Replies: 42 Unseemly Comments
Hello, hello, hello. Where was everyone yesterday? I was in the car for ten count them ten hours, travelling to NC. Now, here I am in NC and boy is NC hot and gross and disgusting heat wise, but beautiful still, looking wise and relative wise. Where was everyone else yesterday? I hope you have adventurous excuses like mine because I KNOW it wasn't just that people were playing truant. I think what we need here at hainshisway.com is a truant officer, just like Truly Scruptous in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...
Posted by Lolita @ 06/16/2002 10:12 AM PST
Here I am, alone, on the deserted highways of Haineshisway wondering when I'm going to be run over by traffic. The last thought I shall be having as I'm squished like an insignificant bug, is, which Hollywood star will Bruce be meeting on Tuesday....and what's the surprise?
Posted by Nick Redman @ 06/16/2002 10:29 AM PST
Yesterday was very busy for me, and I apologize for not posting. I liked the subject matter and would, therefore like to post my favorite Lost in Boston songs.
"Evening Star" I loved the snippet of the melody in the show, and I love the song. Guy Haines got the feel of the song JUST right.
"Who Gave You Permission" I had thought this was one of the most touching moments in "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom." Although Maureen Stapelton did a great job, it is wonderful to hear the song sung by someone with a voice. Karen Morrow does a wonderful job, and it makes me cry.
"Tick Tock Goes the Clock" I think I like this song better than any other in the show (except for our own Mr. Guy Haines' version of "She likes Basketball") Unfortunately, this song sneaks into your brain and takes up permanent residence. I keep playing the CD hoping to make the song quit going my through head.
"When I Went Home" A lovely song and very able to stand on its own. It could take on so many meanings.
There are many more (most of which were mentioned yesterday).
I'll be back later.
Posted by Kerry @ 06/16/2002 10:38 AM PST
One I left off my list from
yesterday...
Inside My Head (110...)
Posted by Jed @ 06/16/2002 12:14 PM PST
Oh, I forgot to mention that we there should be a brand spanking new radio show up a bit later today. Perhaps Mr. Donald Feltham can give us a clue as to its theme.
I had a lovely Father's Day brunch. I had a hunch it would be a nice brunch and it was, in fact I liked brunch a bunch and I'm so full I won't even eat lunch although I might munch or even drink some punch but I only drink punch in a crunch.
Now, let's get the lead out (no mean feat) and make this a Sunday to remember, post-wise. Let's have a real free-for-all, which is, after all, free.
Posted by bk @ 06/16/2002 12:22 PM PST
"I forgot to mention that we there"??? What in tarnation is THAT? I'll be back in a bit to check on the posts.
Posted by bk @ 06/16/2002 12:23 PM PST
I did not post yesterday, as I have no Lost in Boston CDs, and therefore was unable to contribute. I do have a question for Free-For-All Day, however.
Is a cross-dresser, a transvestite, and a drag queen all the same thing? Or are there differences between them? (I'll explain the reason for my question to Kerry on Wednesday.)
Posted by Laura @ 06/16/2002 12:36 PM PST
According to "Executive
Transvestite" and stand-up
comedian Eddie Izzard, the
primary distinction is that most
transvestites are heterosexual,
while drag queens are mostly
gay. Cross-dresser would be
the generic term to cover all
classifications, including
women dressed as men. At
least that's the way I
understand it.
Posted by Jed @ 06/16/2002 01:40 PM PST
To all of you without Lost in
Boston CDs...
Yesterday's topic was not
limited only to songs from this
set, but any song cut from a
show. LIB is just a wonderful
resource for those of us lucky
enough to possess those 60
or so smashing tracks. So
post away on yesterday's topic,
as well as with free-for-all fun!
Posted by Jed @ 06/16/2002 01:43 PM PST
Let's face it; it was quality
versus quantity, postwise
yesterday !!!!
Besides, it's "too darn hot"
tonight in Paris for French
Kimlets to post.
Like Kerry, I love "Who gave
You Permission" ? Karen
Masson is an underrated
singer; she was GREAT in
"Grass Harp"......
It's too darn hot, I tell you... and
I'm sitting here, like so much
fish.... Won't do the Shimmy
tonight, for il fait trop chaud !!
Posted by francois @ 06/16/2002 03:00 PM PST
To all those nonposters from yesterday: Check out the wonderful "Lost In Boston" series.
Michael Shayne. Can you give me any info on those lost Sondheim songs from West Side Story, Forum and Getting Away with Murder? Are they available on any disc. I would love to hear them.
Father's day here is not until the first Sunday in September. Happy day to all of you dads over there. I have two dogs (Keeshonds) but I guess they don't really count as children - but don't tell them.
