Haines His Way
Archives => Archive 1 => Topic started by: bk on January 28, 2004, 12:01:48 AM
-
Well, you've read the notes, the notes have, in turn, read you, we're all in synch, and so let's have loads of lovely posts, shall we?
-
I love the Formosa. It was long my favourite watering hole in Hollywood, if I ever had a watering hole. I don't go very often, although my pal Larry Drake is a veritable habitue of the place...so it still must be open, BK. It was more fun when it was a little bit seeder. It's become very trendy with a younger crowd haunting its dark, red-booth, star photo-studded walls.
I actually hang more at the Cat and the Fiddle on Sunset on those rare occasions when I feel the need to absorb the ambience of the "lush" life. I can also get a good Scotch egg there....the only place I know in LA where I can get one.
-
Gee, I've had a veritable posting frenzy this last 24 hours. At this rate, I'll be ascending to godliness very soon.
-
BK question: Do you have any plans for the production of a CD for Scarlett Street or your own label or whatever in the near future. I would love to hear another "Lost In Boston" type compilation . Would you need to call it something like "Mislaid in Yonkers" or would you still be free to use your old titles (on the assumption of course that you wished to produce such a CD)?
-
I seem to be here alone on a very snowy New York morning. We had lots of snow but the office is still open (I didn't expect it to be closed). If I have a question I will return later to post it. But for now I will post one of the last pictures.
Ant and I are both big Judy Garland fans (Ant so much so that he arranged to be born on her birthday, June 10th, so he says he has an irrevocable gay card) so we decided to go and look at the flat where she stayed in London. Sadly, it was her last residence. She died there in 1969. The flat is in Chelsea at Four Cadogan Lane (a quaint little mews off a busy street). It's no longer an apartment but an adult education office and there is no ceramic blue plaque noting that JG lived here for the last 6 months of her life but we were glad to finally see it. We were at the Palladium to see Chitty, where Judy had huge success as a concert performer and then the day before we left London we saw Cadogan Lane. A nice coda to a marvelous trip. I'll post one or two more pictures to wind up our trip. Hope you all have enjoyed our trip to London as much as we did.
P.S. I also mean no offense and don't mean to inextricably link JG and gay men. It's just part of Ant and me. Linking to the very civilized discussion last night about film, there are all flavors of gay men and many of us love Judy. There are also thousands who could care less and prefer everything from Cindy Lauper to Smashing Pumpkins. So, to anyone put off by talk of "gay cards" and Judy and gay men, I offer no defense. It's just us. We are not "all gay men" We are Ben and Ant(hony). A very happy couple who had a wonderful time doing something special to us.
Enjoy!
-
Good morning all. Last night DR MattH wrote:
For those who watched the next episode of AMERICAN IDOL auditions, I felt really bad for the cute guy who sang well enough but gave Simon a bogus, beauty queen answer to what he'd do with the million dollars should he win it. His voice was good enough to move on. Sorry Paula wasn't there to potentially rescue him from their wrath.
Last night was my favorite of the audition shows because we got to see more good people. The bad ones, were shown less, and we got to see some decent people who weren't given passes to Hollywood.
I actually liked the guy who you mentioned above. I was also annoyed that Simon dismissed him based on his answer (which may or may not have been true). But I don't think he should have been let go based on that.
I actually don't get why they wouldn't give anyone with a good voice a chance to move forward. Especially since they were clearly having problems finding anyone that could sing.
I also enjoyed that girl who had cut her hair and who had auditioned before (the one with the wacky "coach" - I believe security escorted them out when she wanted to audition again).
She could sing. That should be all that mattered. Would any of the judges have thought that Clay Aiken would be the American Idol last year? To me these people should at least be given a chance. It's not like sending them to Hollywood means they are by any means guaranteed anything.
-
From yesterday:
Jose: I just don't want to get to a point and time where the number one consideration for an aspiring playwright, screenwriter, author, composer, director, etc., has to be the projected running time, number of pages or opportunity for "potty breaks".
And now today BK wonders "Where Time Goes".
To both of these I answer: after 90 minutes Times' bladder is speaking up, oftimes loudly! Try telling women in their third trimester, 7 year old boys, or 60 year old man to "just hold it in for a while".
It would be nice if we could all plan our lives so we could spend the 4 hours before the theatre training our micturation system in preparation for Act I of Les Miz; however, it often happens that we have dinner and the Theatre in pretty close order. (I prefer Theatre then Dinner, but other than NYC, most cities offer little in the way of grand dining after 11 PM.)
To confound the problem, we often get little advance notice of how long a stretch we will have prior to the intermission (if any). I knew LOTR:ROTK was going to be an exercise in bladder control so I was very careful in my intake, was successful in convincing Mr. Bladder to cooperate right before show time, and picked an aisle seat just in case. These preparations were rewarded with an uninterrupted journey to MT Doom.
To Jose I say: we all don't drink an extra glass of wine at dinner just to have an excuse to get up and annoy other theatre-goers at the 90 minute point, but "pee happens"! If the creative team has a tale to tell, and wants the audience's undivided attention, they must be aware of competition. I, for one, would have no problem with 2 intermissions if that helped break the show into manageable parts. (Remember when movie theatre owners’ pockets were more richly rewarded with concession sales than second showings? Most big film outings had an Intermission.)
der Brucer (and after 2 cups of morning tea, Time goes - it's time to go!)
-
BK Question of the day: Would you take my place at work today?
