haines his way

03/03/2003:
"ADDING THE "E""

Well, dear readers, what a lively and sparkling chat we had last night. The joint was jumpin’, it really was, filled to the brim with lively and sparkling people all saying lively and sparkling things. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
If you missed any of the merriment and mirth and laughter and legs from having been errant and truant, do use the Unseemly Archive Button and catch up, because many fun and interesting things happened here at haineshisway.com. Also, check out Donald’s brand spanking new radio show and Brent Barrett’s Unseemly Interview if you haven’t already.
I was movied out, so last night I did what I like to do when I’m movied out, I took out some of my Ed Sullivan DVDs and watched musical numbers. I watched the two Gwen Verdon numbers from Sweet Charity (taped during the Broadway run), I’m a Brass Band and If They Could See Me Now. She’s so wonderful in these, but you can see instantly why she never would have worked on film. What dancing, though, and what a star she was. There were also two other numbers with Gwen, both not from shows but both choreographed by Bob Fosse (or Bob Foss, as Sullivan pronounces it) and both precursors to dances he would perfect in Pippin. One of them, a trio with Miss Verdon and two female dancers is virtually the template for the trio dance in Pippin. I wish Ed were still around on Sunday nights – we could use him.
Yesterday I began writing Kritzer Three. I hadn’t intended to, but it just happened. But it’s probably good to get a head start on it. I was going to get a foot start on it and then an arm start on it, but instead I got a head start on it and I shall continue writing today wheat I began yesterday. Has anyone noticed that I just typed “wheat” instead of “what”? The extra “e” just snuck in there, the little dickens, and suddenly my “what” became my “wheat”. “Wheat” is much healthier than “what” however, so I guess it’s all right. Of course, if the “e” had come after the “a” rather than before it, we’d have had “whaet” which of course is the Scottish and Latin (depending on the day) for wheat. Of course, if I’d accidentally left off the “w” rather than adding the “e” then we would have had “hat”. Does anyone still type a “hat”? If I’d left off the “w” and still added the “e” we would have had “heat”. The possibilities are endless and so is this paragraph. What the hell am I talking about?
Oh, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below before I add more letters to more words?

I’m doing some radio interview on Wednesday morning. Craig can post all the details so that those of you who get the radio station can listen in. It’s very gray out today, the sun has gone away and won’t come out to play which isn’t very gay but when the sun won’t shine its ray then what more is there to say?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must cut to the chase because there are details that must be taken care of, errands that must be done, roads that must be traveled, teeth that must be brushed and “whats” turned into “wheats”. Today’s topic of discussion: People have asked me this several times on Ask BK Day, and I might have even asked it before – is there anything you haven’t done in your life that, given the opportunity, you’d jump at the chance to do. Post way my pretties, and I’ll check back in quite often to look at your excellent posts and join in the fun.

Replies: 33 Unseemly Comments

First post...
Just thought I'd mention that today is all about 3's. Benjamin Kritzer III and also..
it's 03/03/03 - pretty nifty!
More later
Posted by Craig @ 03/03/2003 08:30 AM PST

I'm back!
Oh, so nobody even noticed I was gone, eh? Well, fine! To hecky durn with all of you, then!
Disney World was fun (for anyone who might have actually seen my see-ya-later message of last week). Funny that while I was in the Land of the Mouse, you all were apparently posting about Mouseketeer Darlene's legal woes and early crushes on Spin and Marty (and am I the only one here who has noticed that young Tim Considine was a DEAD RINGER for Barbie's boy toy Ken? AND Mattel was a major sponsor of the Mickey Mouse Club at the time that Barbie and later, Ken were introduced. Coincidence? I think not.)
Yesterday, right after returning from our mini-vacation, my brother called me and informed me that I am going to be an aunt! YAY! As of October, I will be Auntie Lulu (Roz Russell, eat your heart out!).
This is going to sound really sappy, but one thing I regret not doing when I had the chance occurred when I was 12. It was summer, and my mother suggested that I spend a couple of weeks at my great-grandparents' house. Well, I loved my great-grandparents and had often spend a night or two or three there in the past, but spending a couple of weeks there just didn't much appeal to pre-teen me. So I didn't do it.
Within 6 months, they sold their house (a big, neat Victorian they'd lived in since the '50s) and my grandfather died. I suddenly realized that in life, some chances don't ever come around again.
Posted by Lulu @ 03/03/2003 08:41 AM PST

