haines his way

12/27/2002:
"HITTING THE HAY"

Well, dear readers, Luckie let me sleep in till nine this morning, so I must hurry along and finish these here Friday notes quickly. Luckiely, I was prescient, oh, yes, I was prescient and knew something like this would happen so I finished answering all your excellent questions last night before hitting the hay. You know what I love about the hay? You can hit it and hit it and hit it and it never hits you back, it just lies there like so much fish and takes it. That’s what I love about the hay.
Today I must write, write, write (that is three writes), after all I’m in the home stretch here and I must keep up the momentum. Perhaps I’ll hit some hay just to keep me percolated.
We had such a nice walk this morning that Luckie is lying on the floor like a wet noodle, totally out. My goodness, this week has flown by, hasn’t it? Soon, we will be having our rockin’ New Year’s Eve celebration and then it will be a brand spanking New Year. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because don’t I have excellent questions to answer?

You had some great questions yesterday and I was so chomping at the bit (no mean feat) to answer them that I plum did them last night. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I plum up and answered your excellent questions last night. I also nectarine up and answered your excellent questions last night. And so, without further ado…
Jose asks have I ever played the lottery. Only the scratchers – in fact, my daughter gave me a whole load of them for Christmas and I have been merrily scratching for two days. So far I’ve won four dollars and a bunch of tickets. Is there a different agreement and/or pay structure for musicians who get listed on albums and those who don’t? No, it’s simply up to the producer or label whether the musicians are listed or not. We did a lot of the time, but sometimes on the early albums we didn’t for a variety and/or Hollywood reporter of reasons. When will I be giving more details about my upcoming New York sojourn. As soon as the people who are booking the trip (my producers) get back from Christmas vacation. As soon as I have the firm details I shall pass them along with rapidity. What am I doing New Year’s Eve? If you travel back one year in the Unseemly Archives you will find that I always do the same thing – stay home and contemplate the year that’s ending and the year upcoming, and think about what I thought worked and what I didn’t think worked, and the resolutions about changing the latter. It’s a very introspective end of evening for me. However, prior to that we will be having our annual haineshisway.com rockin’ New Year’s Eve celebration and it will be like no other you’ve ever attended.
William E. Lurie asks if I like the way Broadway ticket prices work – i.e. that most seats are the same price with the exception of back of balcony seating. In olden days, a Broadway house usually had several price tiers depending on the seats. I preferred it that way (and, of course, I preferred those prices – when an orchestra seat was 7.50 or something) and I deplore that they get top dollar for seats I wouldn’t put Luckie in. When and where will tickets be sold for our upcoming Tourette’s benefit. And can we put a block of them aside so all Hainsies/Kimlets can sit together? I think that is a splendid idea and I shall put those wheels in motion. I’ll arrange with Cissy a way for all dear readers to purchase their tickets directly so there won’t be a need to go to the box office of The Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, although tickets will be sold there as well. Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind. Yes, there are certain old acquaintances who should never be brought to mind. I’m sure we can all think of a few.
Michael Shayne has a Craig-like plethora of questions. To wit: Did I have any involvement with the Helen Reddy dance single from the Center Stage album, and what is my opinion of it. Other than recording the original vocal and then giving it to the remixer on its own track, no, I had absolutely no involvement with it. I thought it was okay, a bit lame really. What is my involvement with the Sunset Blvd. tracks which were included on Petula Clark’s CD when she was touring in the show? None, whatsoever. We merely licensed the tracks. Brian R. Kilgore, Brian G. Kilgore and Brian Kilgore are listed on various jazz albums I’ve produced – are they the same person? Yes, he’s a world-class percussionist. The “R” was a typo, and he does prefer the “G”, but those things happen. Can