haines his way

05/28/2002:
"NO RHYME OR REASON"

Well, dear readers, I hope you're all recovering from your very long and full holiday weekend. I hope you've had your fill of barbecued weiners, Speedos, and sitting in your collective easy and difficult chairs. We had lots of fun here at haineshisway.com over the weekend, so if you missed any of it I recommend using the Unseemly Archive Button to catch up. We had Meltz and Ernest songs, we had big announcements, we had everything the traffic will allow. Now it is Tuesday even though it seems like Monday and I am having unseemly computer problems and unfortunately the dear reader who normally helps me with such things is nowhere to be found. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, the person who normally helps me with unseemly computer problems is nowhere to be found. Therefore, I shall have to deal with the unseemly computer problems later, but hopefully not too much later. In the meantime, because I am having unseemly computer problems I am going to have to make these here notes short because I do not want to take the chance of losing them.
Why do these stupid computer things happen? There is simply no rhyme or reason or for that matter no reason or rhyme for it. There is, however, a rhyme for reason and it is season or treason. And, of course, there is a reason for a rhyme because if you are writing a song it is unseemly not to rhyme when rhymes should be made. What the hell am I talking about? Oh, yes, the lack of rhyme and reason for my unseemly computer problems. Perhaps there is a rhyme for my unseemly computer problems -
My computer's having problems
Of that there is no doubt
I shall have to write short notes
Until it's figured out.
We have a birthday announcement today - today is the birthday of dear reader, Mr. Arnold M. Brockman and we wish Mr. Arnold M. Brockman the happiest of birthdays. Let us all put on our pointy party hats, our colored tights and pantaloons and our fake moustaches and eat cheese slices, ham chunks and shrimp bits on toast. Let us dance the Hora and also the Jitterbug. Let us partake of gooey birthday cake and Ambrosia Salad. And most of all, let us do all those things without rhyme or reason.
Last night I watched two count them two DVDs - Sorry, Wrong Number and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Sorry, Wrong Number is quite overwrought but still fun. I adore the radio play by Lucille Fletcher on which it's based and when I was a mere sprig of a twig of a tad of a youth I recorded my very own version of said radio play on my Webcor Reel to Reel tape recorder. If I remember correctly, I played the leading role (using a falsetto voice) and all the other roles as well. In any case, I always enjoy Miss Barbara Stanwyck - but all the other characters and flashbacks merely pad out what is a remarkable hour-long tour de force radio show. The director, Mr. Anatole Litvak, is heavy of hand and camera, the camerwork in this film is always on the prowl and molto agitato. I liked the score by Mr. Franz Waxman, too.
Harry Potter was pretty enjoyable. I had started reading the first book, was enjoying it a lot, got busy and never did finish the thing. I found the movie a bit disjointed but fun - obviously they had to cram an awful lot of material into two-and-a-half hours. I find Chris Columbus an uninspired Spielberg clone, and I must say I was really disappointed in the John Williams score, which is a rarity for me, since I'm a big fan. I thought the cast was splendid, including Harry himself, who was not liked by some. I very much liked little Hermoine and Harry's friend, and John Hurt, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris and Maggie Smith were all excellent. But the whole thing just didn't seem to gel right - the whole Alan Rickman revelation is just dropped in, then forgotten (I know there'll be more in the sequel), and the thing just seems herky-jerky and also jerky-herky to me. The look of the film is lovely, and the CGI effects are mostly fine, although I am tiring of the look of them. Still and all, I would recommend it.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, we'd better all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have to wrap up these notes quickly so I can deal with my computer problems and the rhyme and reason for same.
Don't forget to check out our brand spanking new sections, they're very exciting - you can order a handy-dandy DVD or novel, you can order all manner of new products and it's all very well designed by our very own Mr. Mark Bakalor.
Well, the trivia contest was a big pain in the butt cheeks, let me tell you that. I thought it was very simple and cut-and-dried, but unfortunately it wasn't, despite all my clarifications. However, we did have three High Winners and thus we have a Highest Winner, chosen randomly from our unseemly Electronic Hat. Here was the question:
As far as I know, in the world of musicals there have only been two that were written by pop songwriters who were known for an incredible string of top-ten hits. Now, I mean book musicals, not revues such as Smokey Joe’s Café. And I want to put an emphasis on top-ten hits. In other words, while Randy Newman’s Faust would be a fine guess, Mr. Newman really hasn’t had any top-ten hits or if he has he certainly hasn’t had an incredible string of them. Name the pop songwriters and the two book musicals they wrote. One of them is obviously very easy, the other a bit less so. Bonus question: One of the two musicals has another major connection to the top-ten pop world. What is the connection? Good luck to one and all and also all and one.
I later clarified by saying pop hits of the late fifties on. In any case the obvious first part of the answer would be Burt Bacharach and Hal David and Promises, Promises. The second part, the controversial part, the answer is Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent and The Card. I know there were other answers but that's the one I thought most filled the bill here. After all, Mr. Hatch and Miss Trent had an incredible string of pop hits, and were, in fact, the English Bacharach and David. The bonus question answer is The Card's star, Jim Dale, who wrote the top-ten hit, Georgy Girl.
Congratulations to everyone who played, because there were, in fact, many many many (that is three manys) good guesses. However, the High Winners this week are Stephen Farrow, Thomas J. Guest and Allan. The Electronic Hat has chosen our Highest Winner and it is Allan, so if Allan will send his handy-dandy address he will receive a sparkling prize.
Well, dear readers, the person who helps me with computer problems is back and is about to call so I can deal with the ones I am having for no rhyme or reason. Do remember that tomorrow is Ask BK Day, so get all your excellent questions ready and I shall prepare to answer them. Today's topic of discussion: With all this talk of Miss Elaine Stritch's show (which I sadly missed), what is your favorite one-person show you've ever seen? I'll start: Oscar Brown, Jr. in the early sixties. I've never seen anyone do a better show than Mr. Brown's.

