Well, dear readers, we had our first Kritzerland rehearsal yesterday and I cannot tell you how much fun it was and how much fun this show is going to be. We have such a talented batch of kids for this show. We began with Brooke Besikof and Jaidyn Young. They sang their duet, Unsuspecting Hearts from Carrie. We’re doing the arrangement from my Emily Skinner/Alice Ripley recording, so we worked on those harmonies for a while – they’re not that easy, but the girls pretty much had them locked down and we did plunk tapes for them. Then Brooke sang her solo, Pink Taffeta Sample Size 10, the cut song from Sweet Charity. I pick material very carefully, and I knew the song would be really good for Brooke and it is. Then Jaidyn did her solo, the arrangement we did for Michelle Nicastro of In My Own Little Corner/Impossible. I gave a few notes and that was that.
Then it was our sole male, Landen Starkman. He began with New Kid in the Neighborhood, a very good Stephen Schwartz song from the show Captain Louie. Then he did Out There, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which he does very well. Again, I gave a few notes. Many of the kids seemed to be a little under the weather so I told them all to get Sambucol and to rest and not do too many other things this week.
Next up was Sami. First she did her difficult one, the Sondheim parody Another Hundred Lyrics, which will be very funny and fun. Then she did her second song, which is Let Me Sing, from Welcome to My World. Then it was Jenna Lea Rosen – I chose her two songs very carefully and they fit her like a glove – first She’s Gone, the cut song from Side Show, and then the title song from Rags.
After that, it was Oliviana Marie, daughter of our musical director Tom Griep. She’s doing a cute song called My Mama Says No, No and then a Paul Gordon song from Daddy Long Legs called The Secret of Happiness – very nice.
And then our three young kids arrived: Hadley Belle Miller, Emilie Lafontaine and Hayley Shukiar. Hadley is eleven and the other two, I believe are either ten or just under ten. I always like to throw something completely unexpected at our audiences, like when we opened one show with Dreamgirls sung by two teenage Jews and a teenage shiksa – it was great. Well, I’m trying to figure out what the kids can do, and I see a photo on Facebook of Hayley playing the trumpet with her middle school band or something. Light bulb. I knew immediately what we’d be doing. And so, these three little tykes are doing You Gotta Get a Gimmick. They were all very prepared – but I wasn’t prepared for just how funny it was going to be. When little Hayley, who is a powerhouse and great, lets forth with the trumpet as Mazeppa, I laughed out loud, as did the parents. And Hadley and Emilie were also great. Normally I don’t do much directing at the first rehearsal, but I gave them a little bit of staging to learn. I think it will be an opening number that goes down in Kritzerland history and infamy.
Then Emilie and Hayley did Mama’s Talkin’ Soft, the cut song from Gypsy, which they really nailed. And then it was Hadley doing When You’re Good to Momma from Chicago. Funny stuff. Finally, it was Brennley Brown, who has two great songs that are perfect for her – Stop and See Me from Weird Romance and The Life I Never Led from Sister Act. I think the show order is going to work really well, and now that I’ve heard everyone, I’ll definitely futz and finesse the commentary.
Prior to that, I was up at six to announce our new Kritzerland release. I went back to bed at eight-thirty and slept a little over an hour, when the telephonic device rang. It was Muse Margaret. She hadn’t called the previous day because she’d been out doing errands all day, then had to do dinner and then she watched the Golden Globes. After that, she read the first half of the pages I’d given her, but didn’t want to call until she’d finished the second half. I was really worried about it, but she could not have been more effusive in her praise – she had not one note or change. She said she laughed out loud from the first page of the new pages to the last, and that she was also finding it endearing and sweet and even, at times, a little touching. This made me very happy. It was a great way to start the day. I also had made a decision about the way I’d begun a chapter – it just didn’t feel right to me and I’d figured out a better way in, so I wrote those two pages as soon as I got up and before futzing and finessing.
Then I printed out a LOT of orders, then since I was feeling so good about Muse Margaret’s reaction that naturally I got an e-mail that did its best to bring me down. Well, I will not allow it. I cannot fret about things – everything will work out, that’s all I have to concentrate on. Some of this has to do with a raise in the rent here and being strong-armed about it a little. I have since done the research to know that what they’re asking for is not legal, but on the other hand, I’ve been here for eleven years and I’m just not keen on moving – I would, in fact, not mind staying here as long as humanly possible. I’m comfortable here and moving is horrifying to me. But I don’t like to be pushed – who does? And there was a second e-mail, but that one was about an ongoing irritant that I am so over – so I had a long discussion about it with the person who’s handling it for me, and it’s no more Mr. Nice Guy – we are going on the offensive and by that I have given him permission to BE offensive whilst going on the offensive. In other words, I’ve had it with amateurs. More I cannot say at this time.
Then I went and had a Philly cheese steak sandwich and a few onion rings, then came right back home. I then futzed and finessed the previous days’ writing – it was about ten pages and I did the usual smoothing out. Then I wrote about five pages, and then it was time for rehearsal.
After rehearsal, I went to Gelson’s and got some snacks, then came home, ate them, and began writing again. I wrote a total of fourteen pages.
Today, I will need your strongest most excellent vibes and xylophones for as many miracles as we can get – we need some major ones in many areas. Otherwise, I’ll futz and finesse, write new pages, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, write, relax, and write.
Tomorrow I will, of course, write, but I also have a meeting with the ALS people. Thursday is our second Kritzerland rehearsal, Friday is more writing, Saturday is our stumble-through, Sunday is our sound check and show, and prior to those I’ll try to print out new pages and Xerox them and get them to Muse Margaret.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, futz and finesse, write, eat, hopefully pick up packages, write, relax, and write. Today’s topic of discussion: What’s the last book you read? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a fun first rehearsal.