Ben and Ant--- despite what some say, we should be proud of our Judy heritage. I'll tell you a story later when I have more time. If Bruce goes to work for me, then I could tell you now!
-
The snow has arrived and it is not nearly as bad as was predicted but they closed the schools last night before they realized it wouldn't be so bad. Everyone made it to work on time except the woman who is always late and she wasn't any later than normal.
We finally saw the revival of GYPSY last night. The material is so great, it's hard to ruin and the production (despite many faults) did justice to the material. To begin with, there was Bernadette who was neither as bad as I expected nor as good as I hoped. Her biggest problem was her "star mike" which kept her voice so much louder than anyone else in the cast that it was almost distorted. Everyone else's voice sounded natural and as if it were actually coming from the stage instead of speakers, but Bernadette's voice boomed out (in both speaking and singing) of speakers throughout the theatre. Also, she was staged poorly and did much of her singing straight to the audience. The vamp at the end of "Some People" was not used correctly to allow Rose time to take her father's gold plaque but was used as scene change music so the lights could come up and have Bernadette finish the song straight to the audience. And this was the first Rose I've seen whose acting was better than her singing. Still it was a valid interpretation of the role. Much more mixed was Tammy Blanchard as Louise. In Act One she was very mediocre (a very poor "Little Lamb") but she improved in Act Two and was wonderful in the strip. However she followed this with the final dressing room scene that featured jer doing so much scenery chewing it was embarrassing. John Docett was the best Herbie I have ever seen, Kate Reinders was a wonderful Dainty June, the strippers were perfect, and the rest of the supporting cast was great. Technical and design were weak, with ugly costumes and sets and so many light changes that it tended to distract. The orchestra was good (Mouseketer Cubby on drums), although I really felt that they should not have started the Overture with the house lights at half and people still being seated or talking. And don't people update their Playbill® bios? Several had future projects listed that are already open or done with. So all in all, while it was not the GYPSY of one's dreams, it was a good production for both the novice and the GYPSY fan alike. As I said to Ray, it's not as good as the Angela or Ethel productions, but it's a hell of a lot better than productions I saw at Astoria High School (in the Ethel Merman auditorium!) or the Jewish Center of Buffalo.
Alert for fans of MGMusicals: Rhino Handmade has just released 2 more soundtracks: THREE LITTLE WORDS (Astaire, Skelton, Dahl, DeHaven) and DuBARRY WAS A LADY (someone dubbing Lucy, Kelly, Skelton and Zero Mostel). They are available only on the internet at www.Rhino.Com.
-
My question for Ask BK Day (prompted by a comment in DR WEL's review of Gypsy):
What are your thoughts on the decorum of audiences at live theatrical and/or musical events these days?
-
Thanks for the GYPSY review DR WEL.
Nice discussion yesterday....nice points of view from everyone!
My question for ASKBK day? Are there any sports or sporting events that you enjoy watching on television or attending in person? Are there any sports you play?
-
And thank you, Dear Reader William E. Lurie, for that thoughful review!
-
BK, that wonderful pooch in EYES IN THE NIGHT was played by Ace the Wonder Dog. Ace had quite a career in B pictures for a few years in the late 30s-early 40s..and what a beautiful dog. If you ever have the change to see the 1939 film ROOKIE COP, in which Ace plays a police dog, do so.
TCM had an Ace, the Wonder Dog festival about a year ago and that ROOKIE COP movie (starring Tim Holt, Janet Shaw, and Virginia Weidler) turned into one of my favorite films! There was also a sequel (or prequel) to EYES IN THE NIGHT.
-
Martha Mears dubbed Lucy in DUBARRY WAS A LADY. Usually Roger Edens was very astute in getting voice doubles that actually sounded like the actors involved, but Miss Mears makes a poor vocal double for Lucy. (She sings beautifully; it's just obvious it's not Lucy.)
For Ask BK Day: You mentioned Jerry Lewis in today's notes. Have you ever been a fan of his work either with Dean Martin or afterward? How do you feel about him as a director as well as a comic actor?
-
Yes, WEL, enjoyed the reasonable and rational critique of GYPSY. Almost every other review I've read has been hysterical in either praise or condemnation.
-
DRs Ben and Ant, I join you in your celebration of the talents of Judy Garland. I find her career a fascinating one on so many levels, and at her best, well, she was mesmerizing. She came through Charlotte twice, one to great acclaim and later (sadly, the one I saw) in quite a hoarse condition. This was after the disappointment of her TV series, and I think her drive and ambition were at that point exceedingly low. She was touring for money and money alone, and the night she was here, she just had nothing to give. The show only lasted an hour at most and was a great disappointment to all concerned.
I know lots of gay men who don't hate her so much as are just indifferent to her. I find her electrifying when she's "on." One of the happiest surprises of myn life is to have the complete set of her television series which I never dreamed I'd see again, much less own. These startling shows, with some of the finest singing that has ever graced the television screen, look grand and are every bit as entertaining now (to me, at least) as they were when I saw some of them as a kid. (My father didn't like Judy, and we had to watch BONANZA if he wasn't ready for bed on Sunday nights at 9. Of course, there were compensations to be enjoyed in BONANZA, too - Pernell Roberts, for one.)
-
Good morning. Lovely discussion yesterday. Must take a look at the blind detective movie. I once did a pilot for a mystery wheel in which a blind detective was featured. Had great fun figuring out what unusual strengths he would have to compensate for the blindness. Of course, he had a faboo dog. And he ran a bookstore. The pilot was not picked up, unfortunately. They did something about a deaf female FBI agent instead. Go figure.
