Well, dear readers, the two performances of Kritzerland at Sterling’s 49 are over and I’m exhausted. But what shows they were and I could not have been happier with them. Our matinee was a full house and a wonderful audience – we had Karen Morrow, Sharon McNight, Jackie Joseph, Michael Kerker and others. I knew right away in the first part of the patter that they were going to be fantastic and they were. The What Ifs went over like gangbusters – it was just like being back in 2004 – they still work unbelievably well. But if I thought that reaction was amazing it actually doubled at the evening show where the laughs were long and loud and roof shattering. For smoothness, I’d say the matinee had the edge – not one mistake in that show. In the evening show we had one lyric flub but it was covered and dealt with beautifully and endearingly, and then at one point towards the end I jumped a song in my patter – but before it got too serious, John Boswell got me back to where I should be and when I went back to the patter I’d already done I got a nice big laugh when I repeated the first line of it. For me, one of the highlights of both shows was getting to tell the story of seeing The Most Happy Fella and how kind Robert Weede was to me – I’ve told it online several times but I’d never told it out loud. I think a few people were moved by it, and there were times I even got choked up. Also, hearing Jenna Lea Rosen and Sami Staitman do my song Pals – it truly brought the house down at both shows and that was very heartening. Jenna and Sami were stellar in their solo numbers, too – Jenna hitting it out of the park as always, and Sami at her most endearing and adorable with her two Bye Bye Birdie songs.
Our very own Robert Yacko was terrific in Joey, Joey, Joey, and wonderful in recreating Finishing the Hat. Maddy Claire Parks and Evan Buckley Harris recreated Namely You in COSTUME – that was a big and fun surprise for everyone and they were just as terrific as they’d been in the show. Evan socked home On Your Toes and Maddy got me all choked up with Somebody Somewhere/My Heart is So Full of You – what a voice this young lady has. And then since Guy Haines was a no-show (my line about him got one of the biggest laughs of both shows), I got to do You’re Just in Love with the cute-as-a-button ten-year-old Hadley Belle Miller (it was her birthday). Another patter line that went over great was when I was introducing Knowing When to Leave and telling about Promises, Promises. I said it was the year I moved to New York with my then new and short wife. “Our marriage outlasted the run of Promises, Promises but it wasn’t nearly as much fun.” I then said that had we stayed married that September 7 would have been our 46th wedding anniversary.
Then there was Kerry O’Malley who was just amazing with Knowing When to Leave and Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me/How About Me – what an actress this woman is and what a divine voice she has. And my darling Bruce Vilanch, maybe the funniest man on the planet, getting screaming laughs with his intro to his song and then we opened it up in the middle so he could do patter there. Hilarious. Our mighty ensemble of four – Kimberly Hessler, Travis Leland, Bruce Merkle and Adrienne Visnic – socked home the What Ifs so beautifully and the audience ate them up. And then there’s John Boswell – I just cannot say enough great things about him – he’s a perfect accompanist – singers LOVE him, but he also has a great sense of calm and humor and one of the highlights of both shows was the bit he does where the audience shouts out about ten show tunes and he instantly concocts an overture out of them on the spot. All co-produced by Adryan Russ. We heard many comments that it was the best we’ve done, for which I’m very grateful. At the evening show we also had Richard and Elizabeth Sherman, Kay Cole and Barry Pearl and lots of other wonderful folks. There will be some video and some photographs soon.
I did manage to get eight hours of sleep and my voice did hold up, so many thanks for the vibes and xylophones. Some of us went to Little Toni’s after, and I had one slice of pizza and some penne with butter and cheese, all excellent.
Today, we start pre-orders for the new Kritzerland release, which is, of course, the long time coming And the World Goes Round, new studio cast recording starring Brent Barrett, Kyra Da Costa, Jason Graae, Christiane Noll and Kristin Towers-Rowles, with musical direction by Joshua Eli Kranz, and, yes, produced by the likes of me. Here’s the fun cover.
You can hear audio samples and purchase it at you-know-where. We’re actually putting it up at midnight so I don’t have to get up at six in the damn morning. Hopefully I’ll be printing out a LOT of orders. I have to bone up on Scent of Mystery/Holiday in Spain, I have to jog, eat, hopefully pick up some packages and relax.
Tomorrow we record the commentary for Scent of Mystery/Holiday in Spain and that will probably take a few hours out of the day. The rest of the week is meetings and meals, the Sandy photo shoot, and attending the opening night of Kiss Me Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, print out a LOT of orders, I must jog, I must eat, I must hopefully pick up some packages, I must go over material for the commentary and I must relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Growing up, what were your all-time favorite cookies, the kind you’d get from the market, not homemade? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, exhausted after two wonderful shows for Kritzerland at Sterling’s 49.