Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry for it is late and I, BK, have had a VERY long but VERY productive day and I am quite exhausted from it all. But before we go any further, here’s something for your mental delectation – Jenna Lea Rosen doing Suddenly It Happens at our Kritzerland show. This girl has grown so much in the last year – it’s just so gratifying and wonderful to watch.
She’s something else. Hoping to have more video at some point. And speaking of video, I arrived at Westlake Studios at nine-fifteen to set up for our video shoot with Sandy Bainum. When Sandy told me she wanted to have a video of Simply and This Christmas I told her that I only wanted to do it if we could do it right and have them look really great. So, we did them right. I used our camera crew from Outside the Box, and we rented the equipment needed to do this the way I wanted to. We had a dolly, tracks, green screen and really good lighting. We began with Simply and I spent the most time on that, doing various moving shots and then a couple of locked off shots. The lighting was beautiful, and the hair and make-up gal was great and Sandy looked stunning. Lanny was with us, too, which is always fun. Then we moved on to This Christmas, which we shot in front of a green screen so we could key in whatever backgrounds and fun stuff we want in postproduction editing. I did a couple of moving shots, but most of that one was static so we could not have too much distraction in the backgrounds. Then we did one little additional shot for an animated version of Blessings of the Season, Lanny’s original song from our Christmas album. We saw the animation and its lovely and we just shot what will be used as the opening and closing live action shot that will lead us into and out of the animation. Best of all, Astroburger for lunch. We wrapped around three-thirty.
It was too late to come home and I was trying to figure out what I’d do until rehearsal, when I got a call from one of our cast members asking me if I’d come an hour early and drill stuff with him and help get him solid, which I was absolutely pleased as punch to do. So, I drove down that way, but had two almost hour-long conversations while doing so – for the second of them I stopped at a Yum Yum Donuts and got a glazed donut – sadly I didn’t find Yum Yum all that Yum Yum. I got to the theater at six and the actor and I drilled stuff and I think it was very helpful to him and I think if we have another couple of sessions like that it will be really good. Then the rest of the company, save for one person who had to miss, arrived and we began at the top of the show. Our set and lighting guy was there, and even though we were light a cast member, he was just smiling and laughing throughout – that was really good for the cast, I must say. I used the evening to smooth out things, make a few minor staging changes and solidify things that were too loose. Everyone is coming along smartly now. But I’d had a conversation with the artistic director of the theater and we’d both been laboring under the misconception that Thanksgiving week was the week after we were to begin previews – but it’s not this year – this year Thanksgiving is the final week, so we decided to push our first performance to the twenty-first and that was a huge stress reliever for us all. The cast was thrilled and so am I, and I really believe that extra week we’ll be just what we need to get us really ready and up to speed for that first performance.
The rehearsal was the most fun we’ve all had. Their really starting to get a sense of the rhythm of the show and how it all connects, and certain things that are just beginning to come together are really fun to watch.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I may try to do a jog, and I’ll definitely pick up some packages that arrived yesterday and one that I know is arriving today. Then Sandy and Lanny arrive at one and we’ll run the show, then probably eat. I’ll leave for the theater around five doing the Beverly Glen route.
The rest of the week is more of the same. We have Friday night off, so I can get some rest then. Then come Monday we have Sandy’s sound check and show – we’re off that night, too, in terms of the other show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, maybe jog, pick up packages, rehearse, eat, and rehearse. 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, thrilled that we bought ourselves another week of rehearsals, a potent stress remover.