haines his way

03/20/2003:
"A SLIGHT SETBACK"

Well, dear readers, I’m sorry to have to tell you that we’ve had a little setback with our little film, but hopefully said setback will be rectified quite soon. Unfortunately, these things happen in the world of both studio and independent filmmaking with more regularity than you can imagine, and especially right now with the world in turmoil. I had about four slight setbacks before Nudie Musical finally went before the cameras. I will keep you posted and let you know when we’re back on track which, as I’ve said, I trust will be very soon indeed.
In the meantime, there are many other things occupying my time right now, so that is good. One of the things that is occupying my time right now is producing a new CD. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, am producing a new CD. I’m producing it for our very own Richard Valley, who happens to run the best genre magazine around – Scarlet Street. We’ve actually been talking about this album since way back in the Varese Sarabande days and now by gum and by golly we are going to do it. What the album is I cannot say, oh, no, I cannot say at this time. At another time I will say what this album is, oh, yes, at another time I will tell all. I can tell you that it will feature many of my regular singers and that it will be a good deal of fun. My friend Grant Geissman is doing the musical directing and arrangements (he’s done arrangements for several of my albums) and we are hoping to be in the studio within the next eight weeks, both here and in New York. 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 some excellent questions to answer? I do, I do – oh, a Schmidt and Jones reference.

Well, let’s dig in and get right to the answers to your excellent questions. Let us not tarry nor dally or even dally nor tarry. Let us not waste one more minute, one more second, one more nano-second.
JMK asks if it would be festive if we offered to hold the Oscars online here at HHW? I think that is a fine idea, because right now I have no way to watch the Academy Awards. About two months ago, I got so tired of my cable company and their bad reception and uninteresting channels that I had them shut it off. I kept meaning to get digital something-or-other, like Direct TV or whatever that is, but I haven’t done it yet. So, we must have an Oscar party right here so I can be with it and happening.
William E. Lurie asks what professional critics in any media, either current or past do I most respect and which do I think don’t know what they are talking about. Also, how much influence do I think they have on the success or failure of a movie, play or TV show? Oh, I really don’t give much credence to any critics, but there have been some who were interesting to read, who wrote well, and who at least had style and a brain. I liked reading the collected film criticism of James Agee, I liked when my friend Dick Lochte was reviewing theater for Los Angeles Magazine (he was the best theater critic this city has ever had), I liked Vincent Canby the movie reviewer and hated Vincent Canby the theater reviewer. Ebert and Siskel were like a vaudeville team, even though Siskel spoke with passion – I just rarely agreed with either of them. Robert Hilburn, the music critic for the LA Times was always interesting to read, even if he was a pedant and even if the music he was reviewing didn’t interest me much. I used to enjoy reading Walter Kerr, and even John Simon occasionally tickles me. And, of course, I love all the critics who have given me lovely reviews over the years, and hate all the critics who haven’t.
Jrand52 points out that today’s sitcom usually has what is known as an A story and a B story. Most of the classic sitcoms of old had one story from start to finish. Jrand would like to know when this practice started and if I think it’s because television performers today can’t sustain a full 22 minute show. Well, I really haven’t watched many of these new shows. I remember shows like Barney Miller had multiple stories going on, but I prefer one story for the half-hour. I think Seinfeld and Friends and those kinds of shows all ushered in this new trend and I think that since television is one big Xerox machine, they’ll all do it until someone comes along with the radical idea to go back to a one-story show. It’s not hard to sustain a 22 minute show, and of course in the old days they had to sustain 26 minutes. I think audiences have no patience, are restless, and must be assaulted in one way or another, hence short scenes rather than long scenes.
Arnold M. Brockman asks if it annoys me that MGM/UA does not have an insert or booklet in a large percentage of their DVDs. Well, given that that large percentage is usually their budget line, where you can usually get them for 14.99 or less (usually closer to ten bucks if you search) I don’t really mind. What I do mind is shoddy transfers or no effort to at least upgrade the master they’re using, i.e. Exodus. There is no excuse anymore for a DVD that is presenting a scope or widescreen film not to be enhanced for widescreen TVs. It’s cheap, it’s bad business, and it degrades their image.
Pam asks what performers I think are underappreciated and/or should have had more prominent careers. Well, the already mentioned (in yesterday’s posts) Tommy Rall. Even though Joel McCrea was a top movie star for years, I feel he was vastly underrated in his later years, and is almost virtually forgotten today. Same with Randolph Scott. I suppose Leslie Parrish was underappreciated and should have worked much more than she did (you will understand this obsession with Miss Leslie Parrish when you read Kritzerland). I’m sure there are lots more, too.
Jose asks what Broadway theater is my favorite. Well, I like the Martin Beck very much, and the smaller houses like the Music Box and the Helen Hayes. I love the Shubert, and the Broadhurst, all those classic houses. Have I been to Angus’ (former host of Joe Allen) new restaurant? I have indeed, because that was the site of our very first Hainsies/Kimlet soiree. Do I think an old-fashioned variety show would work today? This was the first of two questions related to this topic, and it’s ironic that they’ve been asked, as I’m in the midst of developing just such a TV show. Therefore, I cannot say more, other than to say yes, I think it would work, especially what I am designing, which is a fabulous idea if I do say so myself. But mum’s the word for now. Later, the word may be something else, but for now it’s “mum”. “Mum” is currently the word du jour, have you noticed?
MattH asks what my opinions are on the music of Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber. I think I’ve answered this before – I like some of his stuff very much, and a lot of it not at all. I thought Aspects of Love was the worst tripe I’ve ever seen or heard. But there are parts of Phantom that I like very well, and his Jeeves! musical has some pretty things, and even Sunset Blvd. has some interesting things. But, am I a fan? No.
S. Woody White asks what films have won the Oscar for Best Picture that I wish had been won by another nominated film and why? Well, not that I remember what was up against them, but almost anything other than Gandhi and Chariots of Fire should have won. I think that most years I would prefer a different choice than the one they come up with. Of course, for the last five to ten years, it’s all about money and promotion – whoever pays the most, and campaigns the hardest wins. Have I ever heard the story of The Randy Vicar and the Victrola? I do believe I have and it was most randy.
Laura asks if I remember the first fan letter I ever received. Was it from one of the movies or my TV appearances? I think the first I ever received was before I’d done anything really. I’d acted in a show at City College and then I’d put on the first couple of shows I’d written, and a girl sent me a lovely fan letter and a drawing. We ultimately met, and she’s been an acquaintance and friend ever since, and, in fact, did the drawings that are the main titles of The First Nudie Musical. I do remember getting some fan mail from The Partridge Family, and I got quite a bit during the run of the Dinah Shore series on CBS. I still get nice letters and e-mail to this day. At the time of Nudie Musical, I got tons of letters from fans all over the world, which was lovely. I have them all in storage. Do I remember the first time someone asked for my autograph? Not specifically, no, but it was fairly early in my TV career, that much I remember.
Tom from Oz asks if I like the David Lean epics and if so, which are my favorites. I’ve never been as big a David Lean fan as I should be and I can’t really tell you why that is. I like Lawrence of Arabia but I didn’t love it in the way I loved several other not-as-well-thought-of epics, like King of Kings and Spartacus. I really like Bridge on the River Kwai, I enjoyed Zhivago, couldn’t stomach Ryan’s Daughter, and did like A Passage to India.
Sandra asks if I’ve ever been to the circus. Only once, and only because I was invited by my friend Eric Michael Gillette who, at the time, was the singing ringleader for Ringling Bros/Barnum & Bailey circus. They had a funny clown, and one of the clown’s routines was to take people from the audience and make fools of them. Naturally Eric made sure I was one of those people. Thanks, Eric. Can I juggle? No. Can I ride a unicycle? No. But I can wear a red nose.
Sigerson Holmes once read an early BK’s Notes and noted that I said that someone had been searching for the words “cole slaw”. This has made Sigerson Holmes self-conscious about what words he searches for here at haineshisway.com and asks if that is still the strangest search I’ve noticed or have visitors searched for even stranger things. Oh, much stranger. First, there are two kinds of searchers – there are, as we all know, the merry searchers and I think we all know what the merry searchers are merrily searching for. Then there are the dear reader and the odd visitor searches, and those run the gamut let me tell you. The other day someone was searching for “sex”, for example and found quite a few examples. But please don’t feel self-conscious because, with the exception of the merry searchers who are quite obvious and identifiable, I don’t usually know who is searching for what. So, search away for anything – if you’d like to get the most hits for your search, I would try “Well, dear readers” or “Unseemly Button”. What is the cheapest site that I’ve found to purchase DVDs online? I’m afraid I’ve been errant and truant about doing so, usually because I get them before street date here in Los Angeles, and usually because I have store credit various and sundried places and so they don’t cost me anything (I am constantly trying to thin out this morass of DVDs by trading the ones I’ve watched and will never ever watch again in for other things).
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must start figuring out who to cast on this little album we’re doing, and I must attend two count them two meetings. Then I shall eat various and sundried foodstuffs and then I don’t know what I shall do. Today’s topic of discussion: Let us put on our casting director hats and do Wrong Casting. Today, we are doing a haineshisway.com revival of The Rocky Horror Show. So, let’s hear you most wrong casting choices for all the roles. I, myself, would like to see Steve Lawrence play Frank ‘n’ Furter. Your turn.

