Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/19/2002 07:36 AM PST

A high winner! I am so happy! It makes the party an even happier occasion. Jason is having his 20-something birthday. You only get a few of those so I am hoping he will enjoy it!
My favorite & best birthday present was when I was 10 years old and got my very own - MY VERY OWN, mind you - record player!! I could play my records all night! I could play any record I wanted to as many times in a row as I wanted to! I could raise the needle and play only the songs I wanted to hear from albums! My aunt had given me an unwanted Record Club selection - a Johnny Mathis LP that included Small World AND You Are Beautiful and Namely You - all songs from musicals!!! Yes, it was my greatest Birthday Present EVER - and it is still tucked safely away in my closet in all its white/coral beauty. 8-D Thank you, BK, for making me think of it. I am sending you some extra 45 RPM inserts.

Movie theater memories are another whole L O N G post for later maybe.

Posted by Jrand55 @ 11/19/2002 07:39 AM PST

Oh - last night on the syndicated WEAKEST LINK - the question was 'Which Rodgers & Hammerstein musical has a song about washing a man out of your hair?' The contestant thought a moment and then answered 'Rent.'
arrgghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Posted by Jrand55 @ 11/19/2002 07:42 AM PST

What a lovely way to start the day! Thank you, Dear Electronic Hat, for selecting me!

The best birthday present I ever got? That's an easy one. A few years ago, my wonderful daughter arranged to have a photo sent to me of BK's very good friend Stephen Sondheim, on which is inscribed in his very own handwriting: Happy Birthday, Pam!

Posted by Pam @ 11/19/2002 07:59 AM PST

My best birthday present...? Hmm...well...I've been involved in a show (either onstage...backstage or working front of house) every year on my birthday since my sophomore year of college. My senior year I was quite depressed because we were doing SUPERSTAR and I was "just" a techie in the last musical of my career at Murray State (I didn't even get to audition because of scheduling conflicts). Opening night just happened to fall on my birthday and the director told me she wanted to see me out on the stage so I obliged. When I got on deck the entire cast of SUPERSTAR was there...singing happy birthday and presenting me with a HUGE chocolate birthday cake with loads of candles. It was very special.

Posted by Jason @ 11/19/2002 08:58 AM PST

(Thank you guys for all your birthday wishes!!) Craig...hand me some of those ham chunks. Where's my pointy hat?? LET'S PARTY!

Posted by Jason @ 11/19/2002 08:59 AM PST

Happy Birthday, Jason!! I've got my soy ham and soy cheese all chunked and sliced.

I barely remember seeing any movies as a kid, which is probably why I don't go to see movies today.

RENT!! Ha! Ha!

Posted by Laura @ 11/19/2002 09:05 AM PST

First of all Happy Birthday Jason.

My favorite birthday was my 20th. I was working in a summer stock theatre which was located in a motel. That year they were filming a Halloween episode of the old series "Route 66" at the motel, and my friends invited the guest stars to attend my birthday party not expecting them to show up. But they did, so at my birthday party that year were Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, Jr. (plus Sal Mineo who was starring at the theatre at the time).

As for favorite childhood theatres, it was the Chicago Theatre in the city of the same name. In addition to a movie they had a forty-five minute stage show between features. When I was young my father took me to see Milton Berle and Martin & Lewis. When I was a little older I took the bus and saw everyone from Bill Haley and the Comets to Nat "King" Cole to Pat Boone. In the mid-50s when movies got longer they eliminated the stage shows and just showed movies. The theatre is still in existance although I haven't been there since I left Chicago and never have time on my trips back. However now they are a concert/touring house despite the fact that I think they are way too large for most of the shows that play there.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 11/19/2002 09:50 AM PST

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Somewhat related to ME AND JULIET being the answer to this week's Unseemly Trivia Contest:

Last night I saw Rodgers and Hammerstein's ALLEGRO, in a semi-staged concert presentation by the Musical Theatre Guild, appearing in Glendale this one time instead of their usual Pasadena locale.

So maybe someone here can explain to me why this show has been so overlooked all these years. Certainly, it does not rank in the R&H oeuvre with THE KING AND I, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, CAROUSEL or OKLAHOMA, but both the score and the book of ALLEGRO have their considerable charms.

I'm guessing that most people, including even the dear readers of HHW, are not too familiar with the work. In essence, ALLEGRO is somewhat of a hybrid between a plot musical and a concept musical that follows the first forty years or so of the life of an Everyman named Joe. We watch him mature from infancy to his days at college and med school to his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, to his decision to not join his country doctor father's medical practice (as long planned) but rather to move to a big medical practice in a big city to satisfy his wife's dreams of wealth. Joe's disenchantment with the hypocrisy of his colleagues and hypochondria of his patients and discovery that his wife has been unfaithful lead to a dénouement in which Joe determines to "come home" and join his father in practice after all.

