Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the Walton viola and violin concertos with Nigel Kennedy and Andre Previn, because the evening is at an end due to the day being very short due to me sleeping for a rather incredible eleven hours, which is what happens when you’ve had a really busy week and have consistently slept between five and seven hours. Whew, for a minute there I thought there would be no end to that sentence, I thought that sentence was going to just run on and on like a gazelle doing a fifty-yard dash on a twenty-five-foot track – most amusing, but that’s the gazelle for you. Prior to listening to Walton, I’d had quite the viewing marathon. First up was Fiddler on the Roof: Miracle of Miracles, a documentary about the musical that everyone seems to gush over. I found it a bit less than a gusher, mostly because it goes off on tangents and because there’s a lot of stuff from the Bartlett Sher production, which, to me, looks really dreadful, full of oh so serious interpretations and intentions – one of the reason Fiddler is so powerful is that its creators knew WHEN to do that and WHEN not to. Mr. Sher doesn’t seem to be of the WHEN not to school. But there are some fun interviews along the way and some nice footage of other productions, but it just didn’t quite hang together. I saw Fiddler for the first time in 1969, when I was living in New York. When I saw it, Tevye was Jerry Jarrett, who I thought was absolutely wonderful. Unbeknownst to the likes of me, Bette Midler was also in it as was Adrienne Barbeau. Peg Murray was Golde. I thought the staging of the show was incredible and even though it had been playing for five years by that point, it seemed fresh and tight. Of course, I saw the film, which I didn’t love then – I’m like it a bit more now, but it still doesn’t quite work for me, and then I saw the show when Zero Mostel came back in the mid-1970s. It played here at the Shubert before going to Broadway. Mr. Mostel was a great performer, but it was all about him at that point and not about Tevye. Still fun to see him do the role and see that staging again. Interestingly, I’ve never seen any other productions of Fiddler than those. Of the many Tevyes, I would like to have seen the first national tour Tevye, Luther Adler.
Then I watched the American Masters show on Mel Brooks. I’m sure I saw it once before, but it’s very entertaining and was fun to see again. And then I watched the extras for Red Riding. There were a few deleted scenes from each of the films – not all that interesting, save for one disturbing cut scene from the final film, that provides a bad ending for a character who has a happy ending in the finished film. I’m glad they cut it – it’s so dark as it is, and at least not doing away with this character provided a ray of light. I gather in the book it’s the unhappy ending. I truly believe had they left the scene in the audience would have turned on the film and absolutely hated it. You know the weird thing about this Walton viola and violin concerto? Recorded at the same time, one of the last albums in the Warner Previn box, which means sometime in the 1980s, both appear to me to be mono. I don’t get it.
Yesterday, I didn’t get up until almost three o’clock. I couldn’t believe it, but I guess I really needed the sleep. Once up, the day was almost done and almost done was the day. I answered e-mails, did a few little things on the computer, then made three hot dogs for the meal o’ the day. Two chili dogs and one mustard and onion dog, all very tasty, and super calorie friendly. After that, I began the viewing adventure, which lasted about four hours. The rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll choose more songs, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat something fun and not more than 1200 calories – am thinking perhaps Casa Vega or In-N-Out or something I haven’t been able to do for three months, I’m hoping we can get our Kritzerland flyer done so we can announce the July 28 show everywhere, and then at some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same. Tomorrow, I’m hoping to have the Tonight’s the Night Blu-ray and if that’s arrived, then I’ll drive them over to the storage place with all the Indiegogo addresses, so we can get those out right away. I’ll also bring some to the Group Rep so those who were in Revenge can have a copy. And I’ll get a few to Hartley and Eric. The playlets don’t play this week so I don’t have to go to the theater at all. Of course, we’ll have a change of month and we’ll have a July fourth celebration right here at haineshisway.com, where we make our own fireworks on a daily basis.
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, choose songs, hopefully pick up packages, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What productions of Fiddler on the Roof have you seen, who were your favorite Tevyes, did you like the film, and what’s your favorite song from the show? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a fiddler on the notes.