Well, dear readers, it is late and I must write these here notes in a hurry for I am exhausted and it’s only the third day of 2014. What a long day was yesterday, exacerbated by the fact that there is so much swimming around in Ye Olde Cranium that I woke up at six and was unable to get back to sleep. Such is the way when I’ve begun a new book – my brain is just filled to capacity with new ideas and once I start thinking, which is what happened when I woke up, that’s it – then I start making notes on my bedside pad and falling back asleep is not possible. But I also had to be at the bank at nine to do a transaction that needed doing and I barely got back in time to get ready for our ten-thirty rehearsal.
Our second Kritzerland rehearsal was even more fun than the first. The two young fellows, Quintan Craig and Carter Thomas, were much more self-assured and they’re just terrific. The girls were good on Monday and even better for the second rehearsal. And I have to say that for whatever reasons on this particular show, Sami is like a whole new person, with an incredible energy and an infectious joy that is palpable. She has grown so much during Pure Imagination, and having her do my song, Annie, is like hearing it for the first time. I’ve heard a lot of people do it, some of them terrifically, but Sami is bringing so much to it and investing so much storytelling in it (it’s a long song and very hard to sustain), that I feel that she now owns this song, lock, stock and barrel. Jenna, too, has grown incredibly over the last year, and she’s taking all kinds of chances now, not belting everything and really discovering the subtleties in her beautiful voice and it’s a real pleasure to watch and hear. Sarah is doing a beautiful job with Children Will Listen, and Tom Griep’s daughter is having ever so much fun with the Codfish Ball. Little Hadley Belle Miller is killing with I Won’t Grow Up, and Brennley Brown is extraordinary, really – so real and honest, with a simple, heartfelt and beautiful voice. Kim Huber’s daughter Paige is also wonderful and, like Brennley, simple and honest with great heart. Our final person was Sharon McNight and the fact that no one has ever asked her to play Miss Hannigan is just shocking – she is doing a rather amazing Little Girls from Annie, and aside from Miss Loudon, who will never be topped, hers is the funniest I’ve seen.
All that took until four o’clock. Then Richard Sherman arrived and we began finessing our little song, Two Roads. He changed the melody a bit and made it even catchier, and he wrote a two-line verse into the song proper, which I was about to suggest, so it’s funny we’re on the exact same page. We talked through the lyric, I suggested a couple of minor note changes, which he liked, and I had one idea for one additional lyric line – it wasn’t right, but he adjusted it and made it work and really liked it. Then he sat at the piano and played, while I sang and it was just the most magical late afternoon. He seems really happy with it now, and he made one final musical adjustment in the second ending and I believe we have a finished product, although I suspect we are both nitpickers and may find tiny things to smooth out. I made a little iPhone recording before he went on his merry way. What a treat.
I was then ready to fall over from hunger, so I went and had a cup of chicken soup and a chopped salad with salami and avocado, with a teeny-tiny bit of oil and a whole lot of vinegar as the dressing. After that, I came home and finally began writing.
I’d actually gotten up in time to go over what I’d written the day before, and I rather surprisingly liked most of what I read and made only a few fixes as well as adding a couple of paragraphs – I still have one or two more plot points to add, and I think I figured out where to stick them in the first few pages. And I’d written about a quarter of a page in the morning. I did a total of five pages, and wish I could have done another page or two, but I was really all in by that point. However, I did finish the first chapter, although, as I said, it will get a teeny-tiny bit longer before I go on to chapter two today. After that, I had to sit on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I decided to continue my travels down the spaghetti western road and I watched the first forty-five minutes of For a Few Dollars More, which I like better than Fistful of Dollars and maybe even better than The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But two minutes into watching it I fell asleep for a whopping forty minutes. Then I went back and watched the forty-three minutes I missed. After that, I took a shower and finally caught up on e-mails.
Today, I shall be up by ten at the latest, then I shall futz and fix yesterday’s writing, after which I’ll move on to chapter two. My goal is to write three or four pages before we begin benefit rehearsals at noon. I think those go until three, then I’ll go eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and then my goal will be to write another five or six pages in the evening hours. I pretty much know what chapter two is, so I won’t be flying blind.
Tomorrow is our stumble-through at two, and then I’m taking Sarah Staitman and family out for Sarah’s sixteenth birthday, which was actually a couple of days ago. Otherwise, it’s just writing, and trying to get in a jog or two. Sunday is sound check and show. I will, of course, have a full report. Next week is writing, benefit rehearsing, writing the brief patter for the benefit (another thing I did yesterday was come up with a pretty good first pass show order, so that’s out of the way), a brush-up rehearsal for Pure Imagination, writing, seeing the Thursday and Saturday night performances of Pure Imagination, and then we have a band rehearsal for the benefit and then it’s show time.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, rehearse, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and write. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – too many of each to name. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall arise and write, rehearse, eat, and write.