There are stretches of good humor and poignant emotion as well as a few moments of darkness. A clever device that works quite nicely at several times in the show involves members of the ensemble voicing the interior thoughts of the two leads at critical junctures in the plot.

True, the show suffers a somewhat precious and weak opening, and the score lacks the consistent arc that is a hallmark of the shows named above. Still, there are two very lovely love songs ("A Fellow Needs a Girl" and "You Are Never Away"), a rousing wedding scene first act finale ("Wish Them Well"), a terrific song that at first sounds like it was interpolated from a Rodgers and Hart frivolity until you realize it tells an important part of the story ("The Gentleman is a Dope") and a very moving eleven o'clock number ("Come Home.")

The players were all very well cast and sang beautifully. The seven piece orchestra provided ample accompaniment to the songs, but sounded more than a bit spare in the overture and entr'acte. The show was done on a bare stage, with a desk used in several scenes the only noticeable prop. Occasional costume accessories, such as an apron, a varsity sweater or a fur stole were used to evoke character and/or place.

Maybe someone will have the nerve to mount a fully staged version of ALLEGRO to mark Richard Rodgers' 101st birthday!

Posted by Jay @ 11/19/2002 09:51 AM PST

BK: Don't forget that Cuaron also directed "The Little Princess" which was one of the best children's/family films of the 90s. He may be just what the Harry Potter films need. Almost every New York critic mentioned in their reviews of HP2 last week that Cuaron was directing HP3 and they all felt that it would be a better film than HP1 & HP2 because of it. I haven't seen 2 yet but I enjoyed 1 because it was so faithful to the book.

Jay-ALLEGRO flopped because it was ahead of its time in its staging and its use of the Greek chorus. Oscar was never happy with it and one of the unfinished projects he left when he died was a revised libretto. I don't know far he got, but I read that he was going back to his original idea of birth to death instead of stopping when Joseph Taylor, Jr. was in his 40s. My own opinion based on reading the script, hearing the LP/CD and seeing one high school production is that Joseph Taylor, Jr. is so boring that you really don't care about him. It's all form over subject matter, and just like you never really care about Phyllis, Sally, Ben and Buddy in FOLLIES (despite the rest of the show being so wonderful), without a more interesting central character ALLEGRO will continue to be a near-miss and regarded as a minor R&H show along with ME AND JULIET which is a much better show than it is given credit for and PIPE DREAMS which is the one true R&H mistake.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 11/19/2002 11:08 AM PST

Personally, I loved Y Tu Mama Tambien, and I consider it one of the best films so far this year. I found it very powerful but everyone has their own opinion and I respect yours.

Posted by Brandon @ 11/19/2002 12:33 PM PST

First of all - Happy Birthday Jason!! 26, 26 - oh, I remember it all too well (well, actually, no I don't ...but).

I've been ever so slightly errant and truant over the past couple of days, so have just caught up. Michael Shayne - I see you were listening to the BBC's Chorus Line but you were missing a few seconds - that would be due to turning over cassettes, no? Well, email me and let me know which few seconds you're missing and I'll see if I've got them (ie we may have turned over the cassette at a slightly different time)and then we could swap seconds.

William F - what a treasure trove you got from Footlights! I think the Catalan Little Night Music is just too, too. However, I see you got Dance On A Country Grave - more like Get In A Country Grave To Get Away From This CD, IMHO. Let us know what you think!

Tom - usually you and I agree about stuff, but I can't agree with your sentiments about Blood Brothers - I saw the original with Barbara Dickson in London during the first week of the first run and was entranced. I think it may have got more coach-party-ish in later productions.
OK, that's me done.

Posted by Allan @ 11/19/2002 01:05 PM PST

Just heard the title song from "Urinetown" for the first time on the radio.
Had no idea that the show had to do with Christmas.

Just a sample from the lyrics:

In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he is Parson Brown,
He'll say "Are you Married?",
We'll say "No, man,
But you can do the job when Urinetown"
...and on and on like that.

Posted by mark rothman @ 11/19/2002 01:11 PM PST

Allan! Hi!. I love Barbra Dickson too. She was in "Chess" here and played the "other" role for a change. She was unwell and should not have been on stage. I know she can be wonderful. People thought I would love Blood Brothers as I was adopted as a baby. I just thought there was no tension (you knew what was going to happen anyway), and I thought the plot laughable rather than moving. But then, I like Michael Ball.

