Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/28/2003 08:24 AM PST

If I could go back to one specific day in my life, I wouldn't have to go back too far. It'd be a particular day when I was in graduate school in Oklahoma. I had a huge fight with my best friend at the time and said some really nasty things to her. The conversation needed to be had, but I could have made my points in a kinder way. I have since apologized and things have been smoothed out, but we hardly talk anymore. I would also tell a few people what I thought of them...in good and bad ways. Boy, I'd LOVE to have a good half hour with the director at that school! I'd really let him know what I thought of him. I was too afraid to then, but now I realize that he had no control over my life, really. I let him scare me...intimidate me...and I shouldn't have allowed that to happen. Of course, its easy to imagine saying those things to him now. If I actually HAD to, that'd be a whole different story.

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 08:25 AM PST

If you have been following this board, perhaps you have noticed I have been quite errant and truant posting during the day - and many times at night too. The reason is because until today, I didn't have a computer or internet at work. Quite difficult to get my REAL work done, let alone my other REAL work like posting here!

I am happy to announce that I can now post and read from work, so I am a happy boy.

Anyway... Thank you Dear Writer Bruce for the mention today. I have to agree with you.. I find it odd how people are so "sad" about Hope's passing. Not to be callous.. but the guy had an amazing and productive 100 years.. I find that incredible and inspiring.. not sad in the slightest..

Posted by Craig @ 07/28/2003 09:03 AM PST

Ja wohl...good work, Craig! Glad you've got a computer finally. I hope you got some time off yesterday!

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 09:25 AM PST

Chat was such fun last night...what a swell party it was.

Bob Hope lived a full century! During this time, he starred in just about every entertainment medium, and not just delighted millions upon millions with his comedy, but also lived that old cliche of making the world a better place through his humanitarian work. I agree that his death is not something to mourn over excessively...we should celebrate him and not wail about his death.

The one sad thing to me though is that just about all the legends from the golden age are gone now. I can't help but frown a little at that.

If I could go back in time, there are probably a lot of mistakes I would want to fix, but I'm going to go the Piaf route--je ne regrette rien. I believe things happen the way they are meant to, for good or for bad.

There are moments though that I would want to relive. Like seeing my first Broadway show Cats, and being exposed to the first time to the beauty of live theatre. Don't laugh at me...for a thirteen year old, Cats was the deal! I'd like to go back to when I got to go backstage of the St. James theatre after seeing The Producers, and then I got to walk on that historic stage with Brad Oscar. (We got the tickets through him...his parents are best friends with a woman who works with my mom.) I'd like to relive the moment when I won $250 in a school writing competition...that was sheer joy. And I'm sure there are many others.

Well, I'll try to check back later...tomorrow morning I leave for Rehobeth Beach!

Posted by Maya @ 07/28/2003 09:35 AM PST

THREE MILES! I ran three miles this morning! Yippee! -Now's let celebrate with some cheesecake!

As for going back in time... I have two things I would like to relive - well, the first one I would like to revise...

-I would like to go back about six weeks ago, and just try the other road... just to see where I would be right now. -Yes, very cryptic, but I'm sure we all have such moments.

-I would also like to go back to the closing night of Sunday in the Park with George at Arena Stage in 1997. What an emotional day that turned out to be. I had been with the show from day one, from the first audition, and six months later.. WOW! It was a great cast, and great process. I still remember being so caught off guard when I went to hug some of the cast members (Liz Larsen and Sal Viviano were Dot and George, SuEllen Estey was Yvonne) and just broke down sobbing. It happened so many times that night. Unfortunately, since I had to leave early the next morning for a gig - a nice 13 hour drive - I wasn't able to stay too long at the closing night party. It would have been nice to sit back and relax and celebrate our accomplishment with the rest of the cast and company and crew.

Oh, and I guess I would also like to go back to age six when my family visited the Philippines - and this time I would not succumb to a high fever for two days. What an amazing trip. I haven't been back "home" since - and that was the last time I traveled overseas. At least with my upcoming trip to Australia I'll be coming close.

Finally... Thank for the memories! -Need I say more?

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/28/2003 09:38 AM PST

-And I really do want to correct this one...

Thanks for the memories!

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/28/2003 09:39 AM PST

Jason: Your story sounds a bit like that song from "A Chorus Line" -- if you heard that the school director had died, would you reach right down to the bottom of your soul and cry 'cause you feel nothing?

: )

I imagine many (most?) of us have people in our lives we'd love to confront, knowing what we now know. Chances are, however, that those people helped shape who we are today. They may very well have given us more drive than we would have otherwise mustered.

I have ZERO desire to relive high school over again...no way would I want to be around many of the people who made high school so meaningless for me. BUT they are directly responsible for how I've developed through life...not all of it has been great. But it might have been ordinary. Instead....va-va-va-VOOM!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/28/2003 10:04 AM PST

All right, where in tarnation IS
everyone? This is no way to
start off a new week. This is
no way to treat a lady. We
must have many more posts -
after all, we have a really
interesting topic, do we not,
and after all, I do need reading
matter, do I not.

I will tell you this, however - no
matter what the traffic is for the
rest of this month, July has
become our biggest month
ever and by quite a margin.
Isn't that exciting? Isn't that
just too too? Soon we will be
the most popular site on all
the Internet. Now, let's get
some postin' goin' on, shall
we?