I give one or two sentences about the jazz artists I’ve worked with? Of course, and with great pleasure. Terry Trotter and the trio – Well, I think Terry is brilliant, but aside from that he and I are like two peas in a pod, we get along wonderfully and we have the exact same artistic temperament. The way we work is I’ll give him the score (or the songs) and he’ll play around with them and a few weeks later have me over to hear his ideas. We talk about each track and most of the time I’m jiggy and sometimes I take him in a different direction. In the studio, I don’t think we’ve ever disagreed on when we have “the” take. I also like to throw one song at him totally by surprise on the final day of recording, and that frequently ends up being our favorite track. Tom Warrington, his bassist, is a very dry fellow but a wonderful player. I can’t say enough about Joe LaBarbera, the drummer. He is an amazing artist, who in his youth played with my favorite jazz pianist of all time, Bill Evans. He is a poet of the drums, subtle and magical and he makes his drums sing. He’s also one of the nicest people ever. Fred Hersch – we only did one album together, and I’m fond of it. I found him to be a bit prissy and a bit of a trial, and I’m sure he found me to be the same (a producer with opinions), but you know all’s fair in love and art and the end result got nominated for a Grammy, so there you are. Fred Karlin – well, I love Fred Karlin and our two albums together are amongst my favorites. He’s a brilliant trumpet player, and also a brilliant film composer (his score for Up the Down Staircase remains one of my favorites). We loved working together and we loved choosing the material for the album. He was totally open to my suggestions, material-wise, so I got some of my favorite film themes ever on those albums, including David Amram’s incredible Splendor in the Grass. And, I had quite a correspondence and phone relationship with Mr. Amram because of it (we later did his score to On the Waterfront, the Broadway play version). Fred is also a total gentleman and a pleasure to be around. Brad Ellis – a maniac, a crazy person, but very gifted and his albums are really fun and I really recommend them. Buddy Bregman – he has the biggest ego of anyone I’ve ever met, but he also has the talent to back it up. Our “swing” album is fantastic – his charts are amazing and we had a total blast in the studio. Do I think other Broadway composers can be “jazzed” (aside from the ones I’ve done) – sure, they all can be, but certain ones obviously lend themselves better. There’ve been great jazz albums of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Hart, Cy Coleman (an obvious choice), Frank Loesser and on and on. I said that releasing the cast album of Virginia Woolf was too expensive. Why? Well, it was a four LP set, and it’s Edward Albee, who had a huge royalty deal – it was, in essence like paying for two CDs worth of royalties and it simply would have lost a ton of money. Why were Working and Subways are for Sleeping affordable. Well, they were normal LPs, and in the case of Working, the royalty was reasonable, even with all those writers. Subways was actually cheap because the rights had reverted back to Styne and Comden and Green, so we dealt with them rather than Sony. Who were Michel Legrand’s best lyricists? Well, conventionally speaking, the Bergmans. Unconventionally speaking, Jacques Demy. Was my play The Good One ever optioned for the movies? I can’t tell you how many times it came close, but for whatever reasons it just didn’t happen. Same with my musical, Together Again. We came very close to making it a TV series, but again, didn’t happen. Do I google search myself? I have on occasion done so and am sometimes amazed at what I find. When I read a biography or autobiography do I go to the index and look up what I want to read about first, or do I read it from cover to cover. Always the latter, never the former. Have I read Michael’s three favorite dishy theater books – the Making of No, No, Nanette, The Whorehouse Papers, and Diary of a Mad Playwright? Yes, all three, and my favorite of them is the latter.
Sigerson Holmes asks what my favorite musical version of Huckleberry Finn is. The only one I know is the Sherman Brothers, and I don’t love it. Don’t know Big River at all. Do I have a favorite Leonard Nimoy album? I’m happy to say I don’t.
