Well, dear readers, Sunday was not a day of rest. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, Sunday was not a day of rest. It was a long and winding week of rehearsals and yesterday’s was both fun and frustrating, but ultimately mostly fun. We began at eleven and I jumped right into staging the act one finale – I’d gotten an idea for it the night before, and it worked out pretty well, I think – really cute stuff and a nice, up way to end the act. Hopefully everyone has written down what we did, although I’ve been using the iPhone to video the bigger numbers so I have it. Then we moved on to the act two opener – I kept it very simple, but it’s fun and even funny and I think the audience will eat it up – literally, since we open the act with The Candy Man and hand out candy to the audience. That one I didn’t film – I really do need to video all the group stuff as reference so I’ll get that one tonight, along with the other group number we did last week. But the good news is that all the group stuff is now staged with the exception of the finale – and only part of that needs to be staged because the final part of it is a reprise of the opening number and we’ll do that exact staging. So, that leaves one solo and one duet – the duet won’t get done till next Saturday, but I’ll do the solo tomorrow night. We wrapped before three, because the theater next door to us uses our space as a cross through and it gets really confusing to deal with.
After the rehearsal, I drove home, stopped at K’s Donuts for another chocolate peanut butter thing – I was there two hours earlier than on Saturday and yet they were sold out of them – methinks me talking about it in these here notes caused some of our West Coast dear readers to go over there, because in the entire history of my going to K’s Donuts they have NEVER EVER been out of them. Same thing with the chocolate whipped cream thing – out of that one, too where they never have been before. So, I got a chocolate bar and a jelly donut. Then I went and had a chili, cheese and onion omelet and no potatoes, along with an English muffin. That was excellent and not too heavy. Then I finally came home and answered e-mails, cancelled a meeting for the benefit and told them this week is completely out for me to do anything, and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish and ate up both donuts.
Last night, I finished watching The Uninvited on Blu and Ray. I know people think it’s a classic, but I’ve never really felt that way – I do enjoy it and its atmospheric photography, and I certainly enjoy the performances and I certainly enjoy Victor Young’s score and his immortal Stella by Starlight, which was introduced in this film. But mostly I love Gail Russell. She was twenty when she did this film. And apparently she was a nervous wreck all during filming and began drinking to help her nerves. And it just got worse over the years until she finally had no more career. She died at the age of thirty-six in 1961 of problems related to her alcohol addiction. What a shame – such a beautiful woman, and even though unschooled in acting, a very natural screen presence. It’s kind of heartbreaking to watch her at twenty, fresh-faced and beguiling, knowing how it ended. Ray Milland is excellent as is Ruth Hussey. The transfer on the Criterion Blu and Ray is excellent – beautiful contrast and sharpness.
I then watched the first twenty-five minutes of The Mummy – the Hammer version on a region B Blu-ray. This transfer has gotten raves from the usual armchair experts who don’t have a clew what this film should look like. For me, it’s merely okay – never sharp enough, color leaning to brown, and frankly it looks a little zoomed-in to me. But they rave nonetheless, and give their usual inane bad marks to great transfers. Thus the Internet. I’ll try to finish it in the next couple of days.
Today is going to be a very long day and evening. I’ll hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep, then I may or may not have a visit with the Darling Daughter before she heads back home, her dental woes finally behind her. I’ll eat, I have no idea if I’ll have time for a jog, but I hope so, and then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal. That will last until seven-thirty and then I have to hurry to the theater for the show rehearsal. Until I get there they’ll drill music. Once I’m there, we’ll learn the finale. We’re without one cast member so I can’t really run any group staging.
Tomorrow, I have to write some liner notes, and then at tomorrow night’s rehearsal we will drill every group number until everyone is really retaining what we’re doing. I’ll stage the finale and the one solo, and then I start assembling the show. Wednesday is our second Kritzerland rehearsal, so I’ll be late to rehearsal again, but they’ll be drilling music until I get there, and then we’ll continue assembling the show. Thursday we have off for Halloween, Friday we rehearse, Saturday morning I’ll be at rehearsal, and then back in time for our stumble-through, and Sunday is our sound check, matinee and evening performance for Kritzerland. Whew!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, maybe have a visit with the Darling Daughter, eat, maybe jog, have a Kritzerland rehearsal, put gas in the motor car and then have a show rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite movies and books about the supernatural? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall be up to greet the day with energy and hopefully focus.