Well, dear readers, I don’t know how it happened but the entire evening just flew by, like a gazelle playing mumbly- peg. Does anyone still play mumbly-peg? And what the HELL is mumbly-peg anyway? I don’t have a clew, but it’s something I obviously remember from my childhood. I have just looked it up I have no clew why I would have ever remembered something called mumbly-peg from my childhood. I thought it was a board game or something, but nooooo – it’s a game you play with a pocketknife and is also known as (aka) mumblety-peg or mumbley-peg or several other variations thereof. The answer of whether anyone still plays such a game is probably no, since I can’t imagine games involving knives having much popularity in the world in which we live these days. But I like the name of it, don’t you? It sounds like an amusing game for people who carry pocketknives, whomever they may be.
So let me get right to the point, as they say in Big Spender – yesterday was Tuesday. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, yesterday was Tuesday and I don’t care who knows it. And as days go, it was a fairly interesting day in many ways and in other ways it was a fairly interesting way. I did get a bit over eight hours of sleep, so that was good. I printed out some orders, answered e-mails and then had to mosey on over to Jerry’s Deli for a little early lunch meeting. As some of you may remember, several months ago we auditioned a lot of people for the Adriana Hofstetter audio books, finally settling on the young actress, Tessa Grady. Well, it didn’t work out because Tessa got very busy, and ultimately landed the dream job of Star to Be in the revival of Annie on Broadway – so, it was just not meant to be. But by that time I was bored of trying to get it done so I just put it aside. But before I hired Tessa, who was terrific, there was one other candidate and she actually had given the best reading – the only one who really sort of nailed all the characters perfectly. We asked her to read a few other things, but when she did the second reading it was hurried with a lot of stumbling and it made me want to have her do it again. But she was in a show and so busy she just kind of didn’t want to go there. I think she felt bad about that, and last week the Staitman mom asked if I’d have lunch with the girl to see if it might now work out. So, that was the purpose of the lunch, and after it I felt completely comfortable that she could do a splendidly splendid job and I have her the gig. She’s reading the new book now, and then we’ll meet next week to go through the first three chapters, and then she’ll begin recording. Her name is Francesca Barletta, she’s twenty-one, and we’re very happy to have her on board.
After that, I picked up a couple of packages at the mail place, then came home. Shortly thereafter Lanny Meyers arrived and shortly thereafter the East Coast Singer, Sandy Bainum, arrived. We all chatted for a while, but since the first part of our work session was to map out a new act to launch the new CD we moseyed on over to the Coral Café to do that part over food. Since I’d had a small ham and Swiss on rye for lunch, I decided to have some pie – and had their yummilicious coconut cream pie. I just felt like splurging and since my sandwich was, at most, four hundred calories, I was fine with it. We went over the show order, which is basically the album order with maybe one little tweak. I then had her write down the ideas for the connective patter, which I’ll now write for her. We discussed all her upcoming show dates, the first of which, the Ira Gershwin show, is in mid-October. I’ll probably come East to be with her for that one at the Metropolitan Room in New York, New York, the city that never sleeps. Then we have her launch show here in LA, the new act based on the album. That’s in November, the week after our November Kritzerland show. Then we do that same show at the Metropolitan Room and I’ll fly in for that, too, and then a few days later she’ll do that at the Signature, but I’ll be back in LA by then, I think – I may have some of this wrong but it’s something like that.
We came back and were ready to run the Ira Gershwin show but Sandy had forgotten the music. Oh, well. But we chatted some more and it was all fine.
Then I had to deal with two very interesting things that happened yesterday. They’re both preliminary and one is for sure and one is almost for sure as long as a meeting on Monday goes as planned and the dates work for everyone. The first interesting thing was being asked to direct a big, all-star benefit in January at the Pasadena Playhouse for ALS. I’d actually been asked to write the patter for it, but had told them I wouldn’t be interested in that without being the director, too. At that point, they didn’t really think they needed one, and I recommended strongly that they rethink that position, whether that person was me or someone else. They did, and they asked and I happily said yes. They’ve already got some impressive talent lined up – it’s not really directing so much as structuring, making sure the pace is right, and making sure that it doesn’t turn into a three or four-hour endless thing. I’ve done these many times and I’m pretty good at insuring that everything moves along at a steady clip. So, that will be fun, and we’re having a meeting on Thursday night about details.
The second interesting thing was I’d been contacted a couple of days ago by the artistic director of a very well thought of theater in Los Angeles, an Equity Waiver space, but one that’s well known. She’d been thinking about doing a show of the songs of Newley and Bricusse and had apparently heard about the Kritzerland show and how good it was and she wanted to know if I’d be interested in doing it. It was a brief conversation, and we had another yesterday afternoon, and she basically wants to go ahead with it and if we do it would happen almost immediately. I’d have about three weeks to come up with the structure and ideas and songs (we’d have to add a few from our Kritzerland list), and then we’d cast and go into rehearsal and it would either open at the end of October or beginning of November. We just have to discuss my handful of blackout dates in October – it’s just a few and if that’s all fine, then I’m definitely in and I’m very excited about the possibility.
After that, I did a three-mile jog, but I think the jogs have to go back to being in the morning because it’s been a bit nippy the last few evenings. After the jog, I went to Gelson’s and got a little five-ounce cube steak (about 250 calories) – I hadn’t had one of those in decades and it was quite good, and I had a little slaw with it. So, overall, I think it was a fine day, calorie-wise. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the first thirty minutes of the original The Fly, a movie I’m very fond of even though it’s not that great. I’d read raves about the transfer, but I’m not quite ready to join in yet. We’ll see how the rest looks, but right now I’ve seen many other Fox transfers that are much better. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but I’ll go into more detail when I’m finished watching.
Then I read a few more chapters of Dark Market and it just makes my blood boil to read about the selfish, evil people who perpetrate cybercrime – these people are delusional – they think they’re not really hurting individuals, just institutions. Yeah, sure, right. It’s quite riveting at times – a lot of names to remember, but the form of the book is at least starting to make sense to me. I’m almost halfway through. Then I had a nice hour-long chat with Mr. Barry Pearl – he’s just been cast in the Pasadena Playhouse production of 12 Angry Men as Juror 7, so that’s a lovely gig for him.
Tomorrow, I will do a jog in the early part of the day, hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, then we begin working at two – we’ll run the Ira Gershwin show in its entirety, stopping and starting so I can give occasional notes. Then we’ll start assembling the new show, just to see how the order feels and for me to get more patter ideas. After that, more reading and movie watching.
Thursday, I have an early lunch meeting with Jason Graae, then we work at around two again, mostly on the new show. Then I have the first meeting for this benefit show that evening. Friday morning we’ll have one more work session and then Sandy goes back home. There’s something else going on on Friday but I cannot remember what it might be, so hopefully someone will remind me. Not sure what’s happening on the weekend.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, hopefully pick up some packages and have a rehearsal. 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 we shall play mumbly-peg all night long.