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March 28, 2015:

AND THE WINNER IS… GUESS WHO?

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, it is VERY late and I am VERY tired and yet I am VERY elated and thrilled that I have finally broken my incredible streak of never winning any award.  I’m normally not even nominated – I’ve been doing LA theater, for example, for forty-five years now and until the Robby Awards I have never been nominated for one damn thing, and that includes What If, which was hugely successful, and The Brain from Planet X.  I was, of course, thrilled to be nominated for a Grammy (two, really) but did not win.  So, when I found out about the Mac Award nomination for “Simply” as best song of 2015 I knew I would not be winning it.  I’m not really a part of the cabaret scene in New York, other than having directed Sandy’s shows there and doing our two Kritzerland shows.  In fact, the nomination completely surprised me and I was just grateful to get that.  About a week ago we were finally allowed to talk about it, so that was fun.  And I didn’t really think about it at all until yesterday, as I remembered the ceremony was that night, yesterday meaning Thursday, of course.  I didn’t want to think about it, but once that was planted I did and saw some congratulations from other winners online, so I knew that once again we’d lost.  And then last night (meaning Friday) at six or so, our former dear reader Julie Miller, who produces the Mac award ceremony posted to my wall on timeline that I’d won the thing.  I couldn’t believe it.  Yes, I, BK, won an award and it was a heady moment to see that congratulations.  I’m told that in a few weeks a little plaque or something will be mailed to the winners.  So, thank you to all the Mac people who thought the song was nice enough to vote for – none of them knew who wrote the nominated songs – they purposely withhold that information, which is why we couldn’t post about it until all the ballots had been turned in.  So, it was just people listening to the five nominated songs and casting their vote.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt when it’s so beautifully sung by Sandy Bainum and that it has such a beautiful orchestration by Lanny Meyers.  But I do have to say that it especially pleases me that it was “Simply” because I really do feel that of the hundreds of songs I’ve written over the years, “Simply” is the one that’s closest to who I really am.  So, it’s great to finally be discovered as a songwriter, fifty-two years after having written my very first song, “I’m in Like With You.”

SONG

ADVICE TO A YOUNG FIREFLY
Music by Derek Gregor, lyrics by Sam Carner

CENTRAL PARK IN SPRING
Music by William TN Hall, lyrics by Patrick Gallagher

SAVE ME THE ROSE
Music and lyrics by Scott Evan Davis

SIMPLY***
Music and lyrics by Bruce Kimmel

A SONG TO COME HOME TO
Music and lyrics by Major Scales (Richard Andriessen)

 

Prior to that wonderful moment, I’d had a perfectly okay day.  I got just under eight hours of sleep, answered e-mails, was happy the beeping problem was no more, did some work on the computer and then had a teeny-tiny egg salad sandwich to tide me over till much later.  I picked up no packages, then came back home.  The helper came by and picked up invoices, I had some telephonic conversations, and then it was time to mosey on over to the Matrix Theater to see Barry Pearl in a musical comedy.

I got there very quickly, thanks to my wonderful secret route, which I shall not share here, since every time I share stuff like that, it ends up suddenly being popular with the populace.  I thought finding parking at that hour would be insane, because I though most of the side streets would be permit parking.  But lo and behold and also behold and lo, I found side street parking a mere two blocks from the theater, right off Melrose.  And there was plenty of it.  As I walked the two blocks, I saw that I could have also parked right on Melrose and right near the theater, but I would have had to pay for an hour on the meter.

Once in the theater, I ran right into the show’s director, Joel Zwick, who is an old pal of mine from my acting days (he directed my favorite of the Laverne and Shirley episodes I did).  The box-office guy came right up to me when he heard my name and told me a seat had been put aside for me (it’s open seating at the Matrix).  I also saw Valerie Perri, who was also in the show.  My old pal Donna Pescow was there, and we chatted for a bit – she was with another old pal, Steve Blustein.  I also noticed the show’s choreographer was there, Peggy Hickey.  And the show’s writers.  And the show’s producers – it seemed like ALL of them and there were a lot of producers.  And the friends of the producers, so I knew what kind of evening it was going to be.  And so it did, with whooping and hollering from one specific section of the audience at all times.  But then, the gal who makes the pre-show announcement tells you to whoop and holler and clap along – that’s not the way I’d start any show, but that’s just me.

The show is basically a musical version of Cyrano de Bergerac set in Little Italy, with the mafia.  You can probably take it from there.  This is simply not my kind of show – the jokes are too obvious and they become thinner as the evening wears on.  Yes, there are funny moments, but aside from two or three of those, there was never anything where the comedy was landing the entire audience at once.  Joel did a nice job with it, and they’re blessed with a wonderful company of actors – the material doesn’t always come up to their performances, but that’s not particular to this show.  Barry did very well, and the lead fellow was really good as was Valerie Perri.  The show could also easily lose twenty to thirty minutes – it ran almost two hours and twenty minutes, which is just too long for this kind of show.  They close tonight.

After the show, Barry and I went for a bite to eat – others from the cast were there, too.  I had some very good fish and chips and met some very nice people.  Then I came home.

Today, I don’t get to sleep in, as we have a ten-thirty work session with the musical director of the Kritzerland show.  Also, one of our cast members wanted an extra bit of time, so she’s coming by, too.  Then I’m meeting at the theater where we did Inside Out – that meeting was supposed to happen yesterday, but got pushed.  Once that’s done, I’ll come back home, get ready and then mosey on out to Oak Park to sup with Sami’s mom and then see Sami in A Chorus Line.

Tomorrow, I’ll try to relax during the day, then I’ll briefly go to Sandy’s open house.  Monday is our first Kritzerland rehearsal and I think there’s something else happening, then the rest of the week is meetings and meals, the second Kritzerland rehearsal, then our stumble-through, then sound check and show.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a work session, have a meeting, sup, and see a show.  Today’s topic of discussion: What is the most unexpected great thing that’s happened to you – something totally out of the blue?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, so happy to have won the Mac Award for Best Song of 2015.

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