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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes, you know the Saturday Report (even though it's Sunday) and now you are ready to post until the cows come home or, at the very least, to post until the cows have been reported.

[Panni]

I'm going to watch The Sopranos for a bit, then maybe even go to bed.

[George]

Great news, BK!  They like the show!  I just wish the opening night pictures were completely labeled with who is who...or is it "who is whom?"  Either way, it would've been nice if the reporter/photographer could've gotten everyone's names.  Oh, well.  They're pretty cool pictures.

[George]

I'm off to bed.  Good night, all!

[Tomovoz]

BK used my favourite word in todays' notes - "Awry".
You needed to know that.

[JoseSPiano]

Good Morning!

-It's amazing how many posts one has to catch up when one hasn't logged in over 12 hours!



Good show tonight, as BK mentioned.  I would guess that the average age of the audience was about 50, BUT there probably was no one in the audience around that age!  Everyone was either in their early 20's.. or.. well, let's just say "older".  Everyone in the cast - including myself - also seemed be having a genuinely good time tonight - not that we haven't been having a good time this whole week.  But now that the stress and angst of the official opening night is over, we don't have to worry about having that pressure system over our heads.

Like DR PennyO mentioned, I like third nights too.

DR Panni - Thanks for the links to the pics.  So... Is/was that Bonnie Franklin in one of those pics?  Hmm...  Just wondering.

Well, it's been a long day for me.  I'm all set up in my nice new digs - and the extra train/Metro travel time wasn't too bad at all.  Note for this week: stock up on batteries for my CD player.

Goodnight.

[Noel]

Quoth BK:

I have heard through the grapevine that the reviews from Friday night will be very mixed, in part, I believe, from the second act problems. I've heard the critics like the parodies and like the other material much less. I truly think it's because the revue form has been so subverted in recent years that no one really remembers what these were like in the good old days, which is the main reason I did it this way. I could panic and start changing things, but I find it best to have the courage of one's convictions and to hang tough.

Tone is so hard to discern on the internet, but, reading the above, I felt melancholy.  It sounds like you're reacting to reviews that haven't even been published yet.  Are you so sure your grapevine is accurate?  I think it very often happens that critics change their minds from when they leave the theatre to when they get to their keyboards.  I think it's best to wait until one's read actual published reviews to have any sort of reaction to them.  (Some would say: don't read them at all.)

What these critics seem to want is all comedy and that just didn't interest me. I've seen several all comedy revues and after six or seven comedy numbers in a row I'm just done - I can't laugh anymore no matter how good they are. As wonderful as some entries in Forbidden Broadway have been, I just grow weary at some point. I like having ballads and heartfelt numbers in between the comedy stuff - to me, it's a more rounded and interesting evening. As I've said all along, it's the way revues used to be

I'm SO in agreement with this, and marvel at what kindred spirits we are.  The revues I love have heartfelt ballads - I think of "I Furnished My One-Room Apartment" from Upstairs At O'Neals and "Friends" from A...My Name Is Alice.  The revues I've written - On the Brink, The New U., Spilt Milk and Lunatics and Lovers, all have slower tempo moments of real feeling, too.

All of this is to say that it sure sounds like I'd adore What If.  How I hope for an extended run - I may make it out west (again) for Christmas.

[td]

I'm hoping for an extended run, too, as I make my second trip to California come November.  My first trip was when I was 13 months old; i don't remember a bloody thing!

[William E. Lurie]

BK - Bring the show to NYC.  With the exception of the Billy Barnes shows, this is really the home of the revue and I think it will have a great reception here.  There really hasn't been a good revue here since "No Frills" in about 1988 or 89.  The last revue I saw --- "A Good Swift Kick" --- had poor material and meidocre performers.  New Yorkers need to be reminded of the kind of shows that Ben Bagley and Julius Monk used to do.

[Matt H.]

Reviews, be damned. If you're satisfied with your work and the work of your cast, if the show is playing as beautifully as you've described, and if you're selling tickets, forget what some reviewer has to say. Those of us who perform have probably had good reviews and bad reviews, but personally, I KNOW when I've done a good job and when I haven't. I don't need anyone else telling me what I already know. Also, no reviewer is going to be privy to the numerous circumstances that go together to make a show what it is. Knowing that makes any weaknesses understandable and bearable.