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 06/16/2002 03:17 PM PST
To Tom From OZ:
Someone finally asked about the song from Getting Away With Murder!
I was being cute about the song from Getting Away With Murder. It is a play and not a musical. Just a title I made up for a song that could have been written for the show but dropped before it opened.
As for the other songs, they have not been commercially recorded or released. But don't tell anyone, but I do have access to copies of these songs.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 06/16/2002 04:43 PM PST
Oops ! just realized the
confusion..... I meant to write
Karen Morrow. MORROW's the
name....
Sorry !
Told you; il fait trop chaud pour
travail.
Posted by francois @ 06/16/2002 04:46 PM PST
Probablt too late to have this answered by the multitudes of Hainsies/Kimlets, but who are (is) your favorite "musical" father?
Here Are Some of Mine:
John Adams (1776. One of the fathers of America)
Mr. McAfee (Bye Bye Birdie)
Jean Valjean (Les Miz)
Emile DeBeque (South Pacific)
Captain Von Trappe (Sound of Music)
Erronius & Sennex (Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum)
Frederick (A Little Night Music)
Your Turn
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 06/16/2002 04:52 PM PST
I would be celebrating Father's Day, but the grandkids are too young to really get into that, and my own father is on the road. Ah, well. A happy Father's Day to all, be ye fathers or have them!
Now, as to the differences between Drag Queen, Transvestite, and Cross Dresser. Drag is generally considered something one does in public. Milton Berle did drag. Harvey Fierstein was known for drag. It's usually men performing as women. However, there are some women I could swear are doing drag. And the term gets bantered around with things like "leather drag" and "cowboy drag" and such, which suggests drag is a costume.
Not so with transvestitism. This is really a private thing, because it involves a person enjoying in the privacy of their own home or under the privacy of their outer clothes the wearing of clothing normally associated with people of the other sort of privates. It can get quite fetishistic, but sometimes has nothing to do with sex at all, merely the enjoyment of the clothes.
A cross-dresser sounds like someone working backstage, with attitude. However, a woman wearing a man's tux is cross-dressing. Tinkey-Winkey carrying his purse is cross-dressing. Cross-dressing has more to do with using clothing normally associated with the other gender for effect. It even has it's specific sub-genres. Teen-aged girls wearing very masculine apparel while playing a very rugged sport are referred to as "lacrosse dressing."
I'll stop now. You don't need to suffer further.
Posted by S. Woody White @ 06/16/2002 05:03 PM PST
Marlene Dietrich in a tux was definitely "cross-dressing."
But what was Marlene when she, while wearing her tux, leaned over and kissed a young woman full on the mouth?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 06/16/2002 05:14 PM PST
Was away from my computer all day yesterday so I wasn't able to post. Some of my favorite cut songs are by Mr. BKs close, personal friend, Mr. S. Sondheim. Uptown, Downtown was cut from Follies. I think it's just as effective and maybe even more so than Lucy and Jessie, which I love by the way. I think both songs are better than Ah, But Underneath which replaced Lucy and Jessie in the London production of 1987/1988. Although Ms. Diana Rigg did a grand job of it, and the night I was there she sang it right to me (I thought I was imagining it until other people around me in the audience mentioned it later, what an exciting moment), I still don't like the song that much. I'm glad they have gone back to Lucy and Jessie. I also don't like Ben's replacement song from the 80s London production, Make the Most of Your Music. I prefer, Live, Laugh and Love. One of the first Sondheim cut songs I heard was Two Fairy Tales from Night Music which I heard on the Sondheim Tribute Album from 1972 (the blue record cover with the Scrabble tiles on the front). I also really like Happily Ever After which was cut from Company. Marry Me a Little had been cut from Company also but in the 1995 Broadway Roundabout production and the 1996 London production, they put it back in and kept Being Alive. Go figure.
Francois and Kerry: I love Karen Morrow. A great talent and a nice Midwestern girl from Wisconsin.
Posted by Ben @ 06/16/2002 06:42 PM PST
How could I forget, Can That Boy Fox Trot!
Posted by Ben @ 06/16/2002 06:44 PM PST
Happy Father’s Day, bk.
I am just back from celebrating Sondheim in D.C. More later.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/16/2002 06:59 PM PST
To Ben:
Happily Everafter was dropped in favor of Being Alive.
Marry Me a Little was dropped originally but its place was always in Act One. It is sung after "Getting Married Today". Bobby says:
"Amy, Marry Me" The Bobby Baby chorus is heard and then the song is sung. After the song I believe the scene continues as it was originally written including Amy's line: "...it's just that you have to want to marry SOMEbody not just someBODY".
