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December 14, 2013:

REMEMBERING FRED (TOBY) BLUTH

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I learned yesterday that Fred (Toby) Bluth passed away on October 31, of a massive stroke.  Those who’ve read Kritzer Time know about my experiences doing shows when I was a teen at the Bluth Brothers Theater in Culver City.  In the book, I call it the Beach Brothers Theater.  I think I was fifteen when I first met Fred and Don Bluth.  My then girlfriend, Esther Lenz, was doing The Music Man at their theater – she was a singer/dancer in the ensemble, and was dancing with a very cute boy who I was very jealous of, someone named Alan Abelew.  She introduced me to Fred and Don, the two brothers for whom the theater was named.  Fred was the director and Don the musical director.  I’m afraid back then I was an uppity little teen and I can only imagine how I came off to them, but Fred took a liking to me right away and called me “Junior Genius” which became his nickname for me.  After I turned sixteen, they were gracious enough to cast me in The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  I think it’s safe to say that both gentlemen changed my life and taught me lessons that have stayed with me ever since – professionalism, focus, and always doing the best you can do.  Even though I was not doing all that much in the show (I was one of Molly’s brothers, a Denver Policeman, and several other things here and there), I loved being there – they ran a tight ship, were very professional, and it was probably the best community theater this city has ever had.  Their shows were of a quality that was as good as any Equity small theater in LA.  And dear reader Jeanne was very much a part of that scene, too.  Here’s the program from Molly.

molly brown

I have a lot of six degrees with this show.  Melody Santangelo’s boyfriend was Michael Burns – he was smitten with her and she played the diva and he did everything for her.  Seven years later I’d be co-starring in my first CBS pilot with him.  Melody was wildly talented, though, and she eventually went on to have a bit of a career (she’s in the movie of Newsies briefly).  You’ll note the name Terry Reily.  Terry went on to change his name to Orrin Reily and he appeared on Broadway in Applause.  Despite being gay, he married Melody’s sister, Violet Santangelo, or Little Vi as we used to call her, because Big Vi was her mother.  Little Vi also changed her name – she became Laura Kenyon and was in the original Broadway production of Nine.  We were all very close, but that’s the kind of atmosphere Fred and Don made – you just were all friends and close.  Orrin was one of the first people I knew lost to AIDS.  You’ll also note the name Kevin Terry playing Leadville Johnny Brown.  Let’s just say that Kevin Terry was to Fred Bluth what Guy Haines is to me.

After Molly, I did the West Coast premiere of High Spirits at Bluth Brothers.  They gave me a little call out part and it was an amazing production.  I remember walking in one day and seeing this incredible backdrop of London – not only did Don musical direct, he also did the sets.  I asked him where he’d gotten such a glorious thing for his little theater and his answer was quite the surprise, because it had never actually occurred to me to ask either of the Bluths how they made a living in the real world.  Don’s answer was it was the London backdrop used in Mary Poppins, which he’d painted.  Who knew he was an animator at Disney?  Not me.  Here’s the program from High Spirits.

high spirits-1

I also have six degrees with this show, too.  You’ll note the name Chris Roberts playing the lead.  Chris Roberts was really named Ed Cotter.  Eight years later, I watched the credits for my first episode of Happy Days – and Ed Cotter, the very same, was the editor of the show and he was on it for much of its run.  Who knew he had a real life and job?  Not me.  You’ll note the name Walter Willison – of course he went on to be a Tony nominee for Two By Two and he has had quite a career.  And running into him when he was doing Grand Hotel changed my life in other ways.  He introduced me to Harvey Schmidt, who became a beautiful and close friend of mine.  And he made the suggestion that resulted in the first cast album I ever produced – The Anastasia Affaire.  And in a bit of irony, when High Spirits was done a year later at the Valley Music Theater in Woodland Hills, Walter played the role I’d done at Bluth Brothers, a role originally done on Broadway by someone else I’d become very good friends with and work with – Gene Castle.  Finally, you’ll note the name Alan Abelew, the cute boy who’d I’d been so jealous of when my girlfriend was doing The Music Man.  Alan and I became best friends, and we went to LACC together and eventually I used him in every show I wrote, as well as immortalizing him as George Brenner in The First Nudie Musical – he also appeared in The Creature Wasn’t Nice.

