Well, dear readers, I must admit that it’s nice to be planning a Kritzerland show and actually being productive. Yes, you heard it here dear readers, I must admit, and therefore I have admitted, that it’s nice to be planning a Kritzerland show and actually being productive. It does make the day go by and that’s a good thing, although the days go by quickly anyway, since I don’t get to be until about four and therefore sleep until noon. Yes, that is a sure way for the days to go by. And now that the day has gone by, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to Herrmann music. No, smarties, not Bernard Herrmann, Hugo Herrmann. I have no idea who Hugo Herrmann is but I found two of his symphonies on the Tube of You and am enjoying them very much. I suppose I might tell you who you’ll be seeing in the Kritzerland show, oh, yes, I suppose I could tell you who you’ll be seeing in the Kritzerland show. Barring any surprises, our core cast is Daniel Bellusci, Brittney Bertier, Kerry O’Malley, Sami Staitman, Adrienne Stiefel, and Robert Yacko, and doing guest appearances from New York, New York will be Liz Callaway, Liz Larsen, and Sal Viviano. Sounds like fun, yes?
Yesterday, I got nine hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, did stuff on the computer, ascertained that the three errant and truant CD titles were indeed picked up and indeed all of them shipped, so that is a load off, let me tell you. I went to the mail place, which was too crowded for my taste, but if they see an actual person who pays to have a box there, they’re pretty good about coming to us to get our package slips. So, they got me my one little packages, which turned out to be a gift, a book, from friend David Wechter. Then I drove directly to Taco Bell. There was a long line of cars there and I actually think they’re doing better business now than before – this was at two-thirty in the afternoon. I opted to go inside and order but because they were so busy with the cars, they asked me to place the order electronically on the machines they have. I don’t care for that sort of thing, but I did it and I guess did it correctly. I paid and five minutes later they gave me my food and home I went.
Once home, I ate my Taco Bell food, which was very good. Then I did some work at the piano on a chart we had to do for the show. Back in the late 1970s, I wrote a song called “Goin’ Home.” It had a hook that I really loved. And I’ve always remembered that hook, but I’ve never been able to find either music or lyric sheets for it since then, and I don’t know why, since I keep everything. Perhaps I just missed it somehow. Every time I write a show, I’ve tried to use the tune for the hook, but I can never find a lyric that works for it better than the one I remembered for that section. Well, when I decided to do this Kritzerland show and decided the theme would be all songs to do with home, of course my mind came back to this song. So, I just buckled down, Winsocki, and wrote the two missing verses that lead into the hooky choruses. It didn’t take too long and they seemed fine to me. I sent it to Adrienne Stiefel, who I knew could do it wonderfully, and she wrote back as soon as she heard it, saying she thought it was beautiful. So, that was a nice thing.
After doing corrections on the chart, then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
“Last night, I watched a live TV production on kinescope from a show called Studio One. I got this DVD back in 2002, and I watched the live TV production of The Night America Trembled. Here’s what I wrote back in 1992: It’s about the reaction to the broadcast of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast on CBS that caused panic all over the country in the late 1930s. Now, here is the amazing thing, dear readers. The minute the show came on (hosted by Edward R. Murrow), I was swept back in time with the most vivid memories of seeing this show when it aired live in 1957, when I was a mere sprig of a twig of a tad of a lad of a youth. I remembered as if it were yesterday, sitting close to the television, riveted by the unfolding drama. And last night, as I watched, I started remembering scenes before they were shown. Isn’t that amazing? I mean, this hasn’t been shown again since 1958. In any case, it’s still a riveting show – the technical stuff is rickety, of course, and the writing isn’t swell, but the subject matter is wonderful and the cast…”
And last night, I relived it all over again. It’s really a wonderful show and the writing isn’t as bad as I thought it was back in 2002. But the cast – you just cannot believe the cast. Every time they cut to a new scene there’s some young actor you instantly recognize playing tiny parts. They include Ed Asner, John Astin, Vincent Gardenia, the actor who played Hec Tate in To Kill a Mockingbird, Warren Oates, and two young fellas who’d go on to have decent careers – James Coburn and Warren Beatty. Isn’t that unbelievable. If you can find a copy on YouTube, watch it.
After that, I watched a motion picture called The Solid Gold Cadillac, starring Judy Holliday, along with her original Born Yesterday star, Paul Douglas. The supporting cast is great, too, including John Williams, Fred Clark, Richard Deacon, Arthur O’Connell, and Ray Collins, with narration by George Burns. It was adapted from the hit Broadway play by George S. Kaufman and Howard Teichman – I’ve never read or seen the play so have no idea how faithful the film is, but as wonderfully directed by Richard Quine, the film is still very funny and quite endearing, thanks to Miss Holliday’s prodigious charms. It’s beautifully shot by Charles Lang in black-and-white, save for the final shot, which is in glorious Technicolor. I had quite a good time watching it. I’d only seen the beginning of it. Now I’m going to go searching for more Judy Holliday films in the garage – I know I have one or two more.
After that, I made a Lean Cuisine pizza bread, as I hadn’t gotten up to 1000 calories yet, and I had a few crackers, too, but avoided sweets. Then I relaxed and listened to music.
Today will be more Kritzerland stuff, as we start routining the songs and begin getting everyone their tracks to work with. We want to give everyone plenty of time to work and for me to see rehearsals. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages and mail, I’ll eat something – I don’t know if I’ll make something or have something delivered or go get something to take home – we shall see. Then it will be more Kritzerland stuff, then I’ll listen and watch and listen.
The rest of the week is more of the same – more meals, more Kritzerland stuff, rehearsing via Skype or Zoom or whatever works best for everyone, and keeping on keeping on.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do Kritzerland stuff, routine songs, hopefully pick up packages, eat, do more Kritzerland stuff, and then relax, listen, and watch. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Miss Judy Holliday? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be productive.