Well, dear readers, it is late so I must write these here notes in a hurry, because if I don’t write them in a hurry I shall fall asleep right here at the computer mid-sentence and that won’t be good for…
Sorry, I fell asleep mid-sentence. You see, you see? I am not writing these here notes fast enough. I need to be whipped into shape or shaped into whip. I need to have speed, to have haste, to have swiftness, in other words, no time to tarry or to dally or to dally or to tarry, only time to get on with the damn notes.
Yesterday, for example, was Thursday. It was a day like any other except for when it wasn’t. I had eight hours of sleep, I did stuff, I went to pick up the old computer but should have called first as they weren’t there today. Then I had an impromptu lunch thing with someone I haven’t seen in a while – I only ate an English muffin. Then after that, I came home and had a long telephonic conversation, and then I did a two-and-a-half mile jog, effectively taking me down to zero calories.
Then we had our work session for the Kritzerland show. We had to do arrangement work on about four numbers, played through others, made notes, adjusted some keys, and then Juliana Hansen showed up and the three of us moseyed on over to the Oaks of Sherman for our post mortem dinner with the charity folks. There were four of them and three of us. We were at a trendy little Eyetalian jernt where they served pretty good Eyetalian foodstuffs. We all ordered several appetizers for the table – I only partook of the prosciutto and melon – very good. I had a Caesar salad and a pasta called fettuccine in a meat sauce – excellent. According to my online calorie counters, it was only about six hundred calories, if that. For dessert, Juliana and I had a few bites each of some custard thing – custard is very low calorie.
Then they spoke for a while, basically telling us how much great feedback they got from the show. We then took over the conversation and told them what our frustrations were this year. The head of it all was with us and as it turns out he was not aware of anything we were telling him and he wasn’t that happy to hear this stuff. This included us being told we could not do a Facebook event page (terrible decision), that the friends and family discount code was virtually impossible to use, resulting in MANY missed ticket sales, that our entreaties to list on Goldstar were ignored, and all the other little irritating stuff that went on – we were all very close to quitting this year. And then I added the whipped cream about the fact that nowhere in the program was there a directed by credit. When they’d realized they’d actually completely left me out of the program, they hastily did an insert with a few bios that got left out and mine was there with an “about our director” thing. Well, no. I don’t need to be an afterthought, I don’t need to be on an insert, and the title page that I approved and on which I had a proper directed by credit, was not even IN the program. But there was a page with Production Staff in which every producer, musical director, stage manager and PA was listed with the exception of the guy who actually, you know, put the show together and made it happen. And apparently they all knew about it and were trying to bandage it but no one thought to tell me about it in advance of my seeing it ten minutes before the show. I went backstage and called the producers into my dressing room and told them that it was disgusting and that I didn’t donate my time and months of work to be ignored – I insisted that in their opening remarks they inform everyone in that theater who was responsible for putting the show together and directing, which they did and did very nicely. Well, the head guy was appalled at that and everyone apologized for it, which was fine but not really necessary.
Going into this post mortem, we’d pretty much decided we did not want to work with them again, but it went pretty much the way I thought it would, and I think we can work out the problems from this year and they really want us to do it again next year. So, because we will never again to the show in August, it’s actually going to come up pretty quickly at the end of next April. And they’ve all learned that that means we have to lock down a date, a theater (we will NEVER use the Pasadena Playhouse again), and start working on certain aspects of this within the next two months. It was a long dinner, but it was productive and good to air everything.
I then came home and decided I must write these here notes in a hurry and even though I have done so it is after one o’clock in the morning and I’m still not finished with them.
Today, I have a meeting at one. An actress has a one-person play and she’s looking for a director. I liked the piece – very well written – but I’m not at all sure I’m the right guy for it. But we’ll chat and see if we like each other, and we’ll discuss what her expectations and wants are and whether I can help her bring those to fruition while making some kind of contribution that would satisfy me artistically. Then at four I have a phone meeting with the fellow who’s coming back to co-produce the ALS show for next year, should everything work out. Then I’m attending an opening night at the Group Rep Theater, to see our very own Doug Haverty in a play, and then I’m meeting some folks at the Coral Café. At some point I’ll jog and have a snack to tide me over until my later meal.
Tomorrow and Sunday are mysteries to me, but I will have a nice meal on one of the two evenings. Then we’re into our busy, busy Kritzerland rehearsals week.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora and the Charleston, because today is the birthday of our beloved dear reader, Jrand. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our beloved dear reader, Jrand. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINEHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR BELOVED DEAR READER, JRAND!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a meeting, jog, snack, have a phone meeting, attend an opening night, eat, and then finally return home. 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, various things. Blu-ray, next up Theatre of Blood starring Vincent Price. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have finished The Late, Late Notes.