Frankly, I stopped reading reviews (and this coming from someone who used to write criticism) of shows I was a part of. They always made me mad, even if they were favorable, so I just stopped.

[Matt H.]

Can't wait to get to PENNIES FROM HEAVEN at some point this week. Miss Deanna Durbin kind of threw a wrench into my DVD plans, but once she's out of the way, I'll get to AMERICAN BUFFALO and PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, the next two DVDs in my line-up.

[Panni]

Good morning. Slept through the whole night. Rare and wonderful. I actually woke up feeling rested. Hooray.

I agree fully about trying to ignore reviews. Of course, I've never succeeded, but one really should. The problem is that they have so much power in terms of box office (I'm talking about the theater -- for movies, unless it's some little indie film no one has heard of and it suddenly becomes the darling of the press, reviews don't seem to make that much of a difference. A film can get horrible reviews and people will still see it in droves. ) But in the theater, one rave in the right place and suddenly people - paying audience type people - are interested. And the opposite is sadly true as well. Even for restaurants. I went to a place a  month or two ago that had just received a rave in the LA Times. The little joint was overflowing and there was even a TV crew there doing a news piece on the newest in-spot. Went back last week and it was DEAD. Like a different restaurant. The buzz was over.

[Jennifer]

DR Panni, for some reason when I try to look at the picture of your guest house, it has all kinds of colors splattered where the picture should be (I can see the top of it).

[Matt H.]

Glad the chat is tomorrow night. I should be able to make it.

[Jrand73]

DR PANNI - the same thing happens to people....ask Justin Guarini.

Hmmmmmmmm.....I thought that was Jack Klugman AND Bonnie Franklin!  But who are the two guys....one in a yellow shirt and one in an orange shirt....there are ENOUGH pictures of them!!!

Yes, reviews are someone's opinion....and I agree...if you are sure of your material and your show....it doesn't matter what anyone thinks.  The audience will always let you know....

Free for all day.....hmmmmmmmmmmm.....

At the end of August, Comcast has let me know that I will be losing my HBO and SHOWTIME unless I switch to digital cable.  I am not sure how I feel about this.  I don't watch a LOT of the premium channel programming, but I do watch SIX FEET UNDER and QAF...and a movie now and then.

I don't think I will switch right now....digital cable is MUCH more expensive.  I guess I will wait and see.

What is this converter box they are talking about?  My cable runs through my VCR right now....how would that work?  Does any DR use one of these things..........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[Jennifer]

I'm enjoying the Olympics so far.  Although I'm hesitant to talk about specific events, because I know NBC shows much on tape delay.  That is one thing I love about the CBC's Canadian coiverage.  They show everything live.

I will say this, my favorite sports so far have been swimming, diving and rowing.  Although Canada has not faired too well so far (and I'm not even talking medals - in swimming yesterday they didn't even qualify for any finals or get close to their personal bests).

[Matt H.]

I just finished reading a two week old VARIETY that listed the death of the woman who played "The Torso" in REAR WINDOW. I meant to mention it last night, but I forgot about it.

The obituary said she was one of the last surviving cast members of REAR WINDOW.

[Matt H.]

DR Jrand wrote: "What is this converter box they are talking about?  My cable runs through my VCR right now....how would that work?  Does any DR use one of these things..........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

Yep, I have a digital cable set-up, and all I can tell you is that in CHarlotte, you double or triple your channel options for aout the same money with digital cable. If you suscribe to HBO, we get ALL the HBO channels and if you get Showtime, you get ALL the Showtime channels for the same price I was paying for JUST single channel Showtime and HBO.

The picture quality was tremendously noticeable with digital cable with much sharper pictures and, of course, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound where available (if you connect the audio out from the cable box to your receiver.)

[td]

Sad that chat is tomorrow, since I am working from 10:00am until sometime around 2:00am, then back to work on Tuesday morning at 10:00am.  Busy day for my feet.  I shall sing a Frank Loesser song as well as Stephen Schwartz song in honor of my long, long day on my feet keeping the customers satisfied.

