Well, dear readers, I had a whopping one hour of sleep so I am barely functional so I have no idea WHAT these here notes will be like. I might fall asleep whilst writing them. Certainly, they are sleep-inducing thus far. Not only that, but she of the Evil Eye comes tomorrow morning, so I don’t even get to sleep in, as I must be out of the house by eight-thirty. The reason for my lack of sleep was ABS (Active Brain Syndrome) about our set. I felt I still wasn’t sure how things were going to work and that we were headed down a path that would require a lot of ography in the small wings space to get things on and off stage. It was giving me the heebies and the jeebies, frankly, and it was also giving me the jeebies and the heebies. I tossed, I turned, and then for a little variety, I turned and tossed. I finally gave up and got up and drew the set in a way that would take all the guess work out of the wings stuff. It really just affected one thing in the design, but that one thing would enable me to have the two set pieces that move on and off repeatedly – a chaise and a table/desk – onstage but hidden by an angled flat upstage right and left. Then for our two moving three-sided units I found a way to have them onstage, too – basically removing almost everything in the wings and keeping them wide open. I sent the drawing to Doug who thought it could work and solve problems, then I sent it the set designer. At ten-thirty, the musical director arrived and dropped off the act two tracks and his piano/conductor score, in case we find a sub pianist. Then I went and did my banking – both banks were empty, and I was in and out of each in about four minutes. That was good. Then I came home and had a chat with our set designer, and she thought my ideas might just work. So, we decided that I’d come to the theater and meet her at five-thirty to tape out the floor (finally!) and we’d see just how it might work. As soon as she tried my idea, we all knew that it would work, so that’s what we’re doing. So, the big thing that’s left for me to do is figure out who’s moving the two big three-sided rolling units. After that, I stopped at Gelson’s and got a little salad from the salad bar and then came home. I’d eaten Taco Bell earlier, so this was the perfect almost zero calorie snack, as I didn’t use dressing, just red wine vinegar. There was no way to watch anything, so I just listened to more Ormandy albums. Right now, it’s Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, A Lincoln Portrait, narrated by Adlai Stevenson, and then some Charles Ives pieces. Ormandy could conduct any kind of music and make it sound fresh and alive, especially with the gorgeous Columbia stereo sound. And here we are.
I now have three blurbs for the new book – here’s my favorite – the one I just got last night.
“No one is better than Kimmel in opening nostalgic pockets from the not-too-distant past. This time he takes us to a smoothly documented 1976 when his likeable septuagenarian sleuth, Harry Stearns, is lured from retirement by comic Buddy DeMarco, the long-time lounge act at the Vegas Hilton, who’s receiving anonymous threatening notes. On the hunt for the unknown presumably homicidal heckler, Harry and his brutally sarcastic secretary Bernice drive to Sin City, pausing in their witty bickering only long enough to interview an assortment of suspects, sample fine food and drink, gamble (Bernice, not Harry) and expose the culprit. It’s a funny, smart mystery that even has brief cameos by Liberace and Frank Sinatra. You’ll be happy that what happens in Vegas this time doesn’t stay in Vegas.”
Dick Lochte, author of BLUES IN THE NIGHT
Isn’t that a nice blurbilicious blurb? And if you’ve never read any of Dick Lochte’s books, I recommend him highly. He’s the one who inspired me to finally sit down and write a novel.
Today, I’ll be up by eight and out the door by eight-thirty, I’ll breakfast with Robert Yacko, I’ll do a Macy’s return, I’ll do a quick Gelson’s and bank stop, then I’ll come home and relax until it’s time to go to the theater. Then we’ll have our run-through and in the final hour work scenes and songs. Then I’ll come home and watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll hopefully sleep in a bit, then it’s more of the same and another run-through in the evening. We may have a piano sub for that rehearsal. Thursday, we do it again, Friday is off, then we do Saturday and Sunday evening rehearsals. Monday’s off, then our musical director is back, and we work every day until the following Monday and that includes our tech. Yikes, it’s all coming up so fast now.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eight and out the door by eight-thirty, breakfast with Robert Yacko, do a Macy’s return, do a quickie Gelson’s and bank stop, relax, have a rehearsal, and then come home and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: When you were a kid, what songs did you always love to sing-along with? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have gotten such a blurbilicious blurb.