Haines His Way
Archives => Archive 2 => Topic started by: bk on October 09, 2004, 11:59:11 PM
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Well, you've read the notes whilst lazing about in your lounging pyjamas, smoking jacket and pipe, and slippers, and now it is time to post until the pithy cows come pithily home.
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First post Huzzah!
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I shall not post MANY posts as yet....as I did yesterday. I am going to see a production of PIPPIN today at the University of Indianapolis. I have NEVER seen a production of PIPPIN and I am reticent....oh yes....I am reticent.....
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Gee, DR François....all those peppery remarks about firing folks -- neighbors, and whatnot -- that sure showed me.
Certainly put me in my place.
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Good Morning!
Again, just checking in...
Had a good dinner last night, and a good time just hanging out and "decompressing" from the matinee...
I'm puttering around the apartment right now trying to get some stuff in order for my trip to Houston tomorrow... And then a 1:00 matinee... And then more puttering...
Laters...
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Good morning, all! I'm still sleeping late, and I really like being up and moving in the mornings. I know the time change will put me back an hour, but my mornings are slipping past.
I have a question today for the DRs. Jerry Seinfeld has his bete noir Newman, and I have a neighbor on my third floor of the building who's my equivalent: the man's a waste, a jerk, a moron, and a pompous ass. Of my five neighbors on this floor, he's the only one who has never, since my health problems began, offered any sort of help or inquired about my health except to make a moronic comment like "I see you're out without your cane." Duh! It was a pair of crutches.
So, DRs, do you each have a Newman for a neighbor?
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Good morning everyone!
Hmmm reading about pyjamas made me think about how I always spell it pajamas. But actually it reminded me that I noticed my favorite pajama pants at Costco yesterday. So I think I shall go back and get them today.
I didn't get them yesterday because I wasn't sure what size mine were. And they have no dressing rooms there.
It is the most bizarre place to try on clothes. They literally make a killing here on clothes. Which is bizarre to me, since there are no dressing rooms.
Although I will say that the clothes are VERY good prices, and extremely high quality (as opposed to Walmart's clothes for example which I mostly find to be of very low quality).
Well if you want to try on clothes at Costco you have two choices. You can either buy it and return it if it doesn't fit. Or you can try it on there IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER CUSTOMERS.
Now for shirts/jackets ... it is no problem. But they sell a lot of PANTS. So I've taken to carrying a thin skirt in my purse. So I just put on my skirt and am on my way.
That's not to say that this is still not slightly embarrassing. But a lot of people are doing similar things. So if one wants to buy these clothes, one must forget about being embarrassed. :)
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Brooklyn the musical:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1948&ncid=2021&e=5&u=/variety/20041010/va_th_ne/new_tuner_takes_a_cue_from__q (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1948&ncid=2021&e=5&u=/variety/20041010/va_th_ne/new_tuner_takes_a_cue_from__q)
Has anyone seen this show? It sounds very interesting.
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Brooklyn the musical:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1948&ncid=2021&e=5&u=/variety/20041010/va_th_ne/new_tuner_takes_a_cue_from__q (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1948&ncid=2021&e=5&u=/variety/20041010/va_th_ne/new_tuner_takes_a_cue_from__q)
Has anyone seen this show? It sounds very interesting.
DRJennifer, a friend of mine saw it this week and said it was dreadful, but the cast was quite talented. Then, again, he said the same of MAMA MIA! and it's still running. I am avoiding the show because of some of its personnel, who will never get a dime from me.
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The person running sound for SOMETHING'S AFOOT saw BROOKLYN in previews last week and liked it, especially the music. There was a lengthy article about it in VARIETY this morning, too.
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I thought I'd send a few WHERE'S CHARLEY? photos. Here's a publicity shot of Greg Mills (Jack), Kristin Huxhold (Kitty), Noha Racey (Charley) and Nili Bassman (Amy). Greg was a hoot, and one of my 4 housemates in Connecticut.
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Many thanks, DR Panni, for sharing that Monty Clift autograph. Seeing him in the film yesterday made me realize how much I miss his presence in movies and how wonderful he was. That much disliked film he made with Jennifer Jones, released here as INDISCRETIONS OF AN AMERICAN WIFE, I've never seen. I think that's the only one of his that I've missed.
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A production shot of the "New Ashmolean" number. The two ladies in front are our leading ladies Kristin Huxhold (Kitty) and Nili Bassman (Amy) and the gentleman behind and betwixt them is Josh Grisetti, Noah's understudy.
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"Once in Love With Amy."
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Charley and Spettigue (Ron Lee Savin).
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Great pics, DR Elmore.
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This is the ladies' dressing room scene; the lady in red is Donna Lucia, the real Charley's Aunt.
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It appears that there was no skimping on the costume budget! The duds look lavish. And what an attractive cast!
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Here's the opening night party: Richard Pilbrow (lights), Tony Walton, Lisa Shriver (choreography), and Michael Price (Goodspeed producer).
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Last one: Tony, Nili, and Noah at the party.
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I never did file a report last night on my comings and goings of yesterday. My bad.
The New York City Ballet matinee performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center was comprised of four pieces:
--Mr. George Balanchine's 1941 Concerto Barocco, to Mr. Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D Minor
Beautiful, clean chorography that uses a small corps to create interesting patterns on the stage.
--Mr. Peter Martins' 2001 Hallelujah Junction, to music for two pianos (played on-stage) by Mr. John Adams
Of all the dance I've seen this week (two performances by the New York City Ballet plus Movin' Out), this was by far the most thrilling performance. The music unfolds and spins (not unlike the Bach, though relying on very different structure and tonality) and the dancing provided wave after wave of thrilling body movement involving up to eleven dancers in various combination. One of the two male leads in this piece brought down the house, and deservedly so.
--Mr. Balanchine's 1960 Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux to music long lost from Swan Lake
This was the most traditional piece in the program, offering homage to the choreographic style of Mr. Petipa and others of his ilk.