Replies: 92 Unseemly Comments

Yesterday Angela mentioned Italian poutines. What exactly is that? I'm not familiar with it!
Jennifer
Posted by Jennifer @ 03/20/2003 09:08 AM PST

Speaking of "Lawrence of Arabia": I was reading an article recently about the widescreen technologies of the 50s and 60s (Cinemascope, ToddAO, etc.) and the writer reminisced about seeing widescreen pictures at his small town movie house, which did not have the proper equipment or screen to show these kinds of films. He recalled in particular once having seen "rence of Ara." True or not, I thought it was funny.
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 09:21 AM PST

BK and I have a couple of things in common! I, too, felt that ASPECTS OF LOVE was the worst batch of tripe I had ever heard. I have tried, on several occasions - to make it all the way through the CD, and have never managed it yet.
And, I was also singled out for notice by that same clown at the circus. I was cast as the Ringmaster in a production of BARNUM, and decided to go to a circus to remind myself of the atmosphere, etc. I happened to be seated on the aisle, and was dragged (drug?) down to the centre ring, at which time I was asked to do various stunts and shenanigans that would certainly embarrass somebody who wasn't used to making a fool of himself on a regular basis.
On another topic, I was under the impression that the first show to really make use of the A and B story in a sitcom was M*A*S*H. Anybody know if this is true? It certainly isn't a recent phenomenon, so I wouldn't hold Seinfeld to blame.
Posted by Dave @ 03/20/2003 09:22 AM PST