Posted by bk @ 07/28/2003 10:04 AM PST

Here I am, and I'm having trouble finding something to go back to, mostly because I only have 16 years behind my back, so there isn't too much to relive. But I'd probably want to go through middle school again. All through sixth and seventh grade I was the kid who wanted to be popular. I never got there, and was treated badly. I've figured out who I am and I look back at those 2 years and cringe. Because if I had succeeded in becoming a cool kid, I'd probably be doing drugs, drinking, and pregnant right now, which is what's happened to the majority of those girls. (and yes, bk, these are the girls who wear their things and low jeans around showing their "dirty pilows") They're exactly the opposite of who I want to be. On one hand I guess I wouldn't want to change that, because I like who I turned out to be, but on the other hand, I just wish I could have been told that I had a cool future.

I think I'd also like to go back in my mother's life for one small moment and change something she did. When she was in her early twenties, she worked for an airline. She was cleaning the plane after landing once, and who was the pilot, but John Travolta. This was early in his career, and she wasn't a fan. He asked her out for dinner and she declined, but got his autograph for a friend. She says he had the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. If she had gone out to dinner with him, I can only wonder what would have happened.

Posted by Sarah @ 07/28/2003 10:16 AM PST

Correction: thongs, not things...although they do wear things, just things made out of dental floss.

Posted by Sarah @ 07/28/2003 10:17 AM PST

Ron P.: I hate to admit this, because it makes me sound like a total weakling, but I'll tell ya...after two solid years of that man, I didn't know whether to scratch my watch or wind my butt. (Oh! A 'Steel Magnolias' reference.) I don't know if he did much to give me the drive I need to succeed, but I do know that he succeeded in giving me all kinds of complexes and neuroses (sp?). I can't tell you the number of times he told me I was fat...even so far as to say, "You know, if you were twenty pounds lighter I'd have cast you as Freddy (in MY FAIR LADY), so you should be glad to be his understudy." And that was on my third day of school. It only got worse from there. I actually had it better than a couple of others, who had the misfortune of actually being obese. He once told my friend, Megan, that she would never get a role in a show at that school until she lost weight because he "couldn't afford to costume her." Oh! But if I had to hear him tell me to "suck it in" one more time!

He was/is a hateful, hateful man who would get in our faces and scream bloody murder about how we were trying to make him look stupid...how we all thought (especially me, because I had the audacity to correct him in class a couple of times) that we knew more than he did, and that without his brilliance we would be nothing (are we allowed to use references from the same song more than once in a day?). I kept hoping that he'd get mad enough at me to hit me, but it never happened. It ALMOST did, but I guess he had a little more self-control than I gave him credit for. Though he was fond of throwing things...

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 10:19 AM PST

Maya---
You want to see CATS again? Most of us could barely sit through it once.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/28/2003 10:20 AM PST

Hey guys. Well I haven't caught up reading yesterday's notes yet. But I will try to later. I missed another chat last night (sorry!). I have been sick, sick, sick AGAIN. Ugh! Out of the blue I got this horrible sinus infection, sore throat. And now i have this horrendous cough. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

Hope everyone else is doing better.

Posted by Jennifer @ 07/28/2003 10:32 AM PST

Get better, Jennifer! Sinus infections are the worst.

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 10:34 AM PST

Thinking of Bob Hope ...
To me, Bob Hope was an imp with a perpetual twinkle in his eye--like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary. You knew the minute you saw him that you were in for a good time. I think one of his great pleasures was singing and dancing and, fortunately for us, we get to see him do plenty of each in his movies and tv shows. Some of my favorite films of his are those with a mix of comedy and drama--THAT CERTAIN FEELING, SORROWFUL JONES, CRITICS CHOICE, THE FACTS OF LIFE, THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS, BEAU JAMES, etc. I think he figured out early in his career that to sustain a life in show business, you had to be versatile and "go with the flow," embracing each technology (radio, film, tv) as it came along.

He lived a full life and used it well and that's why I feel no sadness at his death. Thanks for the memories, Bob.

Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 07/28/2003 11:06 AM PST

BK - What an interesting topic to start out our week. So very Thornton Wilderish of you. I am going to have to think about this one.

Jason - How great to have you back on a regular basis. Not that I want to get rid of you, but when do you leave again for stock?

Maya - Isn't Brad Oscar just delightful? I was just looking at the Boston Playbill for The Producers, which both he and Mr. Taylor signed and sent back to me with some mutual friends.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 11:07 AM PST

TCB: Thanks! :-) We have a brush-up rehearsal on Aug. 12 and I come home (hopefully) on the evening of the 31st. Sept. 1 at the latest.

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 11:10 AM PST

TCB---
Is Brad Oscar in a road company of THE PRODUCERS now? I thought that the road company became the LA company with the leads replaced and didn't realize there was another company touring. Who is Mr. Taylor (who I assume is doing Leo)?

Warning ---
When PBS presents the musical numbers from past Tony Shows in August IT IS PART OF A BEGATHON.
Be prepared to have frequent beg breaks of ten minutes or more, phone numbers flashed on the screen during the show, and end credits eliminated. Also, if you are taping it in advance to watch later, allow at least an extra 30 minutes from the time it is scheduled to end. PBS is a worthwhile cause, but I really hate the way they save their best programming for these frequent pledge periods and then present them in such a manner as to make them very difficult to watch. I hope that like some of their prior "pledge specials" this gets released on DVD and VHS so it can be watched as its producers intended.

