Well, dear readers, April is flying by, like a gazelle with an ingrown toenail. As I write these here notes I am sitting her like so much fish continuing to break in the new speakers, which still sound grand. But before we go any further, one video from Sunday’s show has come in, so I thought I’d share that with you – I’ll have more for tomorrow’s notes. This performance is by Jenna Lea Rosen, singing my song Life Goes On from my unproduced musical, Pals. You’ve seen and heard the title song, which we’ve done a few times at Kritzerland and which everyone always thankfully enjoys. The show is about two best girlfriends from the time they’re eight until they’re thirty-two. This song occurs at the end of act one – they’re teens at that point and Ann has just found out that her BFF Dorrie has been having an affair with Ann’s boyfriend. Needless to say, this causes a cataclysmic rift in the friendship and Ann sings this song at the end of the act.
Yesterday was a rather nice day. I got about seven hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, had some telephonic calls, then made some wide egg noodles (about six ounces) with a bit of butter and cheese on them – I ate them all up, but it was actually not all that much food. Then I went and picked up some mail but no packages, did some banking, and came home. Once home, I finally got the information I’d been waiting for since Friday so I could do the wire transfer to Sony Music, so back to the bank I went and sent the wire – even though I’d missed the cutoff by about fifteen minutes it actually went through, so I’m hoping they can ship the CDs today via three-day shipping. Then I came back home, read through the latest version of the musical I’m directing and was very pleased with all their revisions based on my notes to them. It seems much better now in terms of structure and pacing and while I’m sure there will be other changes to come (the nature of the beast) this was very good work. After that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I finished watching a motion picture on the Flix of Net entitled The People vs. Fritz Bauer – a bit of a mistranslation of the German title, which is The State vs. Fritz Bauer – much more accurate. It’s the real life account of Mr. Bauer’s attempts to make Germany atone for its recent Nazi past by exposing the ex-Nazi’s who were still in high government positions. His plan was to locate Adolph Eichmann, living in Argentina, and have him extradited to Germany to stand trial. It doesn’t quite go down like that and he’s thwarted at every turn. The film also deals with the draconian attitudes regarding homosexuals back then – really terrible. I really enjoyed the film a lot – it’s an interesting tale told well with really terrific performances from the entire cast. And a very good score, which happily was available for download on Amazon.
I then went to Gelson’s (hadn’t been in ages), just to get a tiny bit of chicken enchilada from the hot food bar, and I got some eggs, too. Then I came home and sat on my couch like so much fish again and watched another motion picture on the Flix of Net. This one was a Spanish motion picture thriller entitled Boy Missing. The title is a bit of a cheat, since there really isn’t a boy missing – a boy is found walking on a road, his face bloody. What starts off as that story literally keeps transmuting into other things every fifteen minutes or so. In other words, a new twist presents itself and by about the sixth one my interest began to wane and wane big. By the end it was just preposterous and kind of a waste of time. If they’d just stuck with one or two or even three things it probably would have been a decent little film.
After that, I showered, and listened to music, lots of John Williams, who really is one of the greatest film composers in history. I was also pleased to hear that a lot of the Thrill Ride books arrived at their destinations. Hoping people can read it right away.
Today I’ll be trying to cast the next Kritzerland – I know a couple of people so far but I can’t really choose the songs until it’s fully cast. I’ll eat, I’ll hopefully pick up packages, I do some stuff that needs doing, and I’ll relax.
Tomorrow I have a meeting with the set designer, who’ll show me the ideas he’s worked up, and then the rest of the week is more of the same, meetings and meals, choosing songs, and seeing John Boswell’s club act.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, cast the Kritzerland show, I’ll eat, hopefully pick up packages, do stuff, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite dance numbers on film? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had the Monday that was nice.