Well, dear readers, it is quite late and therefore I must write these here notes in a hurry whilst listening to my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful score to the motion picture entitled Stavisky, the newly remastered version with some pretty pointless bonus material, but thankfully sounding a bit better than previous CD releases. The music is, of course, wunderbar.
Yesterday began with a ringing doorbell. No one had reminded me that I had a morning meeting, but I was almost up anyway and probably got seven hours of sleep. Once up, I had to degroggify quickly, and then we had our morning meeting – Adryan Russ and Shelly Markham. I’m doing some helping with the show they’re working on and will most likely direct a staged reading whenever it might be done. We spent an hour or so and it was hopefully productive. I’m basically a sounding board in these meetings, but am very strong. After that, I did some work on the computer, then at the piano. I sent Doug the lyric from the song he was so worried about (in terms of its feel and what it does) and he thankfully liked it a lot and saw precisely what I was doing, and that will help him write that character in a much different way, which we need. So, I now have two big sequences left and once those are done I’ll see if we need anything anywhere else. One is for the ghost of Christmas present and the other for the future – I’ve written the ghost’s song (in this version they’re not actually ghosts), but I have three short pieces to write for what she actually sees, which then have to turn into some sort of nightmarish cacophony. So, that’s what I’ll be doing for the next week.
After that, I went over to Corky’s and had my sandwich and small salad, both very good. It was actually kind of crowded at one-thirty. There were, at that time, no packages to pick up, so I came back home and did more work on the computer and at the piano – I have ideas for the three-song thing and I’ve just been writing those thoughts down – not as lyrics, but just as intentions and what will be going on. I’m trying to make each of the three completely different and, in their own way, fun.
After that, Jean Louisa Kelly arrived as did our MD and we had her second rehearsal, which went very well. She’s one of those wonderful folks who is solid at the first rehearsal, so one just gets to hone what she’s doing and she has the freedom to experiment without worrying about notes or lyrics. She left and our replacement singer, Adam Wylie, arrived and we ran his three numbers. He’s really good and really fun. First up was Come To the Supermarket in Old Peking. Then he ran his second song, I Can Do That, which he’s also doing some tapping for, and then finally, Smile – not from the musical, the Charlie Chaplin song from Modern Times, one of my favorites. He left, I did more work at the piano, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night I watched a really weird episode of The Outer Limits called ZZZZZ, directed by the great John Brahm and shot by the equally great Conrad Hall. Not an episode to watch if you have a bee phobia. The acting was really good – Philip Abbott, Marsha Hunt, but especially Joanna Frank, whose work I don’t know outside of this episode – and she’s really startlingly good with a completely unique look that is perfect for her role. I just looked her up – very interesting. The sister of producer Steven Bochco and wife of Alan Rachins. Her debut film as Elia Kazan’s America, America, and she did a bit of television in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, including her brother’s show LA Law. I’m going to find my DVD of America, America and watch that now.
After that, I made the two tortilla things with a bit of cheese and onions – not too heavy calorically, so I think overall I still did fine. I had a couple of telephonic calls, took a hot shower, and then listened to music.
Today, I have to rewrite some of the commentary to accommodate our two replacement performers, I’ll eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and then we have our second Kritzerland rehearsal, after which I’ll relax and prep our new soundtrack release, which we’ll announce at midnight.
Tomorrow, I’m getting a haircut, but other than that I think I might be able to have something of a ME day. Saturday is our stumble-through and then some dinner, then relaxing, then Sunday is sound check and show. And then I cast the June show immediately – of course I have to figure out exactly what the June show is.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rewrite commentary, eat, hopefully pick up packages, rehearse, relax, and prep our new soundtrack release. Today’s topic of discussion: Who are your favorite unsung actors, those who you especially like but don’t seem to get much notice anymore. I can start by saying Michael Tolan. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that a ringing doorbell doesn’t occur this morning – afternoon is fine for all ringing doorbells.