Replies: 51 Unseemly Comments

Easy. Best one-person show: Elaine Stritch
Posted by Kerry @ 05/28/2002 09:35 AM PST

Happy Happy Birthday, Dear Reader Mr. Arnold M. Brockman!!
I believe the only one-person show I've ever seen is Jason Graae at the Cinegrill. So I guess that would be my favorite.
Note to Dear Reader Kerry: I have an extra ticket to South Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Gammage. If you would like to accompany Sandra and me, we'd be glad to meet you. The ticket is already paid for.
Posted by Laura @ 05/28/2002 09:56 AM PST

Moving right along from yesterday, I finally decided to do a google search for the edification of one and all and sun-dried tomotos. It yielded:
A home page for Makoto Tomoto (in Japanese): www.hepl.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~makoto
A recipe for Shrimp and Tomoto in Shells: www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/ pasta/shrimp-tomoto-shells1.html
A page for Tomotos Harley-Davidson in Switzerland (in German): www.harleydavidson.ch/
Collection of Tsurunoya Kobori Tomoto, famous Japanese style painter in Meiji Era. In the holdings of Kokugakuin High School Library, Tokyo: www.yushodo.co.jp/english/mic_list/tsuruno.html
A place where you can buy a Vine Tomoto Cage: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/mccannbaskets/vinetomotocage.html
Tomoto Aviation in Sweden: www.mamut.com/homepages/Sweden/1/4/ultralight/
An ad for a 5" tomoto knife: www.internetkitchenstore.com/ HENCKELS_KNIVES,__4-STAR,_5-STAR_AND_PROFESSIONAL_S1685.html
This is a random selection out of 2,520 hits. It appears that there are basically two meanings of tomoto:
1. A Japanese name.
2. An alternative (or erroneous) spelling of tomato.
So Bruce and I are in the majority.
One-person shows? I have seen few. But I must count Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight. Maybe he will bring it back now that he is of an age that will require less makeup.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 05/28/2002 10:21 AM PST