And while we're on the subject, why do ads say "available on DVD and Video" when they mean "DVD and VHS or tape"? Isn't DVD a form of video?

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/28/2003 11:22 AM PST

If I could take a time machine
back, I'd like to go back to
1960 and a) buy up about
twenty copies of the first
edition of To Kill a
Mockingbird, and b) go sit in a
theater on opening day of
Psycho, just to relive what that
was like. I'd also like to go
back and just walk around
Hollywood Blvd. back then,
and also walk around my old
neighborhood and say a few
things to a few people. Of
course, I've gotten to do that to
an extent in the books. They
really have been like taking a
time machine back.

Posted by bk @ 07/28/2003 11:24 AM PST

Mr. Taylor is Andy Taylor, who
is, I believe, now with a singer
I used to work with quite often,
Alet Oury. If anyone goes
backstage to see Mr. Taylor, I
wish they'd have Miss Oury get
in touch with me - I haven't
spoken to her since The
Stephen Schwartz Album - she
was originally going to sing
Beautiful City/Day by Day on
that album, but she got sick
and I had to do a last minute
replacement for her with Laura
Benanti.

Posted by bk @ 07/28/2003 11:26 AM PST

WEL - From what I understood Brad to say, it isn't a touring company but an actual Boston company of the show. As BK said, Mr. Taylor is Andy Taylor and had I known BK, I would have sent the message along. I am, however, going to be sending Mr. Taylor a letter in the next week or so, if you want me to include that message, let me know.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 11:34 AM PST

Yes, pass on a hello for me
and tell him that I'd love to
catch up with Alet.

Posted by bk @ 07/28/2003 11:51 AM PST

At first I was going to take BK's time machine to the summer I was 21 years old, with school behind me, nothing but possibility in front of me, and not a care in the world. But I will save that for a different journey in the time machine and use this occasion to revisit a more recent experience.

This past spring, I vacationed in Maui for the first time. I spent two nights on the windward (eastern) side of the island, in Hana, which is not nearly as developed as the more popular leeward (western) side of the island. One morning while I was there, I got an early start and hiked to Angel Falls and Blue Pool. Now, dear readers, you must imagine the most beautiful postcard you have ever seen of a Hawaiian waterfall and that is what Angel Falls and Blue Pool look like. Perhaps because it was relatively early, perhaps because it was a Sunday, perhaps because it had been raining lightly earlier that morning, when I arrived at Angel Falls/Blue Pool, there was no one else there. I immediately stripped and jumped into the pool and swam below the falls. The combination of the fresh, sweet water, the sound of the falls coming down the rocks, the fresh air, the visual beauty of the falls, the pool and the lush vegetation growing around the falls and my solitude all combined into an incredible moment of bliss. It was a good twenty minutes before anyone else showed up. Yes, that incredible experience is a place and time I would not mind reliving one bit!

Posted by Jay @ 07/28/2003 11:52 AM PST

That was a rather silly thing for me to say on the number one website in the world. Having announced here on HHW that you would like to get in touch with Ms.Oury, BK, you can be assured that she will have gotten the message from someone, long before I have gotten around to picking up my paper and pen.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 11:55 AM PST

There are two companies of The Producers on the road. The first national settled down in LA for a while with Mssrs. Alexander and Short. The second national is doing the 4-8 week engagements in various cities. -Although some cities are only getting it for two weeks already. It's kind of like the two companies of Mamma Mia - one plays major cities for a minimum of four weeks in each city, and the and the second plays two week engagements in smaller markets.

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/28/2003 11:58 AM PST

My friend, Tory Ross, our Esta in MOBY DICK, is in the 2nd Nat'l Tour of THE PRODUCERS, I believe. I don't think she's in L.A. right now, so she'd have to be in the 2nd company, right? Right.

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 12:00 PM PST

I have a tangential (extremely) connection to the late lamented Mr. Hope. My father was a General in the US Army and very good friends with Gen. William Westmoreland and his lovely (really) wife, Kitty. My father had some kind of honor bestowed upon him in (probably) the late 70s or early 80s like Military Citizen of the Year, and Gen. Westmoreland and Kitty came to the gala celebration. They had just come from Bob and Dolores Hope's Palm Desert (?) ranch, and they came bearing basketfuls of lemons from the Hopes' lemon trees. I had a photo taken of me holding several lemons, and I then had that photo made into a card with a snippet of the score of Trini Lopez's (WEHT, BTW?) "Lemon Tree" as a margin design. It's a highly sought after collectible now...not.

Posted by JMK @ 07/28/2003 12:02 PM PST

Bob and Delores' desert home is in Rancho Mirage. It's an unusual design and sits secluded high on a hill, visible from many points in the Coachella Valley.

