Well, dear readers, this week is flying by, like a gazelle with pruning shears. I don’t know what’s with me and sleep but whatever it is I’d like to actually get more than four hours of it – two nights of four hours of sleep seems very unsporting, not to mention that I can’t see straight at the moment due to being hyper tired.
Yesterday I was hyper tired due to only four hours of sleep. It did give me some extra music listening time, and I finished all the Prokofiev ballets – a brilliant set of Melodiya CDs, sounding rather spectacular and wonderfully played. I answered e-mails, and then I went and had a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and a side Caesar salad. There were no packages to gather up, but I did go to Staples and get the Sherman Brothers musical Xeroxed so Richard could have a copy. I also got a call from the writer, Larry Cohen, who’ll thankfully be with us when we do our private reading in July.
After that, I just relaxed for the rest of the day. I had a nice long chat with our very own Mr. Nick Redman – he’s been having some challenging health issues so let’s send him our most excellent vibes and xylophones, shall we? Then I finally moseyed on over to the theater for our Dial ‘M’ for Murder rehearsal.
The play is now running exactly what I want it to and I’m sure we’ll pick up a couple more minutes as we tighten and find the right pacing. The actors are still struggling with lines (this is a VERY wordy play) so it’s still a bit rough – we actually only have seven days until we play our first of two previews, so it’s really time to buckle down, Winsocki and get the show where it needs to be. I took quite a few notes, and my actors are all very good about addressing them – they’re a lovely bunch and I think by the time we open we’ll have a very good production of a terrific little play. I wish the work on the set were further along – but this seems to be the way it goes when everyone’s a volunteer. Hopefully we’ll be fully together by Saturday’s run-through. After rehearsal, which ran a little long due to the length of my notes, I came right home where I sat like so much fish, listening to various performances of the Rachmaninov second and third symphonies. They’re all quite different and some are obviously more appealing than others. I heard two new to me performances by Pavel Kogan (son of noted violinist, Leonid Kogan) – his second symphony is most thrilling – brass is a bit heavy but it just sounds so good and has such passion. I listened to the second of the three Evgeny Sveltlanov recordings – didn’t love his Melodiya recordings but his BBC Orchestra recording I thought was quite lovely – he had a later one than that, which I’m listening to as I type these here notes – it has its moments but there are some odd things about it. Of all the recent listens, I think the Mariss Jansons may be my favorite second right now, but the Kogan would be a close second and the Noseda I have to listen to again, as the first two movements were wonderful and I didn’t finish the third movement, which, from the bit I heard, is a little lacking in thrills (it’s very Korngoldian).
Today, I’ll hopefully arise after more than four hours of sleep. Once up, I have work to do on the computer and then I’ll eat something, bank, hopefully pick up some packages, and relax until it’s time for rehearsal, which will be another run-through.
Tomorrow and the rest of the week and weekend will be more of the same. Richard Sherman will be here at some point to pick up his script, and I think I have a meeting or two and a meal or two to have.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, eat, bank, hopefully pick up packages, and rehearse. Tomorrow we’ll have longer notes – I can’t write longer notes when I can’t see straight and these notes are crooked enough already. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping not to be hyper tired when I arise.