Posted by Noel @ 07/13/2003 10:10 AM PST

Something personal.

Working on a new play and had some readings with some actors I know. Listening to it has given me some ideas how to make it better and make the plot more interesting by just moving some scenes around and altering a character's dialogue by making it more sparse. I really like the plot and hope that it will go somewhere afterwards.

Posted by Michael @ 07/13/2003 10:12 AM PST

Well...again every day I find something new to buy when I read HHW!

We have a day off from THE GLASS MENAGERIE and this is nice. The audiences have been good, but last night, for some reason, the pace of the show was deadly. Some actors decided to talk very slowly and take long ntrospective... pauses... between.... lines....and it was as if it were a virus that spread as quickly as could be.

I ordered two new DVD's yesterday...both Bollywood types...a collection of musical numbes and a movie called...I think....Raaida...or something like that. I just got PAKEEZAH which I had seen on TCM and liked very much.

ALSO tomorrow night on TCM is the Lee Marvin-Angie Dickenson film POINT BLANK which, if you haven't seen...check it out. Great example of on the edge film-making at that time. And I don't think it's on DVD.

Well...I have talked a lot and not said anything.... More posts more posts more posts!

Posted by Jrand52 @ 07/13/2003 10:50 AM PST

Good morning! Good afternoon!

Well, when I sleep in, I sleep in! I just got up about 10 minutes ago. Which would have been around 1:30pm EST. I guess I needed the sleep after yesterday - and the rest of the previous week. I even drew the blinds so the sun would not wake me up earlier than.. well, earlier than I would have had the sun been been shining through my window. And the sun is shining, and it looks like quite a beautiful day outside! Good day for a run in a little but, and a good day for a company picnic later tonight.

I should be able to join the chat tonight, but I may be a little late because of the picnic, but I should be back in time nonetheless.

Well, I have no real topic... just more of my usual blabber and blather... until later...

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/13/2003 10:52 AM PST

Time to get back on the HHW wagon. I've been sadly e & t for most of the week. Ugh. Work. :)

I'm spending a rainy, cold Sunday organizing my parents 30th wedding anniversary which will (God and Restaurant Reservations willing) will be held on August 31st. While this is a terribly amusing past time for a weekend, I'm also quite shocked at the sheer number of family members I have. Twenty-Four first cousins?!? Where on Earth did THEY come from?

I'll try to make it to chat çe soir - but I can't make any promises. Hopefully there will be much to report on my party planning. :)

Posted by Emily @ 07/13/2003 10:55 AM PST

Just read Juliana's Journal....TMM marches on! Terrific stuff.

And the interview with Mr Charles Pogue is wonderful! Tidbits about Tony Perkins, Harlan Ellison, Bert I Gordon, and Sy Weintraub all in the same interview! And he also mentions the Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion playset! Long live Cuffy!

You know his mention of his portraits of John Barrymore reminded me of an encounter I had about ten years ago or so....

At our barn theatre...we had done THE CRUCIBLE. Shortly afterwards, during the Children's Workshop, I was sitting on a bench near the theatre. On the second bench across from me was a woman wearing dark glasses. I knew she had season tickets to our theatre, and she mentioned she was waiting for her grand daughter who was in the CW.

We spoke briefly, her name is Jean, and she said she had liked THE CRUCIBLE...and then she mentioned in passing that her father had been an actor on Broadway. She told me his name...Paul Huber.... It seemed familiar...well he had appeared in a role in THE IMMORALIST with Mr James Dean...and he had been in the original Broadway cast of THE CAT AND CANARY where he had met his wife, Jean's mother. He was instrumental in forming Actor's Equity... The next day Jean brought me his scrapbooks.... His Equity Card is Number 3! And he played in HAMLET on Broadway...with Mr John Barrymore.

And all I could think of is, I am sitting in a barn in the middle of a field in Putnam County Indiana, with the daughter of a man who played on Broadway with John Barrymore.

I learned that day - talk to everyone you can - everyone has a story - and everyone is worth knowing. Well....just about everyone, but you can usually tell within ten minutes or so.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 07/13/2003 11:27 AM PST

Hello, everyone!