Now I have the script to original and not the revised version. So I might be wrong about the placement of all the dialogue at this point. perhaps someone who has the script can tell us.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 06/16/2002 07:23 PM PST
Actually I just discovered a very interesting article written by our own S. Woody White.
Six Wonderful Parts. Highly recommended reading~
http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/company_rewritten_1.html
http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/company_rewritten_2.html
http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/company_rewritten_3.html
http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/company_rewritten_4.html
http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/company_rewritten_5.html
http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/company_rewritten_6.html
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 06/16/2002 07:35 PM PST
Hey ! Let's make it a Karen
Morrow night !!! I say "night"
'cause it's 4:47am here in
beautiful Paris, France.....
Know what ? Karen FINALLY
has her own website, with
loads of nice stuff....3 video
clips, which allowed me to
discover her "live".... I'd only
HEARD her before !! What a
belter...
If I remember right, Bruce had
plans for a CD with her, before
he got "destituted"....
Well, it's still too darn chaud
here in Paris..."I Love Paris
When It Sizzles"....
Well, Me, Myself and I don't!
T.T.F.N.
Posted by francois @ 06/16/2002 07:51 PM PST
I just returned from the Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center, where today I saw Sunday in the Park With George. How appropriate the Oxford English Dictionary site Word of the Day is dot, v.1.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/16/2002 08:12 PM PST
First, Karen Morrow. I always liked her. I remember her from variety shows I saw when I was a kid. For some reason, the Garry Moore Show comes to mind. And Kraft Music Hall, although I could be wrong. I did get to see her in "Show Boat," and I have the DVD of the Salute to Jerry Herman at the Hollywood Bowl. I would have loved to see her performing with Jason Graae last spring.
I would have posted again sooner, but I was reading S. Woody White's analysis of "Company." Very intersting and very entertaining. Alright, S. Woody White, please tell us what the "S" stands for.
freedunit- how was the production? Was it worthy of cake? And if so, what kind?
Laura- can't wait to find out why you asked about transvestites and drag queens. You got some good answers, by the way.
Lost In Boston- these are incredibly satisfying albums. Another favorite is "Mama's Talking Soft." While I appreciate everyone's understanding and generosity in dropping it from the show, I think it would have added a lot. It tells us more about Rose-- and the kids.
Posted by Kerry @ 06/16/2002 08:41 PM PST
In view of Bruce's recent detailed and anecdotal explanation of how he deals with artists, I found the following yesterday in the liner notes to Debbie Gravitte's MGM Album:
"First of all, thanks to Bruce Kimmel...How do you always know just what to say? Huh?"
Bruce may now smile modestly.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 06/16/2002 08:47 PM PST
Now I need to blush! I suppose if I'm to be remembered for something, I could do worse than the "Company Rewritten" piece. (I look back at some of the "Track by Track" reviews I did at the same site, and know for certain that I could do worse, and have.)
The "S" in S. Woody White comes from my real first name, Stephen. Please note the spelling, as in Sondheim, not with a v as in Spielberg. Woody was a nick that was given to me back in my college days, which I also used during my early days "out," sort of as a way to distinguish between my private/social life and my business life. Of course, the more "out" I got, the less need for the nick...until I started to post at Sondheim.com. At that point, I really didn't want to post as "Stephen" because there was already a "Stephen" running around. It would have been too, too confusing (not to be confused with Two Two Twain, the address in the film "Murder by Death'). Thus, the use of the initial, the nick, and my real-if-bland last name.
Ah, but why "Woody," you may well ask. THAT shall remain a mystery, that shall! (tee-hee-hee!)
Posted by S. Woody White @ 06/16/2002 09:14 PM PST
Happy Karen Morrow Day to all! While preparing for the recent Musicals of 1964 concert, I transferred I Had A Ball to CD and discovered that Karen had autographed by copy of the album many years ago. As I recall, it was in her dressing room after a performance of Oliver. Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner came to visit at the same time and brought their little girl Gwyneth along. Cute kid, wonder what ever happened to her.
Karen had the worst luck with Broadway shows but she was sensational in every one of them. I still cherish the memory of The Grass Harp -- one of the last Broadway shows to be completely unmiked -- what voices! Barbara Cook, Carol Brice, Russ Thacker, Max Showalter and Karen!
I agree about the above comments on Tick-Tick Goes the Clock. I wouldn't think of directing a production of Promises, Promises without asking for permission to use that number. It gives the women a much more balanced role in the show.
Ms. SG just paid a call (never know when she will surprise us!) and we watched her performance with Fred Astaire. What a delight she is!
Posted by Robert Armin @ 06/16/2002 09:23 PM PST
That's "my copy."