My birthdays as a December child also seem to have blended into Christmases past. Our local movie theatre was only the "Town Hall" - stackable seating etc. I rmember the first movies I saw as being "The Daughter Of Rosie O'Grady" and "Treasure Island" - I still remember being frightened at Benn Gunn's first appearance. I also remember going to the Drive In movies in my pyjamas. (Yes, I was still only a kid)

Posted by Tom from OZ @ 11/19/2002 01:18 PM PST

My favorite childhood movie theater had to be the Radio City Music Hall with its stage show that changed when the movie changed. Going to see a movie at RCMH was an "experience" that I recall vividly. As a child, I was taken their frequently, and always at the holiday shows. To avoid the long lines and to get the biggest "bargain", I remember going to the earliest show on Saturday mornings. Lines were a particular problem during their Christmas and Easter holiday presentations. When a movie play RCMH, especially the holiday movies, you knew the movie was a "must see." Rarely did a bomb play there. I remember being awed as the enormous stage with an entire orchestra arose from the pit to the stage level. The military precision of the Rockettes was awe-inspiring. The RCMH movie-going experience will never be duplicated.

Posted by steveg @ 11/19/2002 01:32 PM PST

Too late in the day, too many typos.

Posted by steveg @ 11/19/2002 01:34 PM PST

More posts, more posts! Soylent Green is people! Party hearty - we need dancing and merriment and mirth and laughter and legs and more reminiscenses.

Posted by bk @ 11/19/2002 01:42 PM PST

I'm here to oblige with more posting!

First, I buttered my toast, then I put it in the blender with a little more butter, i added a wee bit of milk, so that NOW I can drink my toast to the Birthday Boy! Bottoms Up!!!!!

Second, count me in as a fan of BLOOD BROTHERS. I saw the late Stephanie Lawrence in NYC, and then saw Miss Petula Clark thrice in Pittsburgh. I still don't have the David Soul recording (are you listening, Tom?), but I do have all the others.

Third, I only recently became a Michael Ball afficiando. I like his duet with Elaine Paige very much, very much indeed. It's on his Christmas cd.

Fourth, I saw Y Tu Mama Tambien, and was dutifully unimpressed. If the point was that there is no point, well, I don't need to waste an hour or two on pointless things boasting their pointlessness.

Fifth, I saw HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS late last night, and I must say, it's gonna be very hard to top this one cinematically. It's dark and foreboding at each and every turn, and like its predecessor, is quite true to the novel - but this one lives and breaths heartier than SORCERER'S STONE. I did feel sad that they didn't include Sir Nicholas' Deathday Party, but then the film would have been three hours long. The film's 161 minute running time shouldn't deter anyone from seeing this theatrically, and STAY WHILE THE CREDITS ROLL....

Sixth, I absolutely adore what has been done to LORD OF THE RINGS in its Extended Cut. Private emails have been passed, oh, yes, we have passed private emails regarding this one; and soon, hopefully another member of this tight-knit little family here will undoubtedly become a believer in Hobbits, Orcs and the talents of Peter Jackson.

Posted by td @ 11/19/2002 02:14 PM PST

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
JASON!!!

Favorite birthday presents:
Hmm... I know I've certainly
had some good ones, but I'm
really drawing a blank here.
Perhaps I've just had
consistently good
presents without any real
standouts.

Childhood movie theaters:
Well, my small town had but
one theater when I was a sprig
of a twig of a lad (and then
there was also the drive-in).
Used to be a grand old thing in
it's day, or so I've heard, but
has since been split up into
the 3-plex that I grew up with.
Two screens downstairs and
one upstairs. I always liked
seeing the upstairs movie
because the chairs would
rock.

Posted by Jed @ 11/19/2002 03:14 PM PST

Damn those dirty ape posters! Post damn you....and watch the 10 Commandments!

Posted by Charleton Heston @ 11/19/2002 03:27 PM PST

Charlton Heston, it should be surprising to no one that you cannot spell your own name.

Posted by Big Noise From Winnetka @ 11/19/2002 03:59 PM PST

awww leave him alone!

Posted by Kurk Dougless @ 11/19/2002 04:06 PM PST

Hey everyone... wanted to let you know that "Hairspray" will be on Late Night with David Letterman (CBS) on Thursday. Our very own Miss Kerry Butler will be on (although briefly), as the number scheduled is "Good Morning Baltimore"...

Posted by Craig @ 11/19/2002 04:09 PM PST

Mark Rothman.

You had me rolling on the floor. Oops, that's rotflmao in Internet lingo.

Now I will never be able to hear that particular Christmas song (and you cannot escape hearing it if you are ever in a store for the next month) without giggling.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/19/2002 04:47 PM PST

Happy Birthday, Jason! I want to hear ALL the details of the numerous celebrations.

Posted by Kerry @ 11/19/2002 06:33 PM PST

Was there cake?

Posted by freedunit @ 11/19/2002 07:47 PM PST

Welcome back freedunit. Where is Hapgood?
I just drove 20 miles to use a colour copier and it was not working. Sorry Pam and td. I tried.