--Mr. Jerome Robbins' 1983 I'm Old Fashioned, to Mr. Morton Gould's variations on a song by Mr. Jerome Kern
This piece opens with a film clip of Mr. Fred Astaire and Miss Rita Hayworth dancing to the ballet's title song from the film You Were Never Lovlier. Following the clip there is a series of variations performed to Mr. Gould's riffs on the song by Mr. Kern. Mr. Astaire and Miss Hayworth make a return appearance on a large screen, accompanied by the company dancing on stage, costumed in copies of what the dancers on film are wearing. While this sounds like a boffo concept guaranteed to wow an audience, I found it the least engaging of the afternoon's performances.
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I am going to see a production of PIPPIN today at the University of Indianapolis. I have NEVER seen a production of PIPPIN and I am reticent....oh yes....I am reticent.....
I can understand your feeling, and it ties in with something I say in my annual "subjective history of musical theatre" lecture. I talk about how, in the 1970s, the Broadway musical became something along the lines of a director's theatre, with the staging getting as much focus, and critical appreciation as the book, music and lyrics. Peter Stone once said "If it ever becomes director's theatre, we're all dead."
I'd say the musical theatre today is no longer director's theatre, and that's because so many of the great creative directors (Fosse, Michael Bennett, Gower Champion, Wilford Leach) are no longer around.
But Pippin was the first show I saw in which the writing and the staging were so interwoven, I would never want to see one without the other. It was Fosse's great direction and choreography, along with those brilliant designs, that made Pippin such an enjoyable experience.
And Fosse's long dead. So, approaching any Pippin production today, I'd be similarly reticent.
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BK - Knowing you the pipe is not lit.
Jennifer - I have heard a demo of 4 songs from BROOKLYN. If you like "American Idol" type singing you may enjoy the show, but it is all just screaming to me.
This weekend was the season openers for two similar series: Musicals in Mufti presented Bob Merrill’s HENRY, SWEET HENRY while Musicals Tonight opened with Cole Porter’s JUBILEE. Both were among the best that these series have done and I hope it is an omen for the whole season.
As you probably know, HENRY, SWEET HENRY is the musical version of the film THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT. The musical is a fairly faithful adaptation. The major change is turning the character of Kafritz (who had only one line in the film) into a major role which got Alice Playten a Tony® nomination in the original since she had two show-stopping songs. Mufti’s Kafritz --- Sara Inbar --- was more than up to the task. The whole cast was excellent although less familiar than most Mufti casts. The only semi name was Kaitlin Hopkins from BATBOY. This is exactly the kind of shows Mufti does best: entertaining musical comedies from the 50s and 60s that were less than successful in their Initial run. You can tell without looking that they get an older audience when the biggest laugh in the show came from the mention of the name Princess Lee Radziwell!
Musicals Tonight moved to a new theatre this season. It is a much better location although the theatre itself is not as intimate as the one they used last year. JUBILEE is the musical created when songwriter Cole Porter, book writer Moss Hart and (original) director Monty Wooley took a cruise together. Anyone who had any doubts about Hart’s sexual preference only has to see this show to know what Kitty may or may not have discovered. It is a very camp work with the royal family of England going incognito to live out their fantasies. The queen asks to be called “Butch”. Characters are based on Johnny Weismuller, Noel Coward, Elsa Maxwell and others. I saw this show at Carnegie Hall a few years ago (DR Elmore did the orchestrations or arrangements which I remember were quite good compared with the piano only at Musicals Tonight) with an all-star cast but the only other memories of it I have were of Michael Jeeter running around doing rope tricks and Sandy Duncan forgetting the lyrics to three of her songs! The score is one of Cole Porter’s best featuring two standards (“Begin the Beguine” and “Just One of Those Things”), several semi-standards and a couple of fairly unknown songs (which will no longer be unknown when PSClassics releases their CD of it that is currently in the works). As usual at Musicals Tonight the cast was better at singing than acting (though the difference was not as great in this cast) but unlike their usual shows the chorus all had charm and stage presence as opposed to the singing sticks they have often had.
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In the evening, I attended a concert by the Pasadena Symphony consisting entirely of music by Mr. Richard Strauss.
The concert began with a perfectly acceptable performance of Don Juan.
The Four Last Songs followed, sung by soprano Miss Jane Eaglen. The accoustics of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium are very unkind to vocal soloists, and last night was no exception. I know Miss Eaglen must have a large voice for her to have the success she has had in the roles she has sung in the world's great opera houses. One would never have known that last night. Maestro Jorge Mester kept the orchestra waaay down to provide some semblance of balance between it and the singer. Complicating matters was the question of Miss Eaglen's suitedness to this music. The songs really require a singer with a far more focused tone and greater breath control than Miss Eaglen was able to offer last night.
The second half began with the Serenade in E-Flat Major, which is for a smallish ensemble of wind instruments. Written when Strauss was seventeen years of age, the piece sounds precisely like what one might expect a student's composition to sound like.
The concert concluded with the final scene from Salome. This music is much more suited to Miss Eaglen's voice than The Four Last Songs, and her performance was much stronger than in the first half. Mr. Mester did not hold back, and the performance of this haunting scene, generally speaking, succeeded. Although Miss Eaglen is one of the most popular and successful dramatic sopranos of our day, I cannot keep myself from comparing her to several singers who have preceded her in the dramatic soprano repertory. With no disrespect to Miss Eaglen, her performance last night left me yearning for the singing of people like Miss Birgit Nilsson and Miss Leonie Rysanek, whose interpretations of this music from Salome were far more effortless, credible and transcendant.
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So, DRs, do you each have a Newman for a neighbor?
Yes, a widow, who has planted SHRUBBERY on our property, has a retaining wall which goes 6 FEET onto our property, and yet, if Minx steps on step onto what she calls her yard, she'll come out and yell! Other times, she'll call Minx onto her front porch and pat her for a long while.
