Topic: THREE FRENCH HENS (Read 22681 times)

td · « **Reply #120 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:00:38 PM »

Well, at least I'm in good company with BK, being "alone together."

Jed · « **Reply #121 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:04:17 PM »

Quote from: TCB on December 18, 2003, 08:45:36 PM

It seems that most people I know in theater prefer the play, Auntie Mame, over the musical, Mame. The same does not seem to hold true for the play The Matchmaker.

Well, here I go being contrary. While I don't know from Auntie Mame or Mame, I can say that I do quite prefer The Matchmaker to Hello, Dolly. Actually played Vandergelder in a HS production of The Matchmaker, and find it a very fun, well-put-together play. I don't find the book changes to Hello, Dolly the least bit beneficial, and the score is certainly not a favorite of mine. Moments I enjoy, certainly, but the musical in general leaves me pretty flat.

Ahh, horseracing.

bk · « **Reply #122 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:04:39 PM »

Okay, we've got the "fre" now all we need is the "nzy". Only fifteen posts to go so we don't hit a new low. I was remembering last year at this time and how December was a really low month after a really big November. And January of this year was one of our biggest, when all the little lost lambs came back to roost. Or do you have to be roosters to come back to roost. Do little lost lambs come back to lamb?

George · « **Reply #123 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:08:39 PM »

Quote from: TCB on December 18, 2003, 08:35:55 PM

God, George, the way you said that, I hope it wasn't my production of Dolly that you saw.

Absolutely NOT. I'm sure that yours was wonderful. Actually the one that I saw was put on by local (Olympia) teachers. It was actually not too bad. Some of the teachers haven't really acted since...well...ever. Since it was a fundraiser for some school thing, I was able to forgive most of the casting choices. The leads were actually pretty good.

Tomovoz · « **Reply #124 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:15:15 PM »

I would not bother ever going to see "Mame" or "Dolly" staged again UNLESS they starred TCB in any role. I put them in the same basket as "Sweet Charity".(Yes I know it is Coleman) Not worth the effort at all. Despite the faults I do not tire so much of "Mack & Mabel". Have seen it staged four times and always enjoy the show. I would love to see a production of "The Grand Tour".

Panni · « **Reply #125 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:22:31 PM »

I'll do my bit to add to the Frenzy...

bk as Harpo. I can see it. With a wig, it could definitely work. I have a wonderful DUCK SOUP poster up on my wall in which Harpo is just two huge eyes, clown lips and, of course the incredible hair which hovers over him like a crazy halo.

Despite my misgivings (is there a Mr. Givings?) I wandered out again tonight and went to the Gap in Studio City (open until 10:30!) and found the item I had been looking for all over town - a cute red purse for the offspring - to match the cute sweater I got her. The purse and sweater were featured in all the Gap adds, thus the purse was not to be found. But I saw it on a dummy and wrestled it off its arm. I also went to Bookstar and wandered around. Looked through a songbook of MIGHTY WIND numbers and noted that there are now two million books about how to become a successful screenwriter. There is a new practice which has sprung up in the last few years -- sending out screenplays to WGA members in order to get their votes. Today I received SEABISCUIT - a nice book of the script which is being sold in stores. The other day, the script of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN showed up. I like having scripts around. Sometimes, when I get stuck in my writing, I'll just open a up a script at random and it never fails to give me ideas. (Most of the time the idea starts with, "This guy knows how to write and I don't. I just want to crawl under a rock and disappear before they find out that I'm a fake who's pretending to be a writer." But after a while, that passes and I start to write again and everything is fine until I get stuck and think... You get the picture.)
This rambling is actually sort of fun - like talking to my tricycle, but I'll stop now. I think I have done my bit to contribute to the Frenzy.

Jason · « **Reply #126 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:22:54 PM »

Oh, Mamie...

Mame: Oprah Winfrey
Vera: Sharon Osborne
Young Patrick: Gary Coleman
Older Patrick: Wayne Brady
Gooch: Ellen DeGeneres
Beauregard: Montel Williams
Mother Burnside: Rosanne Barr
Pegeen: Ricki Lake
Mr. Upson: Jerry Springer
Mrs. Upson: Jenny Jones
Gloria: Kelly Ripa
Mr. Babcock: Regis
Brian O'Bannion: Maury Povich
Ito: Connie Chung...sorry, I had to.