Well, first I want to thank everyone who submitted their choices for which Broadway Radio Shows to be a part of our month-long series of Encore Presentations. I was surprised at the range of choices; so, we will be running two shows a week. This coming week we will hear the shows featuring Sharon McKnight and Billy Barnes. I'll load Sharon's show this afternoon and then Billy's in the middle of the week. Enjoy!

Posted by Donald Feltham @ 07/13/2003 11:30 AM PST

Wow JRand52, that is a great story! Yes, you never know what history the person on the street has...just think of how many people we might pass everyday who might have had a brush with Allison Hayes! I we don't even know it!

Watched my DVD of 42ND STREET last night...I bought the darn DVD over a year ago but had not sat down to watch it...but last night I was just in the mood! I love that movie, no matter how many times I watch it...the songs are great and the musical numbers just give me a happy feeling each and every time! Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler are fantastic. Anyone else out there a fan of this film?

Posted by MBarnum @ 07/13/2003 12:05 PM PST

Where in tarnation IS everyone? We must have more posts for our mental delectation.

Jrand - what's the Bollywood compilation of musical numbers called? I've been looking for something like that.

Posted by bk @ 07/13/2003 12:07 PM PST

I'm here, albeit briefly. And the blasted heat here in Pasadena has induced sloth, I'm afraid, so I really don't have anything of any substance to say at the moment. Still, a post to add to the tally is a post to add to the tally.

Posted by Jay @ 07/13/2003 12:19 PM PST

Tally ran
Tally ran
Tally ran

But Tally tired
Tally tired
Tally tired

Tally stopped
Tally stopped
Tally stopped

Car stop for Tally
Tally gotta new gig!

Posted by Tally de 'Ho @ 07/13/2003 12:27 PM PST

BK - the DVD is called Hindi/Bollywood Songs Preity Zinta [sic)

If you do a search on EBAY for Bollywood DVD there are a couple of others with as many as 50 songs....I am not sure what they all are, or what I am getting, but I am sure it's worth the 10 dollars it cost me.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 07/13/2003 12:37 PM PST

Howdy, all y'all. Even without
much to say, just had to pop in
here so as not to be E&T.
Probably off to see "Pirates of
the Caribbean" with a couple
summer stock friends this
afternoon. Other than that, a
wonderfully lazy Sunday (one
that makes us semi-glad
we're not in our company's
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, which
has a 10-of-12 day today... at
one of our two outdoor
theaters... in 90 degree heat).

Posted by Jed @ 07/13/2003 01:23 PM PST

A few things..

Donald - I saw that Susan Egan was once again absent from the list of choices. That is why I didn't vote. Not even for myself. LOL

So with this talk of bollywood, I should mention that Friday, outside where I work (Bowling Green) they were filming a movie in the park. I was picking up some printing at the local print shop (a very good place to go if you have stuff that was printed) and they guy behind the counter (who was Indian. Not Native American, but from India) was very excited because apparently the movie (or film for the enthusiasts) that was being shot was a foreing film (How can a film being shot here be foreign was my question!) Apparently the #1 box office star in India was right outside my window. The print shop employee explained that the guy was worth millions (millions of what I thought)... but anyway.. quite exciting.

So anyway.. I guess it's a foreign film because it's being shot here, released in India and then will be imported back here....backwards if you ask me. But since no one here did ask me.. I'll just let is slide...

Posted by Craig @ 07/13/2003 01:27 PM PST

I'm kind of disappointed to hear that there wasn't more restorative work done of THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. Really like the movie and was looking forward to the DVD of it looking better than the laserdisc. Also a big fan of ONE, TWO, THREE. Cagney didn't get nearly the credit he deserved on that film. He's astounding.

I hear there are going to be new DVD versions of the 14 Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes films this fall. No more public domain atrocities to suffer through. Can't wait!

Posted by Matt H. @ 07/13/2003 02:02 PM PST

I'm here and cleaning my apartment. A friend, who use to live in Olympia (where I live) and now lives... somewhere in Virginia, is flying in tomorrow night at 10:30 p.m. for a visit. I have to clean my apartment!! Well, it's going quite slowly, but I have to take a break and go for a walk. Maybe that'll kick things into gear. I have always worked better under pressure.