Hmm, before I post my thoughts on Sondheim in DC I will answer the question.
My technical answer is Elaine Stritch, At Liberty, which, btw, is available in a 2-CD set for those of you who missed it.. Mr. Feltham even played pieces of it a couple of weeks ago when he did the Ladies on Broadway show (Bea Arthur, Barbara Cook & Stritchy). I've seen it here in NYC at Footlight Records and I'm sure it's available on-line.
My other answer is I saw Jeff Daniels in the Circle Rep Theatre production of Johnny Got His Gun in 1983 and it was one of the most phenomenal things I have EVER seen. It is a one person show, but not in the vein of the Bea Arthur and Elaine Stritch evenings so I'm mentioning it here because it so moved me. I rarely write fan letters, but I was an actor at the time and had been in NY for about 3 years and I was so impressed by his work that I wrote to him expressing my admiration at his wonderful performance. I had gone to the theatre alone that night and was so moved I had to call a friend and beg him not to go to bed so I could come over and talk about the performance and production with him. It still stands in my mind as one of the best things I've seen in over 30 years of theatre going.
Posted by Ben McLaughlin @ 05/28/2002 11:22 AM PST

Talk of radio shows reminded me of the time that my younger brother and his friend were given an assignment to come up with sound effects for a read-through of the radio script for War of the Worlds. Now, they weren't going to the School of the Performing Arts or anything, just a dinky little middle school in Franklin township in central Indiana, and yet they had this assignment. Don't ask me.
Anyhoo, being moi, I completely took the thing over. We had a record set of radio show openings that included the original opening to Mercury Theater, so that opened it, and went on to such wonderful foley effects as crumpling up saran wrap right next to the mike in order to create static when that poor reporter in NJ gets fried by the Martians.
The teacher was so impressed with the wonderful tape they made that she asked to keep it, and apparently that tape of sound effects was used for years afterwards, every year around Halloween time when she had her class do a read-through of War of the Worlds.
My brush with fame.
Posted by Lulu @ 05/28/2002 11:28 AM PST

Thank you one and all and all and one for the Birthday salute.I look quite festive in my pantaloons drinking Gray Goose and dancing the Birthday Pudding dance. The ham chunks are plentiful and the cheese slices delicious. What more can one ask?
Favorite One Man Show-
Mr. James Naughton.
Someone should record it(hint..hint)
Posted by Arnold M. Brockman @ 05/28/2002 11:42 AM PST

What the heck happened to bk’s notes II 204? The absence of 204 is truly unseemly. I was looking for it and looking for it and looking for it and wondering if there had been a fershluganah computer problem that delayed today’s notes, so I decided to look for 205. Lo and behold, where 204 should be 205 is. Et voilà, today’s notes.
Favorites Ever One-person (Solo) Shows:
Musical
1. Elaine Stritch: At Liberty (Elaine Stritch, Neil Simon Theatre, 2002)
2. Patti LuPone on Broadway (Patti LuPone, Walter Kerr Theatre, 1995)
Nonmusical
1. The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Lily Tomlin, Plymouth Theatre, 1985)
2. Whoopi Goldberg on Broadway (Whoopi Goldberg, Lyceum Theatre, 1984)
I hope more of the world gets to see Elaine Stritch: At Liberty. In the meantime, I saw the touring production of Theodore Bikel in Fiddler on the Roof. I am always wary, but hopeful, when going to see a bus-and-truck production. I am pleased to report that this Fiddler is very much the Fiddler I have come to love and it is worthwhile. It is worth going to see if you have never seen a first-class production of Fiddler or if you just want to see a good one, even if it does fall shy of true Broadway standards. The sets are based on Boris Aronson’s original, but are built for the road—therefore no turntable, and certain props inexplicably on wheels—and much of the secondary casting could have been better, but the company is never less than professional. At 78, Bikel is remarkable energetic and always authoritative as Tevye, and I bet some of you have seen him in this or other productions. If anyone recalls what sections of songs or dialogue he had been dropping on this tour at certain performances, I would be interested in knowing. If I recall correctly (IIRC), the authors and management called him to task and made him agree to perform the entire text. At Saturday’s matinee at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, I believe Bikel performed the entire part and quite well. The current Fiddler delivers and moves.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 01:30 PM PST