Posted by jay @ 07/28/2003 12:11 PM PST

It was a great chat yesterday, even though I was the Miguel Godreau of the evening (a Dear World reference; and definitely egomaniacal, since as the Deaf-Mute he nearly walked away with the show). I was just too busy laughing and reading - and when I got to replying about crushed nuts, we were already talking antiperspirants. Moment to relive (or to revise): My best friend Patty and I were hitchhiking on the west side of Manhattan, and were picked up by Mr. Billy Rose - who I think was heading home on his way back from his estate in Jamaica (Caribbean, not Queens). (There were also a pair of exotic parrots in the chauffeur-driven limo.) He took a shine to these two ballsy and starstruck teenagers, and before dropping us off on the east side, invited us to one day visit him in his office at the Ziegfield Theatre. We never took him up on his offer - and within a few months he was dead. He was such a kind and sincere man (I later read in his biography that he honored every offer/promise he made).

Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 07/28/2003 12:19 PM PST

Well, Jose, the Boston run of "The Producers" is longer than 4 - 8 weeks. They opened mid-June and are scheduled through, I believe, September. Is that still the second touring company then?

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 12:21 PM PST

When I was a kid, our neighbor traveled with Bob Hope as part of his staff. He said that Mr. Hope was as swell a guy in his private life as he was in his public life.

As far as the time machine: I'd go back to high school and avoid meeting a few people.

Posted by Laura @ 07/28/2003 12:34 PM PST

Correction, correction--a little voice is telling me Gen. Westmoreland's wife's name was actually Kitsie, not Kitty. Can you believe the stuff my unconscious dredges up? I can't. :)

Posted by JMK @ 07/28/2003 01:02 PM PST

So many wonderful Bob Hope movies, and his intros on the Bob Hope Chrysler Theater were sometimes the best thing about the program.

PALEFACE and SON OF PALEFACE are a couple of my favorites...PARIS HOLIDAY and ALIAS JESSE JAMES...a couple of rarer films...and of course he made an appearance in THE FIVE PENNIES with DR Susan.

Long life with many accomplishments and much humor.

I would go back, in the time machine, to the opening night of the play I wrote to see all the wonderful actors again, and enjoy their company and the company of my friends.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 07/28/2003 01:13 PM PST

According to www.msn.com, the first all-gay high school will open in New York in the fall.

Why?

For a group of people who have been fighting for so long for equal rights, why does there need to be a school strictly for gays, transgenders and bisexuals?

And can you imagine what P.E. will be like? Boys crying about having to play basketball, just waiting for the chance to hit the showers... All the lesbians beating up the theatre queens...

All joking aside, I think its a bad idea. What are YOUR thoughts?

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 01:35 PM PST

Personally, I would think that gay teenagers would have less to worry about in a public high school in New York than they would in other parts of the country. Jason, are you sure they aren't just renaming the High School of Performing Arts to reflect the student body? :-)

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 01:43 PM PST

Haha! No...this is a brand-new school named for Harvey Milke or some such person.

I agree, though...New York would hardly seem like a city where gays would feel threatened in school.

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 01:45 PM PST

I believe it is Harvey Milk, without the "e". Milke sounds like a bodily fluid.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 01:48 PM PST

Do you think they intended to name an all-gay school with a name that sounds like a bodily fluid? I wish they'd rethink that.

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 01:51 PM PST

It's not a new school. They are just expanding it from about 40 students to 100 and giving it a principal. It isn't even in a school building... it's some rooms above the Astor Hair Salon. They call it a gay high school, but it is mostly for kids who are so far out of the closet that they could not survive in a regular high school. They had a documentary on some station about a similar school and these are definitely not your run-of-the-mill gay kids. The school is more for transgendered and cross-dressing teens. The New York Post had nothing better to put on their front page today so they tried to build a mountain out of a molehill.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/28/2003 01:55 PM PST

I actually picked up the Post to read about Harvey Milk High.

I'm surprised some here believe that gays wouldn't feel threatened in New York's public high schools. As a CITY, Gotham may be an enlightened place, but, high schools students are not known for their tolerance, not even here.

The building also houses a tremendously popular barber shop.

Which brings me to my question: What barber do you recommend in New York? Open Sundays is a plus

Posted by Noel @ 07/28/2003 01:57 PM PST

Harvey Milk is a modern gay martyr. He was shot in 1978 because he was a gay in public office (in San Francisco no less).

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/28/2003 01:57 PM PST

A time machine, huh? There are so many moments in my life I would like to relive or live over, for various different reasons. However, one particular moment stands out in my mind: I was called to audition for the original Broadway production of The Miracle Worker, but my parents turned it down, for their own reasons. Had I the opportunity to go back to that moment in time now, I'd audition for the role, most definitely. Who knows how my life would have been different. Ironically, I did have an opportunity to play Helen Keller years later in our high school production of the play. But on Broadway? I missed my chance!

Posted by Susan @ 07/28/2003 02:04 PM PST

I guess I'd most enjoy going back to the first time I heard an audience laughing at my lyrics. Our high school had a high-end skit competition called Hello Day, in which the three upper classes welcomed the freshmen with mini-musicals about school life, using parodies. Our key to winning this each year was to use show tunes that were already impressive, like Fugue For Tinhorns, or You've Got To Flunk a Senior or Two.

(My collaborator on these has 7 count-em-7 Emmys for making people laugh.)

But, in a sense, I DO relive this day in my past each time a new audience doubles over with laughter at something I've written...

How I'd love to be able to make it to Scotland next month!

Posted by Noel @ 07/28/2003 02:20 PM PST

Noel - Is that where your muscial is being produced?

