Well, dear readers, let me see if I’ve got this right – in fact, let me see if I’ve got this left: It’s the end of the month? Have I got that right or left? The END OF THE MONTH? How did that happen? July just flew by, like a gazelle admiring its new Broadway window card of Li’l Abner. And speaking of abnormal coincidences, I will soon be admiring MY new Broadway window card of Li’l Abner very soon. After ten years of wanting one of the full color versions (I have a generic poster that’s beige, red, and black with a huge space top and bottom for theater name and play dates. That would have been used for the national tour and for stock and amateur productions. But the full color version had the Broadway credits and that’s what I wanted. My first chance at one was on eBay a bunch of years ago, maybe a decade. It ended up selling for over $1,000, which was insane. But then earlier this year another one came up and that sold for over $3,200, when a whole slew of classic window cards came up and they all sold to either one of two persons at prices like that and higher. I truly believe these two idiots were trying to create a market where none has ever existed and I truly believe we will see all these for sale at an auction at some point. Mark my words. Another copy came up a couple of months ago – that one had a snipe with some replacement credits and sold for about $2,000. Last week, someone I know who knew I wanted one found one for me. His price was more than reasonable but I was able to do a little BK stuff and it ended up costing me nothing. Interestingly, this doesn’t have a snipe but does have replacements – by the time of this poster, Edie Adams and Charlotte Rae had left and were replaced by Joyce Gladmond and Billie Hayes (who’d go on to play Mammy in the film). I believe everyone else is part of the original company. In fact, Miss Gladmond was in the original company and understudied Miss Adams, filling in for her for two weeks when Miss Adams went on vacation. Then she took over the role and played it for several months, so this poster must have been done in mid-1957, a little less than a year into the run. Of course, I’m thrilled to have Billie Hayes on the poster because she will always be Mammy to me. Here is the beauty, which I’ll have early next week.
And on Forget-Me-Not Friday, here I am with Billie Hayes at one of the Ray Courts celebrity shows circa 2001.
Other than that lovely bit of business, yesterday was a fun little day, save for one classic BK moment of unbridled wackiness when I could not make someone understand what I wanted after having explained it over and over and over and over again. It started out comically, but by the end of it I thought my head was going to explode. However, all’s well that ends well and it’s all fine. First I had a lunch with Sami’s mom and a friend of hers, said friend who’s been wanting to meet me, as he’s a fan of mine. And he was and is a fan and a delightful one at that. I’m always intrigued when anyone knows anything I’ve done, but he’s been a fan for a very long time, since he saw Stages at the Matrix Theater back in 1978. He loved the show and had the LP. He told me he typed up the lyrics to the title song and still has them on the wall of his office. He also saw The Brain from Planet X and recently the workshop of the Sami show. We all had fun and I had a turkey sandwich with no fries or onion rings. He’s also an experienced costumer and he’s going to help us with two costume changes that have to be done in literally two to three seconds. He’s done that very fast change in The Drowsy Chaperone during Show Off, so he knows how to build these things.
After lunch, I came home and then we had our second Kritzerland rehearsal. Not everyone was off book as they should have been, but they were close. I finessed a few things and changed the ride out of one number – that’s what caused the classic BK moment. After that, I did a two-and-a-half mile jog, then made two low-cal tortilla and low-cal cheese things for my low-cal snack – so under 1000 calories when you factor in the jog. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I started to watch a documentary about Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki – it’s like watching a fish swimming in glue so I had to turn it off. I’ll give it another go tonight and hopefully something interesting will happen. After that, I just did some work on the computer and at the piano.
Today, I have yet another lunch, and then I’ll jog, hopefully pick up some packages, and then just relax and rest my voice, which is a little tired from a lot of talking over the last few days.
Tomorrow we have our stumble-through and then I’m relaxing, and Sunday is our sound check and show. I will, of course, have a full report. Next week I have to meet with some lighting designers, we’ll be in the last few days of the Sami Indiegogo campaign, and I have to get songs chosen for the anniversary show. We’re surprisingly fully cast, although I may add one additional guest star – but for now we have a rather stellar cast and I do mean stellar: Damon Kirsche, Sharon McNight, Darcie Roberts, Robert Yacko – our group of kids including Brennley Brown, Hadley Miller, Jenna Lea Rosen, Sami Staitman – and our guest star, Jason Graae. We’re not kiddin’ around, baby.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a lunch meeting, jog, hopefully pick up packages, do some banking, and relax. 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, any number of things. Blu and Ray, Places in the Heart. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have finally scored my most wanted Broadway window card.