The Ethel Merman Disco Album on compact disc: When? Where? How? Please advise. Must acquire.
Any thoughts on the following as candidates for CD issue?
1. Once Upon a Mattress Dody Goodman
2. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Uta Hagen, Arthur Hill, Melinda Dillon, George Grizzard
3. Hello, Dolly! Mary Martin
4. Leader of the Pack Darlen Love, Annie Golden, Ellie Greenwich, Dinah Manoff, Patrick Cassidy
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 01:33 PM PST

The Merman disco was on the last list from Allmusic Services (e-mail Michael@allmusic.com - might be @allmusicservices, it's on my other computer)) but it was not on the current list so it may no longer be available.
It is everything you've heard and more!
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 05/28/2002 01:50 PM PST

I think I may have the Merman disco CD (I know I have it on LP). I'll have to check tonight.

As for solo shows, Elaine Stritch WAS terrific. I would love to have seen Mark Twain Tonight, but had to settle for the 1967 TV version. Most of the one person shows were just glorified club/concert acts of which Tiny Tim stands out most favorably from my childhood years (at Santa Monica Auditorium).
Posted by Robert Armin @ 05/28/2002 02:07 PM PST

I'm going to toot my own horn here. I wrote and directed in my native Canada a one man show that played at the Montreal Fringe Festival and which segments were filmed for a documentary by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The show was called Survivors. They were three one act monologues about people who's loved ones have died from complications from AIDS. Intermingled with the monologues were songs by Kurt Weill.
It starred my friend Warren Winkleman who was also a medical doctor.
When I am not tooting my own horn. My favorite one person shows: The late Denise Pelletier as Sarah Bernhart, Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain, Henry Fonda as Clarence Darrow, Elaine Stritch as herself and Jim J Bullock in The Man in The Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 05/28/2002 02:10 PM PST

Re Lulu's comments on War of the Worlds. One of the amazing coincidences in my life concerned the original Orson Welles recording. When I was a kid the available record album did not have the opening and closing theme music, so when I set out to create my own radio plays (Gulliver's Travels was the first) on my reel-to-reel recorder, I went through my parents classical records to find a good musical theme for under the opening announcements. I selected the opening of Tchaikovsky's Concerto #1. Imagine my surprise some years later when I discovered that the weekly theme music of the Mercury Theatre (conducted by Bernard Herrmann) was --- Tchaikovsky's Concerto #1! That's pretty remarkable, I think.
I later directed a college radio production of War of the Worlds in Chico, California. We decimated the Sacramento Valley instead of New Jersey.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 05/28/2002 02:20 PM PST

Thank you for The Ethel Merman Disco Album information. Perhaps bk can illuminate his reference to a discussion with Peter Matz about its issue on CD.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 02:30 PM PST

Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight is touring currently. In fact, it preceded Fiddler on the Roof at NJPAC.
Question: Was it better to have decimated the Sacramento Valley than New Jersey? Discuss.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 02:34 PM PST

Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight is touring currently. In fact, it preceded Fiddler on the Roof at NJPAC.
Question: Was it better to have decimated the Sacramento Valley than New Jersey? Discuss.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 02:34 PM PST

Freedunit. Six of one and half a dozen of the other. I went to college in both Northern California and Northern New Jersey (Montclair). Decimating either one would have been equally satisfying. Do I need to answer this twice?
Posted by Robert Armin @ 05/28/2002 02:39 PM PST

Robert, my 7 percent solution to your statement is "I never do anything twice"
Posted by The Phantom Movie Menace @ 05/28/2002 02:46 PM PST

I never do anything twice, or I always do everything twice?
For whatever it is worth, I did not post twice nor click the post button more than once. Something is amiss.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 02:59 PM PST

It is a day of weirdnesses - my computer problems became so monumentally annoying that I bought a new one. More about that tomorrow.
Re Peter Matz - I'd tried to license the disco album whilst at Varese Sarabande, but Universal wasn't having any of it at that time. Peter seemed happy it was out, but also said nobobdy had bothered to inform him and that he was going to call his lawyer to make sure he got his royalties. Knowing how royalties work in the recording industry, I chuckled silently.
Posted by bk @ 05/28/2002 03:12 PM PST