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 02:26 PM PST

I was just watching THE ROAD TO MOROCCO this past weekend. It's my favorite of the ROAD pictures (I like RIO and BALI a lot, too), and marveled at the chemistry that Hope and Crosby had with each other. Their timing with each other was impeccable.

I visited San Francisco for the first time in 1961, and I'd love to do that trip over but maybe through more adult eyes.

Posted by Matt H. @ 07/28/2003 02:41 PM PST

Thanks For The Memories Mr Hope.
If I Had To Choose Just One Day ..That Sunday That Summer. (Nat King Cole).

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/28/2003 03:08 PM PST

Well, if I could go anywhere, absolutely anywhere at all in time, I think I'd probably choose to go back to a week last Tuesday. Don't you remember? I did all the laundry, and then we watched TV. Wow, we won't see the like of THOSE sorts of days again. (Oh, a Red Dwarf reference!)

Posted by Sandra @ 07/28/2003 03:28 PM PST

Hey - I think this an update on all the various companies of The Producers... Let's see if this makes sense...

-Broadway
-First National - Which is now settled in LA until the end of the year (maybe longer - ???)
-Second National - Currently in Boston
-Third National - Yes, there will be a third touring company which will play the smaller markets for shorter runs.

Depending upon what happens with the LA run, all the companies will most likely feed into the others.

-There will not be a quiz - especially since I'm still a bit confused myself.

*And, I just got back from Old Navy - or as my friends call it, "Disposable Clothing". Nothing like bringing a whole bunch of Clearance Items up to the counter! *And truly nothing like trying on a pair of pants you think are going to be too small, but then they actually fit! -And that was without holding in my stomach!!!

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/28/2003 04:24 PM PST

Congratulations, Jose! And thanks for the update on "The Producers."

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 04:47 PM PST

Tom from Oz--I Music Directed for a very talented lady who was Debbie Reynolds' opening act for years (and was also, in a previous life, Vanna White's roommate). Anyway, this very talented singer wanted to do "That Sunday, That Summer" and asked me to learn it off of a Nat CD, which I did. When she came in to sing it with me the first time, she started by singing "It puts you leaving just one day--" at which point, I stopped and said, "What did you say?" To which she replied (rather indignantly), "It puts you leaving, you know, like, it puts you leaving something." I was laughing for days afterward and simply could not make it through the tune without giggling. I rewrote our entire playlist with "It puts you leaving" in every song title.

Posted by JMK @ 07/28/2003 05:09 PM PST

Ok, JMK, I'm dumb, or maybe just tired, but I don't get it.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 05:13 PM PST

Sorry if I wasn't clear--the singer has simply "misheard" the opening line, but had misheard it as something that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. It just cracked me up. Plus, she was absolutely indignant when questioned about it (her sister was at the first rehearsal, thank heavens, and backed me up that "it puts you leaving" was NOT an idiomatic expression and was certainly not what Nat was singing). Sorry, maybe you had to be there. :)

Posted by JMK @ 07/28/2003 05:30 PM PST

So, JMK, for those of us who don't know the song (and I hang my head in shame for it), what is the line supposed to be?

Posted by George @ 07/28/2003 05:44 PM PST

Look up at Tom from Oz's post which started this whole meshuggah thread--the first line is right there.

Posted by JMK @ 07/28/2003 05:50 PM PST

Another misheard-line story: At the time Ghost was released, my brother was teaching at a school attended by many foreign students, one of whom loved to sing: "I hunger for your tush."

Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 07/28/2003 05:57 PM PST

Forgive me, JMK, I did think it was very funny. I just couldn't figure out how she came up with those words. Sorry.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 06:01 PM PST

Thanks JMK. I smiled broadly.
My next door neighbour's kids used to sing "Almost Heaven - West Of Ginger" They were far too young to have a connection with American States.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/28/2003 06:04 PM PST

If I could use the famous BK time machine, I think I would set it to go back just about 30 years, and to be walking on the beach in San Diego at the Del Coronado Hotel with DR Kerry. It was one of our first vacations to that enchanted spot, it was a beautiful night, we had had a lovely dinner, and we had the whole beach to ourselves with a wonderful night sky and the sound of the waves. The only thing that I would magically add, would be to hear Mr. Jerry Herman's fabulous "Song On The Sand" playing from somewhere....

"I hear la, la-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la, la-la la, and I'm young and in love."

Pardon the mush !.....

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/28/2003 06:43 PM PST

So..."if I had to choose just one day" became "it puts you to leaving"? Huh? Did she have a hearing problem, or am I missing something?

Other misheard song lyrics:

"Excuse me while I kiss this guy" - Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze

"Wasting away again in my dirigible" - Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville

"If you like bean enchiladas and getting caught in the rain" - Rupert Holmes, Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

"I'm not talkin' 'bout nude livin'" - England Dan and John Ford Coley, I'd Really Love to See You Tonight

Posted by Lulu @ 07/28/2003 06:44 PM PST

OK, all NYC dear readers.....

A few quick, last-minute questions please. First, where do you think the absolute best ice cream place is in Manhattan? Second, same question for really good pastrami, corned beef, and fresh-made latkes?

What about the hours (and the correct name) for the Museum of Television and Broadcasting? Can you ask to see certain things there, or just whatever they are featuring at the time you are there?