Bi-polar? I don't know, she can just be a bee-atch at times . . .and I only let Minx onto the property that contains the shrubbery and the wall. . .
Hello, gang! it's Sunday afternoon!
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Nice new avatar, Noel! ;)
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DRWEL, I suspect that JUBILEE is being performed directly out of the vocal score I created with Tommy Krasker in 1985. It's now available for rental, along with the orchestration. from Tams-Witmark.
And you're right, it's the campest, most blatantly gay show from the 30s and 40s, but it had Moss Hart, Monty Wooley, and Cole Porter all working on the production. You don't think?
Sandy Duncan went from the A list to the Z list on that Carnegie Hall GMHC production. Her nadir was in "Just One of Those Things": "so goodbye, dear, and good luck; here's hoping we meet and we -" She scored no points with the Cole Porter Trust. I was happier with the London 1999 performances in concert and the subsequent Christmas BBC Radio-3 broadcast.
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Hello, gang! it's Sunday afternoon!
DRtd, I've missed you!
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WEL: The pipe is never lit.
Brooklyn: I know several people who saw it, both in Denver and here, who think it's appallingly bad. Furthermore, it's producers (in part) are the same producers who strung me along on both Meltz and Ernest and Nudie, so, like elmore, they will never see a dime of my money nor would I see the show for free. They have also been totally shameless in sending their shills all over the Internet to post ad nauseum, both negative and positive things (theory being all mentions are good for the show - they said this to someone and it was reported). Interestingly, they have kept their own names out of the press materials and poster because their reps are not so hot and they haven't had a hit in many a year.
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DRtd, I've missed you!
DRelmore3003, I'm right here, but busy as a Canadian Beaver! What's with all those beavers on the coinage there? ? ?
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DRelmore3003, I'm right here, but busy as a Canadian Beaver! What's with all those beavers on the coinage there? ? ?
Sexual imagery on a coin? It's one dam thing after another!
I'm off to market.
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Page 2 Dance!!!!
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Dam those beavers! Dam those coins! Dam them all to hell! ;D
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Page 2 Dance!!!!
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Dancing AFTER dinner!
(Oh. A The King and I reference.)
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Beavers?!?! I thought they were loons. I need to spend more time out in nature.
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On the contrary, your Majesty, never has si great an impression been made in so short a time!
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DRWEL sent me a sample CD of BROOKLYN....I listened and then put it away.
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I'm listening to Cissy Houston singing gospel. . . .
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Just taking a short break from my Hamlet paper. Page one of six. My mom got me a twelve-pack of Cherry Coke, which works out to two Cherry Cokes per page. That sounds about right.
I'll check in again when I'm on page two. And Cherry Coke number four.
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I went out to Peet's for breakfast of a coffee and multi-grain scone. I am now back, but will soon go out again for more errands. Contain your excitement, please.
Yesterday I bought some furniture. I have no room for furniture - therefore I must move FOR SURE.
Why did I buy furniture? Well, I was cruising around the hood to see if there were any interesting places for rent, when I came across a garage sale. The folks holding this sale were rich folks who had simply tired of some things. One of the things was a glass side table - round opaque top, single black leg - gorgeous - art-deco and modern at the same time. Looked new - would cost at least $250. (probably more) at an upscale furniture establishment. And it matches the rest of my furniture perfectly. The price - $8. Could I leave it for eight dollars?! Plus, they had a stunning matching table lamp (halogen) for another $8.
I also bought two handpainted chairs which are very whimsical and I might not keep - but couldn't resist. These retail for $198. each. The reason I know this is the woman selling them used to own a store where she made and sold these chairs and she still had these two left. I also bought 4 toy robots for $5. I like toy robots.
So now I have a side table, a lamp, two chairs and 4 robots which need a home.
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I would like to go shopping with Panni! Also, I wish she would share her multi-grain scones. . .I had to settle for a chewy granola bar this morning; but, I've got a turkey breast on the rotisserie, potatoes waiting to become mashed, some cranberrie sauce and stuffing in the wings, so to speak, for dinner tonight.
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I went out to Peet's for breakfast of a coffee and multi-grain scone. I am now back, but will soon go out again for more errands. Contain your excitement, please.
I love doing Peet's for coffee and scones...but I've found they have much tastier ones than multi-grain.
I admire your commitment to healthful living, DR Panni, but once in a while...
...you could eat a cookie.
:D
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(http://www.unb.ca/isao/ishandbook_files/5proof.gif)
Wonder what Panni (or I, or even MBarnum) could buy with one of these? ? ? ?
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(http://www.unb.ca/isao/ishandbook_files/5proof.gif)
Wonder what Panni (or I, or even MBarnum) could buy with one of these? ? ? ?
Panni: a muffin or a toy robot
MBarnum: a Bollywood movie or an aging sword and sandal star
You: I wouldn't hazard a guess. Dam!
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ROFLMAO!
Well, I know that the Canadian coin would not buy me a luscious dinner at Joe Allen or even DuPar. . .
DRs one and all, what do you think of the film LATTER DAYS? (It's the one with the Mormons. . .and Mary Kay Place).
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Lovely buys DRPANNI - i love rich people's garage sales!
DR td I have read reviews of LATTER DAYS but have not seen it as yet.
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DRs one and all, what do you think of the film LATTER DAYS? (It's the one with the Mormons. . .and Mary Kay Place).
DRtd, I saw it when it first opened here, I liked it very much, and I thought Mary Kay Place was quite excellent. Jacqueline Bisset looks fantastic, and if she's had work done, it's so subtle and she's still so beautiful that I wish her surgeon would do every aging actor and actress in Hollywood. Some of the facelifts are terrifying!
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Since I rented LATTER DAYS from Netfilx, it has rarely been out of my dvd player. . .