Actually, freedunit, the logs show you did (accidentally, I'm sure) post your comment twice. It apears nothing is amiss with the software in this instance.
Posted by Mr. Mark Bakalor @ 05/28/2002 03:32 PM PST

Actually, I really did not click the unseemly “Post This Comment” more than once. It was not a cockpit error. By amiss, I meant it could have been a browser, network, firewall, or proxy-server error. I was not suggesting the error was yours or Greymatter’s, for that matter, Mister Mark Bakalor.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 04:05 PM PST

My point exactly! I didn't say you clicked twice. just that something on your end posted two times within a few seconds of each other. :)
Posted by Mr. Mark Bakalor @ 05/28/2002 04:09 PM PST

All right, in this corner, Mr. Mark Bakalor, and in this corner, Mr. Freedunit. Come out fighting, but no hitting below the belt, no sucker punches, no rabbit punches, no horse punches, no lamb punches, no lamb chops, no judo chops, no pork chops, no chops suey, no chops salad, no chops parsley, no sage, no rosemary and no thyme. No thyme outs, a fight to the finish. Fight fair, fight long and fight hard. When you are done please order 100 signed copies of my novel so that I can pay for my new handy-dandy computer.
Posted by bk @ 05/28/2002 04:16 PM PST

my vote is on
Posted by Craig @ 05/28/2002 04:25 PM PST

wow.. what happened.. I merely said I would bet on
Posted by Craig @ 05/28/2002 04:28 PM PST

OK.. apparently the software is rigged.. so I guess I am betting on Mark now ;)
Posted by Craig @ 05/28/2002 04:29 PM PST

Well, Mister Mark Bakalor, you said, and I quote, “the logs show you did (accidentally, I'm sure) post your comment twice.” Do not deny it! That is what you said, or wrote, or posted, and I just copied and posted it. Do you not just love quotes? Quoting you has made me think of some of my favorite quotes, or should I say quotations. Quote is so quotidian. I hate it when mid-interview celebrity interviewers, or any other for that matter, refer to notes that contain quotations of a subject and ask the interviewee, “You said this quote. What did you mean by that?” It is not the What-did-you-mean-by-that part that offends, but the You-said-this-quote part. The subject did not say a quote. The subject may have spoken or answered a question. The subject spoke words, not quotes, unless he quoted someone else. Some other interviewer quoted, or misquoted the subject, which is when the subject’s words first became quotes or quotations, and you, Mister or Mistress Interviewer, should have been better prepared and better informed and ask better-phrased questions. I wonder if people are expecting bitch-slapping. Well, whoever is just click this.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 04:37 PM PST

Ok.. round 1 goes to FREEDUNIT, Mark... your reply is eagerly awaited../
Posted by Craig @ 05/28/2002 04:38 PM PST

I never said you clicked the darn button twice. I merely implied that the problem wasn't server side. Perhaps you didn't click the button twice but something on your end indeed did the deed.
The gloves are off. Mr. Mark Bakalor has left the ring. There will be no rematch. I'm going to go eat some cheese.
Yawn. You're all crazy.
Posted by Mr. Mark Bakalor @ 05/28/2002 05:09 PM PST