My gripes (rants) for the day: After downloading and running the newest virus update, I still have 38 files infected! Three of them are marked "No Remover Available" and two more say "Might Be Trojans" (and I don't think they're talking about condoms). AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!

My other gripe is that there had been a problem with ants in this apartment. Apparently, no other tenant has reported a problem at all. After exterminators came here three (yes, three) times, I thought that they (the ants) were gone for good. Well, this morning I found one ant (so far, only one...but still!) in my kitchen. AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH Again!!!

Okay, I'm now going to take a walk and calm down so that I can finish (hopefully) cleaning my apartment while listening to the show tunes DMX channel.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a more pleasant day than I and I plan to be here for the chat tonight, barring some unforeseen reason. Which, of course, would be unforeseen.

Posted by George @ 07/13/2003 02:05 PM PST

Billy Wilder's Fedora: I saw it when it was first released, and watched it just a few months ago. It's still deliciously campy - maybe even more so today - and every bit as enjoyable as Sunset Boulevard. Especially recommended for those intrigued by Botox - or Michael York.

Posted by TorontoDan @ 07/13/2003 02:45 PM PST

George.... Try downloading a free program called AVG.... It really does find and get rid of most viruses in your computer. I think there is a free version you can download...click on my name for info.

AND we use those bug eradicators that you plug into your outlets....got some of them at Amazon.com and we have not been troubled with ants, flies, or anything since.... You have to get one for almost every room...but they work. Now and then I see what looks like a drunk insect making its way across the floor - but other than that...NADA!!!

Posted by Jrand52 @ 07/13/2003 03:55 PM PST

BK---
TEDDY BEAR is one of my favorite bizarre movies. Any movie that contains Stritch as a Lesbian and a half-naked Sal Mineo is okay in my books. [I worked in stock with Sal a few years before he made this film and I will say that he was a very nice person.]

The last time I saw TEDDY BEAR was at Film Forum a couple of years ago and it was with a movie I had not previously heard of that instantly joined TEDDY BEAR as a favorite bizarre film: THE NAKED KISS which opens with a bald Constance Tower and gets stranger from there. Miss Tower (or Mrs. John Gavin as she is now known) is best known as a Broadway Soprano. She played Anna in the first Yul Brynner revival of KING AND I and a lot more so it was really an unusual role for her. If you like them strange, they don't come more strange than this.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/13/2003 04:07 PM PST

MBARNUM - Also excellent in "42nd Street" is Warner Baxter. Some time ago, I did some research on him at the Margaret Herrick Library of the AMPAS. The librarians gave me a file on him with clippings and PR info. There was a list of his movies that somebody compiled and donated to the library. He was in 107 films (according to this list). Did you know that his hobby was electrical engineering and that he had arthritis so badly he submitted to a lobotomy for relief? One very good film he was in was called "Six Hours to Live" where he played a slain diplomat who is brought back to life by a scientific experiment and has only six hours to find his killer. I read an article by the critic Richard Schickel a long time ago, where he gave the impression that Baxter wasn't a very nice man. Of course, you have to take what Mr. Schikel writes with a grain of salt because he doesn't like ANYthing!

CHARLES POGUE - You know, LOL has more than one meaning. I learned this when I couldn't figure out what LOL meant and asked the Hainsies and Kimlets to enlighten me. Are you absolutely sure you know???

Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 07/13/2003 04:39 PM PST

Just finished Who Killed Teddy Bear - of course, the quality of the VCD (like a fair VHS) only enhances the viewing experience. I do hope Mr. Cates wasn't allowed to direct a motion picture after this - the cast is divoon, however, including Daniel Travanti, and Bruce Glover. As to The Naked Kiss, it is one of my favorite Samuel Fuller films - very sick and twisted but oddly endearing and wacky, too. The difference between it and Teddy Bear is that Mr. Fuller is the real deal - a fine motion picture director.