This week, I picked up a used copy for $10 (200 beavered nickels, if I were Canadian), and it too has rarely left the player.
To think this came from the same man who directed SWEET HOME ALABAMA!
I also finally saw SORDID LIVES, and it's a hoot and a holler!
Still, LATTER DAYS contains some very fine dialogue and a few really impressive performances, most importantly Bisset's and Place's.
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Well, the new critter seems to be adjusitng quite well and he and the cat are tentatively forging their relationship. Surprisingly, the cat, Mosby - The Grey Ghost, seems fairly mellow and rather curious about the new interloper. I think Mose has been rather lonely without a dog. And this one seems small enough that Mose wants to make friends. The dog seems the more skittish of the two, but, after a little tense wariness in the beginning, he does seem to be making tail-wagging overtures. However, his big bark makes the cat back off just when they begin to rendezvous. But there has been much surreptitious sniffing and circling and staring at each other from close proximity. No one has freaked out and cat's seems more than game to make this work. Any advice that anyone has finessing this sort of relationship would be greatly appreciated. Even so, I think this will be a non-issue in a few more days.
The dog seems to be some sort of terrier mix...Yorkshire or Silky with perhaps Shiz Tsu throw in. Very Yorkie/Silky face and hair and colouring with a long and bushy tail. Even-tempered, but spunky. He slept in the bed last night, crawling out of the play-pen he was in onto the bed. He likes to follow one or the other of us around and is a tad clingy, but I supposed that's just him still trying to figure out his boundaries. We're being very good about making sure the cat gets doted on, equally, if not more so. It also looks like the li'l chap'll catch on real quick to the automatic dog door. He's housebroken and lets you know when he needs to go out. He is an enthusiastic walker.
From a batch of names we had, we narrowed it down to Bovril and Tewkesbury, and tried them out on several interested parties. Tewkesbury was clearly favoured and that seems what it'll be...Tewkes or Tewk, for short.
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DR Elmore - Will the PSClassics recording of JUBILEE also be based on the work you did and using your orchestrations? Has any casting been done?
I have read nothing positive about BROOKLYN, but they sure must have a giant advertising budget. You can't avoid the posters with the unattractive logo. But they are not going for the usual Broadway audience. They are going for rock music fans, not realizing that this group isn't interested in seeing musicals.
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DR Elmore - Will the PSClassics recording of JUBILEE also be based on the work you did and using your orchestrations? Has any casting been done?
DRWEL, the recording is very early in the works, and the money has to be raised to pay for it. I have casting ideas, and I'm sure the conductor and the producer do as well, but nothing is set. Since Tommy Krasker is the co-owner of PS Classics and he, like me, has blood in JUBILEE, this will be the edition for the recording.
In 1985, when Tommy and I put the show together for Bill Tynes, he and I closely worked on the vocal score to fit the underscoring to his libretto, which corrected all the loose ends in the surviving Broadway script from a few earlier drafts, as I recall. Since nothing original survives except for the pre-production manuscripts of a ton of music, we put everything back, even though we knew cuts had to have been made in rehearsals: for instance, the "Kling Kling Bird" is shorter in its published version than the ms. Porter wrote a ton of music, not just the songs, but a lot of underscoring, all the court ceremonial music, and the Act One Judgment of Paris ballet and an Act Two Beach Dance. I had to write the dances to "Municipal Park," "Picture of Me Without You," "Begin the Beguine," "Me and Marie," and "Just One of Those Things." Putting the show back together was one of my best experiences in collaboration, and I hope Mr Porter would be proud. That's why Mordden's misinformation in his new book pisses me off, since he was around when all this recreation took place and I gave him a photocopy of the score in 1986.
I didn't recreate Russell Bennett; I had nothing from which to recreate anything, and I created my own orchestration based on what I know about period music and Porter's influences and likes: Elgar for the court, Ravel for the ballets, a little Gilbert and Sullivan (esp. THE GONDOLIERS), and a lot of 1930s dance bands.
Sorry for the rant!
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Had a DVD ready to play this afternoon and instead saw that MONA LISA SMILE (which I hadn't seen in the theater) was on STARZ! so I watched that instead. Mildly diverting, very predictable dramedy. Not a waste of an afternoon but I think something else might have been a better choice. Anyway, now I've seen it, I can move on.
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I have read nothing positive about BROOKLYN, but they sure must have a giant advertising budget. You can't avoid the posters with the unattractive logo. But they are not going for the usual Broadway audience. They are going for rock music fans, not realizing that this group isn't interested in seeing musicals.
The VARIETY article seemed to suggest they're after the RENT audience which has certainly kept that show going for quite a long time.
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DRWEL, I will tell you who I had in mind in 1986:
The Queen: Maggie Smith, Eileen Brennan, Carol Burnett (Paula Lawrence)
The King: Ellis Rabb, Phillip Bosco (Robert Fitch)
The Prince: Jimmy Brennan (Reed Jones)
The Princess: Rebecca Luker (Rebecca Luker)
Mowgli: Greg Louganis (Davis Gaines)
Eva Standing: Kaye Ballard (Carole Shelley)
Karen O'Kane: Pamela Sousa, Karen Ziemba (Alyson Reed)
Eric Dare: Ron Raines, Howard McGillan (Patrick Quinn)
Those in parentheses did the roles in March 1986.
For 1998, Carnegie Hall, Herb Ross ignored every suggestion I made, except one, which was this cast:
The Queen: Carole Shelley, Carole Burnett, Maggie Smith (Bea Arthur)
The King: Simon Jones, Phillip Bosco (Michael Jeeter)
The Prince: David Elder, Damien Woetzel (Damian Woetzel)
The Princess: Rebecca Luker, Patty Cohenour (Alice Ripley)
Mowgli: Brendan Fraser (Bob Paris)
Eva Standing: Kaye Ballard (Tyne Daly)
Karen O'Kane: Karen Ziemba, Kristin Chenoweth (Sandy Duncan)
Eric Dare: Howard McGillin, Victor Garber (Stephen Spinella)
Those in parentheses again did the Carnegie Hall event. After having to rescore the Beguine for Sandy and Swimming for Bea, I think Tyne was a real surprise, but poor Bob Paris and Stephen Spinella were totally miscast.