Has anyone seen the "Kiki & Herb" revue show or whatever it's called. The description looks cute.

Come on Hainsies and Kimlets, pour forth your collective wisdom, from all various neighborhoods. And my apologies for only wanting to search in Manhattan....I'm just not brave enough yet to go exploring in the other boroughs.

Thank you all so much. Airplane time tomorrow morning....WHEEE !!!

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/28/2003 06:52 PM PST

You can't go wrong at the Second Avenue Deli (Second Ave. and 10th Street). Have a latke for me.

Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 07/28/2003 07:15 PM PST

I had a bad hot Pastrami sandwich in New York tonight. Avoid shops across the street from major cathedrals.

Yes, my musical comedy mystery Murder at the Savoy returns to the Edinburgh festival next month. Click my name for details

I don't eat ice cream often, but I'm favorably impressed by Cones on Bleecker.

Oh, I misread your request for fresh-made latkes as a request for lattes... Sign of the times!

Posted by Noel @ 07/28/2003 07:33 PM PST

Wow! I know we’re not talking world peace here, but still I have been obsessing over the topic of the day since BK first posted it. If I could go back in time, what year would I pick?

There are so many choices. So many roads not taken. So many relationships where I should have said yes, but I said no instead. And visa versa. But to go back and live it again, or worse, to go back and change it? Wow, what a question. Well, God knows that if I had my druthers, I certainly wouldn’t have spent twenty years drunk. But at the same time, during my lifetime I have done nearly two hundred and fifty productions, which is no small achievement.

So, in the long run, it is probably better if I just leave well enough alone. There is a prayer that I wrote about ten years ago, that I say each and every day. One line says, “God, bless the people you have put in to my life, both good and evil, for together they have made me the person that I am.” In other words, maybe all the years weren’t perfect, but because of them I am who I am (which is not quite a Jerry Herman referrence).

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 07:36 PM PST

DRs MusicGuy & Kerry: Have a wonderful in NYC. Hope to be there myself in just over a year - finances permitting and Broadway enticing enough! On my last trips to NYC I had trouble ordering coffees - so many choices rattled off and in accents that were difficult. Of course we here in OZ don't have an accent! We boarded a plane from NY to New Orleans. The lady sitting next to us heard our lack of accent and asked from which part of New York state we had come! I guess she doesn't get out much. In New Orleans when replying to a question about our non accent - when told Australia, the response was "I knew it must have been one of those European countries". I love travel. (Why do the wrong people....?).

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/28/2003 07:44 PM PST

May I second those sentiments TCB. I am who I am because of those choices (or despite them). I don't want to go back and change anything despite some regrets over decisions and the consequences of such.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 07/28/2003 07:47 PM PST

Music Guy---
The Museum of Television & Radio
25 West 52nd Street
NY 10019
(212) 621-6600

They are closed Mondays and open at Noon the rest of the week. They close at 5 or 6 except when there are late screenings. You can use the library and watch whatever you want in their collection or watch something in one of the screening rooms.

It's a great place and they have a small but good gift shop as well.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/28/2003 07:52 PM PST

"And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh I kept the first for another day
And knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever go back"

-Sorry, someone mentioned "The Road Not Taken" which leads me right to Robert Frost...but now I have another poem he wrote in my head, "Choose Something Like A Star"...that is one beautiful poem...pardon me, carry on...

Posted by Sarah @ 07/28/2003 08:12 PM PST

Let me add that for guests (non-members) at the Museum of Television and Radio, they limit you to (I think) 90 or 100 minutes a visit in the videotape library, or they did the last time I paid them a visit.

Posted by Matt H. @ 07/28/2003 08:15 PM PST

One day in time: Well, a lot of the
time to which I will want to return in
20 years haven't yet happened:
college, my first date with the love of
my life, My Broadway debut, etc.
In terms of events, I might go back to
some plays that I have seen or done
wich have been particularly
wonderful, particularly playing
Bottom in Midsummer, and seeing-
well a lot of great plays that I've
seen.
But if I were to pick time of life (and I
would not ever return to high school
or particularly middle school) it
would be either when I was 6 or
when I was 10. These seemed to be
times when I was particularly happy,
discovering the world with a
minimum of angst.

Regarding the death of Bob Hope: I
must admit that I have little familiarity
with his work. Those facile
wisecracks never entirely appealed
to me. But am I the only one who is
getting whiplash from the fact that
just two months ago we were
hearing birthday tributes, and now
many of the same things were being
said at his death? The birthday stuff
almost felt like a memorial service
anyway. But I'm not a great fan of
how the media covers the deaths of
famous people: It always seems a
little soulless.

Harvey Milk High School: I am
conflicted about this idea. On the
one hand, high school is not a
particularly good place for gay
youth. I managed to do pretty well
while being entirely out of the closet,
but I am definitely an exception.
Many students either can not be out,
or suffer greatly for it. So that arues
for it. There are certainly some
environments which are worse for
gay students, and some students
(such as those who are transvestites
or trangendered) are less able to
cope in the "mainstream". So that is
an argument in favor.
On the other hand, is separation the
solution? "Separate but Equal" is a
difficult proposition to uphold. Might
it not be better to treat the problem,
not the solution? To make ALL
schools safe for EVERYONE? So my
reaction is that this school is a good
thing for those who need it, but
hopefully it will soon be useless,
because all schools will be safe.
(And there are groups working on
that.)
By the way, I'll bet that lots fewer gay
boys would feel bad about gym if
they knew that everyone else were
as hapless, or nearly so, as they
were, and so the wouldn't be cruelly
mocked. I know that I would have
been!

