Well, dear readers, here it is, Monday, and the start of our tech and dress week. Yesterday, we had a good day of work – first doing a stop and start of the second act, then running the act, then running the whole show. It’s feeling interesting to me, and the form seems to be working okay. I’m still thinking about swapping a few things in the second act, and we’re adding a new bit tomorrow, and I hope to put in the finale tomorrow as well. The cast is beginning to get solid in their numbers, although there are three solo numbers that are far from what I want and hope they’ll be. We’ll be working on those separately over the next few days. It’s been quite a journey these last few weeks – creating something where there was absolutely nothing. It’s crazy, really, but invigorating, exciting, frustrating, maddening, but a lot of fun, too. The only thing that hasn’t been fun have been the occasional personality problems with our publicist and our set designer, and for me, last night, with our “associate producer”, a friend of Tammy’s. She works very hard, is proactive, and gets things done, but she has the personality of a pit bull. I have been asking a simple question for the last few days and have not received an answer or even a response to my e-mails. This does not set well with me. And last night, in response to my latest query, she made the bad mistake of being rude in an e-mail, and I’m afraid my response to said rudeness was less than polite – a lot less. None of this has anything to do with Tammy, of course. But I will not put in this kind of time and effort and creativity and have some youngster be rude. I never understand that kind of real ignorance. We’ll see what happens this morning, but I’m not happy right now and this girl will have to make amends pretty quickly and we will have to come to terms about the pecking order on this show, or, I’m afraid, I simply won’t work with her. Yes, Virginia, I shall be boycotting this person if she doesn’t make with the amends. Can one girlcott as well as boycott? Why do boys only get to cott, that’s what I’d like to know. In any case, other than that little hiccup, I am not displeased with where we are at the moment. I’ll be a little less frazzled when the set is completely finished and working, and when we begin the tech tomorrow. My lighting designer is terrific, as is my stage manager, so I’m hoping all that will go smoothly.
Last night I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Robert Rossen’s Lilith. That’s the title as presented onscreen. Robert Rossen’s Lilith is a strange little film, which doesn’t completely work, but which has lovely things in it. I’m surprised I didn’t see it on its original release, because I was quite fond of films that dealt with mental illness. I’d seen David and Lisa and The Caretakers, but somehow I missed out on Lilith. Warren Beatty is very good, as always, but the film really shines with the performance of Jean Seberg, who is simply riveting and terrific as the disturbed Lilith. She is so breathtakingly beautiful that it is breathtaking. The black-and-white photography of Eugen Shuftan is great, and the transfer is sharp as a tack. The DVD is from Columbia, the studio that occasionally, recently, has made horrible gaffes by releasing several notable films full-frame or pan-and-scan. But then they do some obscure movie like Lilith, and they do it right – enhanced for widescreen TVs and gorgeous. No extras, but worth having if you’re a fan of Miss Seberg.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I feel like boycotting or, at the very least, girlcotting this here section.
I’m afraid I got home too late to partake of chat last night, but I trust it was as lively and sparkling as always.
There is so much to do this week that I can’t even see straight. So many details to attend to, and also personal stuff to deal with, too. Some big changes happening around these here parts, which I’ll tell you about when I have more time and when things calm down a little.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must run light cues, I must audition a potential stand-by, I must finish our finale, and I must sit in a darkened theater all the livelong day and night. Today’s topic of discussion: Have you ever boycotted anything – gotten so angry on principal that you just refused to do something or go somewhere or deal with someone? Also, what are your favorite Sammy Cahn songs? We love Mr. Cahn, and he’s written some of the greats, and I can’t wait to hear your choices. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and let’s hope we have no boy or girl cotting of this here site today.