How's that for some casting? Wow! That took some thought.

I'm downloading some pictures from SCROOGE that one of the cast members sent me. I'll share any good ones.

MBarnum: I'm waiting with bated breath...or baited breath...I dunno. Either way, THANKS!

I loved the interview with Stephanie. She's got such a great attitude about the whole WICKED thing...I'm sure she'll get to do it once Idina decides to leave. Did anyone notice that BOY FROM OZ will close for the two weeks that Hugh Jackman is on vacation? THAT'S interesting, isn't it?

George · « **Reply #127 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:34:57 PM »

The Holiday potluck that we had at work today was filled with much food and frivolity.

We have a morning break with goodies (I brought chocolate truffles...store-bought, but very good) and gift exchange. Then for lunch, the adminstration (all 12 of them) chipped in to buy a fully cooked turkey with all the trimmings. Everyone else brought everything else. There was so much food and a lot of leftovers (as always)...enough so that most people don't have to bring a lunch the next day.

For the gift exchange (there's supposed to be a $10 limit), I gave a very nice, solid wood picture frame and some Ghiradelli chocolates. I got a cowbell that has a very cute snowman and snowwoman hand painted on it, a "Country Bouquets" wall calender and a hand-made plastic flower display thing. It's a round circle covered in black fabric that has plastic flowers hot glued to it. I don't really know what to make of it, but it's...how should I say this...it's not what I'm interested in. How's that for diplomatic. It looks well made, but I just don't want it. I wish I had a digital camera because I can't really explain it. I'll have to ask my sister to take a picture of it so that I can post it. It's a little weird. The bell and the calendar are pretty cool, but this thing...I just don't know.

That was my day at work. I probably got no more than a couple of hours of actual work done. Love days like that!

Jed · « **Reply #128 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:43:15 PM »

George - I was always quite good at creating days like that for myself. It's rather astonishing how little work I managed to get done in 5 years working at the university library.

bk · « **Reply #129 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:50:35 PM »

Oprah as Mame - excellent. I'm afraid we haven't reached "frenzy" yet - we're still at "fren" - all we need is the "zy" or the girl, one of the two.

Jed · « **Reply #130 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:51:20 PM »

Attended a local high school choir and band concert tonight. It's sad how poor acoustics can take so much away from a performance. The cafetorium they have is a black hole for sound, and the choirs, which I know to be reasonably good groups for a small high school, really did not sound it at all tonight. Will be very nice to hear them again in March when they do a concert away from the school at a much more acoustically friendly community performing arts center. Tonight's locale just gave a horribly anemic sound.

While still far from ideal, the set-up tonight was more band-friendly. Sadly, they just weren't very good. $:-\$

Ah well, still fun to be there to support the students (this is the school at which I did my student teaching last year). Also fun to hear the vocal jazz group do an arrangement of mine I hadn't heard in quite awhile (I arranged it back when I was in HS myself).

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #131 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:53:04 PM »

Good evening/morning.

Whew! I finally starting baking around 10:30. I got one nice-sized batch of almond biscotti done, about four dozen oatmeal-chocolate-chip-pecan-toffee cookies, and I prepped the peanut butter cookies - the "drops" are currently in the freezer - I'll just pop them in the oven in the morning - about five dozen of those. *Oh, and the oatmeal-chocolate-chip-pecan-toffee cookies have extra(!) toffee! I just put the rest of the SKir bits I had... I'll be sampling one shortly.

But before I started baking, I went to dinner...

Jed · « **Reply #132 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:53:12 PM »

Quote from: bk on December 18, 2003, 10:50:35 PM

I'm afraid we haven't reached "frenzy" yet - we're still at "fren" - all we need is the "zy" or the girl, one of the two.

You can have all the "zy" you want, BK... I'll take the girl.