Craig asks what are my top three favorite Christmas movies? It’s a Wonderful Life, always number one, the Albert Finney Scrooge, which I really like, and White Christmas (for sentimental reasons). Who was the best movie or TV lawyer and why? Perry Mason, of course, no contest. He never lost a case and I never missed an episode of the original series. Who do I think is the best film composer for comedy, drama, suspense, romance. Hmmmm. Comedy – Mancini. Drama – Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Hugo Friedhofer. Suspense – Bernard Herrmann. Romance – Michel Legrand, Johnny Mandel, Dave Grusin. And many others. Do I think that in the future I would ever write a novel that was not related to Benjamin Kritzer? I think I’d answer yes – at least I think I’d give it a whirl. Finally, do I have any favorite poets and/or poems? All of Dorothy Parker and, of course, the usual suspects.
Jrand55 asks is VistaVision now Panavision or did VistaVision go away? Sadly, it went away, but I feel it was the best of all those processes. They still use it for background plates for rear projection and also for some fx shots in films. What is my favorite part of Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman? I seem to recall a scene in a bar with her giant hand – I liked that.
Kerry asks what Alan Jay Lerner songs were considered and/or tried for the album and discarded. Practically everything was tried. I was getting a cassette a week of their work sessions and we all just kept commenting on what there was too much of and what there was too little of. So, hundreds of songs were considered and most were discarded.
Td is curious about some people who only recorded for me once, but has confined himself to people who appear on my Christmas CDs. Where is Roy Chicas these days? I know not – I discovered him in that show Bring on the Morning, I think it was called that – you know, by the people who did The Me Nobody Knows. He was in it, and so was Yvette Lawrence. Whatever happened to the Talisman Quartet? I know not, but they were awfully good. What was it like to record with Miss Debby Boone? Dreamy. Hubby Mel Ferrer was there, and we all had a delightful time and she was easy as pie. Why didn’t John Gabriel do more with me? Well, it wasn’t for want of him trying. He really wanted to do a solo album, but I just didn’t think what he was talking about would sell. He eventually did it himself, and I helped him with suggestions and packaging ideas. He’s a swell guy. I had dinner with him when we were doing the album and I told him that when I was but a mere sprig of a twig of a lad of a youth I’d seen him in the LA premiere of the musical A Family Affair (he did the Larry Kert role). It was at a tiny theater on Santa Monica Blvd. and he was shocked that I’d seen it and more shocked that I remembered it. I told him that my mother had been very annoyed because he and his leading lady had kissed too intimately (i.e. Frenching on stage). Why doesn’t The Secret of Christmas from Say One For Me appear on Hollywood Christmas? Because I didn’t like it as much as the songs we used, or it didn’t fit in with the performers I’d chosen. One of the two.
KT asks if I would ever consider doing a sequel to The First Nudie Musical. In the mid-eighties we were going to try to do just that – I’d done a treatment and written a few songs, but the country was not in a place where a down-and-out raunchy sex comedy would have worked. Now it would, but I’ve already incorporated elements from the sequel into the stage adaptation. Will I be seeing Chicago, the movie? Of course and I will have a full and honest report after I do.
Laura asks if I’ve ever had a CD that is so bad that I listen to it again and again. Only Mrs. Miller.
Dennis Clancy asks if I remember when road show movies were all the rage – assigned seats at high ticket prices (West Side Story, as I recall, was almost four dollars for prime seats). Why didn’t the studios just raise the ticket price and let the patron sit wherever they wanted. Because they wanted the film to be perceived as an event, something totally unique and special – like theater. I loved road show movies and many are mentioned in the new Kritzer novel.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write until the cows come home, I must eat various and sundried foodstuffs (yes, Virginia, I’ve decided to stay on Atkins a little while longer), I must do errands and truands, I must, in short, get crackin’. If you want to have some fun today, hit some hay - it really gets your blood flowing. Today’s topic of discussion: What are you favorite five musicals or plays that you’ve seen this year? Post away, my pretties – it’s time for our end-of-year push to make this the most popular site on all the Internet.

