Well, dear readers, why don’t we start off with a little entertainment? Wouldn’t that be a splendidly splendid idea? Wouldn’t that just be the icing on the cake or, at the very least, the cake on the icing? So, let us go back in time to Sunday night’s Kritzerland show and our opening number, a What If: What if Stephen Sondheim, instead of writing for the American musical theater, had written for the Yiddish musical theater? So, here is a song from Sondheim’s Yiddish musical, I Don’t Know from Company, as sung by our very own Robert Yacko.
In the actual What If revue we only did the first verse – this is the first time it’s ever been performed in its entirety. Now that we’ve had our entertainment, I guess we should have some notes, which will also hopefully be entertaining in their fashion (stiletto heels, form-fitting red dress and a bush jacket).
Yesterday was certainly a Wednesday. It began with my arising after eight hours of sleep, just before eleven. Yes, it was another tossing and turning night and not getting to sleep until three. But I certainly had interesting and not unpleasant dreams. Once up, I answered e-mails, was told that the publisher got the new cover files and so hopefully we’ll have an approvable cover today. Then I met the wonderful Kay Cole for a noon o’clock lunch. I had the same thing I’d had the previous day – a scoop of chicken salad and a scoop of egg salad and some french fries. Kay had a salad and a cup of chili. We dished, we laughed, and we thoroughly caught up. She’s directing a new musical by Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ, so I heard about that, and then she’s off next week to New York for a fortieth anniversary celebration of A Chorus Line.
After ascertaining there were no packages to pick up, I came home. Then we had our three ALS rehearsals. First was Bruce Vilanch – his number will be really funny and, of course, we’ve opened it up in the middle for him to do two to three minutes of his stuff. Then came Devin Kelly, who was with us last year – I had the idea for her to do Fascinatin’ Rhythm – once through singing, and then a battle between her fiddling and the band playing – we knocked out the arrangement and it should be great. Then came Timothy Omundson, who’s singing Luck Be a Lady. Super nice guy and, as it turns out, my neighbor – he lives just a couple of blocks away and rode his bike over. All in all, a nice way to spend the afternoon.
Then I did some more work on the latest song, which I’m not quite sold on yet, but I’ll let Sami learn a bit of it and see how I feel when I hear it – it does have some funny lines but it’s feeling a little too much like other songs in the show and I’d rather maybe just end up keeping the monologue and figuring out perhaps a ballad. We shall see. After that, I was in a donut kind of mood so I went and got one. Then I came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I was in a Netflix frame of mind and watched yet another wretched “thriller” entitled Whispers in the Dark. I know I saw it back in 1992 but little of it remained in my memory other than the cast. The writing is so dreadful that it’s rather shocking and yet not shocking that a major studio would green light such a thing, other than these things were the rage back then. Anyone who doesn’t know who the actual culprit is the minute an appearance is made needs their thriller card revoked. I’m sure the writer/director thought he had a surefire twist/surprise reveal – he thought wrong. A truly boneheaded movie and just what I needed to relax my brain.
Then I did some work on the computer, had a couple of telephonic calls and that was that.
Today, we have one ALS rehearsal at one o’clock with Reagan Pasternak, and then I meet Sami and mom for a quick meal and then we’ll work for two or three hours of the first four monologues and songs and get those on the road to where they need to be. Hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, and then I think I’m meeting Doug Haverty later in the evening for a snack.
Tomorrow is another Sami work session, and then the Passover dinner I was going to has been cancelled due to not enough Jews coming. The weekend is, at this point in time, pretty open and I hope it stays that way. I may be having a dinner with Sandy Bainum one of the weekend evenings – just waiting to hear from her.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rehearse, eat rehearse, hopefully pick up some packages, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite cheesy thrillers of the 80s and 90s? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where my dreams will hopefully have no lame twist/surprise endings.