Well, dear readers, we had our first but not last choreography day on Li’l Abner. We didn’t finish the three numbers we had, so we’ll be doing the third on Tuesday. Kay began by getting everyone on their feet for a warm-up. She gave various kinds of steps to see what the kids could and couldn’t do – this went on for an hour and then we began with It’s a Typical Day. I blocked the opening gag and then she went on from there. We were both feeling our way through the number – it has to achieve several things and there was a lot of trial and error and redoing and doing again. We both feel it’s still not quite right – the positions are fine, but it’s the attitude and what they’re doing that isn’t quite hanging together, so we’ll be futzing with this over the next few rehearsals – I feel it has to be a number that welcomes us into the world of Dogpatch, so not a lot of movement or steps, just interesting placement of actors, moving them occasionally from place to place, but mostly meeting them and the folks who have the solos. It’s trickier than I thought it would be, but it’s actually close and won’t take more than an hour or two of finessing it to get it right.
Then we moved on to Jubilation T. Cornpone. I quickly blocked the scene that leads into the number, then Kay took over. Two hours later we had it and boy is it fun. First of all, John Massey is going to be a GREAT Marryin’ Sam – his sense of the character and the comedy is perfect and he sings it beautifully. Again, I don’t want to say too much due to prying eyes, but I’ve done something a little off the beaten track with it and it works like gangbusters. It was, I’m sure, a little overwhelming for some of the students, but they gave it their all, had great energy and they are really conscientious and we video recorded everything for them to study and get everything down, and we also have a dance captain who will work with them whenever I’m not using them. So, a long but fun day.
After the rehearsal, a few of us went to Palermo, an Eyetalian restaurant. We ordered a pizza for the table (I had one slice), then I had some penne and meatballs, which I ate half of and brought the rest home, where I ate it a couple of hours later. Dinner was fun, and happily there was not a lick of traffic coming home. Once home, I answered e-mails, had a couple of telephonic conversations and then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture entitled The Canyons – I’d read a New York Times piece on the making of the film that piqued my interest. It was a very low-budget film – $250,000 – primarily funded on Kickstarter. The fact that the director was Paul Schrader and the writer was Bret Easton Ellis should tell you all you need to know and why they had to resort to Kickstarter, which now seems to be subverting the very purpose for which it was created. In any case, they went and got Lindsay Lohan to star, along with a porn actor named James Deen. The latter seemed very important to the filmmakers – why is the question, since he is not playing a porn star. Miss Lohan had to agree to one steamy and nude sex scene – she did, then got nervous and tried not to do it – Mr. Schrader finally stripped and directed the scene naked. Watching the scene in question all I could muster was a “Who gives a flying Wallenda?” It was so dull and stupid. And so was the rest of the movie, a virtual gabfest of uninteresting dialogue and plotting, with performances that ranged from adequate to embarrassing. Mr. Deen was certainly in the adequate and no more category, although I found him completely and utterly annoying – Mr. Schrader and Mr. Ellis do seem to be rather intensely enamored of his attributes, though, so there’s that. I, like many, really liked Miss Lohan when she was a child actress – she had a natural comic talent and was cute as a button. Well, she took the wrong path, looks twenty years older than she really is, and it’s just painful to listen to and watch her. She sounds like she has a cold (she doesn’t – she just always sounds like it – I’m sure there are reasons for it, and anyone who has followed her soap opera saga might be able to hazard a guess what those reasons are), her lips are too big and she just doesn’t look good, in my opinion. But it’s just the most pointless film – one literally doesn’t know what the film is trying to say or even what it’s about. It just meanders from one endless and pointless scene to the next for ninety-three minutes. A complete waste of time, I cannot even recommend it for lovers of bad movies. Once upon a time I found Mr. Schrader interesting, both as a writer, and every so often as a director. Not any more.
Prior to all that, I’d gotten around seven hours of sleep, and had no time to do anything but get ready for rehearsal.
Today, I cannot sleep in, which I’d love to do, because she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon and I’ll have to get up, jog and then kill some time until she’s gone. Then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, put gas in the motor car, relax, and then attend a Seder.
Tomorrow is a ME day and I shall do nothing at all but relax and recharge. Monday I have a work session with the Kritzerland musical director, then rehearsal, and I also have to write the Kritzerland commentary and get that out of the way. Tuesday we have a Sandy and Lanny work session, then the rest of the week is rehearsing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, pick up packages, relax and attend a Seder. Today’s topic of discussion: Tell us about the first dance you ever attended. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall greet the day with choreography.