Best one-person show I ever saw? There are two, actually - one musical and one not. The musical one-person show would be 'Maria Friedman - By Extra Special Arrangement' at the Whitehall Theatre in London in 1994 (one person and a 12-piece band, actually). She commissioned various West End and Broadway orchestrators to do new arrangements of 30-odd songs - musical theatre standards, Beatles songs, Kate Bush's 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes', some Legrand and Brel, and a couple of the folk songs from 'Ghetto' - and performed them, concert style, in a West End theatre. And it was absolutely wonderful - she's a terrific singer, the band were wonderful (the Entr'Acte was a calypso version of 'The Blue Danube' complete with a 90-second percussion break), and she chose an interestign set of songs. And you've got to admire someone who can do 'I'm Gorgeous' and 'In the Sky' in the same programme!
The non-musical show was an adaptation of a Douglas Coupland short story, 'Life After God', which played on the Toronto Fringe (and subsequently across Canada) last summer. I should add that it was adapted and performed by a good friend of mine, and that I did a little uncredited work on developing the script (basically helping find a framework for editing the short story into a dramatic monologue - every word was by Coupland, there was no rewriting at all). And it was stunning. My friend - David Eden - gave a bravura performance - this was his 'breakout' role in the theatre - and so it's a doubly good memory. It was an excellent evening in the theatre, and I got to watch an extremely talented friend of mine achieve a level of performance that was far, far ahead of anything he'd done before.
Posted by Stephen Farrow @ 05/28/2002 07:08 PM PST

Oh! And how could I forget Pauline Collins as Shirley Valentine?
Posted by Stephen Farrow @ 05/28/2002 07:20 PM PST

Hello One and All and also All and One :)
I have returned from a Sunday through Tuesday in N-Y-C. Having only seen one one-woman show and having seen it last night and having it have been (woo) Elaine Stritch's last show, I'll have to say that she is number one in my book until furthur notice.
She was lovely, be-stockinged and be-white-silk-shirted. Great legs, great voice, great impersonations.
Not to mention that the Giffords, Edward Hibbert, and Barbara Cook were in attendance. Not to mention that she had such a thunderous ovation after she had left the stage (after the initial curtain call) she came back out in her lovely robe and said even more lovely things...
I also saw Thoroughly Modern Millie, which I sort of sort of liked... Fun performances and choreography, but I'm getting a bit tired of musical comedy meaning flourescent sets and costumes and corny beyond corny beyond stupid songs like "I Fell in Love with Someone"... Better that they had just left the script and score alone, in my humble opinion...
;)
Posted by Lolita @ 05/28/2002 07:36 PM PST

Okay, I have checked my playbill and I'm Falling in Love with Someone is NOT part of the new score, so my most sincere apologies...
Posted by Lolita @ 05/28/2002 07:41 PM PST

I'm afraid if I stand still I'll get in the middle of the fray between freedunit and Mr. Mark Bakalor and get bitch-slapped inadvertently. And if I'm going to get bitch-slapped, by gum, I want it meant for ME!
To Laura:
What a kind and generous offer. I would love to meet you and Sandra. Alas I have to work in the afternoon. But I do have tickets for Saturday evening's performance. (Robert Goulet, yet!) I bid on them at a silent auction at a black-tie Oscar Party to benefit various local charities. I'm going to have to do some fast stepping that day. I'm getting off from work early to go to Chandler for a reception at an art gallery (I have a painting in this show, so I must). Then I guess dash to Tempe. God only knows where food will come in that day!
But, thank you. We will have to do something else instead. Please e-mail me and give me your e-mail address. OK? Would love to meet a fellow Hainsie/Kimmlet. Thanks.
Posted by Kerry @ 05/28/2002 07:44 PM PST

Happy Birthday, Arnold Brockman. You don't suppose the Hill sisters will try to get royalties for my tidings, do you?
Posted by Kerry @ 05/28/2002 07:46 PM PST

LolitaSLE, I was there, too. Where were you? Did you see Charles Kimbrough & Beth Howland, Ileana Douglas, Barbara Cook, and cute blue-eyed Sean Hayes? Stritch’s one-sentence impressions of Ed Sullivan, Ethel Merman, Jack Benny, and Judy Garland capture them all brilliantly. I miss her already.
[Merman] Come back, Elaine!
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 08:09 PM PST

