Well, dear readers, may I just say it is March. Or should it be may I just march it is May? No. It is March and I’m here to tell you that it is my fervent hope and prayer that March will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. I mean it.
In other news, the Indiegogo campaign is in its last ten days and we had some good action yesterday with two nice one-of-a-kind items going and boosting us up to 73% funded. We really need to go all the way with this, and even beyond because Indiegogo and Paypal both have fees that are deducted. So now the big push to fund and beyond happens. There are still lots of nice perks left. I had to remove a couple to make room for a new one I put up last night – a group of 14 menus from classic LA eateries of old – only one of the group is still left – Musso & Frank. But the Musso menu is from 1937. It’s an incredible group and includes Kelbo’s, Googie’s, Biff’s, the Melody Room, Beefeater Inn, Nickodell’s and other great restaurants. I priced it to move at $250, which is less than twenty bucks per menu. To give you an idea of how much a value that is – there is currently on eBay a Googie’s menu the same as the one we’re offering, and that menu ALONE is going for $200. The worth of these menus is probably close to $700. I’ll have one more perk to add as we get closer to the finish line, and I’ve been told that one of the Lost in Boston paintings will probably sell. So, once again, here’s the link to the campaign. Spread the word.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/l-a-now-and-then-a-new-musical-revue/x/9165600#/
Yesterday turned out to be a fun day after a rough little start. I only got about six hours of sleep. Then I had an annoying e-mail that I shot down strongly and quickly. Then something I was expecting hadn’t arrived, so I dropped an e-mail to that person and happily it arrived within the hour and that turned the entire day around. I did some work on the computer and at the piano, approved some book stuff – the ephemera, like bookmarks and postcards, and then I went and had a breakfast burrito with eggs, a tiny bit of cheese, onions, and some guacamole and salsa – it was really good.
Then I came home, did more work at the piano and then heard from the helper that the move to the NoHo storage facility was done, and they’d inspected the Studio City facility and I am now unburdened by that one and shall save over $2,000 a year, starting today. Then it was time for our first Kritzerland rehearsal.
John Boswell arrived, and first up was the wonderful Kerry O’Malley, who I just adore. We started with the put-together of You’re a Builder-Upper and Accentuate the Positive – they go together wonderfully and she loved what John and I had come up with. We adjusted the key of Builder-Upper and it’s just a whole lot of fun. Then we did her two solos – Stormy Weather and The Man That Got Away. She’s just great. Then came Chelsea Emma Franko – she’s done many of our shows, but hasn’t been with us for way too long. She began with My Mamma Thinks I’m a Star, a really cute song not too many people know. Then we ran Come Rain or Come Shine, and a put-together of Don’t Like Goodbyes and Hit the Road to Dreamland – she does them really well.
After that it was Robert Yacko and he’s always easy and a pleasure. We began with Lydia, the Tattooed Lady, then a put-together of Right as the Rain and My Shining Hour, and finally Ridin’ on the Moon. After Robert, we had Barbara Minkus – her first time with us. She’d worked out some arrangements for her two songs with her accompanist – That Old Black Magic and When the Sun Comes Out. After hearing That Old Black Magic I made a couple of suggestions, and then we had to decide on which key we liked best for When the Sun Comes Out, which we did.
Then Eric Petersen came and we ran the duet he does with Juliana Hansen, who wasn’t with us yesterday, but who’ll be here today to have her first session. So, he just ran it by himself – a put-together of It’s Only a Paper Moon and I’ve Got the World on a String. Really fun. Then he did all three parts of If I Only Had a Brain, a Heart, and some Nerve – it’s really cute doing all three so that he gets to be a new character for each. Finally it was One for My Baby. He’s really good, Eric is. Then Sami Staitman came. It really hit me seeing her walk in the door that in the last couple of months she’s just blossomed into a young lady – she’s not the twelve-year-old I met four years ago, and she couldn’t have done Welcome to My World this year. It’s fun watching them grow up, but it’s also a little shocking when you actually realize it and see it. She had her best friend with her, who’s a really nice girl. Sami only has one song in this show, but if you have to have only one song it may as well be Over the Rainbow. She did it, I gave some notes and that was our rehearsal. As always, working with Boswell is a breeze and the best.
Then I answered e-mails, did a jog, had a couple of telephonic conversations, made some low-cal popcorn, and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching a motion picture entitled Cowboy on the new Twilight Time Blu and Ray. I just love the movie – wonderful dialogue, not much plot, but great characters and a great, great cast. You sometimes forget how every actor working back then was unique – not like now when I can’t really tell anyone apart. Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon are superb, and you’ve also got Brian Donleavy, Strother Martin, Dick York, and a slew of other great character actors. Add to that a fantastic score by George Duning, beautiful photography, and classy direction by Delmer Daves and you have a winner. But add to that a stunningly beautiful transfer and you go way beyond winner. Highly recommended by the likes of me.
I then watched the first forty minutes of The Graduate, on a new Blu-ray from Criterion. Previous home video transfers have all been wretched – the film has never looked as it should – until now. This new transfer is fantastic and it’s great seeing the film looking like it looked back when it came out. Color is stunning. Back when it came out, it was a very radical film in terms of its style. It’s been ripped off so many times that watching it today doesn’t have the thrill of seeing it back then. But it’s very funny and very well directed. I’ll finish it this evening.
After that, I had more telephonic calls, did a bit more work and that was that.
Today is more of the same and we have Juliana’s thirty-minute rehearsal at one. I’m probably not going to eat until after that’s done. I’m being very strict on my diet, hard as it is. I’ve completely stopped any kind of dessert – aside from my one night off at Margaret’s dinner, I haven’t had any real sugar for two weeks. I’ll hopefully pick up packages and I’m hoping my first pension check arrives – they say they send it out three days before the new month, but I would have thought that if that was true I would have already gotten it. So, hopefully today or tomorrow. I’ll work on the LA show and then relax.
Tomorrow we have our final set of auditions for the LA show and I’ll get right on the freeway when they’re done and will hopefully beat the traffic. Thursday is our second Kritzerland rehearsal, Friday not sure what’s happening, Saturday is our stumble-through and Sunday I can relax. We do the show on Tuesday night. We’re about half sold at this point, which, given the change of night, isn’t too bad with a week to go.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rehearse, jog, eat, hopefully pick up packages, work on the LA show, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland (just like the song), hoping that the final 10 days of the Indiegogo campaign sees us getting fully funded and then some and restating that it is my fervent hope and prayer that March will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.