Posted by bk @ 07/13/2003 05:06 PM PST

Can't believe I was the first post today. What am I, Speedy Gonzalez all of a sudden?

The mention of Joseph Cates reminded me that the late producer was the first person to pay me for writing anything. He had an idea there could be a TV movie about a kid who could talk to dolphins and I wrote him a story. $1000! - the check stub is still on my refrigerator.

If the production of Murder at the Savoy in Scotland next month was paying me that much, I might be able to afford to see it!

http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/listings.cfm?sid=3358

Posted by Noel @ 07/13/2003 05:12 PM PST

Am I the only one who is
slightly "intrigued" by Charles
Pogue's insistence -- at least
3 times -- in making us aware
that he definitely likes women,
if you see what i mean....

"Intrigued" i am....

That said the man has loads
of personality and his
answers, experience, views
and opinions are challenging
and informative....

I just think that the interview
should have been split in two
parts, for better impact... Just
my feeling....

Posted by François @ 07/13/2003 05:15 PM PST

just saw Charlie's Angels 2. Very funny and sometimes a little unbelievable. Had a lot of musical allusions, Grease, Sound of Music, Flashdance, Sweet Charity, Singing in the Rain. Very enjoyable money well spent to see it. John Cleese was in it playing a beffudle father of one of the angels and through a misunderstanding gets the wrong idea what kind of work she does. I recommend it!

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/13/2003 05:16 PM PST

Yes, Mr. Cates is daddy to Phoebe, and has produced much Broadway and TV. The inclusion of Mr. Jan Murray now makes sense, since Mr. Cates produced some of the classic TV game shows of the 50s and 60s (yes, Virginia, including the 64,000 Question). His brother is Gil Cates, who is a fine director. The author only three other credits and they sound equally as intriguing - "The Flesh Eaters" and "50,000 BC (Before Clothing).

Posted by bk @ 07/13/2003 05:27 PM PST

Chat in twenty count them twenty minutes. Be there or be round.

Posted by bk @ 07/13/2003 05:37 PM PST

Chat tonight?

Posted by Jrand52 @ 07/13/2003 05:41 PM PST

Did you skip the notes, Jrand? Yes, chat tonight. As I said last week, the chats are going to have to be on Sundays until this job is over, as I don't get home in time to do them during the week.

Posted by bk @ 07/13/2003 05:44 PM PST

I stand corrected - Clifton Webb, Titanic, 1953

Posted by Jrand52 @ 07/13/2003 05:55 PM PST

Where is everyone?

I went into the chat and no one was there...

Posted by Emily @ 07/13/2003 06:05 PM PST

Hope you are all enjoying the chat.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/13/2003 06:43 PM PST

Francois,

Do I sound defensive? Maybe I do need those damned emoticons. If it will help fuel your intrique any, once a gay friend of ours looked at the tapes littered in the back seat of my car and inquired: "Are you sure you're not gay?"

Posted by Charles Pogue @ 07/13/2003 06:52 PM PST

Jrand - What was Clifton Webb? No, I mean I know he was that, but was the correction conecerning?

Posted by TCB @ 07/13/2003 07:04 PM PST

I saw Constance Towers in the SHOW BOAT revival at Lincoln Center in the 1960s. She played Julie and was wonderful. I really wanted to see it because of Barbara Cook (who was herself marvelous), but I came away a big fan of Ms. Towers and never understood why she didn't become a bigger star.

I did enjoy the interview with Mr. Pogue. I cannot imagine how crushing it must be to nurture a screenplay for a long while and then see it mishandled, even butchered in the process. Money is always nice, but it's like getting life insurance money but losing a child in the process, I would think.

Posted by Matt H. @ 07/13/2003 07:14 PM PST

We saw Pirates of the Caribbean today. I agree with Maya. It was lots of fun, except for a fight scene near the end that went on a bit long for me. I especially enjoyed the bits right out of the Disney ride. Johnny Depp was a hoot. Before the movie there was a preview for another movie based on a Disney ride, The Haunted Mansion. What did you think of it Jed?

Posted by Jane @ 07/13/2003 07:25 PM PST

Forgot to mention, I also enjoyed the interview with Charles Pogue very much.