Posted by Tom from OZ @ 11/19/2002 08:05 PM PST

I feel so much love I should be a hippie! Thank you guys so much for your birthday wishes.

Kerry: Here are the events of my day as they occurred...

1:30pm: Meet with friends for lunch (which they paid for) at Benihana's Japanese restaurant in midtown. (There are Benihana's all over the country).

3:00pm: Go to the Gap and spend some of the gift certificate that my parents sent me on a fantastic pair of dark grey wool pants. I still have $25 left on the card. ;-)

4:00pm: See "Sweet Home Alabama" at the Loewe's cinema on 67th and Broadway by myself. It was nice to have some time to myself just to relax.

6:45pm: Be at the Met for tonight's performance of FIDELIO. During the first act I was treated to cake and cheesecake by my co-workers. It was a treat.

11:15pm: Run into a fellow MOBY DICK cast member on the 7 train. As a special birthday treat he drove me home from the train station where I usually have to wait 20 minutes for a transfer.

So...there you have it. It has been a great day and I even got home in time to enjoy a re-run of Will and Grace. Again...thank you all for your well-wishes. It's nice to know there are people out there who care.

Posted by Jason @ 11/19/2002 09:14 PM PST

What was I thinking!?!?! I totally forgot to mention that while at Benihana's I had the Happy Lunch Combo which included teriyaki chicken and steak (with fried rice).

Tonight's cake selection included: White cake with whipped cream icing and strawberry jam...cheesecake...and chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I had a bite (or ten) of all three. :-D

Posted by Jason @ 11/19/2002 09:18 PM PST

Oh, Jason. We care. We all care. That's why we are the best site on all the internet!

Jason, please email me.

Posted by Laura @ 11/19/2002 10:10 PM PST

-Had first orchestra read tonight for South Pacific. It went very well, and having a real harp is sooooo nice - I always hate having to play harp parts on a keyboard, the glisses just don't work.

As for best birthday present, that had to be my 18th. It was my first week at college in Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University. I met some people my first day there, including a friend of mine from my high school, and we just started hanging out together in each other's dorm rooms. Well, my come my natal day (August 26, mark your calendars now), I was surprised with a small party, and was given a handmade birthday card and am old-fashioned Disneyland lunch box they had picked up at a local thrift store. They truly made my week. I had only known most of them for about four days, and it was so nice being able to celebrate my big 18 with some friends. -And I still have both the card and the lunchbox.

As for movie theaters... Well, I think I mentioned before that my family used to go to drive-in movies all the time - there's one about sixty miles outside of DC, and, hopefully, one day I'll finally get in the long line of cars waiting to get in.

Right now, I do like two theatre in Richmond. There is the Westhampton which is the "art house" of Richmond, and then there in the Byrd Theatre. The Byrd is a classic old movie palace - chandeliers, painted ceiling, etc. They used to do a Christmas show, but that ended a few years ago. However, on the weekends, they still have someone playing the Mighty Wurlitzer, and have started a series of midnight movies on Saturday. Great place to go - but, I will say - and it's public knowledge - the seats are not the most comfortable to sit in for any length of time.

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 11/19/2002 10:32 PM PST

I was hoping that Dear Reader Sandra would post about her best birthday gift, but I guess she's still occupied with King Lear, so I'll tell you about what I think was her best gift....

A couple of years ago on her birthday, we were going to Krispy Kreme (in Arizona) for breakfast, and somehow we got lost on the freeway and ended up in Hollywood at the Tiffany Theater, where a certain Jason Graae was performing in Forbidden Broadway that very night! Mr. Graae was very gracious about seeing his best fan, and Sandra was so overwhelmed, I don't believe she said a word.

Posted by Laura @ 11/19/2002 10:42 PM PST

OMG - Jose - my birthday is August 26 as well.....perhaps...perhaps...can you say
BLOOD BROTHERS??!!!!

Posted by Jrand55 @ 11/20/2002 02:33 AM PST

Jose,

My wife - who is a professional harpist - thanks you for your comments about having a 'real harp' in the pit. It does make a tremendous difference, doesn't it?

As for my favourite birthday memory....

I was cast as Dr. Neville Craven in a local production of THE SECRET GARDEN. We were in final dress rehearsal on my birthday (September 12th), so I was kind of bummed about it, because I couldn't go out with my friends. Well, we were onstage, and going through the "storm" scene that leads into "Lily's Eyes". I was dutifully finding my mark, and getting ready to sing, when suddenly the music changed to an unfamiliar tune. I panicked at first, but then realized that the tune was "Happy Birthday"! The full cast came on stage and sang along. I looked down in the pit, and saw my wife - the harpist - smiling. You've never had "Happy Birthday" sung to you until you've heard it with a 40-voice chorus and a 22-piece orchestra (with real harp)!

Posted by Dave @ 11/20/2002 07:14 AM PST