I think I might have to change my name.
I want to make it clear that I'm not the "Steve" posting here recently or the DVD-reviewer Steve.
I had the pleasure of seeing "Les Mis" last evening in NYC thanks to an offer I couldn't refuse from TDF On-line at $26 a ticket. My daughter wanted to see it again before it closed and my wife and I did also. We had seen it just after it opened in '87 and again in '97 at the special 10th Anniversary performance that we attended as a result of winning a NY Times contest. The show still retains the power it always had and the performances were, for the most part, excellent. Terrance Mann is back as Javert and I think he's a little over-the-top now in his acting. The show is a remarkable piece of theatrical stage work. In my opinion, it's certainly the best of the parade of British (in this case - French first) megamusicals that this show was the leader of. The audience, not seemingly tourists, was extremely enthusiastic. The first act finale is one of Broadway's best "raise-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck" Act I finales that I've seen. I think BK had a "favorite Act I finale" topic of discussion a few months ago.
Posted by steveg @ 03/20/2003 09:23 AM PST

Well... casting a show that Lea DeLaria has already been in...
Brad & Janet - Donnie & Marie
Frank 'n Furter - Michael Jeeter
Rocky - Stephen Furst
Magenta - Bea Arthur
Columbia - Rue Maclanahan
Eddie - Anna Nicole Smith
The Narrator - Macauley Caulkin
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 09:26 AM PST

Oh, hooray! I am excessively fond of Rocky Horror.
Frank: Bea Arthur
Riff-Raff: Tobey McGuire
Magenta / Usherette: That Be-Dimpled Pepsi Girl
Columbia: Conchata Farrell
Brad: Tim Curry
Janet: Jennifer Jason-Leigh
Dr. Scott / Eddie: James VanDerBeek
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 09:29 AM PST

Oh, dear...how could I forget to cast the eponymous Rocky?
Rocky: Cheech Marin
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 09:32 AM PST

Lovely old theatre, the Schubert...untouched by the earthquake - or should I say - fire.
Posted by Addison deWitt @ 03/20/2003 09:33 AM PST

Jrand: Did you ever go to Rocky at Lafayette Square?
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 09:36 AM PST

Mum
Mum mum
Mum
Mum-Mum
mum mum mum
m
u
m
-who am i? e.e. cummings all of the sudden?
But it is nice to have a "word of the day" today.
As for Rocky Horror casting... Not sure about specific roles, but these people would be fun:
MacCauly Culkin
Michael Jackson
Ed McMahon (actually, he would be kind of fun as the Narrator)
Liza & David
Barbra & Mr. Streisand
Emeril Lagasse
Kevin Costner
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 03/20/2003 09:37 AM PST

Jennifer -- my first experience with poutine, Italian style was at the Pointe Claire mall many years ago. My teenaged cousin loved the combination!
Posted by Angela @ 03/20/2003 10:20 AM PST

I've been busy at work with big meetings and high profile projects so it's nice to move that aside and tend to something important!
This is such fun. The cast of Friends does Rocky Horror
Frank: David Schwimmer
Riff-Raff: Matthew Perry
Magenta: Jennifer Anniston
Columbia: Courtney Cox-Arquette Brad: Elliot Gould (Monica & Ross' father)
Janet: Christina Pickles Monica & Ross' mother)
Dr. Scott (the Narrator): Matt LeBlanc
Rocky: Lisa Kudrow
Jose: You're right, I think Ed McMahon could work as the Narrator.
Back to work
Posted by Ben @ 03/20/2003 10:29 AM PST

Angela: Okay I live right near there!
Hmmmm, next time I see poutine, i'll check on the variations. Is it just like spaghetti sauce? I'm assuming they still have the cheese? Does it have meat?
Thanks.
Posted by Jennifer @ 03/20/2003 10:31 AM PST

Donny and Marie as Brad and Janet. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!! That is short of Morman insense (not the correct spelling I know, but typing quickly froom work and having a brain fart on spelling words today.)
Frankenfurter.....Paul Lynde
BTW the guest book at www.brucekimmel.com is up and running and there are changes and additions. Come take look again.
Posted by Michael @ 03/20/2003 10:32 AM PST

Michael: For heaven's sake, what's wrong with incense? I used to love it, myself -- especially sandalwood. ;)
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 10:39 AM PST