Replies: 36 Unseemly Comments

Best musicals I saw this year: HAIRSPRAY, AMOUR, BY JUPITER (Mufti), ME AND JULIET (Mufti), and PAJAMA GAME (Encores!).
Well today the film of "Chicago" opens. Since it is only in one theatre I'll avoid the mobs and see it in two weeks when it opens wide. I know that all the people who read and contribute to this site are anxious to see it, but I wonder if the mass audience --- the same audience that goes to "Jackass - The Movie", Farley Brothers films, Jackie Chan movies and anything with someone from "Saturday Night Live" --- will be as interested. With a budget like "Chicago" has, it has to have mass appeal, and I hope that it will do sufficient business to convince Hollywood that there is an audience for musicals.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/27/2002 09:58 AM PST

It's not usually her hand that people remember in ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN - but is indeed prominently featured in a few scenes! Who would they get to paint the fingernails of a 50 FOOT WOMAN? Would the nurse do it to make her feel pretty? Or what is the dang deal?
Hmmmmmmmmmm.....
LES MIZ - again, good touring production.
ON BORROWED TIME - I directed it, not good because of that, but it is one of my favorite plays.
BATBOY the MUSICAL - very funny.
POE - an evening of his poetry and stories with John Astin
BUDDY - the Buddy Holly musical, lots of good music and "Buddy" was amazing.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/27/2002 10:20 AM PST

Sullivan's next movie will be "Hey Hey in the Hayloft", an uplifting message musical - but with a little sex in it.
Posted by Preston Sturges @ 12/27/2002 10:35 AM PST

I'm having a good laugh as I type because my kids are watching "Arthur," which today deals with Arthur's class putting on a musical. Buster, (the rabbit-boy who is Arthur's best friend), who has drawn lots to be director (originally asking "Is that the villain?"), then asks, "Does that mean I get to decide how everything looks and I get to tell everyone what to do?" The teacher cautiously answers "Well....yes." Then Buster screams "Woo-hoo--this is going to be the weirdest musical ever!" (He evidently has not seen DOTV).
And now for something completely different--last night I dreamt I was at Manderley. In my dream, Bruce had flown up to Portland to give me a very large, very weird pair of snowshoes. In the dream he kept morphing into Hugh Beaumont from "Leave it to Beaver." Now I can account for two of the images--my wife and I went out for dinner with her workfolk last night and we did indeed talk about snowshoes. And the Oregonian just ran a nice feature on the kid who played Whitey in LITB, who is now, believe it or not, a homeless heroin addict on the streets of Portland. But how did BK get mixed up in this? Any Freudians and/or Jungians out there who care to give this one a shot?
Posted by JMK @ 12/27/2002 10:42 AM PST

Musicals:
PINAFORE!--A delightful gay send-up of Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore, at the Celebration Theatre in West Hollywood.
SIDE SHOW--A wonderful show, with intelligent themes, wonderfully performed by a fresh cast at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.
A CLASS ACT--Makes one wonder what could have been. At the Pasadena Playhouse.
ANYTHING GOES--An energetic production that was just plain fun, with Rachel York, Brent Barrett and Jason Graae. Oh yeah. And that score by Cole Porter. Mounted by Reprise! at the Freud Playhouse on the UCLA campus.
LA BOHEME--I caught this in San Francisco before it made its way to New York. Although I may harp some about the shrunken orchestra and amplification, visually, this is an absolute stunner, and the direction is superb.
BIG RIVER--As performed by the Deaf West Theatre Company at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. That a company of deaf and hearing actors would essay a musical sounds unbelievable, but this show is magnificent. The signing, rather than being a distraction, in fact adds expressive choreography to the show. The most moving moment in the show comes during a big production number, when the music from the band and the singing stop cold, but the dancing and signing continue for several minutes.
Plays:
Although I saw several non-musical plays this year, the only one that I think warrants mentioning is THE GRAPES OF WRATH, as mounted by the West Coast Ensemble in Los Angeles. This production proved that even with a shoestring budget, tremendously moving theater can be created. The cast was outstanding, and the evocative sets and direction were probably even more effective than had they the money to create "realistic" scenery.
You didn't ask, but I also saw a number of musical artists in cabaret or in concert whose performances I want to mention for the record:
LAINIE KAZAN at the Renberg Theatre at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center--Sure, thanks to MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, now everybody knows her. Until that picture came out, though, I have to say that Miss Kazan must have been one of the most underrated artists of our day. And, of course, WEDDING does nothing to let the world know of her wonderful, interpretive singing.
DAVIS GAINES at the Ford Amphitheate in Hollywood--Terrific voice, terrific interpretations, terrific stage presence. Why, oh why, don't we see more of him?
POLLY BERGEN at the Orange County Performing Arts Center--Her bullseye renditions of "I'm Still Here," "Ladies Who Lunch" and "Why Was I Born?" were just a few highlights of the terrific show that this woefully underutilized lady put on.
ANDREA MARCOVICCI, doing the love songs of Cole Porter, at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Orange County. I adore artists who credit their audiences with intelligence and allow the works they perform to speak for themselves. This was the first time I heard Miss Marcovicci, and I am now staunchly devoted to her artistry.
May 2003 bring many more pleasures such as these!
Posted by Jay @ 12/27/2002 10:47 AM PST

