Well, dear readers, we had a pretty great show last night, a real breath of fresh air after the previous two. I’d come in early to clean up a couple of things that weren’t working – that went very quickly and it all played better in the show. Also, while half the cast is still under the weather, it didn’t show last night at all. It did help that our audience was very vocal, with lots of laughs and good energy coming at the cast, who responded to it by playing the show as it needs to be played. There were no real technical flubs, only one tiny lyric flub that no one would have noticed but me, and the pace was terrific. I’ve been pondering the lack of laughs for some time, and it really all boils down to two lines in the opening number that should get a chuckle but haven’t been – those were two notes we did last night and guess what – both lines got chuckles and when they did it freed the audience to know it was okay to laugh. I think a little bit of the problem is Dickens himself, as the original tale is much darker than our show and so maybe people think early on that we’re going to be true to that – but we aren’t.
As it turned out, I actually knew a few folks – my old LACC friend, writer Phil Kellard was there with his wife – she’d seen it opening weekend and brought Phil and a friend of theirs. It’s always nice to see Phil. Also, my friend Dave Strohmaier and his lovely wife Caryn Ann were there – he brought me two reels of 35mm mag music from a film and if we can get it transferred before it goes completely bad (it already has a vinegar smell) that will be good. Our Li’l Abner and L.A. Now and Then costume designer was there with her now grown up son. We didn’t see a single CD unfortunately, but I’ll take a great performance over a CD sale any day.
Prior to that, I was up early for she of the Evil Eye. I went and had a light breakfast then picked up packages from the day before – of course, they didn’t have anything yet so another one arrived that I won’t get until later this day. Then I came home, answered e-mails, had a brief visit, and then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched a DGA screener entitled Destroyer – certainly one of the worst titles of the year, as it sounds like some kind of stupid Marvel Comics superhero. It’s not that. It’s simply more Oscar bait – female director, lead role for someone looking to be considered for awards (Nicole Kidman, and she’s up for a Golden Globe already, even though no one has seen the movie before this week – funny how that works, ain’t it). I’ve read a handful of reviews – several that are graded Fresh are so not Fresh but that’s what that reprehensible site does. Of course every female reviewer raved simply because of the female director and star. I sometimes like Ms. Kidman but this is so screaming I NEED AN OSCAR NOMINATION that you never really take it seriously. The good reviews all say it’s a brilliant performance and how she loses herself in the character. Not sure I agree with that assessment. The supporting cast is filled with the type of actors I truly cannot stomach. The film is relentlessly dreary, makes almost no sense occasionally, and while I’m all for great female directors, this one is just aping what a male director would do with a dreary tale of police revenge. I endured it until its finish (it’s over two hours) – the film literally has no pace at all – at one point I thought I was about ninety minutes into it – it was actually forty minutes at that point. In any case, it’s not my kind of film at all and I can live without all the schmacting.
After that, I did some work on the computer, listened to some nice British classical music on Lyrita – a composer named Charles Villiers Stanford. Very old school in the style of Elgar and those fellows, although the piano concerto on the disc could almost pass for Rachmaninov – it’s a very enjoyable program. Then I got ready to go, then moseyed on over to the theater for our show. We took about ten minutes to clean up stuff, and then we did our show. After I got home I had a bagel and some ice cream (not together), and listened to music.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven and I’ll mosey on over to the theater around one. I’m going only because I like to take possession of the album sales should we have any. I’m not sure I’ll actually watch the show, as it’s completely sold out, with chairs being added, and there’s also a waiting list. So, unless there are no-shows, I’ll either have to stand in the back, or I’ll go do stuff and come back for the end of the performance. After that, unless someone wants to go out for a bite, I’ll just go home and relax.
Tomorrow, I’m on vacation until after the first of the year. I have one more person to cast, then I can figure out the rest of the songs and get them to the kids so they have at least three weeks with them. Otherwise, I’m relaxing, listening to music, watching screeners, having some meals, and then of course we have our Christmas Eve Do.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, go to the theater at some point, just in case there are some CD sales. After that, I’ll have some food, then come home and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, so happy we had a wonderful Saturday night audience and performance.