Well, dear readers, it is late and I must write these here notes in a hurry for she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon. So, let me begin by saying last night I saw a production of Romeo and Juliet by Mr. William Shakespeare. I cannot believe he got away with ripping off the plot wholesale of West Side Story. I mean, honestly. Now, may I just make a statement I am quite certain will rankle a few people – I don’t like Shakespeare. I’ve never liked Shakespeare. I only ever acted in one Shakespeare play, The Comedy of Errors – that one was okay and of course I wrote the score for a musical version. And I suppose when I see superb players doing, for example, Hamlet – like Olivier’s film version, or Richard Burton’s Electronivision version from the 1960s – then I can sort of go along with it, although they all go on too damn long for my taste. Yes, the stories are good, and I understand the language is great, but it’s just never been my cuppa, which is, I know, a minority thing.
Romeo and Juliet is about Romeo and Juliet and the events that befall them. This production is set in Berlin in the mid-1930s as the rise of Nazism is happening. I wasn’t all that taken with the concept, which began with someone singing Falling in Love Again, and then using lots of Schindler’s List for underscore. We got lots of projections giving us the history of it all, and I just ultimately found it distracted from the tale being told. The actors were fine and I made it through the nearly three-hour runtime.
After, Doug Haverty, who plays a rather tiny role in the show, and I went to the Coral Café, where we gabbed for quite some time about many things. And then I came home.
We had a really great Indiegogo day yesterday, going up seven percent to 86%, just the kind of day we needed to get us in gear again. And soon we begin the big push to the Finnish line or, at the very least, the Danish line.
Prior to all that, I got seven hours of sleep, got no morning miracle, answered e-mails, did some work on the computer, but I really can’t remember much beyond that. At some point I went and had a Chinese chicken salad and a bagel, picked up a package and no important envelope, and then came back home and relaxed until it was time to mosey on over to the Group Rep. Best of all, it was a day of no e-mails from the Angry Playwright, who I’m sure is busy taking on some other people.
Today, I’ll be up early, I’ll go have a light breakfast and do some errands and whatnot, I have to put gas in the motor car, and then I’ll come home and finish casting and then choose songs, and then relax.
Tomorrow I’m not sure what all is happening but I do hope to relax a bit and gird my loins for a week I will either get through or not. Next week is busy with meetings and meals and going and doing and doing and going, not necessarily in that order.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up early, eat, hopefully pick up packages, finish casting, choose songs, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Shakespeare plays and the best film versions and productions you’ve seen? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall wonder wherefore art thou, Shakespeare.