Well, dear readers, what a day and night we had yesterday. Conversely, what a night and day we had yesterday. I am completely exhausted, but in a good way. The day began with me waking up. Waking up is always a good thing to do, otherwise you’d be dead. After I woke up, I answered some e-mails and got everything ready that I needed to do. I then did the long jog, then went directly to the post office to ship the last of the packages and to ship the new master to the pressing plant. Then I came home, shaved and showered, and then it was time to be on my way to the Barnsdall Gallery Theater. I arrived there at one, and we began the long day’s journey into night. I was joined by Miss Adriana Patti, who was assisting for the day. The first problem we noticed is that the air-conditioning was broken – not only broken, they’d completely removed the system and won’t have it back until January. Unfortunately, the temperature outside was about ninety-five degrees. They had a portable unit working, but it didn’t really do much. I then had a long discussion with the lighting guy – he showed me what the various area lights were, and I asked for several specials. He then took his crew and hung the specials, while I worked with the sound people. We then brought in some lunch – I had spaghetti with one meatball, a tiny salad, and a few pieces of really good garlic bread. The spaghetti was quite filling and I only ate about two-thirds of it, and didn’t finish the salad. Then the band showed up, they were miked, and we began our sound check. It was really loud and ugly, but I went up and told the sound man what I wanted to hear and about ten minutes later he had it sounding great. Then I had to go up and write the light cues with the lighting man – that took about an hour, and then we ran a few numbers, especially the ones where I needed to work with the tech director of the video shoot. I told him what I needed to see for the show, and he made some notes. I talked to the spot operators, both very nice guys, and we got the looks down and then it was time for everyone to take their break.
The audience began arriving at seven. We had the side door open to let in the fresh air (it had actually turned a little chilly out), so it wasn’t too bad for the audience. I’d say we had a little over half a house, which, in this particular space, looked very full. In attendance were the ever-beautiful Alet Taylor, my pal Adryan Russ, the stunning Linda Purl, the Kritzerland designer Doug Haverty, director John Bowab, beautiful Stella Stevens, Kevin’s “wife” from Days Of Our Lives, Patrika Darbo, a whole slew of Sean McDermott’s family, including his gorgeous sister, my pal Barbara Deutsch, and a lot of other good folks, including occasional dear readers Mark and Amy.
I introduced the show, doing my usual “we’re shooting this on video” spiel and getting wild applause and laughter as a sound test. And then it was show time. Right off the bat, the two spot operators missed their first cue, but that was the worst thing that happened, lighting-wise, so that was good. I was sitting with the video tech director, telling him what was coming up, suggesting shots, and all that sort of thing. The boys were on fire for the bulk of the show – they both sounded incredible, looked great, and both had the needed energy. There were rather silly mistakes here and there, where we’ve never had mistakes before, but we made note of them as the show ran. The act one finale, a duet version of Soliloquy from Carousel, brought the house down. The laughs were mostly there, and the teen idol medley was especially funny. Act two began very well (with one staging mistake, which I knew we had to fix), and the whole of act two ran very smoothly. The boys got two standing ovations, one after the finale and one after the encore. After their final bows I went up and asked the first two rows of people to stay, and told the others that anyone else who wanted to stay while we did our video pickups could. About thirty people stayed, which was great. We then began at the end and worked our way backwards, doing about ten small pickups in all. And then, we were done. Everyone that I spoke to was very complimentary and I think they all had a very good time. Stella Stevens went out of her way to stop me and tell me how much she loved the show. I then packed up my stuff and came home, where I ate four bite-sized Big Hunks, just because I needed a treat. And that, dear readers, was my yesterday.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I am exhausted in a good way but must get my beauty sleep because tomorrow is not a day of rest for me.
Today, I shall get up early, get the long jog out of the way, and then someone is coming over to enter in e-mail addresses to the Kritzerland e-mail blast list. We haven’t done that in over six months, and we’ve had several releases since then, including Evening Primrose, Scent Of Mystery, and Laurette/Prince Jack – and a lot of those orders were first-timers. There are probably five hundred e-mail addresses to enter, maybe more. Then at three, I have a work session with the singer whose show is this Saturday – we’ll probably work at least three sessions prior to the show. After that, I shall treat myself to a really good dinner, perhaps even a splurge meal, but if not, a reasonably caloried large meal. And tomorrow night is mine all mine.
Wednesday, I’m hoping the new Kritzerland release title goes live on the site and then I’ll announce and begin preorders. The good news is the booklet is already at the printers and the master is already at the pressing plant. If all goes according to Hoyle, we should have CDs no later than November 10th, a full three weeks early.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, enter e-mail addresses and plenty of ’em, have a work session, and eat a nice dinner. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite pasta dishes – the ones you make at home, and the ones you eat in favorite restaurants? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, for remember, I am exhausted, but in a good way.