-
Van Johnson played a blind detective in 23 PACES FROM BAKER STREET.
Big DVD news for next week: Great MGM classics being released by Warners!
GRAND HOTEL
GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (sorry, just the 1939 version)
GASLIGHT (both 1940 and 1944 versions in same package like the JECKYL AND HYDE release a few weeks ago)
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935 version only)
)MRS. MINIVER
)THE GREAT ZIEGFELD - neither of which does much for me
And the two disc special edition of MY FAIR LADY
Plus, the completely fun sci-fi movie X-15 which we talked about last week (Mary Tyler Moore in a supporting role in this film)
My poor bank account!!!
-
Thanks DRs Ben and Ant for the photo of 4 Codogan Lane. Here is a photo of Judy and Mickey Deans in the same doorway that was published in Anne Edwards' biography of Judy. ;D
-
Speaking of AMERICAN IDOL, how about that husky football player? Nice voice and glad he got through, but when he came out, he started singing opera while hugging his brother and showed he has a HUGE voice. I suspect he's going to be this year's Joshua Gracin.
-
I really enjoy sporting event live. Football, baseball, hockey. But one I totally love is Tennis. I try to go every year to the tournament played here in August (right before the US Open).
-
It is 12 degrees here!
-
JRand I see what you've named the photo of Judy and Mr. Deans in the doorway. It puts a whole new spin on the Judy Mickey era :-)
-
It's in the 20s here with slushy snow all over the streets. Snowfall in New York is nice when it's happening or in the evening before it becomes the gray, unrecognizable stuff that stains your shoes (unless, like me, you wear your boots) and makes you slip and slide all over the sidewalk and streetcorner.
-
Speaking of AMERICAN IDOL, how about that husky football player? Nice voice and glad he got through, but when he came out, he started singing opera while hugging his brother and showed he has a HUGE voice. I suspect he's going to be this year's Joshua Gracin.
The football player was okay. But I NEVER liked Josh at all. Didn't see his appeal.
There was one "bad" performer who I fell in love with. The little Chinese guy near the end. Now, normally these terrible performers aggravate me to no end. But this guy singing "she-bang, she bang" (I think those are the words he used, it was hard to understand) was so funny. He cracked me up. So sweet.
-
LOL Ben - yes, I see what you mean. I tried to use a file name I hadn't used before!
-
It is 12 degrees here!
Does that mean you meet Kevin Bacon twice?
-
(http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040127a/HorizonHillsApollo_th418.jpg)
Shouldn't NASA be consulting with DR Pogue about correct naming of Martian landmarks?
-
Question: are these Fantasy or Horror?
(http://www.foxnews.com/images/114639/1_41_pink_pepsi.jpg)(http://www.foxnews.com/images/114639/1_42_spears_britney_pepsi.jpg)(http://www.foxnews.com/images/114639/1_43_beyonce_pepsi.jpg)
der Brucer (who may switch to Coke!)
-
Joshua Gracin just signed with a lrecord label in Nashville to sing country music, exactly what he should have done. He had OK ability as a country singer but was woefully out of place when trying to sing styles of music that weren't country. He stayed as long as he did strictly on the basis of (I'm guessing) his sex appeal. Nope, didn't appeal to me, and for a Marine, he could not take criticism well nor was he staying in shape during the rigorous weeks of competition. Still, reading about his signing that contract was no surprise.
-
Tom of Oz: Scarlet Street and I have another idea, but it all depends on sales of the first CD. I have the feeling we'll do it, though. As for my own thing - I'm just not doing anything until I feel the timing is right. But, as I've written, I've got two albums I'd like to do and I've already compiled material for each - both of them multi-singer albums. I don't own the titles of my albums, even though, for the ones that were conceived by me I created them. Oh, well. I'm not at all sure there's another LIB to be done - I've gone through so much material and I was really stretching on LIBIV. But, of course there's been quite a few shows since then, all of which have had cut songs - so who knows.
I must admit to liking Jerry. I thought he was an interesting director, and I always found him funny when I was a kid. Rupert Holmes and I went to his first preview in Damn Yankees and we loved him (he wasn't shticking it up too much then). We went backstage and met him afterwards and he was wonderful.
Jrand: I'm really not a sports person at all. Don't like football, can tolerate baseball, hate hockey. I like watching ice skating. The only sports I do occasionally is bowl or play poker. I did used to play baseball in the early seventies with quite a star-studded team - Ricky Dreyfuss, Angela Cartwright and a bunch of other interesting young actors of the time.
Kerry: No. But I will bitch-slap Mr. MusicGuy for never even showing up yesterday. And I will further bitch-slap him for not having shown up in about three weeks. What gives?
Jay: You'll read about the type of audience that used to go to theater in Kritzer Time. I'm rather appalled by audiences today - I've seen men in shorts, I've seen people bringing food into the theater and worse eating it during the show (this, of course, is now the theater's fault, too, since they do like their concession money), I've heard people talking, and belching, and sucking their teeth, I've seen people making out, I've seen an elderly Jewish couple arguing so loudly that Timothy Hutton (in Prelude to a Kiss) finally turned to the audience and asked them to shut up), I've seen someone, despite the usual warnings) take a photo within the first five minutes of Tru (sitting in the first row - Mr. Morse stopped the performance and berated this person for five minutes, to much applause). I don't like kids doing that "woo-woo" stuff in musicals after numbers - they think they're at a rock concert or something.