Posted by Jane @ 07/13/2003 07:31 PM PST

NO, Mr Pogue, no emoticons
for you...

You do have a rich vocabulary,
very useful in the field you work
for, and it's something to
treasure in our cheap world of
expressionless people!

"A picture is worth a thousand
words" they say, but oh the
power of words!

Posted by François @ 07/13/2003 07:45 PM PST

I'm so sorry I missed the chat, but the dinner was served much later than I thought it would have been served - but it was worth the wait. By the time the chat started, the chicken skewers were being put in the grill, so... I hope it was as sparkling as ever!

And I had THE reddest Red Velvet Cake I've ever had. Apparently, the recipe calls for FOUR bottles of red food coloring, but they only used three for this batch - and it was still mighty red!

Now it's time to "enjoy" the rest of my current food coma.

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/13/2003 08:30 PM PST

Well, Jose, for me today it
should be the Blue, White and
Red cake........because, at 6:15
am here it's BASTILLE DAY!

Off with our heads!!!

Posted by François @ 07/13/2003 09:19 PM PST

Dear esteemed and all-wise BK,

and dear readers who were at chat....

I have to beg indulgence, but at that very time I was slaving away at this here desk, trying to manipulate my laptop (is that a euphamism?) and make my pesky Epson Photo printer cooperate. It was for the sake of our small but wise DR Sandra. She needed a couple of color pictures of herself printed for some proof that she had done a class assignment for this most recent class she is in.

Anyway, I got them printed, she was brought over here to the humble ranch by her father (also the DH of DR Laura), and she paid DR Kerry and I with something better that gelt or stock options....a large bag of beautiful, made from scratch, chocolate chip cookies.

So, my excuse may seem feeble, but we can't leave a young dear reader out on a limb, up a tree, stuck in a cul-de-sac, hanging like so much fish, etc.

by the way, to any of you having any moisture or coolness at all....enjoy it. It was burn-ass hot again here today -- I think 114.

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/13/2003 09:24 PM PST

DR Francois,

Oh please, to celebrate your holiday, please go to LeNotre (just off of the Arc de Triumph) and have a wonderful dessert for me. The choice is overwhelming.

Wish we were there to celebrate also.

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/13/2003 09:26 PM PST

Dear esteemed, guapo, and producerly BK...

Have you divulged the name yet of this reality type show you are currently working? I know you mentioned it was the "Fine Living" cable channel, but I haven't seen the actual name.

Inquiring minds, you know...

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/13/2003 09:30 PM PST

Happy Bastille Day, François! (Let us all hum the Marseillaise!)

Chat tonight was fun--I'm sorry for having been errant and truant lately (at least compared to how often I usually post)--my life as of late has been hectic.

Finally got a chance to read the Charles Pogue interview--loved it. Fascinating, clever and funny, although sad to read about how the Hollywood producing hacks tore into some of the screenplays and performed creative vasectomies on them.

Re: florid lyric actors--I love the John Barrymores and the Alfred Drakes of yesteryear. How sad such acting is no longer is style--today we have leading men like Vin Diesel. My friend calls him a golem--he may as well have "Made in Prague" stamped on the back of his head.

C'est tout...for now. *Evil laugh*

Posted by Maya @ 07/13/2003 09:33 PM PST

I just watched the new DVD of "What's Up Doc?" I never tire of watching this film. The commentary by Barbra Streisand was limited to about 4 scenes in the film. It seemed very strained as though she had never been involved in the movie. She did point out various actors and how frightened she was of doing some of the stunts.

The commentary fell apart during the chase scene toward the end when the 2 guys with a plate of glass were dodging bicycles and speeding cars. There was practically no comment on this from her. There were a few "ooohs" and "whooh's" during this segment. It just seems that there should have been more comments given to this slapstick scene.
Friday night I saw a local production of "How to Succeed".
I won't name the theatre because I might want to work there again. The show started promptly at 8pm and broke for intermission at 9:50pm. We were told that it would be over at 11:15 or 11:30. I have seen "How to Succeed" before and it always came in at about 2 hours 20 min. I'm not sure what happened. Perhaps they were trying to be like a DVD that has the Director's Cut. Maybe they added everything that was dropped in Philadelphia and New Haven prior to Broadway. Has anyone ever seen such a lengthy production of this play?