Where is Gilbert Bates?
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/27/2002 11:03 AM PST

I want to know what everybody's New Years Eve plans are. We're going to a soup-tasting party at our church, and then I will sit on the couch with my cat and eat ice cream. We went to the grocery store today and bought soup ingredients and ice cream.
My favorite shows I've seen this year are Plaid Tidings, Beauty and the Beast, Hello, Jerry!, Something's Afoot, and I closed my eyes during The Full Monty.
Posted by Sandra @ 12/27/2002 11:15 AM PST

I just read the L.A. Times review of "Chicago" and it makes me NOT want to see it--expressly because the dance numbers are filmed like "Moulin Rouge" with lots of quick cuts and shots from the waist up. Ugh! When will they learn that a well-choreographed dance has it's own highs and lows and ebbs and flows; that dances BUILD to a climax and are intrinsically exciting. WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' CAMERAS DANCING! If I were the choreographer, I would sue (only in this case, the choreographer is also the director). How disappointing and how sad.
If you want to see some exciting and well-filmed dances, rent the 1952 version of "The Merry Widow" that was mentioned in yesterday's posts. The choreographer was the great Jack Cole. The Can-Can number with Gwen Verdon was featured in "That's Entertainment, Part II" (1976). The camera stays at a distance but the dance propels (talk about exciting). There is an absolutely luscious number with Fernando Lamas and Lana Turner where they dance in a private room. The camera work does not impose but enhances the closeness of the dance and the room. And "The Merry Widow Waltz" at the end will just take your breath away with its beautifully choreographed moves. The "lights out" turn around the floor is a perfect touch to the climatic end.
Of course, there are a slew of other well-filmed dances (none since "All That Jazz")--thanks in large part to Fred Astaire who insisted his dances be filmed showing the whole body, so as not to upset the center of gravity. Oh, I could go on and on ...
Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 12/27/2002 11:17 AM PST

OMG - Polly Bergen can sing, she can act, she was a great talk show guest - and she was the spark of the night time version of TO TELL THE TRUTH.
So funny and clever.
One night some guys came on all claiming to be a famous hairstylist. Polly and Kitty Carlisle asked very simple questions and none of the guys could answer. When time came to choose Polly put her glasses on, took them off, and then declared: "I don't think it's any of them. None of those men ever set a pin curl in his life!"
Her acting in THE CARETAKERS and CAPE FEAR and as Bianca in MOVE OVER DARLING is good as well.
I loved her performance on the Tony Awards year before last.
Andrea Marcovicci. 8-P
She played a character I hated on some soap opera and I can't get past it. Ugh! But give me time, it's only been 35 years.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/27/2002 11:20 AM PST

Donna-Cabaret West: thanks for remembering the Lana-Merry Widow for me. I want to see it again...NOW! Hmmmmmm....Jack Cole also did some pretty fancy dancing in the Lauren Bacall-Gregory Peck film DESIGNING WOMAN!
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/27/2002 11:52 AM PST

Thanks BK for letting me
"show off"......
Debbie Boone's hubby is
Gabriel Ferrer, NOT the other
Ferrer you mentioned.
Jrand55; thanks for the link to
PBS.
My, THAT Merry Widow sure
has travelled !!! Costumes are
gorgeous but she lookd like
she has a hard time balancing
those HUGE hats.
Erich Kunzel conductor for this
prod. !! Yeah ! I like him a lot....
That's all for now, except that,
Jason, i keep wondering if you
have heard from or about Mo's
condition......
Posted by François @ 12/27/2002 11:53 AM PST