-
we all don't drink an extra glass of wine at dinner just to have an excuse to get up and annoy other theatre-goers at the 90 minute point, but "pee happens"! If the creative team has a tale to tell, and wants the audience's undivided attention, they must be aware of competition. I, for one, would have no problem with 2 intermissions if that helped break the show into manageable parts.
I think Der Brucer is so right here. Brevity is the soul of wit. The wise creator wants to engage the audience's hearts and minds, not their bladders.
Ask BK: Do you have any thoughts about, or memories of, what is laughably referred to as "The Los Angeles River"? I've been reading an article about it.
For those who don't know, it's the concrete trench you've seen in many a movie, such as Grease, and calling it a river makes me giggle. But then, Los Angeles has the nerve to call its basketball team the Lakers, even though there aren't many lakes there.
-
Good morning or Good afternoon to all (Good night to Tomovoz)! I would like to second or tenth the praise for last evening’s discussion. It was very much a sit around BK’s living room and chat discussion rather than a let’s duke it out for ten rounds at the Armory fight.
Thank you WEL for an extremely well balanced review of Gypsy. I wish some New York reviewers would take a few lessons from you.
For Ask BK Day: (1)Is there a film, that you can think of, that the whole world seems to rave about, but for which you just don’t understand the attraction? (2)If your Kritzer books should be optioned for film, is there a filmmaker, currently working in the industry, that you would feel comfortable taking on that task?
And a general question: Does anyone know what happened to Mickey Deans?
-
Don't really have any memories of the LA River.
I've had many discussions about directors for Kritzer. While I wouldn't want to write the films, I wouldn't mind directing them, so names I've thought of that at least would understand the material are: Rob Reiner, Lasse Halstrom, Ron Howard (but ONLY if he would make it simply and not go on overload), Stephen Spielberg (I know he would "get" it, but again, I don't know that he has the ability anymore to just shoot a film simply without laying on every kind of cheap trick in the book). To a lesser extent, Joe Dante, because again he would totally relate to the material - but he also, while simpler, just goes too far usually. Anyone else have any ideas? The hardest thing if this was to get made as a film is the casting of Minnie Kritzer.
-
Oops, forgot the other part of the question: This is just me, but I have never liked Gone with the Wind, it just bores me to tears. I know this is sacrilege, but there you are. And there are plenty of current films that people rave about that I cannot even sit through, such as A Beautiful Mind. I shut it off after an hour.
-
Martha Coolidge did a very nice 1950's movie called THREE WISHES! It had a kind of flashback-mystical quality that would be nice for le cinema du Kritzer.
-
Quote from TCB 01/28/04 "And a general question: Does anyone know what happened to Mickey Deans?"
He died in July of last year and according to my sources, he is buried at Ferncliff Cemetery, the same one where Miss Garland is interred.
-
Ask BK: Do you have any thoughts about, or memories of, what is laughably referred to as "The Los Angeles River"? I've been reading an article about it.
For those who don't know, it's the concrete trench you've seen in many a movie, such as Grease, and calling it a river makes me giggle.
Well, Noel, if you lived down-stream of the Los Angeles river you would not giggle. That concrete trench becomes a horrendous roaring torrent come the rains - unsuspecting folks have been caught up and washed away; ungodly tons of debris (Styrofoam cups, wornout tires, rusty lawn chairs, dead rats, and occasional miscellaneous body parts) come cascading down the trench to clog up the entire Long Beach harbor and spread unspeakable amounts of detritus on its beaches. The residents along the lower reaches of the LA River have, until recently, labored under an onerous Flood Insurance Tax imposed by the Feds because the real estate was in danger of total inundation come the 100 year flood. Thanks to the generosity of Federal Tax Payers who forked over many billions of dollars to raise the concrete walls of the concrete trench (which necessitated rebuilding lots of bridge overpasses), the tax was lifted last year. Of course, while this raising of the banks was going on the eco-nuts wanted the river returned to its primeval state - which would ensure most of So Cal being turned into a new Pacific Bay come the rains. The state recently enacted legislation requiring the cities that line the river to clean up their act and prevent all the crap from washing into the "trench" - they are vociferously resisting, claiming that the cost of preventing the ghastly run-off from their neighborhoods would force the closure of schools, etc, etc, and it's a puzzlement. I must admit that the zero-tolerance policy on run-off pollution is tough to meet. For one, it requires all parking lots to have closed drainage systems that enable them to be washed without the water running into the streets or storm drains. (Since LA is dry most of the year, parking lot surfaces (as well as drive ways and streets) soak up lots of oil from vehicles - come the first rain, and seven months of oil drippings get sucked out of the pavement and poured into the LA River - to later wash up on the beaches at the river's mouth.
der Brucer (any body want to hear about the San Gabriel River - next trench East?)
-
jrand 53 - That picture of Judy G. is so sad...
-
Thank you for all your kind comments on my GYPSY review. Did any other DR see this production?
Re Judy Garland, I saw her twice in person and it was like night and day. I saw her in Chicago in about 1964 and it was awful. She liked to "perform late" so the concert was scheduled for 10:00. Then we had to sit through an hour of Peter Allen and his "brother" before Judy came on at about 11. She was not in good voice and she even forgot lyrics to "Over the Rainbow". Despite that experience, I went to see her at The Palace in 1967 and it was everything I had always read about JG concerts. At the end I rushed to the stage like everyone else (it was almost a magnetic force pulling me) and I got to shake her hand. I told her I had come all the way from Chicago to see her (not totally true... I also came to see other shows) and she told me she would be going to Chicago in a few months. The friend I came to NY with was not a Garland fan, so he went to a movie and met me afterwards. He said I was in a trance the rest of the evening.