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I haven't seen LATTER DAYS either, but I want to. Just haven't found a used copy of it yet. I'll eventually see it. I, too, thought SORDID LIVES was a lot of fun.
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Found out today that I have been cast as Father Virgil in NUNCRACKERS. Rehearsals start as soon as SOMETHING'S AFOOT closes. I will be exhausted by the end of this show, but right now I am a very happy person.
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Thanks DR ELMORE for the casting info on the earlier productions. Any of them would be good for the recording. What I find most interesting about the score is that some of it is so Cole Porterish that you could tell even if you didn't know, while other songs (especially "Me and Marie" are so un-Porteris that you would swear they took something by other composers and stuck it in.
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Saw a nice condo that belonged to some kind of composer lady who got married. All the room I would need - very well maintained. But it's right on Coldwater - and I can't stand constant noise.
Oh well. The perfect one is out there somewhere.
Now I'm off to have coffee with a Hungarian photographer (a professional) who will show me how to use my digital camera. Soon marvelous pictures will start appearing. Mark my words!
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I am now on page two of my paper and Cherry Coke number two. (I'm behind schedule, Cherry Coke-wise).
Here's a question: Why is it that teachers all assign papers all about the same time? And why is it that that usually coincides with midterm exams? If these things were more evenly distributed throughout the semester, I might actually be able to concentrate on each individual test and paper instead of B.S.ing and not learning anything.
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DRJennifer, a friend of mine saw it this week and said it was dreadful, but the cast was quite talented. Then, again, he said the same of MAMA MIA! and it's still running. I am avoiding the show because of some of its personnel, who will never get a dime from me.
Hmmm, well I loved MAMMA MIA. :)
I just asked if anyone here had seen it because it sounds very interesting to me. And at least I know you guys are real people!
Maybe tomorrow I'll check out ATC and see if anyone's name I recognize has seen it.
Thanks.
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Stephen Spinella played the leading role in my musical, The Heavenly Theatre, and, oddly, his character doesn't sing a note. It's about a 16th Century mayor, who, while quashing a tax rebellion, puts a traveling troupe of Commedia players to death. As ghosts, they come back to haunt him by forcing him to watch their own Commedia account of what happened. So, he gets sung at, but doesn't sing himself - his character HATES singing!
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Here's a question: Why is it that teachers all assign papers all about the same time? And why is it that that usually coincides with midterm exams?
I haven't been a professor very long and can only answer for myself, DR Sandra. Friday, I held a mock audition. And, while not a midterm, it meant the same pressure (prepare a ballad and an up-tempo) would be on ever student.
I did this because I'd been talking about auditions for weeks, and it now seemed time for all of us to look at each other's auditions, with the hope that their "mistakes" could be turned into lessons of what not to do at auditions. Of course, there were also good examples of what you SHOULD do at auditions. It was somewhat of a turning point in the class, giving me some needed guidance as to what to teach them in the weeks to come.
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Back from Grant's, and both hardcover and softcover covers are designed and look great. Unlike the Kritzer books, there is a photo of me on the back cover. I never had the time, what with What If and all the house craziness, to send the book out for blurbs, so it's just the photo on the back of the hardcover, and on the paperback, it's the synopsis, the about the author (much abbreviated for the softcover) and a smaller version of the photo. I'm very happy with it - and we did end up with "A mystery" rather than "A novel".
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Thanks DR ELMORE for the casting info on the earlier productions. Any of them would be good for the recording. What I find most interesting about the score is that some of it is so Cole Porterish that you could tell even if you didn't know, while other songs (especially "Me and Marie" are so un-Porteris that you would swear they took something by other composers and stuck it in.
"Me & Marie" is just a Bowery Waltz, and Porter reached his zenith in that form with "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."
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Grant will be coming over soon and we're going to Schwab's to sup as my way of saying thank you for all his hard and excellent work (he'll also be getting a nice gift).
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Grant will be coming over soon and we're going to Schwab's to sup as my way of saying thank you for all his hard and excellent work (he'll also be getting a nice gift).
Dear Friend BK, you are a gentleman and a mensch! When can I buy the mystery?
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What I find most interesting about the score is that some of it is so Cole Porterish that you could tell even if you didn't know, while other songs (especially "Me and Marie" are so un-Porteris that you would swear they took something by other composers and stuck it in.
I agree. Porter's clearly writing in a style he didn't often attempt (even if Brush Up Your Shakespeare is another Bowery waltz). That reprise that's all on fast eighth notes is, well, unlike anything I've ever heard. Not saying it's bad, not at all, just agreeing with DR WEL that it sounds unlike Porter.
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I agree. Porter's clearly writing in a style he didn't often attempt (even if Brush Up Your Shakespeare is another Bowery waltz). That reprise that's all on fast eighth notes is, well, unlike anything I've ever heard. Not saying it's bad, not at all, just agreeing with DR WEL that it sounds unlike Porter.
Well. "My Lu-lu" is a klinker, but I think "Bianca" is as well. Porter had such a big success with ANYTHING GOES and NYMPH ERRANT, that I think he really was writing JUBILEE for his total amusement, and I think he stretched himself a lot in the composition:
"Feathermore" and its recitative
"The Entrance of Eric" into "The Kling-Kling Bird" is so elaborately laid out like a European operetta sequence
"Mr and Mrs Smith" isn't just two refrains, there's that opening verse and the patter section in between the refrains
"Six Little wives" with its vocal obbligatos and cross rhythms in the bass
I think his two ballet pieces, which are quite in debt to Ravel, are marvelous (is Mel doing the Greek Masque with its bitonality and/or the Beach Dance?)