I just saw that a William T. Orr, a producer for Warner Brothers, died at age 85. Chilling.
Here's to the continued good health of our own William F. Orr.
Posted by Hapgood @ 12/27/2002 12:17 PM PST

Francois: Thank you for asking, but no, I haven't heard any news about Mo. I'm not even sure when his surgery is supposed to happen. I just know it's happening after Christmas, and according to my calendar, it's Dec. 27th, so...I dunno. :-\
My five favorites from this year are as follows (in no particular order):
THE CRUCIBLE with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. I thought this was an amazing production of one of my very favorite plays ever.
HAIRSPRAY. Fun, fun, fun!!
MAMMA MIA! Again--fun, fun, fun!
ELAINE STRITCH: AT LIBERTY. Wow...can we say "Theatre Legend?" She was incredible.
AMOUR. The little show that should've but couldn't. I really liked it, and I wish someone *ahem* would find a way to record the score.
...and I'm sure this should count as one thing (even though that will still make it my sixth favorite thing this year, putting me over my limit): The Stephen Sondheim Festival at the Kennedy Center.
Posted by Jason @ 12/27/2002 12:53 PM PST

Oh, my God I don't know how I could have forgotten this one!! THE LAST FIVE YEARS was this year and I completely forgot. I loved it so much and was so disappointed that it had to end so quickly.
And if we're going for favorite BAD show, well then you all know what I will add to my list--DOTV!
Posted by Jason @ 12/27/2002 12:56 PM PST

Of course, Gabriel Ferrer. So hard to keep those boys straight.
Posted by bk @ 12/27/2002 12:56 PM PST

From what I've heard, keeping the Ferrer boys straight is no problem at all.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/27/2002 01:00 PM PST

Jason, that other Jason (as in Last Five Years) sent me a hilarious email yesterday reminding people he'll be onstage at the Broadhurst starting in February for "Urban Cowboy: The Musical" wearing, as he put it, "big cowboy boots, in case seeing me that way has been a fantasy of yours."
Posted by JMK @ 12/27/2002 02:06 PM PST

Easy task with such limited opportunities! "Sweeney Todd" by the Australian Opera Co (With Judi Connelli), "Putting It Together". "Man Of La Mancha" with Anthony Warlowe. (For his performance but not for much else - certainly not the IMHO opinion miscast and misdirected Caroline O'Connor who seemed to be playing Aldonza for laughs - and a dancing Aldonza at that - she was more at home with the gypsies.) Can only list three. have avoided "Mama Mia" (I'll wait for "Carmelina"), "Oliver" and "Cabaret".
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 12/27/2002 02:09 PM PST

JMK: How do you know JRB? I've met him a few times and he did an interview for me when I was writing my thesis about PARADE. Speaking of, I still need to turn in my final draft so they can send me that silly piece of paper that I spent nearly $30,000 to get! (And I need to send a copy to Jason while I'm at it).
Posted by Jason @ 12/27/2002 02:12 PM PST

Jason, we have several friends in common and I MD'd one of the first (excerpted) performances of "New World" out here on the left coast. I've MD'd several times and done vocal arrangements and special material for World alum and JRB buddy Brooks Ashmanskas.
Posted by JMK @ 12/27/2002 02:31 PM PST

OMG - who will be the Executive Producer of the new seasons of 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye and Surfside 6? ABC might as well cancel them....oh....nevermind.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/27/2002 02:40 PM PST

