Well, dear readers, guess what I have? Have you guessed yet? I didn’t think so. Well, I’ll tell you what I have for why should I withhold such information as that from you dear readers? I have more videos, that’s what I have. A few videos I wish we had didn’t really come out well, but we at least have the ones from yesterday and now two new ones and they’re corkers, oh, yes, they’re corkers. So, first up we have eleven-year-old Brennley Brown. I’ve seen Brennley in a few shows around town – The Sound of Music, Parade, Shrek – and she’s been coming to the last few Kritzerland shows. This was her first for us, but I can tell you she’ll be back. This is my little arrangement of Reflection/The Girl I Mean to Be and she just did a beautiful job of it. Don’t believe me? Watch.
I mean, eleven years old. So poised and assured, and most importantly, honest. And here’s Kritzerland regular Jenna Lea Rosen and her rendition of Disneyland. I have such a long history with this song. I was the first to record it, I think, on Unsung Musicals, with the original singer of it, Jodi Benson. It became quite popular after that recording. Then I gave it to then seventeen-year-old Juliana Hansen, who won a huge singing contest at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with it. Juliana has subsequently done it in a couple of Kritzerland shows, and I’ve seen others do it. And Jenna is as good as any of them, and believe me, that’s saying something. I’ve been working with Jenna for over two years now, and watching her grow has been amazing – she just gets better and better. Don’t believe me? Watch.
Yesterday was quite an interesting day for a Tuesday. It wouldn’t have been that interesting for a Monday but for a Tuesday it was DAMN interesting. I got up around ten, after getting almost eight hours of blessed sleep. I got up and had to answer about thirty e-mails, all benefit related. I didn’t even have a minute to do any futzing and finessing of the previous day’s writing because I had to get ready for our benefit rehearsals o’ the day. First up was a version of I Like Your Style from Barnum, that’s being done by the co-producer’s wife and my pal Dennis Kyle. Devin, the co-producer’s wife not only sings but plays the violin, so I did a fun arrangement of the song where she gets to play violin and Dennis plays kazoo. They ran it several times and have it down really well. Then came Reagan Pasternak, who ran her number, Somewhere That’s Green. She’s really good. And then it was pal John Sloman, who ran his number, a David Friedman song called Help Is on the Way.
After that, I met with the show’s host, Eric Andersen, who’s on the TV Land show Kirstie. I liked him instantly and told him what he’d be doing. We only got him two days ago – up until that point I was going along sans host. But a few hours later I got an e-mail from him and he had to drop out, as he got a guest shot on a big TV show that films that day, and they can’t guarantee him he’ll be finished in time. A shame, but I hadn’t actually written anything, so no time wasted. But we absolutely will get him to be in a Kritzerland show.
Then I finally went and had some food – a Cobb salad with Thousand Island dressing and a bagel. On the way out, I noticed Jerry’s had some new things in the dessert case, including tapioca pudding, chocolate pudding and rice pudding. So, I took home a rice pudding for dessert. Once home, I futzed and finessed the previous day’s writing, which included adding about two-thirds of a page to one of the chapters, and setting up a character in a stronger way. Then I began chapter four and wrote about three pages of it before realizing that those three pages worked better at the end of chapter three, so I put them there, and then took a break, not having even begun the new chapter four. I just needed to sit on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched about twenty minutes of the Cinerama feature, South Seas Adventure. Of all that I’ve seen, this so far may be my favorite. I don’t know why, really, since they’re all basically the same, but it’s Orson Welles narrating, it’s Alex North music and it’s a stunning transfer with much better sound quality than Cinerama Holiday. My favorite is still probably Seven Wonders of the World, which I know my friend Dave Strohmaier is working on right now – but it’s probably only my favorite because it was the first one I saw as a boy and which I wrote about in Benjamin Kritzer. After watching that, I went back to the computer and did some stuff, and stared at the blank chapter four page. Then I did what I needed to do to kickstart chapter four – I took a shower. Whilst I was showering I got the idea how to open the chapter and once I had that it was easy to begin. I also got two other good ideas for stuff that will follow that in the next chapter, so that’s good. While I would never call this book a comedy, it does have some funny stuff in it occasionally and that always makes me happy. In all, I think I wrote close to nine pages, which is the most I’ve done in one day on this book.
Today, I can actually get my writing done in the early part of the day, I’ll eat, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then at four we have the first of our two benefit rehearsals, and then I leave to do the brush-up rehearsal of Pure Imagination. I kind of wish I didn’t have to, but I do, and I will. If we can actually start by seven-fifteen then we should be done and out of there by eight-thirty.
Tomorrow, I think we have only one rehearsal, so that’s good, but I do have benefit work to do, and I also really have to finish a set of liner notes in addition to writing book pages. Friday I think we have a couple of rehearsals and I know we do on Saturday. Saturday night I’ll attend our revue, since I know a bunch of people who are coming. Then Sunday we begin the serious stuff – a band rehearsal and I have to lock all entrances and exits as well as any patter, and I have to tell our PAs what they’ll be doing and talk about lighting and sound with those folks. Then on Monday, I’ll be at the Pasadena Playhouse all day and evening, getting our show ready to present.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, have a couple of benefit rehearsals, and then a brush-up rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answers we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall arise I shall write and I think print out the pages that are done and get them to Muse Margaret. Don’t believe me? Watch.