Warning: long post!
Well, Dear Readers, last night I treated myself to a lovely birthday present by attending the opening night of SHE LOVES ME, as mounted by Reprise! (how I detest that exclamation point!) here in Los Angeles.
Ever since I picked up the OBC recording of SLM some years ago, I have thoroughly enjoyed the score to the show, but last night was the first time I had the opportunity to see it on the stage. For those of you unfamiliar with the work, it is a musical version of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joe Masteroff. (TSATC was later updated as YOU’VE GOT MAIL, for those youngster moviegoers out there.) Two characters who work as clerks at a perfumery in a European city during the 1930s bicker endlessly during the day, and anonymously write each other tender love letters at night. Even if you’ve never heard of any of these versions of the story, if you are a habitué of this site, you can figure out how the story ends.
What a magnificent piece of theatre! This has to be one of the best-written shows (music, lyrics and book) that I have ever seen. (And I have seen more than a few, Dear Readers.) Song flows naturally from dialogue, and dialogue flows naturally from song. Each and every one of the songs moves the plot along, fleshes out the character singing it, or provides appropriate color to strengthen the context for the main action. In other hands, many of the characters might have come off as stock, but not here.
In the starring role of Amalia Balish was Rebecca Luker. Being thoroughly enamored by Miss Barbara Cook’s rendition of Amalia’s music on the OBC recording (and having recently heard Miss Cook in the flesh sing “Vanilla Ice Cream” in her MOSTLY SONDHEIM show), I was more than a little anxious over how Ms. Luker would handle the role, though I have enjoyed her thoroughly each time I have seen and/or heard her in the past.
I am pleased to report that Miss Luker is perfectly cast as Amalia. Not only did she handle the singing superbly, she came across as totally genuine in the role, which ranges from mean (she was downright nasty in the café scene) to sweet. Her “Will He Like Me” was particularly touching and she nailed “Vanilla Ice Cream.”
Scott Waara played Georg Nowack, and although he was not bad, mind you, I would have liked to have seen someone with a bit more charisma and heft in the role. Mr. Waara was somewhat monochromatic, with little evident difference in his character when he was in his bickering mode with Amalia as compared with when he was in his loving mode with her. (Oh, how I would have liked to have seen someone like Brent Barrett as Georg!)
Ilona Ritter is role, I imagine, that is prone to being overplayed. Miss Kaitlin Hopkins wisely allowed the inherent humor in the clever writing for her part and her songs stand on their own, without adding unnecessarily broad acting or slapstick, and she was most enjoyable to see and hear. As Steven Kodaly, Damon Kirsche had just the right balance of matinee idol good looks tinged by a degree or two of smarminess. All of the other secondary roles were well acted and sung, and the ensemble was excellent.
Reprise! has taken to creating more and more elaborate sets for each of their shows as they go along. (Their shows were originally only semi-staged on the sparest of sets.) For SLM, we had a rather solid looking Maraczek’s perfume shop. (The orchestra played from the roof the building.) A shimmery curtain established the café, and Mr. Maraczek’s hospital room and Amalia’s bedroom were credibly created with props. The costumes were excellent, too. The patrons of the shop were elegantly garbed, and the shop employees wore clothing that evoked the era and place quite well.
For those of you who care, I had two celebrity sightings in the audience last night: Miss Sally Struthers and Mr. Jerry Herman.
By the way (BTW in internet lingo), Reprise! has just announced their 2003-2004 season: BABES IN ARMS, KISMET (which was postponed from the slot this season that SHE LOVES ME took) and COMPANY. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and not to come across as being upset about an opportunity to see a classic Sondheim show on the stage, the choice of COMPANY strikes me as somewhat odd, given that Reprise!’s mission, theoretically, is to keep alive musicals that would not ordinarily be produced. COMPANY does get revived with some regularity; in fact, there is a run of it going on right now at a 99-seater in L.A.
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 10:39 AM PST

OK, we're treading into Nightmare Territory here, people. Donny and Marie as Brad and Janet? Paul Lynde as Frank N. Furter? Liza and David as Magenta and Riff-Raff?
I will wake up screaming once a week for at least the next 10 years. Thanks.
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 10:41 AM PST

Hey I have a question about Reprises' She Loves Me. Is the cast off script? Does it basically seem like a full production? I am so jealous of anyone seeing this. I love this show from the recording I have (the one with Ruthie), yet I've never seen it performed live :(
Posted by Jennifer @ 03/20/2003 10:50 AM PST

Such news about BK's movie and yet SUCH NEWS about a new CD!!!
Rocky Horror Show...ah yes...
Brad - Tony Down
Janet - Angela Cartwright
Frank - Stephen Talbot
Magenta - Shelley Fabares
Columbia - Evelyn Rudie
RiffRaff - Paul Peterson
Eddie - Frank Banks
Narrator - Barbara Billingsley
Rocky - Rex Smith
Lulu - only saw it once at the Speedway Cinema - when I was stage managing it (and doing double duty as a Transylvanian) during the L O N G run at the Phoenix Theatre. The whole cast went one Saturday night to the movie and it was GREAT!!!!
Jay - SLM is a great favorite of mine as well. I love the score. Have only seen a couple of productions, but both have been outstanding.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 10:53 AM PST

Tony DOW - that is.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 10:53 AM PST

Dear Reader Jennifer:
The cast is off-book. Reprise! shows are coming mighty close to what you would call a full production. (In fact, I've seen some "full productions" elsewhere that don't have near the polish that Reprise! has had of late.)
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 10:54 AM PST

Jay---
I'm glad you enjoyed SHE LOVES ME so much. It's one of my favorite shows too. In your history you missed one other version: the 1948 MGMusical "In the Good Old Summertime" took the story and re-set it around the turn of the last century in a Chicago music store, but the plot remained the same. The score consisted mostly of actual songs of the period. It starred Judy Garland and Van Johnson with a great supporting cast and Liza's debut in the final scene as the daughter of Judy's and Van's characters.
Also prior to a change in regime at MGM, SHE LOVES ME was scheduled to be filmed with Jerry Orbach and Julie Andrews, a film that never happened.
And now a question for everyone: why has SHE LOVES ME never been the smash hit it deserved to be? Neither the original production in the 60s nor the revival in the mid-90s which trusted the original material and made very few changes had runs as long as they deserved. It seems to be a show that fans of musical theatre loved but was not known to the casual theatergoer. I'm just wondering if anyone has any idea why this gem of a show wasn't nearly as successful as shows that were not as good.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 11:06 AM PST

I think that it's because it's a small, intimate musical and "Broadway" houses are so big. I've only seen "She Loves Me" once, in a theater that holds about 150 people. There were only five rows of chairs and it was absolutely delightful. I couldn't imagine seeing it in a giant 1000 seater theater.
Posted by George @ 03/20/2003 11:11 AM PST

Jrand: You were there for my Rocky Years! I was a Rocky Regular at the time it was playing at the Phoenix (never got to see it there, alas, as my Rocky Years were also my Broke Years ;) ). Our Frank tried out for the Phoenix production and was mightily disappointed that he didn't get it. I always thought he looked kind of like Andrew "Scorpio Killer" Robinson.
I might even have been Magenta on the night you were there...
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 11:12 AM PST

