other things. Cindy ordered the hot dog.
So, how was my first Umami Burger? Let me begin by saying the beef itself was great – fresh as can be and flavorful. But the whole package wasn’t really a hamburger, if you ask me and you do so I’m telling you. It’s a “now” idea of a burger, a hipster burger, a designer burger, a trendy burger. My idea of a real hamburger is Astroburger. Here is an Astro Burger.
This designer burger had the coprophiliac’s favorite mushroom – shitake, and I can’t remember what all else was on it – oh, yeah, some kind of Parmesan crisp. It was good and I ate it all up, but I don’t think it’s anything I need to have again. Umami makes their own ketchup and it was pretty good and the tempura onion rings were great. But it was the dessert that really scored for me – a little Ding Dong kind of thing – peanut butter and marshmallow that looked like a Hostess Ding Dong (one of the two in a package). It was a tiny dessert and probably not more than a couple hundred calories (one Ding Dong has about 100 calories), but it was very yummilicious. So, that was my first Umami Burger. Not a disaster, but not a real burger. It’s kind of like the California Pizza Kitchen’s pizzas – their good and fun but they ain’t pizza. Oh, and I had a bite of Cindy’s hot dog and I must say it was pretty great.
After dinner, we moseyed on over to the theater to see The Diary, a new musical about Anne Frank and a contemporary girl named Anne, who’s given Anne Frank’s diary, and their two intertwining stories. This is, I believe, the show’s first staging and therefore I’m not really going to comment on it much other than to say that the author, my friend Lloyd Cooper (with additional material by his wife and collaborator, Barbara) deserves nothing but admiration and respect for doing the daunting task of writing a musical and getting it on its feet. There is nothing harder than writing a musical – it is an elusive art form and one of the hardest art forms to get right. The confluence of things that must be in perfect harmony to come out with something that fires on all cylinders is almost impossible on a first try. Sometimes it’s impossible on the fifth try or the tenth try. It’s an endless litany of adjustments, cutting, repositioning, focusing, and making sure that everything – book, music, and lyrics – is servicing the story you’re telling in a clear and concise and pleasing manner.
I know there have been a few Anne Frank musicals – it does seem like an odd thing to musicalize, but once you’ve made that choice then you’ve made that choice. Is there work to do? Of course, and that’s really the creative and fun part, I think – to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. That’s what a first time on its feet is all about. Listening to the audience, finding where things lag, where interest is being lost, which characters are driving the story, all of that stuff. Even with something as frivolous as The Brain from Planet X had many, many changes as it evolved, from replacing songs, to fleshing out characters, to tightening the pace, to eliminating repetitious story beats. For me that is the puzzle I love solving and I hope Lloyd and Barbara take pleasure in continuing to work on the project and I wish them all good wishes with it.
Prior to all that, I was up early, I had some scrambled eggs and an English muffin, did some errands and whatnot, picked up a package, did a three-mile jog, planked, did thirty sit-ups, and listened to some music I had to listen to, in addition to having a couple of long telephonic calls. The one thing I didn’t get much of was relaxation. The good news is that I jogged off most of the breakfast I ate, and I’d already found the calorie count of the Umami Burger, which was 750. So even with the three onion rings I ate (there weren’t big and they weren’t deep fried) and the little Ding Dong dessert, I still think I was right at 1200 calories.
Today, I have to listen to some more music, I hope I arise after a good night’s beauty sleep and I sincerely hope I get some relaxation in. I was thinking about meeting Lanny Meyers for a meal on his last day in LA (he returns in three weeks) but I’m thinking I just really need to stay home and have a ME day and night.
Tomorrow I’m up at six in the morning to announce our new title, hopefully I’ll print out a LOT of orders, then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal, which I’m looking forward to. The rest of the week is meetings and meals, seeing Teddy for a haircut, I’m sure I’ll see the Darling Daughter, who’s coming in for her second dental appointment, then we’ll have our second rehearsal, then we have our stumble-through, sound check, and our two-show day.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, listen to music, eat, and relax. 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, happy to have had my first Umami Burger.