Well, dear readers, can I just say that it is April? I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you find such late-breaking news as it is April? Nowhere, that’s where. And being that it is April, may I just say that it is my fervent hope and prayer that April will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. Not only is it April, it’s April Fools’ Day, the day in which we all can be foolish and no one can say boo about it, although, that said, I just said boo about it so I guess I defied the conventional wisdom that no one can say boo about it. Did you know that boo spelled backwards is oob? Just asking. In any case, let us all be foolish today, but let’s leave the stupid foolishness to Facebook and environs, whilst we have our usual inspired foolishness here at haineshisway.com, because, as everyone on all the Internet knows, we are the King of Foolish.
But before we are foolish, let me say that yesterday we had our first rehearsal for next Sunday’s Kritzerland show, and it was way too much fun. It’s got more humorous material than we normally have, being that it’s our April Fools’ show. Lloyd Cooper, our MD, arrived and we waited for these foolish things to begin. First up, was our very own Robert Yacko, who, I must say, was totally prepared with some very wordy songs. First he did Something, which is Denis Markell and Doug Bernstein’s brilliant response to A Chorus Line’s Nothing, sung by Mr. Karp. We did the number in What If back in 2004. Next he sang one of our What If bits, this one What If Frank Loesser instead of writing Guys and Dolls had written Sweeney Todd. We only did a small portion of it in What If, so it’s fun to do the entire number, which is to the tune of Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat. Then Zachary Ford arrived and he and Robert did a duet What If – What If Frank Loesser instead of writing Guys and Dolls had written The King and I. They’re great together and I gave them a couple of tiny bits of staging. Then Robert left, and Zach did his two ballads – Rupert Holmes’s very moving song, Letters That Cross in the Mail and the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song, Younger than Springtime.
Then Zach left and we had Shannon Warne next. She did a put-together of The April Fools and These Foolish Things. We adjusted the key and she sounds great on them. Then she did this huge piece of special material I created for Joan Ryan’s act years ago – since Joan did it exactly once, bringing down the house with it, but has never even wanted to look at it again, I thought it would be fun to have Shannon do it and to let folks hear it. The idea of it is we all know great singing actors who nail that part of any musical theatre audition, but who then get cut when they can’t cut the dance part. So, I took a bunch of the A Chorus Line songs and did parody lyrics about not being able to dance – it’s really funny and Shannon will knock it out of the park. Then Sandy Bainum arrived and they did their duet – Who Do I Have to Blank To Get Out of This Show, which is a song I wrote for the musical that I had to create for my book Writer’s Block. They are great together. Then Shannon left and Sandy did her two other songs – a put-together of April in Paris, April Love, and I’ll Remember April – and then Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.
Then Sandy left and I ran my song, which Richard Sherman will be playing for me – I think I have most of it down now. Then Jenna Lea Rosen, Sami Staitman and Maddy Claire Parks arrived. The first thing they did was their trio that opens the show – I’m not going to give away what it is, but let’s just say it’s completely inappropriate and wrong and it had me laughing out loud, not to mention that the three of them do it brilliantly. Then they each ran their solos – Maddy doing It Might as Well Be Spring, Jenna doing Pulled (from The Addams Family), and Sami doing a boisterous Some People. Then Jenna’s mom, Heather Hoppus-Werner gave the girls some choreography for the opening number, which was great. Then we all went out to eat. We met at the Kansas City Barbecue only to find its doors closed and a sign saying they were renovating. So, we went to the nearby Eclectic Café. It has new owners now, so the menu has changed just a bit. I had one of their new dishes, a very good salmon with some risotto, and a Caesar salad. We also got one of their new appetizers, mac-and-cheese and boy was it out of this world and we quickly ordered a second one because Jenna and Sami LOVED it. We all had fun, and then I came home, way too full.
Prior to all that, I woke up at nine because I guess I dreamed someone was ringing the doorbell, so I got up to see who it was and it was no one. I went back to bed and fell asleep and then got up at ten-thirty. I did some work on the computer, answered e-mails and then went and picked up four boxes o’ books. Then I had a quick bite to eat – some bacon and eggs to tide me over till dinner. Then I came home and got ready for our rehearsal. Just before we began, Grant came over and he affixed the limitation page into fifty copies of the book. After I got back home from dinner, the helper came by and I signed all the books that had been ordered at Kritzerland and then she took then and she’ll be shipping all of them first thing in the morning.
Today, I shall do some errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, and then we have our meet and greet at LACC, which I’m very much looking forward to. After that, I’m sure some of us will grab a bite to eat and then I come back home and relax.
Tomorrow, I have a morning meeting at a local theater, then I’ll drive some books out to Mystery and Imagination so they can proudly display them. Then in the evening it’s back to the mixing of And the World Goes Round – I’m hoping we can actually finish, but if not, we’ll continue on Thursday night. Thursday is our second Kritzerland rehearsal and I’m sure we’ll eat afterwards. Friday is unknown to me at the moment, Saturday is our stumble-through and then I’m supping with Muse Margaret and her ever-lovin’ Richard. Sunday is our sound check and show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do some errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up packages, have a meet and greet and eat. Today’s topic of discussion: What is the most foolish thing you’ve ever done, bad or good and that you can actually talk about? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to welcome in a little month I like to call April – and it is my fervent hope and prayer that April will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.