Oh, yes. My Joe and I have often discussed it. If we were asked to by inhabitants of another world which resembles the civilization posited by Gene Roddenberry to come with them and live the rest of our lives "off-planet" we would hop aboard in a heart beat.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 03/03/2003 08:42 AM PST

Lulu's back in town!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...interplanetary travel is a great idea, and I certainly would jump at that chance.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm...but I guess I would have to say, I would love to be in the long run of a play/musical just to see what it was like. I've done 12 weeks - and then reopened a show after almost 8 months for another 6 week run...but never anything longer. I think I would like to do that.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/03/2003 09:00 AM PST

Oh, sheesh, I'm sorry -- I think I misread the question the first time.
If we're talking a chance to do *absolutely anything* (regardless of whether it's a practical impossibility), I want to be a glamorous star of Hollywood's golden age. Hurrell portraits, mile-long limousine, mink stoles, bias-cut satin gowns, the whole nine yards. :)
Posted by Lulu @ 03/03/2003 09:48 AM PST

Lulu---
You don't need Hurrell. I'm sure you would look just as good in a Polaroid.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/03/2003 09:56 AM PST

It's not all it's cracked up to be. Don't drive with your bright lights on in a dimout zone.
Posted by Frances Farmer @ 03/03/2003 10:07 AM PST

Can all you Hainsies and Kimlets please remind me to stretch my legs - hamstrings, in particular - after I play piano/keyboards for an extended period of time. It's truly amazing how tight hamstrings can affect the lower back. Where's my heating pad?!?!? *I have SETCs coming up later this week, and I better remember to stretch each day.
So besides being able to remember to stretch my legs, I would like to go into outer space. I have always been intrigued with space exploration, and even after the recent Space Shuttle incident, I would still love the opportunity to observe the sunrise - again and again - from above the earth.
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 03/03/2003 10:22 AM PST

Okay it is totally freezing here. What happened to the weather? Just yesterday it was 0C (32F) and today it is -38C with the windchill. It is too cold!!!!!
The chat last night was fun. For some reason I had totally forgotten about it. But when I went to check my email at 10:15pm, I suddenly remembered. And many people were still there.
Jennifer
Posted by Jennifer @ 03/03/2003 10:25 AM PST

For those who have access to XM Satellite Radio. Bruce will be on channel 28 (The Broadway Channel)on Wednesday the 5th at 1pm ET.
Posted by Craig @ 03/03/2003 12:03 PM PST

How BOLD of Craig. Now, where in tarnation IS everyone on this fine Monday? We need a postin' flurry here and we need it quick. Otherwise our day shall be dreary and we can't have a dreary day, can we?
Posted by bk @ 03/03/2003 01:31 PM PST

When I was about five I wanted to be a fireman. I've gone off the idea but still like firemen!
I liked the idea of spending six months at the Mawson Antactic Base but could think of no skills I had to offer - maybe if I had really pushed it I could have been a kitchen hand. I have also wanted to "sail" the world on a tramp steamer. I don't like the idea of cruise ships and I did go to England from Australia by ship in 1973. I guess I could and might still go as a passenger on a freighter - it's a dream still.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 03/03/2003 01:33 PM PST