Home at last! Had a lovely
holiday with my family, but am
also glad to be back home
with access to this here site!
When I left Tuesday morning
there was only a light dusting
of snow here... when I got
home this afternoon, I found
over a foot of the stuff. But now
that I've shoveled a path to my
door and a spot for my car to
park, all is well and good here
in my little corner of the world.
Unfortunately, this has been a
very very slow year of
theatre-going for me. Didn't
even make one trip across the
mountains to Seattle to see a
touring show. So my musical
highlights this year would be
community and regional
semipro productions of
CHICAGO and SEVEN
BRIDES FOR SEVEN
BROTHERS, plus a couple
SOUND OF MUSIC's (one
decent but overly cut, the other
rather wretched and in dire
need of cutting). As for plays,
a decent university production
of Noël Coward's HAY FEVER
and a community theatre IT'S A
WONDERFUL LIFE featuring
many friends of mine.
Posted by Jed @ 12/27/2002 03:40 PM PST

Hear ! Hear !
Oyez ! Oyez!
If you want to see recent
pictures of Debbie Boone,
Keely Smith, Tony Bennett, kd
Lang, Michael Feinstein, Merv
Griffin, the Pizzarellis, Florence
Henderson, Ann Rutherford,
Mary Frances Crosby, Delores
Hope, Nancy Sinatra, George
Clooney and his father Nick,
check rosemaryclooney.com
and click on the first upper
right selection.
Careful: the douwnload is
slow; but the wait worthwhile....
All those wonderful people
gathered December 10th at
the Beverly Hilton Hotel to pay
a tribute to Rosie.....
Posted by François @ 12/27/2002 05:19 PM PST

Looks like it is just you and me Francois.
I could of course not wish for better company.
At present Colin and I are listening to Ella's Rogers & Hart Songbook. Nice and mellow - like our day.
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 12/27/2002 05:30 PM PST

Yes, I do believe BK really
thought about us when he had
this site created........
Ah, Ella-the-Best, Ella-the
-Great......her voice is so
soothing....
She was music personified.
I love my "doUwnload" above;
there's something Bristish I
think !!!
Oh, Florence Henderson
doesn't age; how does she do
it ??????
"You and Me" !! A Bricusse
reference !!!
Posted by François @ 12/27/2002 05:57 PM PST

Darn !!
"something British to it" I
meant to type !!
Type your Mistakes Away !!
Posted by François @ 12/27/2002 05:59 PM PST

Slow year in play/musical going
Did see local production of The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Saw the touring company of Proof with Robert Foxworth and an outstanding array of talent filling the other roles. Their other names escape me.
I also saw Dirty Blond with our very own Sally Mayes, but I wasn't as crazy about the play as I was about Proof. Bob Stillman from the original Broadway cast was in it as was John Rhys Davies. The performances were better than the play.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 12/27/2002 07:15 PM PST

I just got back from what will be the last show I see in 2002: the York Theatre's production of PORTERPHILES, an enjoyable but lightweight Cole Porter revue. Per all the ads and the hype, this was suppose to be a show of unpublished Cole Porter songs. The music may not have been published but all the lyrics are in The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter and many of them have been recorded. In fact the opening (after a piano solo) was recorded by BK for "Lost In Boston" - "Let's Make It A Night". This is the second York show in just over a year to open with a BK-recorded song, the last being the title song from ROADSIDE. Two cut KISS ME KATE songs are on the complete EMI recording of the show, and at least half a dozen songs are on one of Ben Bagley's Cole Porter Revisited CDs. That said, the songs were all well done though this was really a glorified cabaret show. The cast consisted of 3 talented unknowns (Lynne Halliday, Ricky Russell and Stephen Zinnato). And all the songs were typical Cole Porter. He certainly used the words "gay" and "queer" a lot giving many of the lyrics double meanings.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/27/2002 07:53 PM PST

