Well, dear readers, it is late and therefore I must write these here notes in a hurry of a scurry of a flurry and hopefully they won’t be blurry or cause worry or make you flee to Missouri. I have much to talk about, but I shan’t talk about the much much. For example, last night, I watched the Blu and Ray of Levi! the Sherman Brothers/Larry Cohen musical about Levi Strauss that I had the pleasure of bringing to the stage for the first time in its world premiere performance. We filmed it with six cameras, and I forgot how terrific it looks – edited wonderfully by friend Marshall Harvey. I was struck by several things whilst watching it for the first time in heaven knows how long. First, by how good the show itself was – Larry’s book and the Sherman Brothers’ songs are just wonderful. I’m very proud of the additional material I provided for the book – making it flow, futzing with the structure a bit, fixing the opening, which didn’t work at all, and adding some dialogue here and there but always in Larry’s style. And the one song we added that the show really needed, plot-wise, which Richard and I wrote – he the music, I the lyric. I was struck by how truly great Marc Ginsburg was as Levi Strauss – had he given that performance on Broadway he would have been nominated for a Tony and he might have even won, because the role itself is so layered, with so many emotions to play. But I was also taken with the hard work that every student in that cast put forth (basically everyone else in the show save for one person was a student) – 90% of them had never appeared in a musical and most of them had never even sung in front of people. That was completely gratifying on many, many levels. Tesshi Nakagawa’s set and projections were everything a director could ask for, student costume designer Morgan Gannes’ costumes were simply amazing, the show’s lighting was phenomenal, Austin Quan’s sound design worked wonderfully, and out band was terrific, led by Richard Allen and with orchestrations by Lanny Meyers that were just right for the show. But what I was really pleased with was the direction/staging, maybe the best thing I’ve ever done, from start to finish. We could have moved this show to any regional theater in a heartbeat, cast it with pros, and I believe it could have even gone all the way to Broadway. The fact that we could not get a single theater to come see it, not one single theater and that should tell you all you need to know about those kinds of theaters in LA, who’d rather do twelve productions of Mamma Mia and Newsies, than be adventurous with a new show written by people who were VERY well known. In fact, one theater I won’t name had a show fall out and they were desperate for a replacement. We’d closed, but I had the Blu-ray or DVD – they couldn’t be bothered to see the show when it was running, which was outrageous to me, given that one of the people who runs the theater professes to be a huge fan of Richard Sherman and a good friend. Good friends come to see shows. We could have moved the production right over instantly – recast it with some names, and voila. And you would vomit on the ground if you knew what show they paid to bring in – I will only say it was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen, based on a well-known film. THAT is what they brought it. But it was EVERY theater of that nature here – from the biggest with Center Theatre Group, to Pasadena Playhouse and a few mid-size theaters like the Geffen. Watching the Blu-ray, we could air this thing on Broadway HD and maybe we just will make a deal to do exactly that. It gets a bit complicated because both Richard and Larry have passed, but I’m pretty sure I could get Larry’s wife and Elizabeth to sign off on it. It’s certainly as well filmed as anything I’ve seen on those kinds of channels. I think I made it available during the pandemic to a few dear readers – am I remembering that right? Anyway, I could not have been happier with what I saw.
Otherwise, I only got about five hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, then went to the mail place and picked up the second important envelope, made an ATM deposit, and then came home. It was another 107-degree day, so I just stayed inside and kept the air on. Then I had an early meal with a friend at the Smokehouse. I had my usual cup of clam chowder, shrimp cocktail, and wedge salad with 1000-Island dressing – all great. And two pieces of garlic cheese bread – a really good batch. I came right home afterwards and watched Levi, and here we are and these here notes should have been posted right this very second.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I have a work session at one, then at four I may visit a bookstore/CD/LP/reel-to-reel store that I haven’t been to in seven or eight YEARS. I’ve been thinking about it and it’s high time I paid a visit, plus I can have a nice, calorie-friendly meal just down the street at a restaurant that was a favorite of dear reader Pogue and I. Then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow will be a ME day filled with ME. Then on Tuesday we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal, and the whole week will be pretty busy.
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, do whatever needs doing, have a work session, visit a bookstore, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: How many here watched Levi, if anyone? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, so happy to have been so happy seeing Levi again after these past few years.