Well, dear readers, I’ve just this minute finished watching a really fun hour-long documentary about Smell-O-Vision, which was sent to me by its makers. I’m in it, yakking about the film, and provided some memorabilia they used in it. It’s very well done and I’m happy to have been a part of it. And isn’t it lovely to have a smelly first paragraph? I do believe it is.
Yesterday, I had a lovely day off, a ME day, which I really needed, and which was just the kind of day and evening I wanted. I slept just about eight hours, did the usual morning things – answered e-mails, had telephonic calls – and then I went to the mail place, where I picked up one little package and no little mail. Then I went to the bank, where I stood in line for twenty minutes with a lot of other people, due to two selfish idiots who were with the two available tellers. The line actually got furious with one lady, because everyone could hear her telling the teller that she was from Beverly Hills but it’s too crowded there, she and her entitlement drive to Studio City and does her business. She yakked, she did about twelve transactions, it was ridiculous, and the other lady wasn’t much better. Once the two of them were gone, I was out of there in two minutes.
Then I moseyed on over to Jerry’s Deli and had a chili, cheese, and onion hot dog with a few fries. After that, I came home. Once home, I did a little noodling at the piano, and I wrote just a few little notes to my cast. I listened to some wonderful music by yet another composer I’ve never heard of before, who I now love, someone named Eugen Kapp. Lots o’ stuff on YouTube but almost nothing on CD. Great stuff. Then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a DVD of a Russian ballet based on a Russian fairy-tale (at least I think it’s a Russian fairy-tale) called The Little Humpback Horse, with music by Rodion Shchedrin, and the Bolshoi Ballet. This was made as a film back in 1961. So, it’s mostly a staged ballet, with a few annoying film effects thrown in. It features English narration, so you know what the HELL is going on. I bought it for the music, which I’d heard on YouTube and adored. It’s very Russian, but delightful in its own way, with excellent dancing and some inventive choreography. The music is fantastic. The DVD looks like it was taken from a used 16mm print, and it has fair color. Happy to have seen it, and I know there’s a more modern version filmed in the not so distant past that’s on the Tube of You.
Then I watched a DGA screener called Hustlers, based on a true story, sort of, well, inspired by a true story, sort of. Jennifer Lopez stars and produced. One of the executive producers is Adam McKay and if you’ve seen his films you know exactly what you’re in for. I’m not a fan of his and certainly not a fan of this movie. I simply don’t care about a film in which the lead characters’ actions are completely unsympathetic, and yet we’re supposed to give a flying Wallenda about it. Well, when strippers and lap dancers are drugging men and bilking them out of up to 50K on their credit cards, well, no, I’m not sympathetic in the least. Interestingly, even though they were all arrested, the sentences were either probation or, in the case of two of them, weekends in jail for a couple of months. I suppose the idea here is the women took control of their lives, but, you know, by hurting others. The style is like any number of other films, there’s nudity and lots of vomiting (one character is a compulsive vomiter – it’s actually amusing the first couple of times). The acting is okay – the vomit girl was my favorite. I’m not a fan of Ms. Lopez so not much to say there. The biggest shock was Mercedes Ruehl, who looks nothing like she used to, due to some, well, adjustments to her face. Of course, the film got raves.
After that, I did a quick trip to Gelson’s for some snacks, mainly salad. I did a quick trip home and ate said snacks all up, did some work on the computer, listened to music, and then watched the Smell-O-Vision documentary.
Today, I can sleep in again, then I’ll do the usual things, eat, hopefully pick up some packages (should be several screeners coming), and then relax until it’s time to go to the theater. At six, I’m running about thirty minutes’ worth of stuff – I’m changing the blocking a bit for the opening of act two, and then we’re going to run about five sections of that act where we’re making little lifts of extraneous dialogue that will help not only with the pace, but to lose two or three minutes. Then at eight we play our invited final dress rehearsal.
Wednesday, I have stuff to do during the day, then we’ll convene at the theater at six for me to give a few notes and run any problem areas, then we play our first preview. Thursday, we play our second preview. And then we open on Friday night. I’ll probably attend all three shows the first weekend – but we’ll see how I’m feeling. Then Monday we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, do stuff, eat, hopefully pick up packages, run stuff at the theater and try the little cuts for act two, and do our invited dress rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite store-bought salad dressings, and your favorite restaurant dressings? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a ME day.