Ah yes! Some time before my meteoric rise to legendary meagstardom, I did a one-woman show that was beyond belief, touring Japan and performing at many local eateries.
It was called "Shusi Tomoto's Tribute to the Legendary Megastars of the Silver Screen". I did a Bette Davis that was uncanny in its verisimilitude. I did a Katharine Hepburn that was so genteel and upper upper you'd puke. I did Garland. I did all the greats: Karen Black, Miyoshi Umeki.
If critical and audience reactions were less than enthusiatic, I for one had a marvelous time.
So yes, I guess that would be my favorite.
Your Sushi
Posted by Sushi Tomoto from Kyoto @ 05/28/2002 08:41 PM PST

kerry-
Thanks for your greetings. If the Hill sisters bill you,I will gladly pick up the tab.
Posted by Arnold M. Brockman @ 05/28/2002 09:02 PM PST

Kerry, one Wednesday I proposed to bk a room in which Hainsies and Kimmlets could bitch-slap themselves silly. Till the day there arrives a bitch-slapping suite, I suppose we will have to make do with an impromptu approach. I want you to know that I am here for you. If you need a bitch-slap, probably I can locate one with your name on it, but do order early. Supplies are limited.
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 10:01 PM PST

freedunit-
I'd be honored to be bitch-slapped by you... impromptu or not. Call me weird; call me crazy; call me a cab, but that's just the kind of guy I am!
By the way, how lucky for you to have gottne to see Elaine Stritch as many times as you did. (How did you see it 1/2 time?)
Lily Tomlin has to rank right up there, too.
Lynn Redgrave's show was also brilliant.
Posted by Kerry @ 05/28/2002 10:22 PM PST

Kerry, please write down what you would like to be called, and I will use it the next time I call. Please print clearly. How did I see Elaine Stritch: At Liberty three and one-half times? Well, once at the Newman Theatre, then at the Neil Simon just after opening, and then Sunday 28 April 2002 was The New York Times Speaker Series Times “Talks”: A Conversation With Elaine Stritch, moderated by cultural reporter Peter Marks, which was entirely sold-out—no seats, no standing room—by the time I discovered I needed a Stritch fix, so I did something I had never before done in my life: I second-acted the performance and stayed for the discussion, such as it was. Then last night I caught the last performance. That is 3½ times in my book. I saw Precious Sons and Capeman ½ time each, by the way. I walked out before intermission in both cases…
Posted by freedunit @ 05/28/2002 11:15 PM PST

freedunitSEL, I did see Illeana Douglas, but I didn't see the others you mentioned. Although I did see the guy who played a very scary serial killer on The Practice before I gave up on that show...
Posted by Lolita @ 05/29/2002 04:17 AM PST

I forgot to mention Frank Gorshin's wonderful George Burns in SAY GOODNIGHT GRACIE.
Posted by Arnold M. Brockman @ 05/29/2002 05:35 AM PST

Well, over the long Memorial Day weekend I went to Washington, DC to see two of the Sondheim shows at the Kennedy Center. I saw Company on Saturday night. There were some very good people (Alice Ripley as Amy, Emily Skinner as Jenny, Walter Charles as Larry (Joanne's husband), Lynne Redgrave as Joanne, John Barrowman as Bobby. Unfortunately, the show didn't come together as a whole piece. Something was missing. Many of the individual scenes were very good, like Alice Ripley doing Not Getting Married and Marcy Harriell doing Another Hundred People, but the ensemble didn't have the spark that I've seen in other productions. Lynn Redgrave was almost not going to be on the night I saw it. They had even gone so far as to stuff the program with the note listing her understudy but she did soldier on that night. At first I was confused because I thought it was her but the program said it was her understudy but every so often a hint of British would slip into her speech and then my friend let me use his opera glasses and I confirmed that it was Ms. Redgrave. She wasn't as strong as I'd hoped she would be but I lay that to her illness (whatever it was, seemed like a cold or something similar).
Sweeney, on the other hand, was magnificient. Brian Stokes-Mitchell makes a great Sweeney. If he wasn't booked for Man of La Mancha, he and Christine Baranski could move this to NYC. They were both outstanding. I've seen Sweeney many times, from the original w/Lansbury and Cariou to the road company w/George Hearn and the revival at Circle in the Square and the recent Patti LuPone television broadcast. This one stands out. Walter Charles as Judge Turpin was so wonderfully evil. The masked ball where Lucy is ... seemed so decadent and horrifying. I don't remember it being staged so graphically before. There were many great moments. The Johanna number, where Sweeney is slitting throats and singing this haunting piece about his daughter was sad and moving. A Little Priest was hysterical. Baranski is a wonderfully comic Mrs. Lovett. And I know (and will remember) Mrs. Lovett's first name now for trivia games. It's Nellie. She mentions it twice in the course of the show. If you're in the DC area and have the chance, I highly recommend seeing it. It's one of the most popular of the series so tickets are difficult to get (it's also near the end of it's run, it closes sometime in June) but I recommend it without reservation!
Posted by Ben @ 05/29/2002 05:38 AM PST

