Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry for it is very late and I am very tired. The lateness of the hour is due to seeing a musical comedy and then going out afterwards. The musical comedy in question was entitled Little Shop of Horrors, a community theater production by a company that’s been doing shows for over sixty years. As bad as some of these things can be, there’s something appealing to me about community theater, when the theater and people put their hearts and souls into the work. That’s not necessarily always the case, because you do get amateur actors and directors, but occasionally they can be fun and sometimes even more than that. This production was not quite more than that and not quite fun, but I’ve seen worse. The main problems were some not so good casting. The plusses were the Audrey, who’s a pro, and who thankfully did not do what most actresses who do the role do, i.e. imitate Ellen Greene, the musical director (who I’ll be working with soon), who did a nice job, and the voice of Audrey II, who was really good. The puppetry of the plant was also done very well. I’d never seen the stage version, only the film. I wasn’t aware they’d cut so much music from the film. I like a lot of the show, and some of it leaves me cold. In this production, the tone was all over the place, and that’s a big problem. With a show like this, the actors have to believe what they’re doing and not “comment” on it. The more believable, the funnier it will be and the more involved the audience will be. But the audience last night had a great time.
After the show, the Audrey, Kristin Towers Rowles (granddaughter of Kathryn Grayson and daughter of actor Robert Towers), the musical director, Joshua Eli Kranz, and Joshua’s folks and my pal Rich Schraier and I went to a nearby Denny’s, where we had a rather raucous good time. I took Rich home then got on the Santa Monica Freeway for just one exit, which is the transition to the 405 north – only they’d closed down that transition so I had to go two miles further, double back to the Pico onramp, which was also closed, so had to drive up to the next onramp which thankfully was open. Four damn years these people have been making things miserable for the city of Los Angeles, and there really doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.
Prior to the show, Rich and I ate at a little Eyetalian jernt called, I think, Giovanni’s. It’s in a little non-descript strip mall, but the food was really good and our waitress, who hasn’t been in this country very long (she’s from Sicily), was a delight. I had a penne pasta with Eyetalian sausage and peas in a very light pink sauce. It was extremely yummilicious and the small Caesar was also very good. I managed to stay away from the bread and I hadn’t had any food prior to that, so I think I was okay, calorie-wise.
Prior to all that, I was awakened at eight by the stupid ringing telephonic device, then I fell back asleep and slept until eleven. So, I think I got eight hours. I got up, finished the first half of the liner notes, and then listened to all the takes and alternates of that score, deciding on how I wanted to present it and make it a fun listening experience. I think I’ve got it down and can now do that track list, and that will make the finessing the mix session go pretty quickly. Then my motor car desperately needed a bath, so I moseyed on over to the car wash. Unfortunately, about twenty other people had the exact same idea at the exact same time and so the wait was stupidly long. Then I picked up one little package and then came home. I did a three-mile jog, planked and did forty sit-ups. While it’s been cool recently, yesterday was really hot again. Then it was dinner, show, and after the show.
Today, I really need to relax, but I don’t know that that will be happening. I must write the second half of the liner notes, do the track list for the first of the two scores (the second is done), do a jog, eat, and then I have to start what I think will be a new project that is going to happen very fast, although that will depend on certain things falling into place on Monday or Tuesday – it’s going to be a little insane over the next few weeks, but I kind of like flying by the seat of my pants. I can’t say much about it right now, other than to say I was approached by a well-respected theatre company about directing a show for them – this has been going on for three weeks now and it would have not been so crazy if they’d given the go-ahead right then, but it’s dragged on (nothing to do with me, but internal things). Last night, I got the e-mail basically saying to start conceptualizing what we’d do, but it’s predicated on a couple of people within their company agreeing to do the show – they really want the bulk of the small cast to be from within, which is fine with me. I did ask to bring in two people and they agreed to that early on. But I have to hire a musical director soon because the good ones really book up fast. So, we’ll see how this goes on Monday and Tuesday, but if it’s an immediate “go” then the next few weeks is going to be completely insane for me.
The coming week is extremely busy with Kritzerland rehearsals, prepping our new release, finessing a mix and getting all that packaging in for approval and getting that master turned around quickly, and starting to conceptualize the show I will most likely be directing (even if they decide to push it into November or even early next year I’m quite certain it will happen, so I don’t mind doing the prep work now).
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, write, do a track list, eat, and then hopefully find a few hours to 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 where I’m sure my brain will begin working overtime on conceptualizing ideas for a new show.