Jed · « **Reply #133 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:56:37 PM »

Oatmeal-chocolate-chip-pecan-toffee cookies with extra toffee??? To quote Homer Simpson, "Arglraglgraralgrlgargalrglarlaalalgghh"

Jason · « **Reply #134 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:57:59 PM »

"Ah luhs Patrick...God knows ah do...but I'll kill him dead 'fore I let him marry Gloryuh..."

--Oprah as Miss Sophia playing Mame

bk · « **Reply #135 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:00:20 PM »

Well, with this here post we squeak by, but just barely. Maybe I'll shut down for the rest of the year. Maybe I won't.

George · « **Reply #136 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:00:34 PM »

Okay, here's my Wrong Casting Choices for MAME (it required some gender-blind casting...I hope that nobody minds.

)

Mame: Jerry Herman
Vera: Stephen Sondheim
Young Patrick: Richard Maltby, Jr.
Older Patrick: David Shire
Gooch: Lynn Ahrens
Brian O'Bannion: Bruce Kimmel
Beauregard: Shephen Flaherty
Mother Burnside: Cy Coleman
Pegeen: Jeanine Tesori
Mr. Upson: Fred Ebb
Mrs. Upson: John Kander
Gloria: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Mr. Babcock: Michael John LaChiusa
Ito: Jason Robert Brown

BK, is this at least a frenz?

I know it's not quite the full frenzy that you wanted, but maybe it all adds up to it.

Jason · « **Reply #137 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:05:26 PM »

Me and my calves as Mr. Fezziwig with the lovely young lady who played my daughter... ::ahem:: (She's a year older than me!)

Jed · « **Reply #138 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:09:00 PM »

Silly BK, there is no need to shut down for the remainder of the year. As you said earlier, December has been a slow month in the past. And do realize, our numbers, while down from the last month, are still double that of this same time last year! Furthermore, if the E&T were to return and find us in hiatus, they would be more likely to remain E&T upon our return. And getting out of the habit of our daily posting would very possibly cause sluggish numbers even from us non-E&T's upon our return.

No need for overreaction, they are simply numbers. And anyone who says that numbers are the sign of a good website community can KISS MY ASS!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #139 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:10:58 PM »

Dinner was wonderful. My friend, Mark, came over to the apartment for a cocktail, and then we walked over to the restaurant - Avalon. It's one of my favorite places, and I hadn't been there in a while, so... Our friend, Scott, met us over there too. The chef, Q as she is known, used to do a lot of costume work for theatres, but turned full time to the cooking a couple of years ago, and has never looked back. Avalon is a nice place - nothing really distinctive about the decor, but there are black & white pictures of classic Hollywood all over the walls. The only drawback is that the smoke from the bar tends to creep into the dining area. -Like it did tonight, ah, well.. we still had a wonderful meal.

Our waitress, Aleen, was a hoot! She really took care of us, and also played along with us too - come on, you get three gay men dining out together, and there's bound to be innuendo flying left and right! She even picked out what I should have for dinner tonight: house-cured salmon for my appetizer, and Chicken Calais for my entree. *I asked her what I should have tonight, and she was more than happy to oblige. The salmon was wonderful - served with whipped chive-dill-cream cheese and baguette slices. And the chicken was soooo good - the chicken breast was stuff with brie cheese and topped with a sage-apricot sauce, along with some mashed sweet potatoes. My dining companions feasted on a very good bacon-cheeseburger (with both cheddar and bleu cheese), and a very generous portion of duck (it was half a duck!). Dessert was Mrs. Lincoln's gingerbread a la mode. It was actually a little "dry" tonight, but it was served warm, and by the time we slathered all the whipped cream and melting ice cream over it, it was very "edible". *And because it was a litte dry tonight, Aleen comped our salads.

The fun continued even as we took care of the check. We left the tip in cash, and proceeded to fold four of the bills into a pinwheel, then balancing it on the pen, and another bill became a bow tie. A little post-meal origami. Hopefully Aleen was able to get the bills back to normal without ripping them.

*And if you ever find yourself in Richmond and at Avalon, her triple cheese macaroni & cheese is to die for!

Then we all headed home, and I started to bake.. so...