-
By the way, does BOY FROM OZ mention the fact that Peter Allen and Mickey Deans had an affair?
-
Yes DRPanni, sad ... Mickey Deans was listed as a pianist in his obit, so I guess he was playing in bars..... Not much info on him between 1969-2003!
I saw Judy in Cleveland (I think!) in 1967 or so. She was very very late and we saw too much of some comedian....but when she finally got there she sang and sang and was terrific. A lot of people left, she didn't take the stage until almost 11 p.m. But we stayed and were entertained as never before!
And of course I have related the Judy Garland-Frances Farmer concert story previously.
-
WEL - I think it was Peter and Mark Herron.
-
But then, Los Angeles has the nerve to call its basketball team the Lakers, even though there aren't many lakes there.
LA didn't name the Lakers (or the Giants or the Dodgers) - it came when the team came from Minnesota in 1960 - 2 years after the wacthamacallit Dodgers
der Brucer (wondering when the Mets or the Yankees will move west)
-
The hardest thing if this was to get made as a film is the casting of Minnie Kritzer.
How about Tovah Feldshuh or Lainie Kazan?
-
LA didn't name the Lakers (or the Giants or the Dodgers) - it came when the team came from Minnesota in 1960 - 2 years after the wacthamacallit Dodgers
der Brucer (wondering when the Mets or the Yankees will move west)
It's the BROOKLYN Dodgers, buddy, and dontchewfuhgeddit.
der Jay (who grew up on Kings Highway near Flatbush Avenue)
-
Talk of Judy reminds me....Some years ago - has to be 10 or more - Jack Haley Jr. wanted to produce a TV-movie about Mabel Normand, starring Liza Minelli as Mabel. I was asked to do it, so I had a few meetings with Liza and Jack at her hotel. I'm fairly immune to seeing modern stars - but the "old" stars do get to me. So it was an absolute thrill for me to be sitting with the son of the Tin Man and the daughter of Dorothy. Liza was in good shape in those days (she was with Billy Stritch) and she was extremely sweet, almost childlike. She and Haley were very respectful of each other. I suggested to her that one of the really interesting things about Mabel was her somewhat complex and problematic relationship with her mother - not unlike her own. She was very open to the idea, not at all guarded.
We couldn't sell the movie idea, unfortunately, so the project was abandoned and I never wrote it.
-
LA didn't name the Lakers (or the Giants or the Dodgers) - it came when the team came from Minnesota in 1960
Right. (I was about to post when my time expired.)
This practice of not changing the team name when it moves to another city leads to some silly oxymorons:
New Orleans had a basketball team they named the Jazz, which sounds natural enough. Then it moved to Salt Lake City and called itself the Utah Jazz.
-
And of course I have related the Judy Garland-Frances Farmer concert story previously.
Before my time at HHW. (Or I missed it.) I'd love to hear it.
-
My History teacher said "hee-uh" 64 times in fifty minutes. The only reason I'm taking this class is to see if she'll break her record of 100 in 75 minutes. She came awfully close today.
-
WEL - When we were in NY around New Year's DR Andrea and I saw the GYPSY revival as well. I agree with about half of your critique of it (but understand where you might be coming from on where we differ):
1) Bernadette - I had the same "she was good for some things, not so good for others" reaction. Her voice has always bugged me with it's breathless "Betty Boop-i-ness" but I thought she acted the part extremely well.
2) John Dossett - definitely the highlight of the show. It got to the point where I was looking forward to his next appearance.
3) Tammy - I LOVED her! What could you not like about someone who is able to keep a straight face (and continue to sing!) when a lamb is sticking its tongue in their ear? ;)
4) Overture - I noticed the same thing about the frustration of doing it with the house at half-lights and the audience still talking. It's the greatest overture in broadway history... give it the respect it deserves!
5) Sets and Lights - while I can't remember anything particularly special about the lighting the sets I thought fit perfectly with the "feel" of the show. Minimalist yet realistically gritty.
So there's my quasi-review. We must force DR Andrea to do the same thing.
-
When I saw the name Mickey on the first line. I thought TomFromOz was asking about Mickey Mouse. Oops :(
-
That concrete trench becomes a horrendous roaring torrent come the rains - unsuspecting folks have been caught up and washed away; ungodly tons of debris (Styrofoam cups, wornout tires, rusty lawn chairs, dead rats, and occasional miscellaneous body parts) come cascading down the trench to clog up the entire Long Beach harbor and spread unspeakable amounts of detritus on its beaches. The residents along the lower reaches of the LA River have, until recently, labored under an onerous Flood Insurance Tax imposed by the Feds because the real estate was in danger of total inundation come the 100 year flood. Thanks to the generosity of Federal Tax Payers who forked over many billions of dollars to raise the concrete walls of the concrete trench (which necessitated rebuilding lots of bridge overpasses), the tax was lifted last year. Of course, while this raising of the banks was going on the eco-nuts wanted the river returned to its primeval state - which would ensure most of So Cal being turned into a new Pacific Bay come the rains. The state recently enacted legislation requiring the cities that line the river to clean up their act and prevent all the crap from washing into the "trench" - they are vociferously resisting, claiming that the cost of preventing the ghastly run-off from their neighborhoods would force the closure of schools, etc, etc
I thank DR Der Brucer for the excellent post about The Los Angeles River. It's a shame that, seemingly, nothing can be done:
Remove the concrete to make it "natural" and you risk massive flooding.