Jrand: BTW, why not Jerry Mathers as Rocky, in keeping with your theme? ;)
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 11:14 AM PST

Very good question, Bill.
I don't have an answer, but I will say that I avoided the show for a long time because I had the double cast album (bought for 49 cents and not played), was not a Jack Cassidy fan, and thought it was just a tryout for the FIDDLER team. It looked just too precious for my taste.
Then, I went to see it at the Indiana Repertory Theatre - an organization not known for doing good musicals. And I was charmed from beginning to end. I played the record from then on. And was delighted with the revival CD. Then about five years ago, a touring company came through and I saw it at Ball State University in Muncie. Took a couple of theatre friends who had never heard of the show. Both of them became fans as well and said...why don't we know this show?
I guess, it is the kind of show you have to experience in a theatre - and once you do, you become a fan - so we just need to see it done more often.
And what fun it must be to perform!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 11:14 AM PST

If you were Magenta that night, Lulu, I was one of the drunks in the sixth row!
Couldn't take Mathers is a speedo...sorry.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 11:17 AM PST

Jay, thanks for the review of SLM. It's one of my favorite shows. I could listen to Miss Barbara Cook sing Ice Cream every day and never tire of it.
Posted by Ben @ 03/20/2003 11:18 AM PST

Jrand: One of the drunks in the Rocky audience? Oh, *that* narrows it down. :)
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 11:23 AM PST

Thanks for your answer to my unseemly question, Mr BK. I was blaming the writers, but of course the audiences are different than they used to be as well.
Does any other reader have a friend or relative with a name that would be perfect for the character in a play or musical? Real names of real people.
My favorite real name of a real person is a good friend of mine:
Randy Davenport
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 11:29 AM PST

I had a colleague at a previous job whose name was Crystal Valentine.
And the head of accounting--yes you read that correctly, dear readers, the head of accounting--at my current firm is named--are you ready for this?--Candy Kane. (Parents can sometimes be soooo cruel.) I wondered why she didn't go by Candace, until I met her. She looks exactly like what you'd expect someone named Candy Kane to look like.
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 11:33 AM PST

There's a fellow here at work with the name:
Brock McAllister
It sounds like a name that only a studio could have come up with the fifties, like Tab Hunter or Rock Hudson...
Posted by Dave @ 03/20/2003 11:34 AM PST

Jay: You mean she looks like Linda Evans?
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 11:41 AM PST

On a sleazy day.
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 11:42 AM PST

...you can see forever.
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 11:43 AM PST

New love, he's my ne-ew love.
I hope that he
Will always be
My love............
Posted by BBB @ 03/20/2003 11:44 AM PST

Jay: Actually, LE played a character named Candy Kane in a Beach Party movie (Beach Blanket Bingo?). That's why I asked. If memory serves, she even wore a red-and-white striped bikini. She also said "marvy!" a lot, and was kidnapped by a smitten Erik VonZipper.
*sigh* O AIP, where art thou?
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 11:45 AM PST

okay, I'm a little slow! Italian style poutine is basically the same as the original but has a pasta sauce substituted for the gravy.
Posted by Angela @ 03/20/2003 11:46 AM PST

I wonder if BK will now regale us with the tale of The Vicar and the Randy Davenport?
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 11:48 AM PST

Yes, Lulu, Beach Blanket Bingo, and dubbed by the lovely Jackie Ward who also sang on some of the Partridge Family albums. AND Linda had 3 solo songs and Annette only had 1!!!!
Walt Disney would have been appalled!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 11:50 AM PST

Years ago I knew a man named Bob Love and when his friend named Harold Strangeways moved in with them the names and the mailbox and doorbuzzer read Love and Strangeways.
My ex-wife Judy is now married to a man named Ken Dude (pronounced Doody) so she is now Judy Dude!
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 11:51 AM PST

What about The Vicar and the Randy Newman?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 11:52 AM PST

Once knew a lady who's exhusband was a football player named Jim Oder.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 03/20/2003 11:56 AM PST

My sisters went to high school with a fellow named "Brick Wall"
My father taught a guy named "Dingle Bell".
I used to work a lady named Patti Melo, which isn't that unusual, except that she wanted to name her daughter "Marsha".
Parents can be so cruel...
Posted by Dave @ 03/20/2003 12:03 PM PST

WFO: I suppose we know why they got divorced, hmmmmm?
WEL: Judy Dude...LOL! I would've kept my own name...or at least insisted that people call me "Judith."
Posted by Lulu @ 03/20/2003 12:05 PM PST

Bill - wonder how many people greeted Ken by saying Howdy?
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 12:10 PM PST

She almost didn't marry him because of his name.
And Lulu, her legal first name is Judy, not Judith!
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 12:19 PM PST

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant -
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind
Posted by Emily Dickinson @ 03/20/2003 12:20 PM PST

I don't know from Rocky Horror...
I have the "She Loves Me" CD that our very own BK produced and I love it. One of our community theaters produced this show a few years ago. They did a great job. They also did a great job with "Lucky Stiff." BK also produced a CD of that fun show.
Posted by Laura @ 03/20/2003 12:26 PM PST

Jay: Which version of the show did Reprise! do? Was "Tango Tragique" included?
I remember when MTI was still Finale-ing the materials, we were sent the original version of the script and score for our perusal, but then sent the revised book and score (Roundabout) when our final box arrived. *And I've always wondered if the person who did the logo for that production gets a cut with each chorus book that gets printed.
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 03/20/2003 12:41 PM PST

