Well, dear readers, last night’s benefit for ALS at the Pasadena Playhouse was a pretty extraordinary evening straight down the line, a completely lovely night. While the show came in at two hours and thirty five minutes, thirty-five minutes included the intermission, some talking before act two and a way too long live auction – but one that was worth it due to the money it brought it. The show itself was exactly as I planned it – two hours precisely, each act one hour. Lesson learned for me is no live auction – there has to be a better way and I think at one of the AIDS benefits they actually did it post show and it worked really well. But that’s a minor nitpick. I had a great stage manager who really was organized and on every detail. I had a great lighting designer in Hilda Kane and the show looked beautiful. The crew was fantastic. My sound guy from The Federal did a great job. Best of all, there was not one screw-up in the entire show and it just breezed by, with every transition working perfectly with not a lull, and I was so happy my show structure really worked like gangbusters. And then, of course, there was the great band led by Richard Allen with Tom Griep assisting and playing keyboards.
But it’s always the talent at these things that make the evenings what they are. And boy did we have talent. Every performer did incredibly well – many ovations throughout the night. In an evening of one highlight after another, I really must give a special call out to the You’re Never Fully Dressed gals (Brennley, Brooke, Skylar, Oliviana and Hadley), who stopped the show cold, to Jenna Lea Rosen who did the same, to Bruce Vilanch and Barry Pearl who showed what performing was all about, but then I may as well just mention everyone else because everyone was equally wonderful – our Fugue for Tinhorn gals, Susanne Blakeslee, Marsha Kramer and Lisa Livesay, Reagan Pasternak, Melora Hardin, Daisy Eagan, magician Crow Garrett, James Barbour and James C. Mulligan, John Sloman, Ilene Graff, Gary Morgan and the Flying Morgans, Rex Smith, Jean Louisa Kelly (doing not only her own act one closer, but graciously filling in for an ailing Kay Cole), Kerry O’Malley, Devin Kelly and Dennis Kyle, Micky Dolenz (so much fun and the audience went nuts), comic Jason Collings (truly laugh out loud funny), Obba Babatunde (electric), Richard M. Sherman, Joan Ryan, magician Jonathan Pendragon, our co-producer Juliana Hansen, and the magnificent force of nature known as Terri White. I don’t think I could have been happier with the entire affair. There was an after party but it was way too crowded for me, so I hung out there for about ten minutes and then hit the road, since I’d been at the theater since noon.
I was up at nine, and the plumbers went to work cleaning out the roots from the pipes in front – I’m not sure if they finished although I’m sure they have. I’ll talk to them today. I did futz and finesse just a bit, before getting ready to go. I was definitely a little queasy still, but I brought my 7-Up to the theater and that was very helpful. I went over all the show’s light cues with Hilda Kane, then we had sound check that lasted almost three and a half hours. The stage manager and I went over all the details, I set the company bows for the end of the show and that was that. I do have to say that somewhere just before the show I started to feel hungry, but I wasn’t really ready to eat anything. I still haven’t, but will definitely have to in the morning, since it’s now been over forty-eight hours without food. Then it was show time and you know the rest.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I shall try to write three or four pages then I’ll go have some poached eggs on toast and maybe a little white rice. Hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, and I think I may be having a dinner of some sort, although I’ll probably just have more poached eggs. And I’ll try to write at least seven pages but may go for ten, so I make up for yesterday.
Tomorrow, I will write about five pages in the morning, then print out and deliver to Muse Margaret. Then at noon I have a work session with one of the singers for And the World Goes Round, then it’s more writing. Thursday it’s writing and then some auditions for replacements. And then, it’s just writing and relaxing on the weekend.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, eat lightly, hopefully pick up packages, and maybe have a dinner. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your least favorite foods and dishes, the ones you never go near? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that our little benefit was a big ol’ hit.