I had the pleasure of working with Hal Holbrook twice (on productions of King Lear and Uncle Vanya, both directed by the fabulous Gerald Freedman) and can confirm that Hal has been doing Mark Twain Tonight! almost continuously since the sixties ... some years more, some years less. He will not return to the same venue unless at least five years have passed, and if/when he does, he brings a totally different show. He has amassed over 20 hours of Twain and adapts it to the times and the current news. I saw him do it recently in Richmond (VA) and the parallels to current news were amazing. Hal is, of course, one of the nicest, smartest, funniest, humblest, and most talented actors in the world. It is a shame it was Brian Dennehy who got to New York with Salesman and not the one Hal did with Elizabeth Franz (prior to Dennehy's). It ripped me apart -- those who saw both say there was no comparison.
Posted by Phil Crosby @ 05/29/2002 06:45 AM PST

freedunitSEL? I no understand, no understand…
Posted by freedunit @ 05/29/2002 07:40 AM PST

For those interested....Sony (under its Columbia Broadway Masterworks imprint) has issued "The Greatest Moments of Mark Twain Tonight", which culls material from the three LP's produced by Goddard Lieberson between 1959-67. Found it by chance yesterday, only $9.99. It made my ride home on the Cross Bronx Distressway a pleasant trip.
Also picked up the just-reissued "Jacques Brel..." (which now includes "The Middle Class") and "Lil Abner" (which was briefly available about ten years ago, reissued now with many bonus tracks).
Cheddar and prosciutto, anyone????
Posted by Phil @ 05/29/2002 07:58 AM PST

OOPS - correct title is "The Best of Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight". Material comes from "Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight" (1959), "More of Hal Holbrook in MTT!" (1960) and "Highlights from the CBS Special, MTT!" (1967)
Posted by Phil @ 05/29/2002 08:05 AM PST

I watched "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" last night after receiving my DVD in yesterday's UPS delivery from Amazon.
While I won't go so far as to say John Williams music hurt the film, I will say that whoever was in charge of the mix ought to be reamed mercilessly.
The music volume was way too loud throughout the film. And that's not something you'll hear me say too often. The only other time I've felt that way was for "Batman & Robin", the most headache-inducing moviegoing experience I've ever had the displeasure of undergoing.
The young cast was wonderful, and the "characters" that populated Hogwarts were amazingly droll. I don't recall Richard Harris EVER being so understated! It's the first time I've seen him when I didn't also think "ham chunks."
Alan Rickman was, IMO, wonderfully vile and oily. Something straight out of Dickens, he was.
I love the Rowling world and I thought the filmmakers captured it splendidly. That great hall was awesome.
Nothing special about Chris Columbus' direction, unless you count the performances by the kids, the look and feel of the film, the pacing and the general exposition of the storyline. There was no "auteur" flashiness, thank the gods, but it was solid filmmaking craft, IMO.
It was a nice change of pace from the overwhelmingly ludicrous "Attack of the Clones" chatter cluttering all the other discussion groups and messageboards.
If I see one more word written about Darth Insidious or Senator Palpitating, I may vomit!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 05/29/2002 08:44 AM PST

I will only say this comment about the Harry Potter DVD. Disc two is HEINOUS!
Posted by Craig @ 05/29/2002 08:46 AM PST

Word (1 more).
Posted by Darth Sidious & Supreme Chancellor Palpatine @ 05/29/2002 09:44 AM PST

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