Hey, I believe were getting to a jiggy number of posts? Are you getting jiggy with it, bk?
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 03/20/2003 12:42 PM PST

Dear Reader Jose:
I believe it was the original version. "Tango Tragique" most definitely was included in the scene at the cafe.
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 12:49 PM PST

Jay: I, too, enjoyed your review of "She Loves Me." I, too, have loved the score for years and years. The CD release was a revelation -- it being my first visit with the recording in stereo (and no tics and pops).
The "celebrity" sighting was fun -- Sally Struthers (mentioned first, in all her Gloria) AND Jerry Herman (as though he might be considered a lesser light and rate only second billing, if that). That's my take on it...for a grin, though...not that it's really what you intended!
I know a girl (I remember he as a girl, although she's in her 50s now) named Melody Chord.
I also knew a Tiffany Sterling and a Trey Porter (who swore he'd never heard of a "porter" in terms of railroad employees).
And we've all heard of Armin Hammer!
The following has nothing to do with a play on names:
In college, in the class ahead of mine, there were two students named Katie Swofford and Brick Tilley.
Amazingly -- and it was a shock to most who knew them then -- they fell in love their senior year and got married later. Both went to Hollywood. I know Katie did some acting in some minor films, but she got into television directing. I know her credits were quite heavy during the 80s. She directed several episodes of the last season of "Dynasty," plus eps of "Falcon Crest" and "Dallas" (IIRC).
Katie and Brick divorced, I'm told. She has worked under the names Kate Swofford and/or Kate Swofford Tilley.
I cannot for the life of me remember Brick's real first name, but I know he's worked over the years in film/possibly TV.
BK: Out of the thousands of TV directors in the area, did you ever meet or cross paths with Kate Swofford Tilley?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/20/2003 12:57 PM PST

I also once new a man with the last name Silver who wanted to name his son Sterling. Fortunately (for the kid) his wife refused.
It could have been worse though. He could have named him "Hi Ho".
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 01:07 PM PST

"She Loves Me" is also one of my all time favorite shows. I saw the original back in '63 several times. Before seeing SLM I saw "The Shop Around the Corner" on either the Early or Late Show on TV and was amazed how closely the musical followed the movie and improved upon it with the addition of B&H's music and lyrics. I remember taking the subway into NYC to get the two-LP OCR at Sam Goody's the week it was released, which back then, was usually only a week or so after the show opened. The original cast: Cook, Cassidy, Massey, Baxley, Frey, et al. were perfect. I recommended the show to lots of people and was dismayed that the show didn't last longer than it did (about 300 or so performances), but I think that maybe it was just too mild for audiences then looking for more of a show that would appeal to the "tired business man"; or that there was just too much competition that came in the next season, the 63-64 season with "Here's Love", "110 in the Shade", "Jennie" (which had a big advance because of MM), "Hello, Dolly!", "Barefoot in the Park", "Funny Girl", "High Spirits", "Girl Who Came to Supper", "What Makes Sammy Run", etc. A lot of these, which had opened or were about to open, had big names attached to them, big productions and big advances from theater parties and individuals, dwarfing the small and intimate SLM that had opened in April '63. Frank Rich talks about seeing SLM after walking out of, I believe, "Jennie" in his "Ghost Light" book. The Roundabout production of SLM was fairly successful, running almost a year. I also saw that a couple of times - a very good production but not up to the same level of the original.
Posted by steveg @ 03/20/2003 01:11 PM PST

Dear Mum,
Robert Hilburn writes much better than the music he reviews.
Last night, I saw the movie, MY SISTER EILEEN, with Janet Leigh, Betty Garrett, Bob (billed Robert) Fosse AND Tommy Rall. Tommy and Bob have a great "challenge" dance in the first part of the picture. You could see in Fosse's choreography influences of Astaire and Kelly as well as the emergence of what we know today to be the Fosse style.
My two favorite David Lean films are Bridge on the River Kwai and Passage to India. I always felt he paid close attention to the details of his films (I can still hear the sound of a boot stepping into the slush of snow in Doctor Zhivago).
Another (IMHO) underappreciated actor who didn't work enough nor get the roles he should have was Stuart Whitman. Do you remember him?
To all you She Loves Me lovers: I have yet to "get" this show beyond that it is charming (and I am a great fan of Bock & Harnick).
Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 03/20/2003 01:38 PM PST

Count me in among the SHE LOVES ME lovers. My favourite Bock & Harnick score, and a thoroughly charming and funny book.
I forgot to mention...after all the discussion of a certain person on rec.arts.theatre.musicals, I decided to check it out for myself. I hadn't visited ratm for years, but have fond memories of some pleasant discussions with some music theatre enthusiasists there. My, what has happened since?! I guess we already know the answer to that question.
And, to the topic at hand, there is a local production of ROCKY HORROR SHOW coming up soon in my neck of the woods, and I can only imagine what sort of cast they will assemble for it. I can only tell you one name that will NOT appear on the cast list. (Hint: it appears at the end of this post.)
Posted by Dave @ 03/20/2003 01:46 PM PST

