Well, dear readers, let’s just get these here notes off on a positive note (C#) right off the bat: Tonight’s the night. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, tonight’s the night for Tonight’s the Night aka project one. What a little journey it’s been for this thing. I got the idea last July to do a Kritzerland special and to write something that could specifically be done for today’s crazy world of entertainment. I came up with a story I liked, began writing in August, and wrote the score pretty much as I wrote the script. The first thing with me always is the opening number. If I haven’t got that I can’t write anything. It has to be right because if it is then it informs everything that comes after. I’ve been lucky, I suppose, to understand the function of whatever opens a musical and I think I’ve pretty much got it right in every show. When I used to be on the panel at the Disney/ASCAP workshops, it’s what I always harped on and it was amazing to me how just about one hundred percent of the writers there would get it wrong and not understand that without the right opening number what followed didn’t work. So, before writing a single word of dialogue, I wrote the opening number and happily it came very quickly. And that number told me everything I needed to know about my two characters, and I began writing the dialogue and it just all came very easily. It helped that I knew the actors I was writing for, that always helps. As I’d get to a certain point in the scene, I’d need a song and I’d go write it. Sometimes, I’d get the idea before and write it ahead of the scene, but mostly I wrote this score in order. Once I was finished, I read through it, was happy, and sent it to Hartley Powers first. She loved it, so then I sent it to Eric Petersen and he, too, loved it. We were in the midst of doing the tenth anniversary Kritzerland so I didn’t really do anything for most of the end of August until the third week of September, but then we had another show to plan. My original intention was to have it ready by mid-December, but we found out quickly that that wasn’t going to work for the actors. So, we set the date, which changed twice, and began shooting about a week-and-a-half into the New Year. Prior to that, Richard Allen had to orchestrate the score and create all the tracks and he did a great job. Shooting went swiftly and easily because we’d figured all the technical stuff out well before we began. I’ll answer any other questions about how we did stuff in the after party tonight. It’s amazing to me that from the time shooting wrapped we had a first cut in less than a week. And since I felt that first cut was almost perfect, we only did a few little tweaks to it before locking it. We learned a lot doing it, but I could not be prouder of what we all turned out, and it was a real team effort for me, Hartley, Eric, our editor Marshall Harvey, Richard Allen, my old pal J. Leslie Sharp, who transcribed all the melody lines for the lead sheets, and everyone else who helped out. So, I do hope everyone will tune in for one of our three performances, but especially for the premiere tonight, which begins promptly at 6:00 PST/9:00 EST and is followed immediately by our cast party on Zoom. So, here is your handy dandy direct link to YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/c/haineshisway
And here is your handy dandy link to the after party.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84862512049?pwd=akwyQTBVQUFBZXRzU1NGZE5CdWVpUT09
The Zoom link will also be on the YouTube page. Otherwise, I’m sitting here like so much fish, finally over the wretched day that was yesterday. I did get eight and a half hours of sleep, so that was good. Once up, I answered e-mails and posted here, then the merde came when I went to Facebook to make a post about tonight’s show. I got a pop-up saying I was blocked for three days. Say what? No way to appeal, no saying why, no nothing, no way to communicate. It’s the worst of Facebook and they should be ashamed of themselves, but they’re not because they don’t give a flying Wallenda about their users. They only care about ads, revenue, and gathering all the information about you that they can. I suspect I know what happened. The day before I’d gotten a warning on a post I’d made, where I’d jokingly responded to someone’s post about Mike Lindell, where I humorously suggested what he needed was a good punch in the nose. Now, I have read threats on Facebook, I have been threatened on Facebook, I have seen the vilest posts and those stand, but this they flag. It said I could agree, in which case the post would come down, or I could appeal. I appealed and I won. In the same blocked notice, when I clicked on “why” I got the notice that they’d sided with me, admitted they got it wrong and apologized. And ten minutes later, they blocked me. I think their stupid algorithms got crossed or something. Whatever it was, they suck, and I hate them. Not only am I blocked on my personal page, I’m blocked on the business pages I have. Needless to say, the timing also sucks, as today was the day I was going to tag everyone and their mother.
But friends came through, including some of you dear readers, and posted on my page about it, so at least some folks will see that. And to do damage control, I sent out an eBlast to all 2500 Kritzerland customers, as well as a second personal eBlast to about 100 friends. I should be able to post on Saturday, so I’ll tag everyone for Sunday’s performance. And people can still post on my page, with comments on the show, which will be helpful. But I do need someone to post on the theater pages, most especially Forgotten Musicals and Cast Recordings.
And that was most of my day, dealing with all that stuff I should not have had to deal with. I was in a foul and fowl mood all day and into the evening. Thank you, Facebook. Mr. Zuckerberg, what you have wrought is shameful but you’d actually have to be an actual human being to understand that. I ordered Japanese food from another jernt and that showed up around two and it was just as mediocre as the place from the day before. Not sure why it’s so hard for some jernts to make teriyaki chicken and tempura – every time I’ve eaten it in actual restaurants it’s been great. Well, at least I know to never go to those places again. Then I went to the mail place and picked up a couple of packages.
I spent most of the evening listening to music because I was not in the mood to watch anything. So, it was two count them two operas for the likes of me. The first opera was by Cilia, called L’Arlesianna, which I really enjoyed and it makes me want to hear more Cilia music. The other opera was more substantial by Ottorino Respighi, entitled La Campana Sommersa. It was pretty great, I thought, filled with gorgeous music, good performances and a good band. I’ve always enjoyed the classic Respighi orchestral pieces, and after listening to snippets from a few of his other operas, those are now must haves for me. And that was my evening.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then I relax until it’s show time for the premiere performance of project one aka Tonight’s the Night. Color me excited. Have I mentioned that I HATE Facebook? So, all of you help out and spread the word, please. And come tonight and then attend the after partay. After the after partay, I’ll get something fun to eat, a celebratory meal of some sort. If not, I’ll have something pre-show and save the celebratory meal for tomorrow.
The rest of the week is Kritzerland show stuff and project two stuff, and, of course, the final two showings of project one aka Tonight’s the Night.
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, do whatever needs doing hopefully pick up some packages, hate Facebook, decide whether to eat before or after the show, then relax until show time and the after partay, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old questions you like and we get to give any old answers we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy and excited that tonight’s the night for Tonight’s the Night.