Well, dear readers, once again time has gotten away from me and therefore these here notes are late as late can be, which is, by the way, late. Let me start by saying we announced our three new releases – Oscar Hammerstein Revisited, Everyone Else Revisited, and Kaye Ballard starring in The Ladies Who Wrote the Lyrics. That leaves only one final release in the Bagley series, Cole Porter Volume V. What a run this has been, for the past three years. Here are the covers of the three albums. You don’t want to miss these, as they’re all delightfully delightful.
Don’t we just love Mr. Harvey Schmidt’s art? And now, I’m sitting here like so much fish, still at the Barber shop, Samuel Barber, that is – right now, it’s his great piano concerto. I just love this man’s music. Prior to that, I watched two movies on Amazon Prime, the follow-up to Stalked by My Neighbor, made the same year. The second stalked film was entitled Stalked by My Doctor, and stars Eric Roberts. I must tell you, this was one of the giddiest and most wacko Lifetime movies ever – or maybe they’re all like this. The doctor in question is so sleazy and oily and politically incorrect and I have to tell you that Mr. Roberts doesn’t just stick his toe in the water, he jumps in with gusto. He’s very weird, very funny, very outrageous – I’m not saying it was good because it certainly wasn’t, but boy was it pervy and out there. Well, sixty-six-year-old Mr. Roberts trying to get it on with a teen patient while she’s unconscious? Wildly entertaining in its sleazball way. Then I couldn’t help it, I watched the first of three sequels to the doctor stalking series. The first sequel is called Stalked by My Doctor – A Patient’s Revenge, the patient being the teen from the first movie. You see, the good doctor got off because he flirted with a member of the jury who convinced her fellow jurists he was innocent. Yes, I’m making any of this up. When we first see him, he’s in Cabo San Lucas with a girlfriend, played by Carrie Schroeder, the star of my production of Dial ‘M’ for Murder. But he does what he always does, the good doctor, because he can’t help himself – he freaks her out and off she runs. The rest is the teen trying to get revenge on the doctor, who’s found another teen – only this teen loves him. Of course, things aren’t what they seem, and the ending, of course, means another sequel is coming – I’ll be watching the other two, as well, although they’re written and directed by someone else.
This one is even wackier than the first one and I mean WACKY – all caps. In this one, Mr. Roberts also plays his alter ego, who watches him and comments on his behavior. It’s pretty amusing only because Roberts is clearly having so much fun. This one was made post La La Land and so, out of nowhere, we get a musical number with the doctor and his doting teen, a direct rip-off of La La Land – it’s a fantasy of the doctor’s, of course, but it’s just either intentionally or unintentionally hilarious. What follows is equally hilarious. The camp factor in the sequel is notched up 1000%.
Yesterday was kind of fun. I was up at eleven and then we had our first rehearsal. First to arrive were pianist Cassie Nickols, who is pregnant with her second child – who knew) and Danika Masi. We ran her two solos and then Adrienne Stiefel arrived, and they did their duet, then Danika left and Adrienne ran her two solos. Then came Robert Yacko. We ran his stuff and then Daniel Bellusci came, and we decided to add a duet for he and Robert. Then Daniel ran his three songs, and he was followed by Lotti Arnold, who did her three. The songs are a lot of fun – three LA Now and Then numbers, some Sondheim, some rarities, and some classics. Very eclectic and everyone was very prepared, which is always appreciated.
Afterwards, I ate the rest of the tuna salad and we got the three titles announced and some orders came in pretty quickly. Not nearly enough, but I’m hoping tomorrow will see some hefty orders – we really need ‘em. The heartening thing is that most people are ordering all three titles, which is great. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish and watched the movies. I also got a 75% off coupon for Dash Mart, kind of an online market thing. I got three twelve-packs of Diet sodas and a couple of other things. At the market that would have come to about twenty-four bucks, all in. Without the discount it came to thirty-nine bucks with the fees and delivery charge, but with the discount it was nineteen bucks. So, a nice little savings without having to leave the home environment.
I had a long telephonic conversation, did a few things on the computer, and the rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do as little as possible, other than finishing up the commentary, I’ll go out and get something to eat unless some delivery service sends a coupon – frequently that happens on holidays. The back house fellow broke his key to the garage, meaning half his key is stuck in the lock, so if I want to leave I have to use the remote garage door opening, which thankfully is still in the house and not in the car. He’ll have a locksmith come on Tuesday to fix it. Other than that, I’ll hope for lots and lots of orders and watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is our second Kritzerland rehearsal, Wednesday is who knows, Thursday is our stumble-through, and then Friday is sound check and show. Saturday, I’ll probably see the show at the Group Rep.
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 as little as possible, finish the commentary, eat, hope for lots and lots of orders, and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Memorial Day – what will you be doing, what will you be eating, and what will you be viewing? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have rehearsed and released.