Another huge fan of SHE LOVES ME. I, too, saw the original show, and remember being charmed by it without feeling wowed as I left the theater. I think that was the difference. You left DOLLY or FUNNY GIRL or FIDDLER with your socks blown off, and you left SHE LOVES ME with a nice smile on your face. I guess that just wasn't enough, even back then. The thing I remember most (other than adoring Barbara Cook and thinking Jack Cassidy was a beautiful man) was the empty seats around me. Almost every show I had been to on Broadway up to that time had been sellout smash hits and there were almost never empty seats. SHE LOVES ME was the first time it dawned on me that not all shows were popular to everyone, and there were rows of empty seats in the orchestra.
One of the local community theater groups did this show here in Charlotte a few years ago, and even though the production was mounted very well, it didn't sell well. This is just one of those shows that doesn't grip people by the collar and drag them into the theater. But it is my favorite Bock and Harnick score BY FAR.
My suggestion for ROCKY HORROR:
Robert Goulet as Frank 'n Furter.
Posted by Matt H. @ 03/20/2003 02:34 PM PST

Wonderful news about the new CD with Mr Richard Valley. SCARLET STREET is indeed the best genre magazine around. Check out the forums, dear readers!
Not positive about the content of the CD, BUT if you need a picture of Miss Allison Hayes for the booklet, here's a sample. Wa-hoooooo they pose for publicity like they used to. Click my name.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 03:05 PM PST

Oh, and thanks everybody for sharing your Real People Real Names....what a show it would be with
Randy Davenport
Judy Dude
Jim Oder
Crystal Valentine
Candy Kane
Melody Chord
Tiffany Sterling
Trey Porter
Dingle Bell
Marsha Melo
Produced by Love Strangeways Productions
And featuring Brock McAllister as The Beaver!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 03:10 PM PST

Jrand52:
Given the nature of the pose, I don't want to know what they use the implement hanging on the fence for!
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 03:10 PM PST

That is, they DON'T pose for pictures like they used to.... damn my typing fingers.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 03:11 PM PST

Jrand wrote re: She Loves Me:
I guess, it is the kind of show you have to experience in a theatre - and once you do, you become a fan - so we just need to see it done more often.
I don't know about this. I fell in love with this show as soon as I heard the cd for the first time.
All this talk of the show makes me want to see it!!!!
Dave wrote:
I forgot to mention...after all the discussion of a certain person on rec.arts.theatre.musicals, I decided to check it out for myself. I hadn't visited ratm for years, but have fond memories of some pleasant discussions with some music theatre enthusiasists there. My, what has happened since?! I guess we already know the answer to that question
You thought we were lying? :)
Posted by Jennifer @ 03/20/2003 03:23 PM PST

How about the Talk Show Rocky Horror:
Frank - David Letterman
Riff Raff - Craig Kilborn
Rocky - Carson Daly
Brad - Conan O'Brien
Janet - Ricki Lake
Magenta - Caroline Rhea
Columbia - Rosie O'Donnell
Eddie/Dr. Scott - Jay Leno
Narrator - Johnny Carson
Posted by George @ 03/20/2003 03:26 PM PST

I'll put an end to this lull by dropping in a link to the review of SHE LOVES ME from tomorrow's Los Angeles Times:
http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/theater/cl-et-miller21mar21,0,7074450.story?coll=cl%2Dtheater
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 04:30 PM PST

Hmmm, only part of the url got hot-linked. You'll have to copy the whole url and paste it into your browser to see the review.
Posted by Jay @ 03/20/2003 04:40 PM PST

Jennifer,
No, I had no doubt that your stories of you-know-who were true. I just hadn't visited rec.arts.theatre.musicals (or any other usenet group) for years, and was prompted to check it out again.
Posted by Dave @ 03/20/2003 04:49 PM PST

Rocky Horror:
Ian McKellen as Frank-N-Furter.
Kate Burton as Magenta.
Billy Joel as the Narrator.
Dr. Stephen Hawking as Doctor Scott.
Jeffrey Wright as Riff-Raff.
George W. and Laura Bush as Brad and Janet.
I think that these HHW versions would give us all a reason to say "Damn it!"
If I may be permitted for a moment to brag, I just got admitted to Washington University in Saint Louis! Out of 20,000 applicants, I was admitted to a freshman class of 1,300. (Who knows how many are accepted who do not go, but still, that is a pretty impressive percentage.)
I also got this 10 days before they said I would; they said that we would know April 1st. This leads me to hope that more good news is coming sooner than I expect it.
Thank you all for stomaching my bragging, but I wanted my online family to know.
Posted by Hapgood @ 03/20/2003 05:30 PM PST

As a former BRAD MAJORS, I hereby submit the following cast for THR ROCKY HORROR SHOW:
Anissa Jones as Janet
Johnny Whitaker as Brad
Brian Keith as Frank
Sebastian Cabot as The Narrator
James Brolin as Dr. Scott
Bill Bixby as Riff Raff
Brandon Cruz as Eddie
Beverly Garland as Magenta
Kathy Garver as Columbia
Vin Diesel as "The Creature."
The Transylvanians:
Eve Plumb, Tim Considine, Barry Livingstone, Maureen McCormick, Barry Williams, Mike and Todd Lookinland, Susan Olsen, Christopher Knight, Stanley Livingstone.
Posted by td @ 03/20/2003 05:56 PM PST

If anyone has a personal website that they would liked linked from my site (www.brucekimmel.com)click on my name and let me know
Posted by Michael @ 03/20/2003 05:56 PM PST

I am short just one Vinnie quote for www.brucekimmel.com. if anyone knows what the quote is for the Paul Simon Album it would be greatly appreciated. Please email me.
Posted by Michael @ 03/20/2003 05:59 PM PST

td - if you use the late Anissa...how about substituting for Magenta...Miss Allison Hayes instead of Beverly Campbell Garland Crank, hotelier? Allison after all was a redhead.
Dinner is prepared!
Tell us about it, Janet!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/20/2003 06:06 PM PST

