Well, dear readers, you’ll be extremely happy to know that there will be no ranting rant in these here notes. I ranted enough yesterday for the entire month and now it is time to speak of other things, of cabbages and kings or, at the very least, cabbages and corned beef. Speaking of corned beef, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to an interesting composer named Paul von Klenau, a Danish composer who was also very fond of having a Danish for breakfast. Currently playing is his first symphony, which was written early in his composing life and therefore has things in common with Mahler and Bruckner, not necessarily in that order. There seem to be no recordings of the next three symphonies, but there are recordings of his fifth, seventh and ninth, and I grabbed all those plus a couple of long orchestral pieces. His later work is more modern sounding but never really unpleasantly atonal. Very enjoyable stuff. Earlier, I watched one and one half motion pictures. The first was a TV movie from 1971 that I’d never seen, Thief, starring Richard Crenna, Angie Dickenson, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Webber, Hurd Hatfield and, in one-scene performances, two friends who I was very fond of back then – Ed Peck, who I’d work with on The Super and who was hilarious, and Bruce Kirby, father of Bruno and John – he was a wonderful man and always very friendly to me. Directed by Walter Graham and written by John D.F. Black, it’s a pretty okay TV movie but efficiently done. Crenna is really excellent as the titular thief, but his character isn’t really likable, and one knows exactly how the movie will end, but I enjoyed it, save for the silly musical score of the usually excellent Ron Grainer.
The half a movie was entitled Air Patrol, which sounds like it would be a 1940s Republic serial but was, in fact, a low-budget C-movie meant for the bottom half of a double bill, one of many Fox films from their programmer branch, this one directed by Maury Dexter, who did a lot of grade-C movies starting in 1960. I happen to love black-and-white scope movies, and any movie whose first shot is a location shot smack dab in the middle of Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile is okay by me. In fact, the film was most likely either shot in late 1961 or early 1962, as it came out on July 4, 1962. I believe it must be the first ever appearance of Lee Tower, the LT building, which was touted as LA’s first real skyscraper and a building that changed the landscape of the Miracle Mile – more came later after that door was open, but Lee Tower was first and it was a stunning building back then, a mix of old and new, style-wise. Located at 5455 Wilshire and still there, it was just a block or two east of the Prudential building and Ohrbach’s department store. We get many great views of the exterior of the building as well as its roof. I’m hoping for a few more shots of Wilshire or other fun LA locations. The film runs a very brisk sixty-two minutes. Here’s its opening day ad – the top half of the bill was Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, which I must have seen at the Bruin, if memory serves, unless I saw it at a Major Studio Preview at the Village, which is where I thought I saw it. It’s probably easy to check so maybe I’ll check. But if I saw it at the Bruin I probably didn’t stick around for Air Patrol. Well, no preview of it at the Village, but before it went wide with Air Patrol, it played a one-month run at the Wilshire and I may have seen it there. It also previewed there a week before it opened. I do have a Lee Tower story, though. I believe the building opened in very late 1960 but more likely in very early 1961. In any case, sometime before it opened, probably around November of 1960, just prior to my Bar Mitzvah, the Kimmel clan all went to Lee Tower on a Saturday to see what was maybe going to be my father’s second attempt to open a restaurant on the Miracle Mile – his first attempt in the late 1940s, the Miracle Mile version of his Kiru Restaurant, was a huge failure, lasting less than two years, with the building housing Du-Par’s just six months after the Kiru Café closed. So, he and whatever shady folks he was dealing with back then, thought about opening another Kiru in Lee Tower on the top floor, which, of course, had spectacular citywide views on all four sides. Here’s the ad for Mr. Hobbs and Air Patrol.
So, up the elevator we all went to the top floor, which was completely empty save for a lot of hanging plastic and unfinished windows and such. It was indeed breathtaking but I had my first taste of not liking heights in that building – I felt very queasy anytime I got too close to any edge. Alas, it never happened, but it would have been something if it had.
Yesterday was our first Kritzerland rehearsal. I only had about three hours of sleep, probably less, and I finally got out of bed at ten-thirty, feeling very groggy. I answered e-mails and stuff, then I shaved and showered and finished just in time for the arrival of our musical director, Richard Allen, followed by our first singer o’ the day, Robert Yacko. We ran his three songs, one of which he already knew very well since he introduced it onstage and has sung it many times. His other two numbers were new to him, but they fit him like a glove. Then came Marc Ginsburg, who I haven’t seen since before the pandemic. He was out on tour for a year with The Band’s Visit. He was very prepared so all three numbers went very quickly. One is a put-together of two of his Levi songs, so that was easy, the other two are fun and very well-known Sherman Brothers songs. After that, we had Kerry O’Malley and we ran her three songs, one of which she’s sung several times. Then came Adrienne Stiefel and we ran HER three songs, one of which she’s sung several times. Then it was Bonnie Gordon, new to us but someone Richard Sherman adores. We ran her three songs and she’s going to be terrific. Last up was Johnny Whitaker, who’s doing two songs, both from the Sherman Brothers movie in which he starred. Then we played through the song that Guy Haines will be singing and that was that.
I was starving, so I went to Panda Express for food and brought it home. Then we had the big drama of the day. People pull in the driveway here all the time, then back up to turn around. Well, someone did that, perhaps a truck, because they pulled all the way up to the house – I’m thinking it may have even been an Amazon truck because they’re always around here. Well, the gas valve thing is located out in the open right next to the right side wall of the house. Whoever it was, either clipped it pulling in or pulling out, but I heard this horrible whooshing sound when I finished putting my car away and saw it was the gas valve thing blowing a huge amount of gas vapor into the air. I couldn’t see a way to stop it, so I went in the house and wrote a text to Grant, but as I was doing so the sound stopped. So, I went outside and thankfully the handyman had been next door doing some work, heard it and more importantly smelled it. He shut it off and lucky he did because there could have been a major explosion. He couldn’t fix it, however, so Grant called the gas company and I have to say they arrived forty-five minutes later. The really nice gas man spent an hour fixing it and he’s going to suggest to his superiors at the gas company that they come back and put some kind of protective something around the valve so it can’t happen again. I’m just glad I got home when I did, as it probably happened mere minutes before I arrived.
After he was finished, he checked to stove, water heaters, air conditioner/heater unit in the attic, the dryer, the second water heater, which is for the back house, and then he checked the back house’s stove and all was well. I like the expression “It’s a gas” as much as the next fellow, but this took it to new heights.
I ate my food, had a couple of long telephonic conversations, then began my viewing. And now, here we are.
Today, I’ll be up no later than ten-thirty, then we do the coaching session at one-thirty for a couple of hours – Alby Potts finally got back to me and is playing the piano. We’ll probably grab a bite to eat afterwards. Then I have more stuff to do, after which I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’m supposed to go to storage in the morning, but that will really depend on whether this early lunch with out-of-towners is happening or not – I haven’t heard a peep about it. I’ll continue to pray for the most major major miracle possible, Thursday is our second rehearsal, Friday is our stumble-through, after which I’ll just relax and rest my voice, and then on Saturday, sound check is at five and show is at seven-thirty.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up no later than ten-thirty, do a coaching session, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films and TV things featuring that excellent actor Richard Crenna? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have not had a catastrophe with the it’s a gas drama.