Well, dear readers, it is late and I must write these here notes in a hurry because to not do so would be unseemly, uncaring, and just plain un. Perhaps we’ll have some just plain un notes. I don’t think we’ve ever had some plain un notes or even some fancy un notes. Yes, today’s notes shall be un notes.
Yesterday, I woke up around eleven because once again I did not get to sleep until after three. I’m a little bored of that scenario, which is extremely un, if you ask me. I have so many things going on in my head and I get in this thing where one thing just comes to the forefront and it just sticks there and I cannot get rid of it. Does that make sense? Does that make cents? Once up, I did the usual things – answered e-mails and such, but mostly I sat at the piano pondering the new number I’d written. As I mentioned in yesterday’s notes, I was ready to discard it because it just wasn’t working for me. I thought the tune was good and I thought the lyric worked fine, but I thought it was too much like the other songs in the show. I also strongly felt that I needed no more up-tempo things but did need a ballad. I also wanted to work in a little thing where Sami could “sign” a song because she takes a sign language class and she loves doing it and is really good at it. So, there I sat, getting a headache whilst pondering what to do, when I began noodling and suddenly I realized that the song could BE a ballad, without even really changing the main part of the tune. I got very excited by that notion, and so I dropped the key a third, came up with a feel that I liked a lot, and then rewrote the last half of the tune a little while not really having to adjust much of the lyric at all. And it worked. Suddenly it felt really right. The song is called Note to Boys and the monologue I’d written to lead into it was already pretty funny, but then I got the bright idea that boys of that age have trouble understanding plain English when it’s spoken to them, like if a girl says “Don’t try and kiss me” they will try anyway. So, I added a few lines about that, then said that the character was taking sign language in school and that there were a couple of hearing-impaired students and she could sign with them and they understood her perfectly and so why couldn’t the boys understand simple English? And then she’ll sing this song and sign it, too, which I think will make it really work well. That was a blessing and my favorite kind of creative thing.
Then Reagan Pasternak arrived, as did Tom Griep, who’s playing piano for the ALS show. We ran her number, which is Easy Terms from Blood Brothers. It’s one of those songs that just peters out at the end, so I gave it a proper ending and she really liked it and so that’s all set now. Then I met Sami and her mom at Casa Vega, where I had a beef taco and a cheese enchilada. We talked about the show and other stuff, then we came back and worked on the first four monologues and songs. I stopped her a lot during the first one and kept making her go slower and tried to get it more real and conversational – and finally that clicked in. We’re not there yet, but she really heard the difference and hopefully that will help her. Then we did the others the same way, and also did the songs, which are sounding really good. There are a handful of notes she has in her head wrong, so we’ve got to drill those and get them right – our MD, Alby Potts will be with us early next week to do nothing but work on the songs and getting them perfect. She also sat with me at the piano and I played her the new song and I have to say after hearing it once she was able to sing along with most of it, which must mean the tune has something catchy in it. Anyway, it was a fun session. I guess it’s finally time to show you this little thing.
They left, and I began to work on ALS stuff. I guess I can say now that it hasn’t worked out, I tried really hard to get us Petula Clark – I’ve never called in that kind of card before, but I wrote a guy who works with her all the time, and he spoke to her and she really wanted to do it. We agreed to fly her and her MD in and put them up at a nice hotel. But she had a couple of date things that needed to be worked out. They kept us waiting for over two weeks and then we had to give them a deadline as flights would be prohibitive after that – and that deadline was yesterday and I didn’t even have the courtesy of an e-mail about it after we waited all that time. So, we’re now trying to fill in those two slots (she would have done two numbers). We really have to move fast and it’s going to have to be with people who have something they can just do, that they know like the back of their hand. I’ll be dealing with all that today. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the new Mad Men episode. I must say I found AMC’s decision to split the season in half truly annoying and for me the momentum has been completely lost. The episode was, once again, a very mixed bag and, once again, for me the most interesting character of the entire series has continued to be Peggy and that was certainly the case with this episode. Anyway, five more and it’s over.
Then Doug Haverty came by and we went to Jerry’s Deli – I had my little scoops of chicken salad and egg salad. We spent some time going over something that’s going to happen in the next couple of weeks. While I would love to talk about it right this very minute, I think we all know about prying eyes and these here notes so I’ll just wait a bit longer and then go public with what I’m talking about. Prying Eyes – that’s the title of my next novel.
Today, it’s all ALS stuff, some food at some point, hopefully I’ll pick up some packages and get a helpful envelope, and then I’m seeing a show at the Group Rep Theater in the evening.
The weekend is unknown to me, but I will be doing writing on the Sami show, especially trying to knock out the final long monologue that will lead us into the final song. I may or may not be having a meal with Sandy Bainum, and I may or may not be seeing a show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do ALS stuff, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and see a show. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, who the HELL knows? Blu-ray, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have finished these very un notes.