Some of the Court Music is quite beautiful, and I never think of Porter as anything but a songwriter.
I do think JUBILEE's failure sent him back to writing more standard songs and comedy numbers, but JUBILEE from Day One, with all the publicity about the world cruise and the writing of the show, was meant to be soigne, the epitome of 1930s Broadway chic, and chic often has a limited audience base. ANYTHING GOES ain't chic.
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Congrats DR MattH.
OMG, I just watched the last episode of Nip/Tuck, which was on here on Friday. OMG. OMG. OMG! That was the craziest season finale ever. I LOVED IT!
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Almost time for Desperate Housewives here (it's on at 7pm, and also at 9pm).
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I have a really stupid question. Is all Trident gum sugarless?
The reason I ask is because I bought this new kind, something Very Berry. But they stopped putting the sugarless part on the back like most gums do.
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Ah, I found my own answers on the trident website.
http://www.tridentgum.com/faqs.html?content=5
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I've been a frenzy today. Where is everyone?
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I have nothing to say today except that I had another board meeting to attend today. In about an hour I go to "Singing School."
I'm glad to be away from the house most of the day, because some person to remain nameless is complaining about midterms and papers and such.
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I'm coming out of a post-Turkey coma to wish all fellow canucks a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow... or today (if you, like us, always celebrate on the Sunday instead of the "official" Thanksgiving Monday)
Turkey = bliss... :)
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Well, the new critter seems to be adjusitng quite well and he and the cat are tentatively forging their relationship. Surprisingly, the cat, Mosby - The Grey Ghost, seems fairly mellow and rather curious about the new interloper. I think Mose has been rather lonely without a dog. And this one seems small enough that Mose wants to make friends. The dog seems the more skittish of the two, but, after a little tense wariness in the beginning, he does seem to be making tail-wagging overtures. However, his big bark makes the cat back off just when they begin to rendezvous. But there has been much surreptitious sniffing and circling and staring at each other from close proximity. No one has freaked out and cat's seems more than game to make this work. Any advice that anyone has finessing this sort of relationship would be greatly appreciated. Even so, I think this will be a non-issue in a few more days. ...
As long as they aren't fighting, let them work out their relationship on their own time.
The only other problem would be jealousy, on the part of Mose. After all, it is his territory and family that has been "invaded" by the newcomer. The only way I know of around this is to give more attention than usual to Mose, to help him feel that he isn't forgotten.
Der Brucer and I were talking with one of the women in the Sussex Country Rescue operation earlier today. She has one dog who will settle down within a few days after a new rescue is brought into the house. However, for those few days, the dog's behavior gets a little destructive. And this is a regular occurance, so it's predictable. A little extra attention is the only thing that helps.
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Woody, actually the advice you've given is pretty much what we've been following...lavishing a little more attention on the cat and letting the two figure out for themselves the dynamic of their relationship. Other than some barking, which is discouraged, there's been no fighting as of yet.
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Stephen Spinella played the leading role in my musical, The Heavenly Theatre, and, oddly, his character doesn't sing a note. It's about a 16th Century mayor, who, while quashing a tax rebellion, puts a traveling troupe of Commedia players to death. As ghosts, they come back to haunt him by forcing him to watch their own Commedia account of what happened. So, he gets sung at, but doesn't sing himself - his character HATES singing!
THIS makes you Mr. Light and Frothy Musical Comedy? This makes you Mr. Right Wing?
It's all comparative, I guess.
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DR CP: How old is Tewks? Does he still have a lot of puppy in him?
Fletcher, who is just a year old, keeps trying to roughhouse with Zeus, who is seven. This is the one conflict we have with our guest, because Zeus (understandably) isn't interested in puppy play. And Fletcher, being deaf, doesn't hear the warning growls.
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I must be off for a little, to get dinner going. We've a couple of nice steaks to be grilled, and I've decided to make beer-battered onion rings, which should be a different side dish, along with fries.
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I've lost count of what page I'm on, but it's time for a break anyway. I have two empty Cherry Coke cans and one half-empty Cherry Coke can, so I'm probably about halfway through page three.
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Tewkesbury is a fine and noble name.
Back from dinner - my pal Nick Redman accompanied us and his pal Julie Kirgo also dropped by. Quite festive it was.
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Might I just ask where in tarnation IS everyone? You'd think it was a Sunday or something.
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Countdown to 70,000 posts - less than five hundred postings to go. Could happen this very week.
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elmore, I'm hoping we will have the book website up in about two weeks time, and at that point I'll start taking orders. If all goes according to Hoyle I should be able to have books by the first or second week of November.
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Good evening all. Just got back from a night in Eugene, OR with my mother in her new house. It is simply beautiful. We saw Rent last night. I know many don't care for the show, but it has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, and it was nice to see it staged. The cast was good overall, although several of the leads seemed to have major pitch problems...Roger in particular was driving my poor ears crazy. But it was fun. Now I'm back in my lovely little apartment after a long drive, showered, clean, and thinking about dinner...hmmm...what to have...
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Well, I may possibly know how to use my camera now. I've also discovered by going into the Apple Store that my Powerbook is too old to simply purchase a battery for it at that site of all sites. Computers now become dinosaurs after 4 or 5 years. Skammen.
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François thanks for the very interesting Carvel’s link.
Elmore we left the Richard Rodgers Theater and walked about four blocks to our right. I really don’t know where I was. The ice cream was located in the back of a pizza place. Oh, it was sooooo good and I brought home some chocolate crunchies.
CharlesPogue, the man behind the Carvel’s counter continued to talk on his cell phone while we were trying to order. It was extremely distracting. I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me or into the phone.
Noel, I don’t know recall the name of the deli. I think it was Dan in Toronto who suggested the restaurant. Possibly he can tell us.