Congratulations, Hapgood!
Posted by Laura @ 03/20/2003 06:17 PM PST

Great news Hapgood.
Do I detect a post from above that was shortened after being posted?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 06:27 PM PST

Good on ya, Hapgood!
I'll keep my fingers crossed for that extra bit of good news you hope to hear!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/20/2003 06:55 PM PST

Congrats!!! Hapgood
Hooray For Hapgood!
Hapgood can be trusted,
Friends of the well-adjusted in group A!
Hooray For Hapgood
Hapgood's patriotic,
Friends of the un-neurotic in Group One!
Hapgood has no answers or suggestions
Only a lot of questions---
We like questions
What's the use of answers of suggestions?
As long as we're told where to go,
There isn't a thing we need to know!
Posted by Michael @ 03/20/2003 07:18 PM PST

note to Jrand:
I do so love Miss Hayes, but, does she fit *thematically* into my ROCKY HORROR SHOW?
Posted by td @ 03/20/2003 07:33 PM PST

Congratulations Hapgood.
I wonder if Anita Bryant would fit into the RHS cast?
I have just changed my internet provider so will contact my usual bunch of suspects soon.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 03/20/2003 08:15 PM PST

I remember Anita Bryant
singing "Little Orange Bird"
and other ditties by the
Sherman Brothers, composed
for the Citrus Grovers of
Florida, in the ealy 70's.....
which were sponsoring the
"Enchanting Tiki Birds"
attraction at Walt Disney
World.....
Posted by François @ 03/20/2003 08:29 PM PST

Hey, no one mentioned the 1964 London cast recording of "She Loves Me," a worthy addition to any "She Loves Me"-lovers' CD collection.
It features Rita Moreno -- and get this, folks -- this time she does HER OWN SINGING!
Also in the cast:
Anne Rogers
Gary Raymond
Barry Martin
Joan Ryan
Peter Sallis
Madge Stephens
Peter Ardan
Karen Clare
Phillip Hinton
Carl Jaffe
Paula Levens
Gary Miller
Gregory Phillips
Posted by Sigerson Holmes @ 03/20/2003 08:44 PM PST

In the tiki tiki tiki tiki room
In the tiki tiki tiki tiki room
All the birds sing words and the flowers bloom
In the tiki tiki tiki tiki room!
Posted by Anita Bryant @ 03/20/2003 08:47 PM PST

Rita Moreno usualy did her own singing. Although I'm not sure about KING AND I, only a few notes in WEST SIDE STORY were dubed (by Betty Wand). She sang in both the stage and movie versions of THE RITZ. More recently she has been touring off and on with a singing act and put out a wonderful CD a few years ago.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/20/2003 08:51 PM PST

"The birds sing words and the
flowers CROON"
but NO, Anita did not sing
those songs.... they are
different ones for an LP with
the Mike Sammes Singers....
Rita Moreno is also touring the
States with a Cabaret act and
has cut a new cd....
Posted by François @ 03/20/2003 09:15 PM PST

Sorry, William,
I was just echoing what you
were mentioning before, i
guess...
Her cd is under the Varèse
Sarabande label, matter of
fact......
Posted by François @ 03/20/2003 09:31 PM PST

I am ever so jiggy with all these lovely posts.
WEL: Shortened post? People can't shorten a post once it's posted so I'm not sure what you mean. Certainly I haven't shortened any posts and since I'm the only one who can (well, Bakalor, too) I'd doubt it.
Posted by bk @ 03/20/2003 09:55 PM PST

I couldn't remember if I posted yet today, so I will now to be n the safe side.
Posted by Kerry @ 03/20/2003 10:12 PM PST

RHPS...a favorite for me, as I played Columbia for 2 years and Frank for 5.
Frank: Terence Stamp or Michael Caine
Brad: Rick Moranis
Janet: Nia Valardos
Magenta: Catherine Keener, Cher, or Kathy Bates
Riff Raff: Pee Wee Herman
Columbia: Sarah Jessica Parker
Dr. Scott: Steve Martin
Narrator: Jeremy Irons
Eddie: John Goodman (I do love William Lurie's suggestion of Anna Nicole, though!)
Posted by KT @ 03/21/2003 12:21 AM PST

TD: Your Rocky cast is just pure, unmitigated evil. :)
Hapgood: CONGRATULATIONS! You deserve to brag...boast all you want!
Francois: Did you know that The Enchanted Tiki Room has recently been "updated" (and ruined)? They dumped the great songs (except for a snippet of The Tiki Room song itself) and added the vocal "talents" of Gilbert Gottfried. Gott in Himmel.
Posted by Lulu @ 03/21/2003 02:00 AM PST

Oh, all right, td....you are right...keep Beverly Garland, please. 8-D
Congratulations, Hapgood!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/21/2003 02:17 AM PST

Hapgood: Congratulations! Cake all around. There has been too little cake in this here room lately. We need to rectify that situation. Jose, can you come up with some sumputous, decadent treat worthy of Hapgood's great news? Maybe something with peanut butter and chocolate?
Posted by Ben @ 03/21/2003 04:22 AM PST

Rita definitely did not do her own singing in THE KING AND I. Her vocals were dubbed by Leona Gordon. Betty Wand sang all of "A Boy Like That" in WEST SIDE STORY. This info came directly from Marni Nixon.
Posted by Matt H. @ 03/21/2003 07:09 AM PST

I thought Marni Nixon was the best president this country ever had.
Posted by Barry Goldwater @ 03/21/2003 07:44 AM PST

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