Well, dear readers, it was a night to remember. I could just leave it at that, but why should I? Kritzerland 127 was one for the history books. It was the most loving, joyous show played to a most loving, joyous crowd and I do mean crowd – just about 200 people total. They say it can hold 230 but I cannot imagine where THOSE seats would be. Other than a few scattered tables far, far away by the bar, there was nothing. I got concerned at the very start of the patter, not because they weren’t being responsive – we’ve never had a more responsive audience – but at the top I always ask, “How many of you have been with us before” – and that gets the big applause. Then I ask, “And how many of you are new to us,” and that usually gets a smattering of applause. Well, it was the other way around – the newbies outnumbered the regulars. The concern was that so much of my humor is running gags – my elderly jokes, my Guy Haines jokes, all that stuff – what I call runners. How were they going to play to the newbies but the newbies were with it from the start – nice, big laughs throughout and the times I went off script and just let fly with something, all those things landed really well. At one point, after a mention of The Slipper and the Rose, I said, “Hey wait a minute – what if the Sherman Brothers, instead of writing The Slipper and the Rose had written Gypsy. They would have called it The Stripper and the Rose. A bunch of theater people got it right away, so that was fun. Anyway, after my opening patter, which I tried to keep short, although as I said later in the show, “short and elderly are an oxymoron.” We began with young Ava Madison Gray and Sophie Petersen doing Ten Feet Off the Ground, a rouser of an opener. Then came Danika Masi doing a put-together of the title song from The Parent Trap and For Now, For Always from the same film. I told the oft-told story that that was how I discovered the Sherman Brothers and had my huge crush on Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills. Danika did a great job.
Then it was Brent Barrett having a great deal of fun with I Wanna Be Like You from The Jungle Book. That was followed by Bonnie Gordon doing a cut song from Mary Poppins called The Eyes of Love and the song that replaced it, A Spoonful of Sugar. The audience reaction was huge and I’m telling you it absolutely fed the cast, me, and the show energy. Then Robert did the song he introduced in L.A. Now and Then, The Whimsy Works. Very few dry eyes in the house. Richard’s heavenly presence was so strong. I said right at the top of the show that I knew he was up there watching us and smiling. Then Sophie Petersen stopped the show with the Shermanized Words Medley – it always works, but she did an especially great job. Then Danika was back doing a beautiful rendition of The Age of Not Believing. Then I told the story of how Richard and I wrote a song together, after which I said that Guy Haines was supposed to be there to do it, “However, he got confused and he went to The Federal, which is closed, realized we weren’t there, went to Vitello’s and realized that room is now a lounge without a purpose, then went to the Gardenia, realized we weren’t there, and ended up at the Bourbon Room, where they were doing songs from a new musical based on the hit TV show, Gomer Pyle, which happens to be Guy’s favorite due to a special bond he felt he had with Jim Nabors, so I hope you don’t mind if I fill in for him tonight.” Then I sang our song, Two Roads with a kazoo instrumental, and that went over the best it’s ever gone.
Then Robert was back with a wonderful performance, a put-together of Are We Dancing from The Happiest Millionaire and She Danced With Me from The Slipper and the Rose. Then it was Bonnie’s turn to stop the show with Another Dear Uncle from the show Pazzazz, which Richard wrote with his longtime best friend, Milt Larsen. Then Kerry O’Malley did Where Did the Good Times Go from Over Here – she simply owns the song and no one does it better. Then Isabella Sawoski, daughter of our musical director did a bang-up job with Suddenly It Happens from The Slipper and the Rose. Before she did it, I told the story of how Richard and I met, and how it was fate all the way – a series of weird coincidences the odds of which are probably one in a billion. And fun fact – the gal who was working at Border’s and who sold Richard and Elizabeth my Cinderella CD is the one who’s really responsible for Richard and I meeting – because she told him she knew the producer of the CD and that he’d be delighted to know how much Richard loved it. Richard asked for my number and the rest is history.
After that, Ava Madison Gray was back with a put-together of Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang and Hushabye Mountain – great performance and they ate her and it up. The Danika did So Many Empty Rooms from Levi, which Richard and I wrote. Then we had two classics in a row – first Robert Yacko did Chim Chim Cheree and what a reaction that got, and then Linda Hart did You’re Sixteen, a number one hit song for the Sherman Brothers. I said, “A number of today types think this song is wrong for the times in which we live – and ask me if I care.” Linda had done this at the 90th Birthday Concert at the Wallis and stopped the show cold and the same thing happened again. Brent Barrett then did a put-together of two songs from the show he co-starred in, Busker Alley – the title song and She Has a Way. It, too, got a huge reaction. And finally, Kerry closed the show with the song everyone knew was coming – Walt’s favorite – Feed the Birds. A gorgeous performance and so moving. Then I brought everyone back onstage for the sing-along of It’s a Small World.
It was – yes – a night to remember. Elizabeth Sherman was there, singing along with every song and she, too, said she knew her hubby of sixty-six years was up there smiling. I told her I’d come visit soon and bring lunch, and she was very happy about that.
After the show, Linda had a little get-together, but by the time I got the check for the show it was simply too late, and I was too exhausted to be in a room full of people. I schmoozed with a lot of folks – Howard Green from Disney had a ton of people there, Richard’s daughter brought a huge group, Robert Sherman’s son Jeffrey was there (Richard’s son Greg was in New York), and it was nice to see Mara Bushansky again after twenty-two years, she being the Border’s salesgirl who got Richard to me. So many people came up to me after and said how much they loved the show and the cast and that’s just the hot fudge on the sundae.
Prior to all that, I got nine hours of sleep, then just relaxed and rested my voice until it was time to shave and shower. Then I moseyed on over to the club for sound check. Sound guy did a great job. Most people ran full songs, but for a couple of numbers (for those who had three songs) they just did the opening and that was enough. I had a small Caesar and then after the show an Eyetalian cold cuts sandwich that was very satisfying. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up but certainly by noon at the latest, I’ll talk to my gal at the publisher and see how we go about the new Benjamin Kritzer design, and then I’ll send that to whoever gets it and that will proceed apace. I can’t wait. At two, I have a lunch meeting somewhere – thinking about Hugo’s or Art’s Deli – something like that – or Mel’s Diner if that’s the easiest thing to do. After that, I’ll go deposit the show check – we did very well on this one – first time I’ve EVER in 127 shows made a decent chunk of change after covering the cost of the show. Then I can finally just watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is light, and I’d like to keep it that way. We’ll start our young people search for the August show, but that’s about it, I think.
Here are a few photographs from the show, albeit from the side.
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, talk to my gal at the publisher, have a lunch meeting during which I’ll eat lunch, do banking, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Too tired to think of one so one of you brilliant dear readers do one. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, feeling happy that we did exactly what I knew Richard would have loved – a concert filled with joy, laughter, a few tears, filled with people who truly loved what he and his brother brought into people’s lives.