Well, dear readers, The Mysterious Mystery of the Disappearing Chocolate Peanut Butter Donut Thing has been solved. As you known, nearby K’s Donuts makes a yummilicious chocolate peanut butter donut thing. Several times recently I have had a craving for said donut and have stopped there on the way home from our weekend rehearsals, only to find they had none left. I suppose that’s normal after a long day of donut people. But three times in the last couple of weeks, I’ve gone there between noon and three and they’ve been out of them, telling me they were all gone by morning, but with no further explanation. But yesterday I finally got the explanation and it’s a doozy. When I went in at one to get my chocolate peanut butter donut thing they thankfully had one left. And I again asked exactly who was buying them all up, because I was certain it wasn’t a bunch of disparate people. I was right. It’s ONE person, a post office person, who comes in each and every morning and buys 90% of them. It does make you stop and scratch your head as to this person’s need to purchase all of them and then do what with them? Bring them to co-workers because the ONLY damn donut they like is the chocolate peanut butter donut thing? It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? No wonder the USPS is at its nadir. All they do is sit around and eat chocolate peanut butter donut things all day – including MINE. And there you have the solving of The Mysterious Mystery of the Disappearing Chocolate Peanut Butter Donut Thing by Agatha Christie.
Yesterday turned out to be quite a busy little day. For some reason, I woke up at six-thirty and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I just stayed in bed playing on the iPad. I finally got up around nine. I had a couple of telephonic conversations, answered e-mails, and then began liner notes number four and got about halfway through. Then I went and had a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich with no fries or onion rings. Then I did the donut run, after which I picked up two little packages, one of which contained the new book of Leonard Bernstein letters, which I’m very much looking forward to. After that, I came home and finished liner notes number four and sent them on their merry way. I then began liner notes number five and finished a couple of paragraphs. Then I had to be on my way to my editor’s house to see his first cuts of the two Sandy Bainum music videos I directed a few weeks ago.
He did a great job on them, especially This Christmas, which is pretty amazing. I had only one little change in each, he did them quickly and then made me Quick Time files to upload to You Tube, which I did when I got back home. So, here they are. First up is Simply. The idea, of course, was to keep it very simple, both in direction and lighting and performance.
And here’s This Christmas, which I could not be happier with.
Isn’t that fun and festive? We shot it against a green screen and then Doug Haverty, at my request, found me all these moving background images, out of which I chose the ones I liked and wanted to use. We purchased the rights to use them and then the editor, Marshall Harvey, brilliantly put them to use, as you saw. Anyway, tell your friends, share the video on Facebook and twit about it on Twitter. And as long as we’re doing videos, here’s one of little Hadley Miller stopping the show with That’s What I Want for Christmas.
Wow.
Then I sat on my couch like so much fish, intending to watch a motion picture, but unfortunately I got a telephonic call that caused me to go somewhat ballistic. I had to be very strong and I was and will continue to be about this tiny little issue that came up yesterday in an e-mail. And that’s all I’ll say about that – for now. That took up a little too much time, so I only began watching Here Comes Mr. Jordan, the first version of Heaven Can Wait. It’s enjoyable, but so far I’m preferring the Warren Beatty version. I also went to check out the new Blu and Ray of Serpico, but it was a mass of digital problems so I have to send it back and get a replacement.
Then I finished liner notes number five and got them on their way, so I am finally through with all that. Two of the three projects we’re announcing in a couple of days are approved and hopefully the third will be approved today or early tomorrow.
Today, I shall do some errands and whatnot, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and prepare for tonight’s rehearsal. I’m bringing in the new two-act show order version and the slightly adjusted one-act show order version. Then we’ll spend the first two hours of rehearsal restaging the opening number as I’ve conceived it, and then an alternate version that doesn’t include the bookend. I’m not in love with the idea of the latter, as I think it doesn’t present the joy of the original concept, but that one I’m willing to try. Then I’m simplifying the staging of Sami Staitman’s first solo, and then, if there’s time, I think we’ll run the two-act version to see how it feels. If there’s not enough time for that one, we might try the slightly adjusted one-act version. We shall see.
Tomorrow is more of the same and we’ll do a run-through of both versions, I think, so we can decide on whether we’ll preview each version over the next two previews, or just decide what it’s going to be and preview that twice. Then we open on Saturday and that’s that. Sunday is, of course, my birthday – I’ll attend the matinee and then hopefully will celebrate with some friends. If not, I’ll just damn well celebrate alone.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do errands and whatnot, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and rehearse. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite Danny Kaye films and recordings? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that The Mysterious Mystery of the Disappearing Chocolate Peanut Butter Donut Thing has been solved. If you’re in the Valley and have chocolate stains on you mail, you know why.