Well, dear readers, I just had a nice steak dinner somewhere on 53rd Street – can’t remember the name of the restaurant. And some good French onion soup, too. It was Sami, her mom, Karim, who plays Sami’s BFF in our series, and li’ ol’ me. The jernt was a little noisy for my taste but the food and service was very good. Otherwise, I did get about six-and-a-half hours of sleep, so that was helpful. As it turns out, I could have slept another ninety minutes because the dinner was moved to seven.
Once up, I went to the nearby Duane Reade and got travel-size stuff I needed. I forgot how hard it is to find my deodorant here – Arrid Extra Dry. They don’t have it at Duane Reade and on the way home from dinner I stopped at a CVS and they don’t have it there. Unless they have it at Rite-Aid I guess I won’t be buying it. I got some other kind to use and hopefully it won’t make me want to vomit on the ground.
The place I’m staying in is great. It’s a one-bedroom affair or suite – kitchen, living room, and bedroom. The only weirdness, and apparently this is now a “thing” in NYC, unless the temperature outside drops below fifty, the heat in the room doesn’t kick in. If I had my druthers I’d like it a bit warmer, but it’s not terrible or anything. Whilst at Duane Reade, I did get some Ricola, Diet Coke, and Diet Sprite for the room.
I walked to dinner and back and boy am I out of shape and not used to doing that. I’ll still try to walk to the mid-town shoots, but we’ll see how I’m feeling. That was about it for the day and evening. I’m writing these here notes early and hoping I remember how to set them to post right after midnight, as I’d like to be in bed no later than ten-thirty.
Today, I’ll be up at seven-thirty, I’ll shave and shower, and then be on my way to the Village of Greenwich for our first day’s shooting. We have a lot to do, but once we get the geography down, it should move right along. In fact, I’d like to do a bit more than is scheduled, just so we don’t feel rushed on days two and three. The plan is to wrap at five. Then we’ll go grab a bite – perhaps at Katz’s Deli or maybe somewhere closer to where we’re shooting.
Tomorrow, we start the day at a restaurant, then return to the apartment and another four or five hours of shooting. Tuesday is our last day for the apartment scenes and hopefully we’ll finish on time – we do have a full eight hours and can go a bit longer if necessary, which I hope it won’t be. Wednesday, we’re at a big rehearsal studio for our big physical comedy scene, an all-day shoot that probably won’t take all day. Thursday we’re in a green-screen studio in mid-town to shoot three things, none very difficult. Friday, we’re at a club to shoot two musical numbers. Saturday and Sunday we’re in rehearsal rooms for audition scenes, and Monday we’re in a different club shooting one number and several scenes. I’m sure we’ll have a nice celebratory meal after.
On the mid-town days, we’re also shooting some day and night stills of Sami for use in the main titles of the show. Funnily, the minute I came up with the idea for the series, I wrote a theme – and it’s already orchestrated and I think is pretty cute and really sets the tone of the show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by seven-thirty, shave and shower, do our first day’s shooting, and then have a meal. I will, of course, have a blow by blow for you upon my return. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to begin our first day of shooting.