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March 2, 2014:

ENDING OUR RUN ON A HIGH NOTE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, it is late and I must therefore write these here notes in a hurry so I can get a good night’s beauty sleep.  The faucet rain continued all day and night yesterday.  It was like someone turning a faucet on and off, over and over again.  First it would pour for about five minutes then it would just stop.  Then it would pour then it would stop.  It was amusing after a while.  I was up at ten, answered e-mails, did my morning ablutions, then went and had some bacon and eggs and toast, oh my.  After that, I picked up several packages, then came home.  I did some work on the computer, then sat on my couch like so much fish.

Yesterday, I finished watching 55 Days at Peking and I must say I quite enjoyed it.  I always loved the Samuel Bronston epics, and this one, like King of Kings, is beautifully directed by Nicholas Ray.  This new transfer really is quite good and the sound is punchy and terrific.  One can only hope that the other Bronston epics get the same treatment – El Cid and The Fall of the Roman Empire.  After that, James C. Mulligan, the artist who did the Red Gold cover art, stopped by with his original painting.  It’s quite beautiful in person and a really nice-sized painting.  He left and I took the painting over to my framers for framing.  Luckily, when I got there the rain had totally stopped.  I got in the store, and within two minutes there was a torrential downpour, so good timing on my part.  By the time we were finished choosing the frame, the rain had stopped again.  I then went home and once again sat on my couch like so much fish.

Yesterday, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Witness, starring Mr. Harrison Ford.  One knew instantly when the film came out that it was an instant classic – just a perfect little film with a great script, brilliant direction by Peter Weir, and wonderful performances.  One can only shudder to think how they would make this same film today.  The disc is from France, but Paramount will be releasing it all over the world – it’s region free.  The transfer has moments of loveliness, especially in its color.  But there are many dark scenes shot in low light with pushed film and I’m sure the usual suspects will be out in force about the amount of grain.  It’s not any different than similar scenes in The Driver – for some reason that transfer has gotten a complete pass from the usual suspects, but I think they’ll be howling over this one.  I was mostly okay with the transfer – detail is very good, especially in the outdoor sunlit scenes.  I fell right into the film’s spell instantly, and I have to say that little Lukas Haas gives a great performance.

After that, I got ready to go to the theater to catch the penultimate performance of Pure Imagination.  I’d already been told that several in our cast have been sick with colds, so I knew that going in.  It was raining on my drive there, but I still got there in about thirty minutes.  We had a pretty full house and a lively audience and the show was fine, with the ailing actors singing through their colds very well.  Poor Sami had a little fall when she went to get her hat and cane in Where Would You Be Without Me, but trouper that she is, she was right up and continued right on and the audience ate her up.  During the curtain call the cast brought me up on stage, which was very sweet of them.  It was the last time for me to see the show, and also it was our musical director, Lloyd Cooper’s final time playing the show.  He has been an absolute treasure on this show and interestingly he gets the biggest hand during the curtain call.  So, I close the book on this chapter of the show, but hopefully it will have a life subsequently and sooner than later.   I will, over the next few days, be talking about the experience of doing the show.

After the show, they had a little toast to Lloyd and I in the lobby, and then I came directly home – only twenty-five minutes and no rain at all.  Once home, I had some popcorn (no butter), and a few little assorted snacks.

Today, I shall be up by ten, then we have our stumble-through, after which Sami and her mom will hurry to the theater for the closing performance of our show, while a few of us will go have a meal somewhere.  Then I’ll come home and we’ll begin our Annual Oscar Bash, the best Oscar partay on all the Internet, and you won’t want to miss one minute of it, oh, no, you won’t want to miss one minute of it.

Tomorrow is our sound check and show.  The rest of the week are Sandy and Lanny work sessions, meetings, meals, a casting meeting at LACC, and lots o’ stuff, including prepping our next release.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a stumble-through, eat, and attend our Oscar Bash.  Today’s topic of discussion: Forget free-for-all day – what are your Oscar predictions for this evening’s event?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that our successful run of Pure Imagination has ended on a high note (Ab).

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