Make it illegal to pollute it, and you drive businesses out of business.
Convert it into a freeway and you've merely given Los Angeles more of the same.
A beautiful river is a feature of so many great cities, and, the Tad Friend article points out, L.A. has the smallest acreage of parks, per capita, of any American metropolis.
So many songs come to mind (what's the one from Say Darling? But one could make an ironic comment with a segue from Schwartz's L.A. version of "We Can Build a Beautiful City" to his "rivers belong where they can ramble."
-
WEL - I think it was Peter and Mark Herron.
Maybe it was Mark Herron and Mickey Deans; and Peter Allen only watched?
-
TCB, I am SHOCKED, do you hear, that you would infer that Judy was involved with a gay man (or men) ;)
Panni, what a nice story about Liza. She seems to be getting back on track (in spite of the divorce) and I'm glad. When she was at her prime, she was wonderful. I saw her in concert a couple of times in the 70s and she was great. It was sad to see her slide down the slippery slope.
-
I think Lainie is too old, and Tovah isn't a big enough name. I should think one would need a big name somehow. I actually thought if Tracy Ullman would put on weight, would be not an uninteresting choice.
-
I think JRand is correct about it being Mark and not Mickey.
Emily---
Last night the lamb wasn't licking her... it kept trying to escape. However I have seen other Louises deal with the lamb and still sing the song beautifully. As hard as it is to pick the best Rose I ever saw, it's easy to pick the best Louise: Debra Gibson in the Papermill Production with Betty Buckley.
Intersting text problem in GYPSY which I had never noticed before. When Tessie tells Louise that if she ever became a stripper Gypsy would be a good name for her the only person who is in the room with them is Rose. So when Electra sings "Gypsy girl you've got it made", how does she know this name?
-
This just in...
Broadway.Com has answered my question of last week regarding Harvey Fierstein's replacement when he leaves HAIRSPRAY May 2..... Michael McKean.
-
I, for one, would have no problem with 2 intermissions if that helped break the show into manageable parts.
Not to mention the lack of good facilities in theaters, and the lines to get in and out. And it's far worse for women that it is for men!
S. Woody - who has another ten years to go before he has these problems.
-
Here's even BIGGER NEWS:
According to THIS RELEASE (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040128005195&newsLang=en), Sweeney Todd with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury and The Last of Sheila with...everyone, are FINALLY going to be released on DVD!! "The Last of Sheila" will have special features that include commentary by Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon and Raquel Welch and the theatrical trailer.
[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%] ;D ;D ;D ;D[/move]
-
Here's even BIGGER NEWS:
According to THIS RELEASE (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040128005195&newsLang=en), Sweeney Todd with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury and The Last of Sheila with...everyone, are FINALLY going to be released on DVD!! "The Last of Sheila" will have special features that include commentary by Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon and Raquel Welch and the theatrical trailer.
[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%] ;D ;D ;D ;D[/move]
And here's even BIGGER BIG news............
??? ???
I don't really have anything, but I didn't want to feel left out.
-
Or... the BIGGER BIG news could be that we got to page 3.
-
I actually thought if Tracy Ullman would put on weight, would be not an uninteresting choice.
These days a sure road to an Oscar nomination! (Add a prosthetic nose and Minnie's loose false teeth -- and she's got the trophy.)
-
(http://www.geocities.com/~themistyone/images/farmerautopic.jpg)
Judy was in Indy doing two performances in October, 1967, at Clowes Hall, a new facility on the campus of Butler University.
A woman who was in the audience for one of the shows, wrote that she was seated behind Frances Farmer and her party.
Just as it came time for Judy's entrance, Frances stood up and moved to the end of the row (there is no center aisle at Clowes). Judy ran in and ran down the aisle laughing and greeting people. She passed Frances and kept on going.
A few steps more, Judy did a double take and ran back to Frances, hugging her and laughing and talking. The two ladies had a mini reunion while the band vamped and the audience waited...and waited. ;D
-
Not to be contrary, but an article in Playbill On-Line says that McKean is one of a number of actors being considered. Not that Broadway.com is wrong but they even say in their article that production staff on Hairspray said no offer had been made to McKean. I guess it will all come out in the hairspray.
-
Good afternoon!
As for my "problem" with running times of shows today... I just have to wonder if the original audiences complained about an almost two hour first act. Or a full show that had a running time of 3 hours - or even more. Most of the Rodgers & Hammerstein canon if done in toto would definitely run over today's union-limited 3-hour running time. -Well, a show can run over 3 hours today, but then that calls for special negotiations a la Les Miserables. I know that going to the theatre back then was truly a full evening... Dinner, show, a longer intermission then what we're used to today, party, drinks, etc...
Did the less mechanized and streamlined scene changes allow ample opportunity to go to the lounge?
Did people not mind missing out on a scene and/or a song?
I guess I'm coming from my "purist" standpoint. If a playwright wrote those words, I want to hear them. If a composer wrote those notes, I want to hear them. Yes, some of the classic show do have some fat - "in ones", "crossovers", encore verses, etc... It just seems unfortunate that when a director and/or producer chooses to mount a production of a classic musical, they know that even before rehearsals start that they will have to make cuts in order to bring the show down to a more comfortable and manageable running time for today's audiences - and financial considerations.
OK - I'm babbling again, and I don't think I'll be able to stop... so....
