Well, dear readers, it was bound to happen. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it was bound to happen. It was bound to happen that today, December 8, I, BK, would have a birthday. That is because December 8 has and will always be my birthday. I was born in a little year I like to call 1947 and here we are in 2018 and as my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim, said: I’m still here. I am, as of this day, seventy-one years old. I don’t have a clew as to what that actually means, as I do not feel like I’m seventy-one and I have days when I don’t look like seventy-one, depending on the lighting, of course. I am hoping for a lovelier than lovely seventy-first year because we need a lovelier than lovely seventy-first year filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.
But before we talk about the birthday boy’s day, let’s talk about the last day of my seventieth year. I got over eight hours of sleep, thanks to the alarm not going off. Once up, I answered e-mails and had a couple of telephonic calls. I’d finished the second set of liner notes before going to bed. So, I began the third set of liner notes and did about half of those, after which I went and picked up some packages, got some Taco Bell for food, came home and ate it all up, and then listened to more British music whilst finishing up the third set of liner notes. That all took up most of the day, and then I began the fourth set of liner notes. Then I got ready.
I moseyed on over to the theater and got there at seven. Kay Cole and her ever-lovin’ Michael Lamont were there early so we hung out and yakked. We ended up with half a house – a little disappointing not to be selling out at this point, but I think a little more promotion would do wonders. Certainly we couldn’t ask for better word of mouth. Anyway, they were a great audience – laughing, cheering, and seemingly enjoying themselves. We had so many nice comments afterwards. Kay and Michael really liked it, and her two numbers happened to be the best they’ve ever been, with Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil stopping the show. Our leading lady had a new outfit – she wasn’t happy with her original outfit and it didn’t really look good on her. So, she gave me a few options and I made choices and she looks much better now and really wears these clothes well. We also put in a new speech for Hartley’s character, to flesh out her epiphany, which I always felt happened without being earned. And I could tell that every audience we’ve had also felt it. So, we worked on the speech all week, then I worked with Hartley on it, figured out what bits worked and which didn’t and just clarified it until it did exactly what was needed. The whole thing adds less than thirty seconds but boy did it work – she has a funny line that she delivers perfectly but it’s never gotten a laugh because the laugh wasn’t earned – now it’s earned and it got a rousing laugh last night, and the rest of the new lines really propelled us into the show’s final ten minutes. It was just a really good show all the way around.
I knew a few people in attendance, and I hung around for about fifteen minutes. This is not a company that likes to go out after the show. We’ve done that exactly one time and it didn’t involve anyone in the show, really, just Doug and his wife and me. Must do something about that from now on. So, home I came. Even though I’d only eaten about 800 calories for the meal o’ the day, I just ate some Chicken in a Biskit crackers for my snack.
Today, in case you hadn’t heard, is my very own birthday, so I will sleep as late as I damn well feel like, I’ll finish up the fourth set of liner notes, which shouldn’t take too long since they’re already in progress, I’ll eat a little something, but save myself for what I hope will be an outing after the show. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and I might even watch a DGA screener, since The Green Book arrived yesterday and that’s one I really want to see. Then I’ll mosey on over to the theater and spend my birthday evening seeing our little musical comedy and hopefully someone will want to go for a bite after.
Tomorrow I have to attend the matinee, as dear reader Jeanne will be there and so will several other folks I know, plus we have a talkback afterwards. After that, I have an early dinner meeting with Kerry O’Malley and Joe Keenan to discuss our future plans for the musical revue. Monday is the day we get everything shipped out – there’s a backlog from the sale, plus all the Indiegogo stuff we have to get out to people, plus we’ll announce our two soundtracks, too. Most of the week will be spent planning the Kritzerland January show and finishing casting it, then we have our weekend of shows. Once we hit December 15 I am done for the year and need my solid two weeks of doing nothing but making book notes, writing a rough version of the first few pages of the fiction book, and of course we will have our annual Christmas Eve Do, and then we have our Rockin’ New Year’s Eve bash – can’t believe all this is happening so soon. This year has flown by, like a gazelle doing a backflip to the song stylings of Johnny Ray.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep as late as I damn well feel like, finish up the fourth set of liner notes, maybe begin the fifth set, eat something light, hopefully pick up packages, maybe watch a DGA screener, and then attend our evening performance. Today’s topic of discussion: If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be and why? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that my seventy-first year will be a year filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.