Posted by Hapgood @ 07/28/2003 08:20 PM PST

Oh, and I think that any high school
should be named after Harvey Milk,
not just a gay one. High schools are
frequently named after important
historical figures who don't share
every feature with the students; the
kids at John F. Kennedy aren't
necessarily all Irish Catholic. (Or
straight!)

Posted by Hapgood @ 07/28/2003 08:23 PM PST

Thank you dear readers, for the info and suggestions so far. It is much appreciated, and hopefully will be put to good use.

And yes, I much prefer a "latke" to a "latte."

DR Noel -- do you live in NYC ? I guess I thought you were overseas full time. Oh dear, it might be time for another "bio - roll-call" here at HHW. But not for a week until we get back!

Although DR Kerry is strongly suggesting that we take my laptop to Gotham with us. I always hate having to use my cheapy "net-zero" account with dial-up when I travel....but at least we could read a little bit of the goings on. We'll see.

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/28/2003 08:27 PM PST

Dear Hapgood --

I agree with you, as far as your thoughts about "separate but equal." It didn't work in the back of a bus, and the concept still doesn't work for me now.....and baby-boy, I'm so far away from high school you can't even imagine! :)

We sure wish you could be in NYC with us, and all the fun!! Hope your summer continues to go well, and don't forget to have those big adventures I told you about!

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/28/2003 08:33 PM PST

TCB, thank you for sharing your sentiments and your prayer. So beautifully expressed! I agree whole heartedly.

Posted by Susan @ 07/28/2003 08:34 PM PST

Thank you, Susan. I hope your birthday was very special.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 08:36 PM PST

DRs MusicGuy and Kerry: While I have not yet been there, I've heard that one simply must, must, must have a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. They use 14 different cocoas! Can you imagine? There's a new ice cream place on 42nd Street, just off of 8th Avenue. I can't remember the name of it, but its something like Cold Slab Creamery. Its not Marble Slab, but close.

I don't know from pastrami or latkes, so I can't help you there.

I have heard that Kiki and Herb are the best things off-Broadway right now. Very funny stuff...

I hope SOMETHING in this post helped, and that you two have very safe travels tomorrow.

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 08:37 PM PST

Dear Jason,

Thanks for the tips....."frozen hot chocolate?" Is that the ultimate oxymoron or what?? We will try to find out where it is. We may have to call you!

I'm afraid the ice cream place sounds like you mean "Cold Stone Creamery." They are all over the country, and kind of "corporate same same" for my taste.

Do you know if there is a late show for Kiki & Herb?? Might be fun to all go!

Posted by MusicGuy @ 07/28/2003 09:18 PM PST

Thank you, TCB, and thank you Dear Readers for the warm birthday wishes expressed yesterday in the posts, last nite at chat, and belatedly today. I was really touched by your sweet sentiment. (Now I'll stop, before I get too mushy!)

Posted by Susan @ 07/28/2003 09:23 PM PST

Serendipity
225 E. 60th bet. 2nd and 3rd Ave.
Sun.-Thurs. 11:30am to Midnight
Fri. 11:30am to 1:00am
Sat. 11:30am to 2:00am

Kiki & Herb
Tues.-Thurs. 8:00pm
Fri. & Sat. 7:00pm & 10:00pm

Posted by Jason @ 07/28/2003 09:30 PM PST

I agree: Serendipity is a really neat place. Location for the movie of the same name, the restaurant is very uniquely decorated with all sorts of interesting memorabilia. Aside from their frozen hot chocolates, their ice cream sundaes are tremendously good. But be prepared to wait a long time to get in. I remember waiting almost two hours! But then it was late in the evening, pouring outside, and we had no place else to go. It was still worth the wait.

Posted by Susan @ 07/28/2003 09:47 PM PST

WEL--I really would not want to sit through Cats again if it were still running, as my musical(s) tastes have (thankfully) matured. Liz Callaway was Grizabella when I saw it and her voice alone might make it worth seeing a second time though.

Then again, if I never hear Memory again in my life, I would really not be very distressed. It is like the musical theatre equivalent of My Heart Will Go On.

Posted by Maya @ 07/28/2003 10:25 PM PST

I agree about Serendipity. I think it is worth it to go there once. Last time I was at the Carnegie Deli, I was disappointed in the quality of the corned beef, but still it is an institution. I still like the Stage Deli, but my favorite is the Celebrity Delicatessen on 8th Avenue at the Milford Plaza. Of course, you could fool me about pastrami. What would a potzevateh like me know of pastrami? I'm a Methodist.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 10:38 PM PST

Food in NYC?

Deli: No Contest - Katz's Deli, 205 E. Houston St. (at Ludlow St.) - A true deli, and the prices aren't all hiked up to the sky for the tourists (like the Carnegie Deli, Roxy and other places around Times Square are). They still make and carve their own pastrami and corned beef by hand. And as was mentioned before, Second Avenue Deli ain't bad either - real good chopped liver.