WEL! How sweet. You made me smile. :)
Posted by Lulu @ 03/03/2003 01:36 PM PST

If I had my druthers (A "L'l Abner" reference) and making a living, and family responsibilies were not an issue, I would jump at the chance to work in the theater, not as a performer, but in some creative or business aspect.
Your notes in the past few days about Gwen Verdon brought back warm memories to me. She was one of my favorites. I was forever "angry" with my parents for not taking me with them when they saw "Damn Yankees" on B'way back in '56. When I saw her in the movie in '59, I sure thought "she had it." I didn't get to see her live until '66 at a Saturday matinee preview of "Charity" a few days before it opened at the Palace. She and the show blew my socks off. In the year and a half it played on B'way, I know I saw it at least 4 times. About 32 years ago, I finally got to see her and Ray Walston live in "Damn Yankees" at the Westbury Music Fair in Long Island, where they played it in the round. She still had it! I saw her, of course, in "Chicago", and in the benefit performance several years ago at Lincoln Center with the many Charities. I remember her on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the '60s talking about the upcoming movie Charity and mentioning that she wasn't going to be in it but knew who was and that the person was going to be great. At that point, Maclain had not yet been announced for the part. There was no woe is me attitude that she wasn't going to film the part she created, but only of support for the person who was going to play it. She was totally realistic that she was not "film" box-office and that a star was needed for the part. She always appeared to me to be a kind and a real person. When she died a few years ago at what was really a very young age, Broadway lost one of its greatest.
Posted by steveg @ 03/03/2003 01:46 PM PST

A poster on Broadway.com says that Rachel York (last week's Lilli Vanessi opposite hunk Brent Barrett) is soon to play Lucille Ball in a biopic?
Anyone know anything about this? TV movie or theatrical feature? Huh?
I vote against it, but then it doesn't quite bother me as much as when the repulsive Debra Messing proclaims herself the "new Lucille Ball." 8-P
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/03/2003 02:01 PM PST

"Good News" and "Best Foot Forward" CDs arrived in today's mail.
Boy! Oh, Boy! Oh, Boy!
The eBay scare has been resolved with great clarity and good feeling. It was eBay's fault -- eBay failed to notify "me" of a second chance to buy an item but required of the seller that I use their second chance offer. They send him a link and he forwarded it to me, and I managed to link to the offer and resolve the problem. How come eBay created this problem, though?
Things I'd love to do:
-- Conduct an orchestra.
-- Direct another musical play.
-- Take part, as a singer, in a recording of a musical play.
-- Have speaking lines in a movie.
-- Find a job I'd really love to have, take the job and do it.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/03/2003 02:30 PM PST

Tar-nation...I got called into work last night--figures, as I had all intentions of joining all you chatlings.
I watched my EXODUS DVD last night when I got home, and thisa is the first time I ever wished I had never bought a DVD. It was perfectly hideous! It was blurry, grainy, and the picture shimmered...especially those breathtaking outdoor panarama scenes. The gorgeous music was garbled and sounded like a mono record, not even stereo. Shame, United Artists! Such a magnificent film deserved better than that, at least an attempt at remastering both sound and picture. I remember just holding my breath at the film's vibrancy when I saw it on the theatre. Even Paul's baby-blues were muddy.
Can this be true?!? I get a daily entertainment email newsletter: yesterday, it said, "Mariah Carey has reportedly signed to star in a film remake of GUYS AND DOLLS, opposite Vin Diesel". Vayse Meir...
Posted by KT @ 03/03/2003 02:32 PM PST

I have just received my "Shelby Flint" 2Cd (Collectors' Choice Music. Beautiful folk nostalgia from the sixties.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 03/03/2003 02:45 PM PST

I have also always loved Gwen Verdon too except for one thing... her habit of dropping one or two songs at many performances when she didn't feel like doing them. This was such a well known fact that when a critic went to see her in a performance where this happened the critic figured out that the time the number lasted represented about 3% of the show and demanded a refund of 3% of the ticket price.
The critic got it too.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/03/2003 03:45 PM PST

Poor BK has most likely been made sad by the pitiful number of posts today. Do not be sad, BK. Perhaps everyone is playing outside today.
Posted by Lulu @ 03/03/2003 04:45 PM PST

I think we're all in shock about that G & D Mariah Carey report!
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 03/03/2003 06:29 PM PST

