Well, dear readers, I could not have been happier with Kritzerland at Home 111 – everyone did a great job, no glitches, and I think it was my favorite of all the holiday shows we’ve done. I do love our core cast – Daniel Bellusci, Peyton Kirkner, Kerry O’Malley, Hartley Powers, Sami Staitman, Adrienne Stiefel, and Robert Yacko. They were all great last night, I thought. I was especially fond of Robert Yacko’s Turkey Lurky Time – I got the idea for it, he thought it was funny, and then I did the arrangement of it – my explaining it to Richard didn’t really work well, so what I did was I just sang it the way I heard it for tempo and intention, and then he scored it to that vocal. I then sent that to Robert so he could hear how I heard it, and then he made it his own. I loved Adrienne’s version of my song, This Christmas, the opening number always works, but Peyton and Mackenzie did great and then Peyton was a hoot with My Simple Christmas Wish. Kerry’s Winter Was Warm was stunning, Hartley did a great job of it with Hard Candy Christmas, Sami’s Sleigh Ride was huge fun – I did that arrangement about seven years ago for one of the holiday shows and we haven’t done it much because it takes a singer who can handle those crazy tempos and Sami, of course, loves that kind of a challenge. Daniel was, as always, charming on his numbers, and then there was Liz Larsen and Sal Viviano recreating their Lovers on Christmas Eve, which they’d done on the A Broadway Christmas album, Klea Blackhurst doing a bang-up Dancing in the Streets, and, of course, Liz Callaway’s What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve, which was gorgeous. Richard Allen did a great job, and we also had Tom Griep playing Kerry’s three songs, and Alex Rybeck playing Liz Callaway’s. Attendance was good, about on par with most of our shows, but not the best attended ones. I’m sure viewing numbers will go up as the non-attendees catch up with it, although the November show’s YouTube numbers never really went up much, which is, frankly, irritating. But last night was fun and so were all the comments. Otherwise, I’m sitting here like so much fish, trying to get a handle on Handel’s Messiah. I’ve never loved it and I still don’t love it, but it’s Klemperer and some great singers, and it sounds great, so I’m at least getting through it. And speaking of getting through it, I gave my third listen to Elektra, but the newer remastered version, and it sounds hugely better and either I’m getting used to it, or the better sound made a difference, but I liked it more the third time. Perhaps the third time really is the charm.
Yesterday was a nice little day. I got seven hours of sleep – had ABS (Active Brain Syndrome) and so kept getting up and jotting down notes for project two. Once up, I answered e-mails, did a quick trip to the mail place to pick up one package – a Blu-ray of the Met production of Der Rosenkavalier (now I just have to find three-plus hours to watch it) – then came right home. For food, I ordered from Antonio’s, an old-school Eyetalian jernt five minutes from here. I tried a pasta I hadn’t before – spaghetti with a red sauce and chopped up meat balls, garlic, wine, and onions – it was very good and not too much. I also ordered their salami sandwich for later – I thought it was a cold sandwich, but it was hot, which I don’t really like. Thankfully, the pasta amount wasn’t huge, so I ate half the sandwich, didn’t really like it warm, and threw out the other half. I saved the little side salad for later. Then I made some good progress on project two, thanks to the notes I’d jotted down – I was very happy with what I churned out. Then I had to relax, then get ready for the show, which you know all about.
After the show, I decided I needed more food, so I did a quick Gelson’s run and got a little half-rack of their excellent baby back ribs – only five and very small – and surprisingly calorie friendly – came home and ate them and the salad, so it had to count as a splurge day certainly, but I really think I didn’t cross 1500 calories, at least that’s the hope, but even if I did, I haven’t done so in months. After that, I listened to music and relaxed.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, and I’m praying for a major miracle, which we desperately need, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat something consisting of not one calorie more than 1000 calories, and I’ll work on project two. I’m really determined to finish it by Friday. I’ll hear an orchestration or two, and then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax. Oh, and as always these days, let light and sanity rule the day.
The rest of the week is mostly working on project two, having a Zoom meeting for project one to figure out a timeline and talk through how we’re going to do it, and praying that the major miracle comes through so that the holidays will not be a nightmarish nightmare.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, pray for a major miracle, do whatever needs doing, hopefully pick up some packages, eat, work on project two, hear an orchestration or two, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your favorite moments in the Kritzerland show? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have been happy with Kritzerland at Home 111.