Posted by Robert Armin @ 06/16/2002 09:24 PM PST
Celebrating Sondheim With Cake:
For Company, Matt Bogart (Paul), Emily Skinner (Jenny), Marcy Harriell (Marta), Walter Charles (Larry), David Pittu (Harry), and musical director Jonathan Tunick get cake. Marcy Harriell, who has a wonderful voice and wonderful range, gets a special piece. She was terrific as Maria in the 1996 bus-and-truck revival of West Side Story for which Alan Johsnon recreated Jerome Robbins’ original choreography and direction, and she handled “Another Hundred People” beautifully. Emily Skinner has really grown on me; I like her voice and I like her work. Alice Ripley (Amy) gets ritalin. John Barrowman’s legs and butt get honorable mention.
For Sunday in the Park With George, Cris Groenendaal (Jules), Donna Migliaccio (Nurse), Florence Lacey (Yvonne), Linda Stephens (Old Woman), and the ensemble get cake. Melissa Errico’s breasts get Nipples of Venus.
Stephen Sondheim gets two big cakes—and that is just for yesterday and today.
I did not see Sweeney Todd—The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; and nobody else gets cake.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/16/2002 09:25 PM PST
bk, when you check posts, do you ever check beams? I worry the beams are unchecked…
Posted by freedunit @ 06/16/2002 09:29 PM PST
That's great. Someone should worry about the beams.
But I worry about the pillars.
One can never be too careful about the pillars and posts. Especially if your standing twixt them.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 06/16/2002 11:15 PM PST
I was here yesterday, but there were no postings, and I had nothing to add. But, BTW, I would like to get your book, Bruce, and although this might sound stupid, I forgot how to order one. So please someone, let me know how to order my very own copy, and then I will be a happy Valley person once again.
Dave
P.S. When is the Nudie DVD signing happening?
Posted by Dave in the Valley @ 06/17/2002 12:55 AM PST
I worry about cake and cookies and I worry about beams, so of course I worry who cater pillars, too.
I hope no one was hurt by that.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/17/2002 04:56 AM PST
To Morrow and to Morrow and to Morrow… I do not know much from Morrow. I have heard her just briefly a couple of times and I do not believe I own any of her recordings. What I heard I liked. Someone who does not like Morrow, but likes to make fun of her is Tovah Feldshuh—very competitive and very catty. I love her.
bk, does the Paltrow post of today makeup for the paltry posts of yore?
I thought cross-dressing is what the set decorator of Jesus Christ Superstar did…
Posted by freedunit @ 06/17/2002 05:05 AM PST
Michael, thanks for the clarification on placement of Marry Me a Little in relation to Being Alive. Makes sense to me now.
Posted by Ben @ 06/17/2002 06:01 AM PST
When I was a wee twig of a sprig of a tad of a high-school lad in Denver, Karen Morrow was Tammy Grimes' understudy in the road company of The Unthinkable Molly Brown. I saw Tammy, but she was out one night and Karen went on to great critical acclaim in the local papers.
Subsequently I loved her on cast albums, especially The Boys from Syracuse.
Finally saw her live a few years ago at the Cabaret Convention at Town Hall. She sang one song with Jerry Herman at the piano, the one he wrote for Merman in Hello, Dolly!. He introduced her as "my favorite girl singer".
----------------------
Just now my Joe pointed out all sorts of tiny dead insects in our bath tub. So Bruce, this was my prize?
Posted by William F. Orr @ 06/17/2002 06:56 AM PST
Hey, folks,
Just finished my Monday morning listen to the Broadway Radio Show. It's a very nice interview w/two performers new to me, Stan Chandler & Kirsten Benton. Lots of nice music and chat and after the break, a very nice medley of three songs you wouldn't expect to be medlyized (is that a word???). Anyway, here's the link they speak of at the end of the interview where you can hear clips (very short clips) from a new animated film, The Princess and the Pea. Ms. Kirsten Benton sings Wide Open World and Kingdom of the Heart.
http://www.princess-and-the-pea.com/
Enjoy!
Posted by Ben @ 06/17/2002 07:28 AM PST
Thanks for the explanations, folks.
Where I go for coffee every morning there's a fellow I have chatted with. One day our conversation took an unseemly turn and I figured out he's a cross-dresser. Much more than I wanted to know.
Posted by Laura @ 06/17/2002 08:35 AM PST
Is a cross-dresser the wardrobe master who puts Daddy Warbucks in a red dress and Annie in a tux?
Posted by freedunit @ 06/17/2002 08:38 AM PST
As the indispensable Mr. Mark Bakalor would say, "You're all crazy."
But that's why I love you all.
Posted by Kerry @ 06/17/2002 08:55 AM PST
For loving, you get cake.
Posted by freedunit @ 06/17/2002 11:56 AM PST
Jeux sans frontieres
Posted by . @ 04/05/2003 04:29 AM PST
