Well, dear readers, we had a fun stumble-through yesterday. A few fumfers, lyrics-wise, but that always happens at the stumbe-throughs and people just mush on. It’s a really fun show and I guarantee you unlike any of the other 10,000 Sondheim tribute shows that happened the day after his passing. We have a lot of rare material that we were the first to record (and in some cases, we’re still the only recording, thirty years later), and that’s what’s fun about this. In fact, one person posted on my Facebook page and asked if we were doing a certain song we’re the only ones to have recorded and when I told him yes, he immediately booked tickets. Anyway, we’re all looking forward to the show. After the stumble-through, the fellow in the back house came over – he’s in charge of Internet stuff for Hulu, I think, so he knows that world really well – and we don’t. So, he gave me all sorts of great information and tips and we’ll be implementing that stuff this week, especially on TikTok. Hopefully, it will make a difference. After he left, I ordered Jack in the Box – quick, easy, and the stuff I get is always okay. That arrived about fifteen minutes later and I ate it all up. Then I finessed the commentary and printed it out and got everything ready for today, show-wise. I then attempted to watch an over two-hour documentary about cult films. There are four volumes of this, one of which is comedy and camp. Obviously, I knew these four commenters would never mention our little comedy cult film because, well – Joe Dante, Ileana Douglas, Kevin Pollak, and John Waters. I doubt Douglas or Pollak have even heard of our movie, but I know Dante has, not that he’d ever talk about it, and I’d like to think Waters has seen it. But what we get is all the usual suspects and very few films from the 1970s or before – most are from the 80s and 90s, with a few sops to folks like Ed Wood. These kinds of things are always the same old same old and I know we’re never a part of them because they’d have to come to me for clips. Anyway, it’s pretty boring and I fell asleep, but went back and fast forwarded to make sure I at least saw the movies they deigned to talk about. Then I started to watch the first Harry Potter movie. I know I’ve seen some of it, but I’m not sure I ever finished it. I think the only other one I actually saw was the third or fourth movie at the Chinese in the worst digital projection I’ve ever seen. I finally bolted from the theater. And now, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the Ravel piano trio, a delightfully tuneful work, and following that will be the Debussy piano trio. I’m not all that about chamber music, but there are certain things I like very much and these are two of those.
Yesterday was okay. I got maybe seven hours of sleep, maybe not, was up earlier than planned, ignored another obnoxious text, shaved, did a few things for the Sami show, showered, and then the two singers who missed Thursday’s rehearsal came and ran their stuff, then everyone else showed up and we began the stumble-through.
Afterwards, I had a few notes and things to finesse, and we did that, singer by singer. And the rest you know because I’ve already spoken of it in these here notes.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up but definitely no later than eleven-thirty, I’ll relax and rest my voice, then I’ll shave and shower. I’ll leave here a bit earlier than I have to so I can put some gas in the motor car and pick up some Ricolas. Then I’ll mosey on over to the Gardenia for our sound check, then people arrive for dinner and I’ll have their little Caesar salad to hold me over until later. We have five in my party and five in the party next to us and there are two other large parties – one six, one seven. I’m hoping that we’ve had some decent reservations since those, but I don’t think I’ll know that until I get there. Then we do our show at eight o’clock. After that, I probably have to wait around at the club to get paid and that can take a while but hopefully not too long because I must eat something after that. I will, of course, have a full report for ou and even you.
Tomorrow, we begin the countdown to Sami. We’ll be putting up a lot of photos, some fun clips on TikTok and elsewhere, so basically if you’re on any of those social media platforms or Facebook, you’ll be able to see them. We don’t want to do too too much, because of short attention spans – the idea being you want to say, here’s the link, go watch. And that’s going to basically be the week, but I really do need another MAJOR miracle to get through. Please send you strongest most excellent vibes and xylophones. I’ll hopefully get the galley and covers for the new book and I’ll hopefully be able to approve instantly, and then in a week or so I’ll get my soft and hardcover test books, and then I can order books to send to all the folks who’ve been kind enough to order.
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 but no later than eleven-thirty, I’ll relax and rest my voice, shave and shower, put some gas in the motor car, get some Ricolas, have a sound check, and then do a show, after which some of us will grab a bite to eat. 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, having enjoyed the stumble-through despite the few stumbles.