Well, dear readers, it is late and I am tired and therefore I must write these here notes in a hurry so I can hie my tired body to the boudoir. I had to be up very early, at eight, so I only got about six hours of sleep, when I really needed eight or nine. Mr. Piano Man showed up at eight-thirty and did his adjustments and now the piano plays perfectly. He spent about an hour working on it. I answered e-mails, did some work on the computer, then as soon as he was gone, I got right back into bed and dozed off for thirty minutes.
Once up, I went and had a patty melt and no fries or onion rings, picked up no packages, and then came home. A notion for a song had been percolating in my cranium for a day or so – Sami really wanted to tap in our show and I was trying to figure out how to make that happen, and I came up with what I think is a fun idea where she sings about the movie musicals her mother made her watch when she was a kid – all the classic Astaire and Gene Kelly movies. That was the germ of it. The day before, I’d come up with about eight bars of a tune I liked and I put it in iRecorder, but I didn’t even have to reference it – it came right back to me. So, I wrote a rough up of two verses and a bridge, then finessed it for a while, but not going anywhere near the piano.
Then it was time for our first Kritzerland rehearsal. First to arrive was our very own Robert Yacko. He ran his three numbers – first was a What If parody from the Yiddish Sondheim – Bury Me a Little – we did a bit of it in the big Yiddish Sondheim segment in What If, but here we’re doing the one number in its entirety – it’s pretty funny. Then he ran his April put-together of April Showers and April Love. And finally he did the Alan Menken comedy song, Pink Fish. Then Dana Meller arrived and ran her three numbers. The first was I’m the Greatest Star, which she does completely in Russian – it’s hysterically funny. Then it was Stop Time from Big and finally What Did I Have That I Don’t Have.
Then Jenna Lea Rosen and her mom arrived. Jenna, who I’ve been working with since she was twelve, has blossomed into a beautiful young lady. She has two songs in the show – one entitled Blue Hair, which is one of those new-fangled “today” theater songs that I’m not all that crazy about, and her second number is I Got Love – once we talked through that and I told her what the intention was and how it needed to be played, she “got” it instantly and it’s incredible. We’re talking about maybe replacing Blue Hair, but we’ll see. After Jenna, it was little ten-year-old Hadley Miller. She and her dad suggested to me a couple of weeks ago that they thought it would be funny for her to sing Dance Ten, Looks Three from A Chorus Line. I, too, thought it was a funny idea, but when I finally looked at the lyric with an eye to changing a couple of things, I ended up writing a whole new parody lyric that’s specific to a ten-year-old and it’s pretty amusing and she does it great.
Then Sami and mom arrived. She ran her two songs – she’s been so inundated with her school play that she was not as prepared as she should have been, but she knows she has to come back on Thursday letter and note perfect and I’m sure she will. Her two songs are both from the new show – one is called Prom and the other is called He Was Grandpa – the latter is very touching and she sings it really well, and the former is kind of a tour-de-force wordy little thing about a nervous girl getting ready for her prom. Once it starts it never stops going. Brittney Bertier was supposed to be next, but she had some health issues and we’ve rescheduled her for Wednesday, so I’ll tell you about her numbers then. JoAnne Worley joins us on Thursday to rehearse her two numbers.
After that, I had to go directly to The Federal to see Kevin Earley’s club act, which was directed by his beautiful wife, Julie Ann Emery, with John Boswell on piano. First I had an artichoke and a few tater tots. I knew lots of folks in the crowd of about sixty-five. Then the show began. Mr. Earley has an amazing voice – he was a real hit at the last Kritzerland show, and I’ve used him in two benefits I’ve directed and he stopped the show in both. His act is couched in reminiscences of growing up with his mom’s record collection. So, he has a record player on stage (a few things at the top are prerecorded or the accompaniment is from an actual LP) and lots of album covers, all of which are personal to him. He sang a lot of songs, had snappy patter, was very personable and had some funny repartee with Boswell, including a duet with him that was one of the highlights of the show. It may be a song or two too long, but it was a very enjoyable evening and the audience had a great time. We’re trying to get him back to Kritzerland in May.
After that, I came right home, wrote the monologue into the new song, finally took what I’d written to the piano and played it – I remembered the tune, it fit perfectly with only one slight adjustment, and I quickly wrote a bridge, then recorded the whole thing into iRecorder. Then I had some ice cream and that was that.
Today, I’ll hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep, then at some point our very own Mr. Nick Redman will drop by for a short visit. Then I’ll go eat something, hopefully pick up packages, and then the rest of the day will be spent in doing a first pass at the ALS show structure. Once that’s done, then I’ll try to relax. We’re also shipping Beneath the 12-Mile Reef today.
Tomorrow, we have the rescheduled rehearsal with Brittney, then a dinner meeting and work session with Sami. Thursday is a crazy day – a production meeting for the benefit in the morning in Pasadena, then our second Kritzerland rehearsal, after which I go directly to a meeting at the Group Rep theater. Friday there’s stuff going on but I cannot remember what it is – hopefully someone will remind me at some point. Saturday is our stumble-through, Sunday is 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 visit, eat, hopefully pick up packages, do a show structure, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Astaire and Kelly movies? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland as I mosey on over to the boudoir.