Thank you JRand, Matt H and DRLaura whom I hope to meet one of these days when we visit friends in Pheonix.
JRand I’m so pleased you posted the beautiful postcard from Tomovoz.
SWW I went back through your previous posts to catch up on the story of Zeus. Best of luck finding him a good home.
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Well if you want to try on clothes at Costco you have two choices. You can either buy it and return it if it doesn't fit. Or you can try it on there IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER CUSTOMERS.
Now for shirts/jackets ... it is no problem. But they sell a lot of PANTS. So I've taken to carrying a thin skirt in my purse. So I just put on my skirt and am on my way.
That's not to say that this is still not slightly embarrassing. But a lot of people are doing similar things. So if one wants to buy these clothes, one must forget about being embarrassed. :)
LOL. And I have embarrassed friends trying on tops in stores while wearing my Cuddl Dud after removing my outer layer. For those of you who don’t know, a Cuddl Dud is a warm under layer.
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bk - Congratulations on the final steps to completion of
WRITER'S BLOCK!
(http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/party/party-smiley-038.gif)
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And one for Mahler.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL THE CANADIAN DRS, EH?
(This is as close as I could find to a turkey) (http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/tiere/animal-smiley-032.gif)
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CharlesPogue it sounds as if you are doing everything right with Tewkes and Mosby. I can’t think of a single suggestion. It is always much easier when the cat misses having a dog around. Our Bosco missed Belle, the dog who raised her, so much she followed Echo everywhere.
Matt H, a very happy person, congratulations. :)
Panni, I should also congratulate you are your great finds. I miss going to estate and yard sales with my good friend in Michigan.
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Today we enjoyed navigating our way through a maze made of tall corn stalks, or, as the native Americans might say, a maze made of maize. This was great fun, and a decidedly low-tech experience. The sort of thing that, one day, we'll describe to our grandkids and they won't believe anybody ever did anything so quaint.
www.mazezilla.com
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I'm quite full - I ate a BLTA, a caesar salad, fries and rice pudding. But, that's my meal o' the day so I shan't feel too too bad.
I picked up season one of Have Gun, Will Travel - I really used to like the show and have only seen a handful of episodes since they were originally on.
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So, BK, I take it you now have a DVD of What If?
My question is: Who gets to see this DVD? Us? Potential producers of a future production? The Lincoln Center library? Cowboy 101 viewers?
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Noel how fun! We lived next to a corn field in Pennsylvania. Sometimes it felt like walking through a maze. ;D
Bruce you are in for a treat. We watched the complete series not too long ago.
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Boy, am I tired-almost fell asleep at the movies today. We saw SILVER CITY. I fear I might be coming down with a cold. It seems lately I pay for my fun with a cold on my return. I guess that is better than being sick while traveling. I have a ton of work to do this week and must be well and full of energy tomorrow, so I shall just get a good nights sleep and be well tomorrow.
Goodnight.
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Ooops,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! :)
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I just had to return and post the following.
While in NY dear elmore gave Keith and I a beautiful book on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. At the time I completely missed the names of the authors. I know them! We hike together every Wednesday. I’m so excited and can’t wait to tell them I have their book. :D
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I bought HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL - Season 1 a couple of months ago (used), and haven't watched any of them yet, and I should because they're 30 minute episodes and would be easy to watch a couple in less than an hour.
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Thank you, DRs Jane and Jennifer, for the good wishes.
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I also feel coldy - or maybe it's allergy stuff. I'm using that age old remedy: feed popcorn to a cold.
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Woody, best guess on Tewkesbury is that he is between 2-3, he seems past the puppy stage.
BK, where did you and Nick and Julie go to dinner? How is she bearing up after the death of her father, the delightful George Kirgo?
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I've lost count of what page I'm on, but it's time for a break anyway. I have two empty Cherry Coke cans and one half-empty Cherry Coke can, so I'm probably about halfway through page three.
Ah, the eternal question: Is the can of Cherry Coke half empty or half full?
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Pogue, we went to our beloved Schwab's. Whole different lunch menu, though. Julie seems to be doing fine - she's working on some National Geographic reality show, and actually she said they might need some other writer/producer reality types and she's going to mention me - very sweet of her.
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The beer-battered onion rings came out fairly well. Maybe a little over-cooked, where I could have taken them out of the oil earlier, but for a first try they weren't bad.
They went with the steaks nicely. The dogs loved the leftovers.
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Der Brucer is watching a marathon of mystery shows on the TV set in his room. I'm pretending that, instead, he's watching a spinoff from the Captain Kangaroo show, titled Faster, Mr. Bunny Rabbit! Kill! Kill!
Hopefully, the Diana Rigg episodes of The Avengers (on DVD) will arrive this week. Those, at least, were artful.
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About to pop in the redo of Salem's Lot. I'm sure it's bad, but the Tobe Hooper version leaves much to be desired, and it's a good yarn so why not? I know I'll be back to say, "When will I learn?"
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WHAT? Everyone just up and pulled a WUSSBURGER? How tiresome. I guess I'll go sit in the Jacuzzi and hope for some late-night denizens and a frenzy or three.
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I sojourned to Santa Barbara today, Dear Readers, to catch a performance of Mr. Charles Gounod's Faust. Opera Santa Barbara promotes itself as a professional opera company, but most of the cast must have graduated from conservatory last week, as they all looked to be in their twenties. Maybe, just maybe, some of the choristers may have been older than thirty.
The performance was held at the Lobero Theatre, a historic venue in the Spanish Mediterranean style that was refurbished not too long ago. It's wonderful seeing and hearing opera in a 630-seat theatre. Unfortunately, though, the pit is tiny and several musicians were actually seated on the same level as the audience and had to peer down into the pit to see the conductor.