My top five shows this year... Well, thankfully, it was a good year for me playing in the pit, so I didn't get to see too much. However, most of what I did get a chance to see I enjoyed.
The Fully Monty - I know it opened last year, but I saw it again this past February in New York. And I got to the see the "new cast" after it had finished the first tour. Great show. Should still be running. *And a Hainsie/Kimlet favorite, Danny Gurwin, was in the cast at the time too, who I eventually I got to work with during A Little Night Music at the Kennedy Center.
Sunday in the Park with George - Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration. This show will always be special to me, but this particular production totally blew me away. Raul Esparza's Georges/George was incredible - so many layers. And having the chance to discuss his approach to the role with him, really added so much more to the whole experience.
Company - Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration. As I mentioned in a previous post, Company was my first professional gig, and I got to do it with a full orchestra at the time. When the orchestra started up in the Eisenhower Theatre, I literally started crying. It was so nice to see the show again, and to be able to hear it with a full, live pit. I cheered and cheered. And Alice Ripley really stole the show with her rendition of "Getting Married Today". *I meant to tape the Kennedy Center Honors tonight while I was at the show, but I forgot.. ah, well...
Sweeney Todd - Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration. -Anyone noticing a trend? I played rehearsals for this show, and it was the - and I mean THE - perfect first official gig for me at the Kennedy Center. Stokes, Christine, Walter, Mark, Celia, Hugh, Kevin, Larry, etc... What an amazing bunch of people from top to bottom - talented, friendly, generous.
Pacific Overtures - Japanese production at the Kennedy Center. WOW! Inventive, surprising, stunning and moving. I left the theatre breathless and trembling.
And to round out my top five, I'll lump the other Sondheim Celebration productions together: Merrily We Roll Along, Passion and A Little Night Music. And I have to mention Barbara Cook's masterclass and Mostly Sondheim concert too!
And since I did play a bunch of shows this year, I also had a great time in the pits of Aida, Mamma Mia!, The Human Comedy, Evita and Forum. Oh, and, of course, currently South Pacific.
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 12/27/2002 09:14 PM PST

I saw the tour of "Seussical: The Musical" in Seattle a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. The only other theater I've seen has been locally produced. Tonight I ushered for a locally written show "Stardust Serenade of 1942" that was really good. Another theater group did "1776" and, except for a couple of poor casting choices, was quite good. The Abbey Players, a true community theater (the others pay their actors), did "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (the revised version) and was the highlight of the season for me. But that doesn't really count as one of the shows I've seen because I played Charlie Brown in the production. That's also why it was the highlight of the season for me.
I did see a couple of non-musicals in Seattle this year (professional Equity shows), but I don't remember the names of them. They both were very good.
Posted by George @ 12/28/2002 01:14 AM PST

You know what I really hate? I hate it when the phone rings at 1:30 AM and it's a wrong number, and it's the third time this week that this same person has called asking for "Irena" and you've told him three times he has the wrong number. Then you can't get back to sleep all night. That's what I really hate.
Posted by Laura @ 12/28/2002 04:01 AM PST

Laura!
So sorry.. I met that Raul guy at some bar and he asked for my number so I just made up some digits. Please forgive..
Posted by Irena @ 12/28/2002 07:48 AM PST

We don't get no stinkin' theatre here (what movie was that line from moins the "theatre"?)
The only musical I saw was a community theatre original production called Forbidden Vegas. It was quite clever, funny and had a talented cast.
Moan and Groan Time: Chicago did not open in Las Vegas last night. Typical Las Vegas--no cul-cha; I am closer and closer to moving to LA.
Posted by KT @ 12/28/2002 08:33 AM PST

PS: We do get a little theatre here, occasionally some road shows at thew hotels, but the prices are extremely steep.
Posted by KT @ 12/28/2002 08:35 AM PST

In response to the comment about Roy Chicas. . . he is alive and well singing his heart out still. I just saw him play JUDAS in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the West Virginia Public Theatre, and he, as usual outshined the entire cast. His talent is amazing, and it's still a bewilderment, how noone has snatched him up for a Broadway run. Roy Chicas is still a wonderful, timeless, voice and talent. Incredible.
Posted by Sam Becker @ 08/30/2003 03:18 PM PST

In response to the comment about Roy Chicas. . . he is alive and well singing his heart out still. I just saw him play JUDAS in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the West Virginia Public Theatre, and he, as usual outshined the entire cast. His talent is amazing, and it's still a bewilderment, how noone has snatched him up for a Broadway run. Roy Chicas is still a wonderful, timeless, voice and talent. Incredible.
Posted by Sam Becker @ 08/30/2003 03:20 PM PST

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