[Jennifer]

I am waiting for swimming to start at 12:30pm.

I even have my little tv, which I can put outside.  So I can have sun and the Olympics.

Hope everyone is having a good day.  I'm gonna go read now.

[Emily]

Hey Jennifer -

have you developed a crush on diver Alexandre Despatie yet?

[Jay]

My digital cable service includes Music Choice, which is something like seventy channels of commercial free music 24/7 in any genre you can think of and then some.  My favorites are Showtunes, Singers and Standards, Big Band, Classical, Light Classical and Opera.  They also have something called Sounds of the Season, which I listen to during December.

That might be an incentive for you to convert, Dear Reader JRand.

[bk]

The grapevine is my publicist.  However, I have no real intention of reading the reviews, I made that decision already.  I knew going in what I wanted to do and I knew that some people would not understand what the form is and that's perfectly fine.  If audiences are enjoying it (which they certainly seem to be) they will find us.  And I don't think we'll actually get any "bad" reviews, just mixed, and that's fine.  It's actually predictable here in LA because when I see what they give their raves to I just sit and scratch my head.  

Speaking of A Good Swift Kick, that show started out here in LA (when it was called Both Barrels).  It was one of the prime reasons why I wouldn't and won't do a revue with all comedy.  While it had some decent material (none of it great) by the sixth song I didn't ever want to hear a comedy song again - my mind just shut down and I was through.

I slept nine-and-a-half hours.  It was nice to finally catch up on my sleep.  WHY was it nice to catch up on my sleep?  I don't like when up is on my sleep.

[Jay]

Off to the County of Orange for a brief visit with the Dear Mother.  Until later...

[Panni]

WHY was it nice to catch up on my sleep?  I don't like when up is on my sleep.

I NEVER catch up on my sleep. The little bugger always gets away from me. But sometimes I catch up on my work. It leaves ugly footprints all over the pages and makes me furious. When I'm furious I can run really fast. Which allows me to catch up. And is up ever sorry when I do!

[George]

What is this converter box they are talking about?  My cable runs through my VCR right now....how would that work?  Does any DR use one of these things..........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The thing about the converter box is that you can't tape a digital channel and watch anything else.  You have to hook the cable from the wall into the digital box, from the cable box into the VCR, from the VCR into the TV.  I got digital cable because of a special but, as much as I loved the new channels and the digital music, I didn't watch/listen enough to justify the cost (I also have Internet access through cable, so that adds about another $45 to my bill).  If it were all a bit cheaper, I'd certainly consider it again.

[S. Woody White]

Hey Jennifer -

have you developed a crush on diver Alexandre Despatie yet?

It's Speedo season, obviously.

 

[bk]

Might I just ask where in tarnation IS everyone?  For those who didn't see the photo link Panni posted, check out the second to last page of last night's posts (I also cut and pasted a couple of the photos into my posts on the last page of last night's posts).

[S. Woody White]

A couple of days ago, DR TD was asking about the new Rebecca Luker CD, Going Home.  Der Brucer and I have it, and I've played it...once.

I can't blame Luker for wanting to do different material, stuff that she loves personally.  But, with the exception of "Wick," from Secret Garden, there wasn't anything on the disc that thrilled me.  This is a shame, because Luker has a wonderful voice.

I'm finding a lot of showcase discs being released by PS Classics to be of the "nice, but so what" variety.  It's almost a vanity label, with the artists deciding what is best for them (regardless of whether or not they are right).  So far, the only disc of theirs that I've really enjoyed is Lauren Kennedy's Songs of Jason Robert Brown, and she had the three-named genius himself working with her on the material.

[S. Woody White]

I have been baking cookies.  That is where I have been.  

The assistant manager at the store loves my cookies.  I took a small bag of them with me yesterday, for my lunch, and she stole one!  She wasn't at all ashamed of the theft, either!  She happily munched away, while telling me how much she loved the cookies.

So, since we were almost out of cookies, I've baked up a new batch.  I'll be taking her a bag today, in less than an hour.

Of course, while one sheet of the cookies were baking and another sheet was cooling, der Brucer stole a couple of the fresh cookies.

And that is the state of the art.