The stage is rather small, too, and a two-level unit set took up a good deal of stage space. As a result, the blocking was rather limited, there was only a hint of choreography in the first act and the Walpurgis Night scene was omitted entirely. (Which is a shame, because not only do I enjoy the music to the ballet, every time I've seen it performed it offered at least a little--and sometimes a lot of--titillation.)
There was a lot about this production about which the less said the better. For example, I thought it rather odd that the entire regiment returns from battle wounded and/or lame and/or blind, yet Valentin makes his entrance immediately following the soldiers' chorus looking like he just showered after a refreshing game of tennis.
Vocally, Faust was only OK, Valentin slightly more so. Marguerite had some nice moments and Siebel sang his/her music quite well.
What made the trip more than worthwhile was the Mephistophele of a young man by the name of Joshua Winograde. Not only did he sing the role with great finesse and relish, his stage presence was superb. His gestures, posture and facial expressions were all just right. He played up the humor in the role without overdoing it and was terrifying, too, especially in his scene with Marguerite in the church near the end of the opera. I am always surprised when I hear a rich basso voice emanate from a singer as young as Mr. Winograde; his is quite beautiful. He is very tall and extremely thin. His costume consisted of black leather boots, black spandex pants, a red satin shirt and--worn only during the scene in which he enters--a black three-quarter coat. He sported an outrageously thick Mohawk haircut and club-style make-up. Picture Boy George as the Devil. According to the program, Mr. Winograde's upcoming performances include a Mozart Requiem in Phoenix, a Barber of Seville in Pensacola and a Falstaff in Houston. Catch him if you can.
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I am back from "singing school" with nothing more to say than when I left.
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Is anyone else out there looking forward to the movie Team America: World Police?
I saw a sneek scene on MTV tonight (!) that had me laughing so hard der Brucer was asking what was making me choke. I haven't seen a vomiting scene so funny since The Exorcist. Really.
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There's something about my last post following so closely after DR Jay's that brings a whole new meaning to the word "non-sequetor."
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There's something about my last post following so closely after DR Jay's that brings a whole new meaning to the word "non-sequetor."
De gustibus non es disputandum es.
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Again with the WUSSBURGERS. I have Jacuzzid, I have learned my lesson ('Salem's Lot - awful), and am now happily watching Have Gun, Will Travel episode one which guest stars the beautiful Janice Rule.
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Oh, boy, the bitch-slap machine is coming out.
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I can't deny that I've been errant and truant today. Here's my day, part one: after I woke up with a pounding headache at about 10:00 (Sunday is my only day to sleep in and I slept in), I showered and let the being-house-sat cat outside, then I went to my sister's house. We went shopping for stuff (big plastic storage bins for things that she doesn't want bugs to get at).
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Part two: After that, I went home and watched the Seattle Storm women's basketball team beat the Connecticut Sun by two points! It was an exciting game. This was the second of three where each team has now won one game. The third and final (it's for the WNBA Finals) will be on Tuesday and I'll be taking my niece. She has tickets for every Storm home game of the playoffs. The seats that my niece has had are three rows right behind the visiting team. All of the playoff games have been broadcast on TV and if you look closely, you can actually see us!
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Part three: when the game was over, my sister and I went shopping again and I bought some DVD+RWs so that I can experiment with learning how to burn DVDs since my sister's boyfriend installed the DVD burner on my computer! It seems to work...except when I try to copy a copy-protected DVD...as it should. ::) Anyway, I got some rewritable DVDs so that I can learn how to do it without wasting blank DVDs. The prices are coming down, but they're still not as cheap as they will eventually be. As I was experimenting (since it took almost two hours for the whole process), I watched a tape of Friday's new season premiere of "Star Trek Enterprise" (I don't care what anyone says, I still like it) then tonight's episode of "Desperate Housewives." I love this show!
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Page FIVE!!
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And the final installment: that's been my day. I haven't read any of today's posts, so I'll do that now, before I go back to the house where I'm house-sitting.
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BK, was our friend the manager or either of our servers there? They have taken away the meat loaf, have they? What did you have?
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Sad, sad news: Christopher Reeve has died.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041011/ap_en_mo/obit_reeve_2
:'(
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I'd just seen the news of Christpher Reeve's death on TV. I was going to read all the posts to see if it'd been mentioned yet. Now it has been. :'(
Tomorrow at work, we won't actually be at work. Every (observed) Columbus Day, our entire library system has "All Staff Day" where the entire staff (unless one calls in sick or has an excused absence...no really, you have to have permission to use vacation on All Staff Day), get together and have "staff training." We meet at a different place every year and have a couple of main speakers and two break-out sessions, where we have smaller groups learn about different things. The two sessions I'm going to are "Learn about Horizon" (the new computer system that our library is getting) and "Office Yoga" (yoga moves that one can do in the small confines of one's cubicle or office). Yup, things like that make for one exciting day. :P But, it's a paycheck. We'll be done by 4:00 or so, so I hope that I can get home (after some errands) in time for chat. Until then, I'm outta here! (But I'll read all the posts up to this point, first. ::))
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Sad news about Christopher Reeve - apparently a truly lovely person.
Pogue: They have a completely different lunch menu - the meat loaf is still on the dinner menu but they don't serve it for lunch, I guess. Steve wasn't there, but both our gals were, and Ashley gave me her CD to listen to.
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Is anybody there?
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Does anybody care?
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Does anybody see what I see?
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Perhaps we should all piddle, twiddle and resolve.
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I am my own frenzy.
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No one wants to join me? You're all sitting there like so much fish.
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Come out, come out, wherever you are.
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I've just finished reading Page Three and have now moved on to Page Four. I'm catching up!
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But is up catching you? Everyone else, of course, is just sitting there like a dead herring in the moonlight.
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Oh, well, new notes going up now, like it or not.
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And now I've caught up.
So, BK, I take it you now have a DVD of What If?
My question is: Who gets to see this DVD? Us? Potential producers of a future production? The Lincoln Center library? Cowboy 101 viewers?
Well? :D