Needless to say I left at intermission.

Posted by Dennis Clancy @ 07/13/2003 09:41 PM PST

Thanks for the wishes...

I won't go to LeNôtre -- i
worked for him in Florida... --
because, in one hour; i go
home, after a 12 hour night
shift...and it's NOT on my way
home..;and I'm afraid it might
be too much for my budget...

I'm going right to bed and the
Parade will.... pass me by!

Do you think I should have
Freedom fries to celebrate the
occasion?

Posted by François @ 07/13/2003 10:00 PM PST

Sorry to have missed the chat,
but my friends and I ended up
taking in an early evening
showing rather than an
afternoon one.

My opinions on Pirates of the
Caribbean align with those of
DR's Jane and Maya. A good
piece of entertainment, which
could have been ghastly if it
had taken itself seriously, but
it's so often tongue-in-cheek
that it works pretty well.
Johnny Depp is indeed quite
fun at times, Geoffrey Rush is
just over-the-top enough, and
whoever the young actress
playing Elizabeth is (can't think
of her name at the moment),
she is a Natalie Portman
clone at times. The music, by
Klaus somebody, seemed to
us to be a Hans Zimmer ripoff.

Posted by Jed @ 07/13/2003 11:26 PM PST

The chat çe soir was fun, fun, fun.

I do wish Tom from Oz and François could/would join in sometime. I know it was tres difficile in the first goings what with having to join AOL and all...but it's really easy now. I cannot fathom why anyone who can visit this here site cannot participate in the site's chat room (but I'm not conversant in PC geek, so what do I know),

We had such splendid discourse this evening; nothing was taboo!

I had some nice chats.

I was sorry to have to leave as early as I did, but a hungry cat is nothing to ignore!

I watched A&E's rather splendid Hercule Poirot outing called "Evil Under the Sun" this evening. It's significantly different from the wonderfully droll, Cole-Porter-drenched movie of the same name. One major loss is the delicious Diana Rigg who, along with Maggie Smith, made the film especially bitchy. Ooh-Oooh! Mustn't leave out Roddy McDowall in that department, either.

And there was no equivalent of Sylvia Miles -- I mean, how could there be.

Kenneth More's daugter in the film is now a son. I'm fairly certain the Poirot shows on A&E are faithful to Christie, so the movie probably took lots of liberties.

Especially sinister is the setting. It's no longer a quaint Mediterranean island but off the coast of England.

I recommend it.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/14/2003 12:07 AM PST

DR RON:
I don't have access to "on line" all the time here. Each connection is a phone call and I am on a "time" basis for the NET. Where I live we will probably never have cable connection. Pay TV is only by satelite too. I am very conscious of my time on the NET and of course "I'm Shy". I suspect our French friend is reluctant to "tie up" the computer for long as it is for the use of hotel guests.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/14/2003 12:50 AM PST

Each of the Agatha Christie films produced by Lord Brabourne made changes from the Christie originals, usually dropping a few minor characters or altering charcters slightly. The solutions to the murders were generally faithful to the Christie books. Those films are so lush, especially EVIL UNDER THE SUN which ranks as my favorite of the four they did. It's for my money THE great camp masterpiece of mystery.

I love the Poirot and Marple BBC/A&E adaptations, but they are low on gloss and high on atmosphere. You pays yer money and takes yer choice.

Posted by Matt H. @ 07/14/2003 06:21 AM PST

Wow! I was searching for references to my grandfather, Paul Huber, who acted on Broadway and in early radio shows like The Thin Man and The Bat. I was quite surprised to find a reference on this page, by Jrand 52 (on 7/13/03), not only to Paul Huber, but to my mother and niece as well, based on an encounter ten years ago. I just sent this link to her. I hope to put together a chronology of Paul Huber's acting credits, including all the plays and a list of the radio shows.

Posted by Paul Nash @ 08/21/2003 10:03 AM PST