Well, dear readers, we had us a really good stumble-through yesterday. A few fumfers, of course, as with all stumble-throughs, but the young’uns are doing great, the show order works well, and I just love watching these kids do their stuff. The show has lots of laughs, some very moving songs, some great duets, and despite the fact that it’s twenty-two songs, it really does move right along because there are about eight songs that don’t run more than 2:30. After we finished, I gave some notes, we ran a few little things, and that was that. Prior to that, I got just under eight hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, did my morning ablutions, put out the rest of the chairs and then our singer who’d missed Thursday’s rehearsal arrived at one-fifteen and we ran her two songs. Then everyone else began arriving about twenty minutes before start time, but a few people were a bit late, so we started a bit late. I gave my usual litte newbie speech about clothing, how the show runs, and how they’re introduced, introduced them to our favorite word – JEF – and then we began. After everyone left, I finally ordered some food, an Eyetalian sandwich from Firehouse subs. It arrived about thirty minutes later and was very good, albeit a little skimpy on the meat this time. Like really skimpy. I would call it skimpy and have called it skimpy. After that, I finessed the commentary, cutting some of it down a bit more, then printed it out and got everything ready so I don’t have to worry about anything in the morning. I put my good mic stand in the trunk, so I won’t forget that either. Just have to make sure I remember my glasses. That’s VERY important. After all that, I had an e-mail that wasn’t quite what I was hoping it would be, so I’m turning it over to Doug Haverty to respond to and we’ll see how that goes. We do have a Plan B should it not go the way we want it to. We shall see what we shall see. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish, watched a few irritating YouTube videos, then went to HBO Max because someone on the Home Theatre Forum posted that Max was now showing the new transfer of West Side Story with the overture issue fixed. I couldn’t wait to see it. And I didn’t see it, because it’s the same old transfer with the lousy Band-Aid “fix” they put on the problem. Fences and buildings still jiggle, and trust me, that would never happen in a new transfer with fourteen years or more of new technology. The fact that this guy could not see that the overture problem was still there is just mind boggling to me. And I posted that as soon as I shut it off.
I wasn’t in the mood for a movie, so I watched the first hour and twenty minutes of a documentary by the director of Cinema Paradiso on composer Ennio Morricone. It begins rather weirdly, but once it settles into Morricone and his collaborators talking about his life and career, then it’s interesting. It’s long – two-and-a-half-hours long – but I’d frankly like a bit more of his music, especially his earlier scores. We get snippets and a few times a bit more, but I hope that shifts in the final hour.
Today, I’ll be up at seven-thirty, I’ll shave and shower, I’ll put on my Sunday clothes, and then leave around 9:15. I should arrive at the club by 9:30 and then our sound check begins at 10:00. Doors open at 11:30 and if the cast is hungry, they can order food at that time. Show is at 1:00 and I’m hoping we’re through by 2:30 or thereabouts. Then I’ll have to wait for a check, then I’ll meet some folks for a nice meal somewhere. After that, I’ll come home and relax the night away, and I’ll NEED it.
This week is very busy with hopefully at least a modern major miracle or two, and steady progress on things that need progressing, I have some meetings and meals, a bit of writing to do, and I have to start choosing songs for the big anniversary show on September 18. We’ve already got great people and I’ll probably go for one more lady and hopefully a name.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up at seven-thirty, shave and shower, put on my Sunday clothes, have a sound check, do a show, get a check, eat, and then relax. I will, of course, have a full report for you and some photographs, too. 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, in preparation for putting on my Sunday clothes.