Question for BK: Has there been a revival of a show that you've seen - or even heard of - where they cut something (scene and/or song) and considered it "blasphemy"? -Yes, "blasphemy" is too strong a word here, but I can't think of anything else right now. And has there even been a revival where new material was interpolated, and you had to ask, "Why!?!?!"
Conversely, have any subtractions or additions to a revival met with your stamp of approval and big smile on your face?
-
JRand53, loved the Frances/Judy tale. Don't you wish you could have been sitting there behind Frances at that moment! What a sweet story.
And loved the Frances autograph!
Did any DRs see the Judy Garland TV movie that was made a year or two ago. I did not have high hopes for it, but was just astounded at how good it was...particularly Judy Davis' performance and the young actress that playd JG as a child. Wow!
-
I like to watch ice skating as well....as do many other DR's! Bowling....now and then....
I also enjoy hockey on tv and in person!!!!
I enjoyed ME AND MY SHADOWS, DRMBarnum. And the young Judy was Tammy Blanchard who is now on Broadway in GYPSY...see the review above. I thought Judy Davis was good, but she could have started a couple of scenes later......
-
BK, question of the day: Does your pal Cindy Williams ever peruse HHW? And it so has she ever posted?
-
SS thanks for the dinner suggestion. It sounds like fun.
Currently the weather predictions for the area are favorable.
JRand53 thanks for the nice story and the smile on my face. :)
-
Bruce do you know Penny is friends with Cindy?
-
My der Brucer's post above about the LA River has reminded me of where I first learned of it's history - on a program called Ralph Story's Los Angeles, where the veteran broadcaster would dig up a half hour's worth of LA history every Saturday. He was one heck of a good storyteller, always able to make things interesting.
So, to ASK BK: Which Los Angeles newspeople do you remember best, and why? (The good and the bad; no reason to leave Connie Chung out of all this! ;D)
Going off on a tangent, when it rains in LA it doesn't just sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle, it comes out in TORRANTS! And I mean all over the place, not just in Torrence! This of course leads to flooding, which the drainage systems usually take care of fairly well (hence the need for the LA River's concrete embankments, because that's where all the drainage goes).
The other half of the problem is brushfires, which kick up every few years. The natural growth in the hills gets tinder dry, and all it takes is a stray match to set things off. In fact, there are plants that require fire to help germinate their seeds, so fire is a natural part of the process! But I can remember times when the fires were so thick and heavy that the sky would turn orange, as the sunlight tried to work it's way through all the smoke. Another year, we'd gone to a drive-in movie, and I can't even remember what was on the screen because the lines of fires in the hills were far more interesting to watch. And there was the one fire in the early autumn when I was in the 5th grade that struck very close to home.
Our house in Burbank was in the first block below the hills and all that underbrush. This one year, the fires came to within yards of the street between the undeveloped area and our block. Dad was fortunately with us that week, instead of off at the real Area 51 with all the test pilots, and left work to spend the entire day on the roof of our house, hosing things down. The next spring, he sprung for new asbestos roofing to replace the shake shingles we'd had before. Much safer.
Ah, but before we got that new roof, the rains came. That's what happens in March and April; there's torrential rains. And the brush that was in the hills wasn't there, and hadn't had any chance to grow back. So naturally, there was nothing to hold the soil down in the hills, and as the ground reached the saturation point, gravity did it's thing. The waterlogged dirt turned to mud, and we were hit by mudslides.
We were lucky. By chance, the street we lived on was on a semi-ridge, so that the water and mud instead wend down the streets to either side of ours. But the people on those other streets had some real problems, with mud cascading down, knocking down trees which, in turn, would turn the waters away from the street and towards the houses. Some of the people had to evacuate, to return to find their houses filled with mud. There was some serious clean-up that had to be done after that.
I suppose Los Angeles might have less park-land than other major cities, per capita. But it still has areas of wild lands, which more than makes up for that "lack". And Los Angeles is just one city in the entire county of Los Angeles. Even along the streets, there is much greenery, and enough trees to make it what ecologists call an "urban forest." Were there brushfires? Floods? Earthquakes? Of course. But these things were momentary, and gave the place a chance to renew and rebuild. It was a very good place to grow up. I can't imagine why anyone would prefer a concrete jungle.
-
Today is the seven month mark since the stork dropped me off here at HHW...it feels like a lot longer...
BK: Do you have any funny stories about your daughter that you'd be willing to tell us? My dad just told me about a bunch of stuff I used to do when I was little, and I was dying laughing.
I love football, hockey, soccer, and ice skating. Basketball isn't GREAT, but I'll watch it, and I can't stand baseball. It takes SO long!
It is about 20 degrees here, and the sun is finally out! I'll probably have school tomorrow...I'm actually glad. While snow days are fun, I'm becoming incredibly bored with being trapped in my house.
-
According to THIS RELEASE (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040128005195&newsLang=en), Sweeney Todd with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury and The Last of Sheila with...everyone, are FINALLY going to be released on DVD!! "The Last of Sheila" will have special features that include commentary by Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon and Raquel Welch and the theatrical trailer.
Hopefully, The Last of Sheila will also have appropriate chapter stops, so that others can have the same fun I made sure der Brucer had. There is a scene, towards the end of the film, where Richard Benjamin is walking along the docks, alone. At that point, I made der Brucer stop the tape (we have it on VHS, and he'd never seen the film before) and see if he could work out the mystery all on his own, as all the facts have been given by that point. Mystery buff that he is, I shouldn't have been surprised that he got it right! (Of course, it took him a couple of days, and a couple of prods early on, but he had a blast piecing it all together.)