I hadn’t seen Fred in years.  Don had kept in touch, and I remember after my first episode of The Partridge Family aired, he called me to tell me how proud he was of me – just got my name out of the phone book.  But at some point I saw a production of Peter Pan that he directed – it may have even been Cathy Rigby’s first go.  And he directed another girlfriend of mine in Peter Pan – Penny Peyser.  And then in a bit of weird coincidence, I was cast in what would become my second to last commercial.  I don’t even remember what it was for, but I do remember shooting it on Montana in Santa Monica, right across from the Aero Theater.  The commercial was a combination of live action and animation and Fred, who’d changed his name to Toby in the late 1960s, was the animator.  I didn’t have a clew that he did anything like that.  So, we had a wonderful reunion on the shoot and a few weeks later I called him and asked him to do the cover for Toonful, the first Michelle Nicastro album, which he agreed to do.  Weeks and weeks went by, he wouldn’t return calls and I finally wrote him a very nasty note saying he’d really cost us time and got us into a huge bind.  We found someone at Disney to do the cover, though, and it all worked out the way it worked out.

Then I didn’t seen him for years.  Sometime in the early 2000s I was at one of those signing shows and Toby was there signing a book he’d illustrated.  I went up to him and said hi, bought the book and he inscribed it to me.  He asked if I still hated him and the question took me aback until he reminded me of the really nasty note I’d written.  I apologized and said we’d just been under a lot of stress to get the cover done and all that pressure went on me.  He understood, and we had a really nice chat.  His inscription was warm and signed “love.”  And then somewhere around 2009, I think, I called him and told him I wanted to bring him the Kritzer trilogy.  I went to his office in Burbank and we spent an hour laughing and reminiscing and I told him I hoped he’d like my fictional portrait of a time that was very important to me in so many ways.  That was the last time I saw or talked to him.  Today, I was on one of those Blu-ray boards and someone was going on and on about how Disney had ruined the animation in the Blu-ray of Mary Poppins and I was just so irritated because to me it looked amazing.  At one point I said that he probably knew 1000% more than me about animation and that the only thing I really knew about animation was having known Toby and Don.  He then posted that Toby had just passed away.  I always think it’s amazing when people touch each other’s lives – make a difference, help someone grow and become better.  Toby was one of those people and I hope that while he’s getting comfy in that animation studio in the sky that he knows how much of a difference he made in my life and I’m sure many others.  Rest in peace, Fred (Toby).

Yesterday was a fine little day otherwise.  I did my usual morning routine of staying in bed until the home environment heated up a bit.  I had a telephonic conversation with David Siegel, an orchestrator I’ve used many times.  Because the timing is probably not good for Larry to do what I need, he suggested I call others, and happily David loves the idea of doing the show and has agreed.  He’s been very busy doing charts for Newsies and other Disney shows, but the dates work for him and it won’t be that hard because he’s so proficient in Finale.  After that and a few other telephonic conversations, I went and had a bacon cheeseburger and no fries or onion rings.  Then I picked up a couple of packages, then came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.

Yesterday, I finished watching the screener of Lone Survivor, probably my least favorite kind of film.  It’s one of those Zero Dark Thirty kinds of things, about Navy Seals on a mission to get one of the head Taliban people.  The mission is a failure and you can probably figure out how much of a failure from the title of the film.  It’s very bloody, and I just kept wanting to turn it off because it was two grueling hours.  There was one touching scene towards the end, where a village of nice Afghanistan people hide and protect the lone survivor – a father and son save his life and his farewell to them is very well done.  But, not my kind of movie.

I then watched another screener, this one entitled Nebraska, one of those “quirky” slow moving things with arch humor and oddball characters, all in black-and-white scope.  It’s a bit of a road movie and as it goes in these films, it has a showy role for a senior actor, in this case Bruce Dern.  He’s excellent and so is the whole cast but at close to two hours it really overstays whatever welcome it had.  A little of this kind of thing goes a long way, at least for me.

After that, I did some benefit work and that was that.

Today, I believe she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early and I will do a jog and then have a really light something to eat to tide me over until dinner after the show.  I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll relax, and then I’ll attend the show, after which we’ll have a little birthday dinner for Sami’s mom, Karen.

Tomorrow, I will attend the matinee, and then I’m going to eat something fun.  Next week is a lot of benefit stuff and a lot of Kritzerland show stuff – no resting yet.  I’m very behind in getting everyone their music so I’ve got to get that done.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, eat something very light, hopefully pick up packages, relax, see a show, and sup.  Today’s topic of discussion: What are some of the most positive life-changing experiences and/or people you’ve had?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall remember that long ago time when Fred Bluth called me Junior Genius and changed my life.

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