Ice Cream - Three-way tie for me:
Cones - 272 Bleeker St. (at 7th Ave. South), Fun flavors.
Il Laboratorio del Gelato - 95 Orchard St., (212) 343-9922, Great chocolate made with Valrhona.
Ciao Bella - 227 Sullivan St. (Between Bleeker and W. 3rd)

*Oh, and if you happen to be around Times Square and want a nice snack, head over to Amy's Bread (672 9th Ave., between 46th and 47th). Wonderful baked goods! She also has locations in Midtown and Chelsea.

Kiki & Herb - SEE THEM! Fun, Fun, Fun!

And if I may suggest a restaurant favorite if you need them - well two: Pietrasanta (Italian) and Rachel's (American Bistro, I guess). They are both owned by the same gentleman. The food is good, and very reasonably priced. It's not necessarily knock-your-socks-off food, but very diner-friedly (no far out ingredients) and familiar. *And I always seem to end up eating next to Donna Murphy when I dine at Rachel's.

Well, I best get to bed... Auditions at 10:00!

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/28/2003 10:40 PM PST

Ha Maya, I was reading your post and "Memory" by Betty Buckley came on the stereo. God, I hate that song.

Posted by TCB @ 07/28/2003 10:41 PM PST

I once played a cattle-call - I think it was for Forbidden Broadway here in DC. They only wanted to hear about 10 seconds of everyone initially - about 4-8 measures worth. Well, guess what most of the women picked - and actually it was a smart choice - "Midnight... Not a sound from the pavement..." -Thank you! *It showed off their belt notes right away. And the real smart ones started at "Touch me..." - nothing like belting a high E-flat to get your day started!

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 07/28/2003 10:51 PM PST

TCB--LMAO! That's some synchronocity!

Jose--What Forbidden Broadway was it, btw? That must have been fun playing for that audition, despite (or because of?) the repeated belting of Memory! I have all the Forbidden Broadway CD's except for the second one...

Okay...now to get some sleep before going on my much-needed vacation. See everyone in a few days! Post up a storm so that we remain the most popular site on the internet!

Posted by Maya @ 07/28/2003 11:08 PM PST

There have been several decisions in my life where I wouldn't mind finding out what would have happened if I'd chosen differently...and several that I would just like to out-right change, but none that I would ever admit to in a public setting.

There are several shows that I would love to re-see: Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" with Judy Kaye, Walter Charles, Constance Towers and Maxine Andrews at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater (I just went up to Seattle on a whim and bought a ticket for myself), Benjamin Britten's "Turn of the Screw" (the opera) at the Vancouver Opera in British Columbia (the most incredible opera experience I've had--it was riveting), a local high school performance of "Quilters" was one of the absolute, best high school productions that I've ever seen...and so many more. I try to usher for shows more than once so that the memory is a little more vibrant than if I just see something one time only (almost a "Dreamgirls" reference).

Posted by George @ 07/29/2003 12:34 AM PST

I don't know if MG and Kerry will see this post since it's 7:15 NY time and they have to be up and at the airport at the crack of dawn but DR Jose mentioned some good places. I think Cones on Bleecker is the best ice cream in the city, bar none (IMHO, of course). They have an amazing array of flavors and you get a good amount for your dollar. I've never been to Ruth's but I do think that Pietrasanta is a very good choice.

As for pastrami and the like, I agree, either Katz's or the Second Avenue Deli. Granted I'm not a born in New York New Yorker, but I've been here long enough (23 years) to consider myself a New Yorker and I'm tired of the idea that we all have to be rude which brings me to my point about the Carnegie Deli and the two or three places in Midtown which serve pastrami and corned beef sandwiches. The awful service in these places make me go out of my way to not recommend them to people visiting NY. The tired, angry, bitchy wait staff immediately puts me off AND the size of the sandwich, more than any one human being could eat, is such a waste of food AND it's not even very good!!! You end up paying a lot of money for bad service and a not very good sandwich you probably won't finish (even if you do take it back to your hotel or your home) and in many places there is a "sharing" charge. Go to some off the beaten track establishment where the owners care about the food they serve and about serving their customers. Avoid the Stage and Carnegie Deli experience.

OK, I'll stop now. Sorry for the rant :-)

Posted by Ben @ 07/29/2003 04:29 AM PST

The last time I was in NYC, the two other guys I went with decided we all wanted to try Serendipity since none of us ever had before. So we walked from our hotel on 45th Street all the way over to it. It was quite a trek. I don't mind walking in NYC as you can window shop and people watch to your heart's content, but it was quite a walk. They need to have another shop closer to midtown.

Posted by Matt H. @ 07/29/2003 05:47 AM PST

TCB, after rereading your post this morning, I'd love to read the rest of that prayer, if you'd like to share it. Sounds like powerful stuff.

Posted by Susan @ 07/29/2003 06:03 AM PST

~~~~Positive vibes to DRs Kerry and MusicGuy as they sojourn to the city that never sweeps...the big scrapple...Nueva York, Nueva York.~~~~ :-) I hope they have a safe trip.

Posted by Jason @ 07/29/2003 07:04 AM PST

This is most definetly the most popular site on the internet. 93 posts! Huzzah!

Posted by Sarah @ 07/29/2003 07:19 AM PST