Well, dear readers, we had us a very nice seventy-second birthday, thanks to an excellent matinee performance and then the cast and backstage folks throwing me a fun birthday bash after the show. They brought in Dino’s Pizza and CAKE, said cake provided by occasional dear reader Leslie, who’s in the show and in charge of props. Said cake was amazing – it had my Squigs caricature that adorns my Album Produced By book – I have no idea how they do such things, but it was like eating little pieces of me, which is amusing on almost any level, especially level three. We had a nice, receptive audience for the show, about half a house, which is very good for this theater for the first weekend until hopefully word of mouth kicks in.
Prior to that, I’d gotten about seven hours of sleep, I think. Once up, I began the long journey of “liking” all the Facebook birthday wishes – about six hundred of ‘em, I think. I also answered texts and e-mail wishes, and a few telephonic calls. Then I moseyed on over to the theater.
After the birthday bash, I came home, relaxed, finally worked out the Kritzerland schedule, and then listened to some enjoyable music, before finally sitting on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched two DGA screeners. The first DGA screener was entitled A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. When this film was announced, I think everyone thought it was a bio-pic about Mr. Rogers, but it is nothing of the sort. It is, in fact, a film about a journalist who wrote an Esquire piece on Mr. Rogers. It’s a lovely film with terrific performances, especially by Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers. It’s very well directed and very moving at times. While it got excellent reviews, many of them had rather inane caveats, which I find rather, well, inane. They can’t just accept a film for what it is, they have to yak on about what they wished it was, the disgusting Richard Roeper being the prime example of that bushwa. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes movies with heart.
I wasn’t going to watch a second DGA screener, but I did anyway – this one entitled Dark Waters, a film I knew nothing about and a subject I was and am woefully uneducated about, namely DuPont and the Teflon scandal. So, I was, of course, grabbed by the film immediately and held captive right through to its satisfying conclusion. I will admit that I’m a sucker for these kinds of David and Goliath films, and if you, like I, weren’t all that aware of this business, you’ll really be as riveted as I was, I should think. The cast is excellent and I have to say that with every new film I see by Todd Haymes, he may well be my favorite director these days. He’s a wonderful visual storyteller and I loved the look of the film, so highly recommended by the likes of me.
After that, it was time to listen to more music and to start writing these here post-birthday notes. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the cake had seven candles on one side and two on the other and I made a wish and for the first time in forever actually managed to blow out all the candles on one breath. That, I should think, is a good omen or, at the very least, a good nemo, which, of course, is omen spelled backwards.
Today, I can sleep in, then I’ll eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal, albeit a short one due to only having four of our six cast members. Directly after that, I go to a casting session, but if I’m understanding correctly, it will be short, so that’s good. Then I’ll come home and most likely watch another DGA screener.
Tomorrow, I’m hoping I can actually finally have a ME day in which to do ME things in a ME way. But I’m not sure if we’re casting in the evening or not. Wednesday will be more of the same, Thursday is our second Kritzerland rehearsal and then a brush-up rehearsal and put-in for our week two Banjo. Friday, I’ll probably be supportive and see the first performance of our Banjo. Saturday, we have a noon o’clock stumble-through, and then I’m relaxing and not attending our show. Sunday, I’ll miss our matinee, and we’ll do our sound check and then show. And then, dear readers, I am on VACATION. And somewhere in the early part of next week, we’ll announce the final three releases of 2019.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, eat, hopefully pick up packages, have a Kritzerland rehearsal, do some casting, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What have been your favorite films of 2019? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had such a lovely birthday.