Thing that I would have liked to have done, but could not:
Following a matinee performance of BENT (I was in the audience), I was graciously invited to join David Dukes and Richard Gere for dinner between shows, but, alas, I had a plane to catch. . .
I frequently ran into Mr. Dukes at BK's favorite NYC haunt, where he would always ask about my life, my stage work et al. He was definitely one of the nice guys. Oh! A Closer Than Ever reference.
Never ran into Mr. Gere again, but, I can dream can't I?
By the by, one of our Scarlet Street contributors, Harry Long, recommended a cd to me, and I must pass his recommendation onto all the Hainesies and Kimlets:
Run to the nearest music store and buy MICHAEL BUBLE - that's with an accented "e." You will not be disappointed. . .or, you can just contact me. You DO remember how, don't you???
Posted by td @ 03/03/2003 06:36 PM PST

Hey everyone! As promised.. I am posting a link to a clip from an independant short film called "Murder, He Squeaked" which stars Kerry Butler and Jim Stanek. According to Pratfall Productions, "Sparky was a good dog. He could roll over, he could heel, he could even play dead. But Sparky is about to learn a whole new trick -- how to commit MURDER."
Click the link below and head to Latest News
http://www.kerrybutler.net
Watch and then post here!!
Posted by Craig @ 03/03/2003 07:43 PM PST

Gwen Verdon was one of a kind. I wish I could have seen her in her 50s theater hits. I ONLY saw SWEET CHARITY and CHICAGO. The cast albums are better than nothing, of course, but she was such a vibrant and unique talent. Mucho missed by me. (Would love to have heard her delight over the hit that the movie of CHICAGO has become.)
Posted by Matt H. @ 03/03/2003 08:16 PM PST

On this lovely 03/03/03, I'm confused about the question. Is this something we had the opportunity to do and didn't, or is it anything that we could have done (whether or not we had the chance)?
Posted by Kerry @ 03/03/2003 09:52 PM PST

Dear Kerry: As Bruce posed it, something you've never done that you'd liked to do IF the opportunity presented itself
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/03/2003 11:37 PM PST

Anything that I haven’t done in my life that, given the opportunity, I’d jump at the chance to do: professional theater. I've done a lot of community theater, but never pursued it beyond that, mainly because I've never studied (I know I'm not professional caliber) and my credit card debt (my own fault, I freely admit). I need the (practically) guaranteed income of the job that I have. So, that's what I'd do. That and space travel a la Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek Universe has a nice and positive view of the future. Nothing really gloom and doom like so many scifi movies and TV series.
Posted by George @ 03/04/2003 12:19 AM PST

I got my KING OF KINGS DVD yesterday. I like this movie much more on DVD than I did in the theatre when I was 11.
Salome's dance is pretty bad...somebody mentioned Brigid Bazlan yesterday and yes it is her. But most of the other acting is pretty good. Rip Torn is Judas and of course Jeffrey Hunter as JC Superstar. I think I like this one better than GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/04/2003 04:33 AM PST

And of course, since there is apparently such a crossover between Hainesie/Kimlets and Trekkies, it is incumbent upon me to point out that Jeffrey Hunter was Captain Pike (the role that would evolve into Captain Kirk) in the Star Trek Pilot, "The Cage."
Posted by Lulu @ 03/04/2003 06:48 AM PST

I think Jesus got the worst of that deal.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/04/2003 07:19 AM PST

Jrand: Maybe, maybe not. King of Kings was, after all, the first-ever time Jesus was portrayed as being...
*sigh*
DREAMY!
Posted by Lulu @ 03/04/2003 07:32 AM PST

Yup...it was awful that Jesus made you feel "funny" when you looked at him in that movie.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/04/2003 08:18 AM PST

LOL!
Posted by Lulu @ 03/04/2003 08:43 AM PST

Ask BK: Got a question? Ask Bruce Kimmel...

© Copyright 2001-2003 Bruce Kimmel.
All Rights Reserved. Site design by hijinks design.