It was a very nice evening. Just what I needed. I've been stressing out about "something" all day, and getting out of the apartment, and hanging out with some good friends was just what I needed to take my mind off things. Also, it looks like I may have found a very plausible solution to my "stress" tonight too! *I'll reveal all once everything is settled. Again, it's nothing major, just a lot of related little things. But once I start.... there's goes the bandwidth!

Jed · « **Reply #140 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:12:15 PM »

Quote from: Jason on December 18, 2003, 11:05:26 PM

Me and my calves as Mr. Fezziwig with the lovely young lady who played my daughter... ::ahem:: (She's a year older than me!)

Hehehe... been there, done that, Jason. When I understudied for Tevye in summer stock a couple seasons ago, my Hodel was a year older than me, and my Tzeitel was 5 years older than me.

Oh, and as I'm currently playing Fezziwig as well, my young employees Ebeneezer and Dick Hacking are both 10-12 years older than me!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #141 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:14:51 PM »

Quote from: Jed on December 18, 2003, 10:56:37 PM

Oatmeal-chocolate-chip-pecan-toffee cookies with extra toffee??? To quote Homer Simpson, "Arglraglgraralgrlgargalrglarlaalalgghh"

The only problem with eating cookies that way is that most of the cookie ends up on the floor and not in your mouth. Kind of like when Cookie Monster ate cookies.

S. Woody White · « **Reply #142 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:18:30 PM »

According to der Brucer, the Sondheim.com board is back in action. Huzzahs to Mr. Mark Bakalor!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #143 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:18:47 PM »

Quote from: Matt H. on December 18, 2003, 08:13:09 PM

PLEASE get your mind out of the gutter, DR Jose. :)There were two dogs down there we were trying to get to face the camera, but they wouldn't cooperate, so I cropped them out of the picture.

DR MattH - So sorry if you thought my mind was in the gutter. In a way, I was just wishing you well!

S. Woody White · « **Reply #144 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:20:17 PM »

KOOO-KEEZ!!!!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #145 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:30:22 PM »

Quote from: Jed on December 18, 2003, 10:51:20 PM

Attended a local high school choir and band concert tonight. It's sad how poor acoustics can take so much away from a performance.

I, too, hate it when the space works against the art. A couple of years ago, a university within driving distance of Washington, DC, received a major donation to build a new performance space. Well, they got it built - a very nice-sized building, comfortable seats, ample parking, etc. Unfortunately, the interior seems a bit "cold", and the acoustics are terrible. I've seen a few shows there, and it appears the orchestra pit is in the perfect acoustical space, however, the stage isn't. They were doing Footloose, and every time the full ensemble started to sing all at once - with a nice crescendo building both on stage and in the pit - the conductor would have to suddenly "shush" the orchestra in order for the chorus to be heard. Now what's up with that?!?!? Everyone is singing, and you have to quiet the orchestra?!?!? To add insult to injury, it appears that no one in the sound booth has been properly trained. And from the looks of the speaker set up, it also looks like the "cluster" they have is more suitable for a space half that size. Ah, well...

At least they have plenty of bathrooms.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #146 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:35:06 PM »

Ooohh.. Ina Garten is making Jam-Thumbprint Cookies right now on FoodTV... hmm... If I don't have to leave until 2:00 tomorrow afternoon.... Hmmm.... Although, I think if I actually do get up early enough, I may make that Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake again... It was soooo good! I'd make the Green Tea Pound Cake, but that takes a little more time than I wish to spend tomorrow morning.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #147 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:40:28 PM »

BK - Did I take us to at least "frenz"? All we'd need is "y". "Why? Because... "

bk · « **Reply #148 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:53:30 PM »

This post takes us all the way to "y". "Y"? Because we like you. Well, as far as I'm concerned the errant and truant will have to atone for their errant and truant ways. We shall all have to put on our thinking caps and figure out what said atonement shall be.

Last call, last call.

bk · « **Reply #149 on:** December 18, 2003, 11:54:40 PM »

Dear Reader Laura: I'm on no diet, so bring whatever you like.

News:

Author Topic: THREE FRENCH HENS (Read 22681 times)