-
Cindy knows nothing about the site. When we dine (we can't do it until she's back in town in two weeks) I will tell her all. Friends with PennyO or PennyM?
Newspeople: Certainly for amusement value no one has ever topped George Putnam in the LA area. I also used to like Paul Coates and his Confidential Report in the fifties (Mr. Coates and his show were the inspiration for Danny DeVito's character in LA Confidential).
Funny daughter story - I've told it before but since it always makes me laugh:
When Nudie Musical came out I used to get newspapers from all over the US to see the reviews and check out theaters and ads. Once a week I'd head over to the Sherman Oaks newstand, usually with daughter in tow. They have an awning there, and on the awning are printed things like Magazines, Out of Town papers, etc. So, I park, tell my daughter (who was just six then) to wait while I pick up my papers. A minute later I'm back in the car and we drive off. She says to me, "Daddy, I hope you didn't want any town papers." I said, "What do you mean." She said, "They're out of them." I turned around and saw the sign "out of town papers". I laughed for three days straight, and she laughed, too, once I explained it to her. And we still laugh about it to this day.
-
DR WEL - I have the ABC Paramount LP of Judy At Home at the Palace recorded in 1967...and I love to listen to it. Is it on CD yet?
Of course, she didn't sing "Rainbow" on the recording, but her banter with the audience and some of the "newer" songs are great to hear.
Yes, DRMBarnum...I would love to have been at Clowes that night....everytime I go there I try to figure out exactly where Judy came in and where they might have met...LOL
-
Thanks for the Judy-Frances story, JRand53!
-
Lovely daughter story, bk! I think one of the reasons young children learn foreign languages so easily is that they just cut straight to the heart of the matter. It says what it says, it means what it means. Nothing gets in the way.
-
What a great story about your daughter, BK.
Yesterday when I got home from work, I switched on the TV hoping to hear some New Hampshire election returns. It was still too early, so I sat down and watched the Pyramid Game Show with Donny Osmond. One of the contestants yesterday was a guy who looked very much like our own MBarnum's picture. Now, having never seen Mr. Barnum in the flesh, as it were, I don't know if he looked anything like the real Mr. Barnum. However, he was cute and adorable and kind of sexy. And after yesterday's program he also had $10,000.00.
-
What a great story about your daughter, BK.
Yesterday when I got home from work, I switched on the TV hoping to hear some New Hampshire election returns. It was still too early, so I sat down and watched the Pyramid Game Show with Donny Osmond. One of the contestants yesterday was a guy who looked very much like our own MBarnum's picture. Now, having never seen Mr. Barnum in the flesh, as it were, I don't know if he looked anything like the real Mr. Barnum. However, he was cute and adorable and kind of sexy. And after yesterday's program he also had $10,000.00.
Sadly, that wasn't me...I could use $10,000 right now! Credit cards you know. Dangerous things!
Loved the "out of town newspapers" story! Got a good laugh out of that!
-
WEL - I saw the Gypsy revival in June, and I have to say that I agree with most all of your review. The one real difference of opinion we have is about the strippers. When I saw it, I felt "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" sat there like so much fish and was the one real disappointment of the show. I agree that Bernadette was better than I'd feared, but not outstanding, Blanchard got better throughout the show, and Dossett was simply wonderful.
BK - Yes! Rob Reiner would seem to be a wonderful fit for a Kritzer film.
Wonderful news about the Sweeney Todd and The Last of Sheila DVDs! Hope I have some cash laying around on April 20th.
-
Panni I hope you feel much improved today and your voice is beginning to return to normal. At least you could still speak, with the written word, and voice your views for us.
SWW you bring back memories-Ralph’s Story’s.
We had a gully (long ago it was paved over & made into a street) that ran behind our elementary school. I remember standing at the back fence during recess watching in the hopes it would rise high enough so we would all be sent home. The day the gully finally overflowed my mother wisely kept us home in the first place.
Bruce, Penny O.
-
One of the old movie theaters in a small town near Salem (Stayton, to be exact) is now showing old classic movies once or twice a month...coming next month...7 BRIDES FOR 7 BROTHERS, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, GREASE. I will definately be going to see the first two films when they play!
-
Glad you liked the FF/JG story Panni and other DR's.
-
Re the discussion about the running times of shows and the inability of audiences to sit still for very long (bladder problems aside)... I lay some of the blame at the feet of SESAME STREET. Now don't get me wrong, I think that SEASAME STREET has done many fine things for young people. BUT the not so fine thing is that an entire generation now thinks of 15-20 seconds as the norm for the presentation of story or facts. A blip here and we move on, two blips there and on to the next thing. That's what kids see from the time they're old enough to sit up - maybe even before. When we lived in Canada, I made sure that my daughter watched Fred Penner, Sharon, Lois and Bram, The Friendly Giant, Mr. Rogers, of course. Shows that took time...
-
I'm feeling much better, thank you, Jane.
-
I'm not at all sure there's another LIB to be done - I've gone through so much material and I was really stretching on LIBIV. But, of course there's been quite a few shows since then, all of which have had cut songs - so who knows.
I can't help but be amused that you felt you were "really stretching" by the time you got to LIB IV. I find that I much prefer LIB III and IV to the first two. Prefer the songs (particularly love the 3rd set of material) and performances. Stretching or not, I find the later editions to be wonderful CDs.
-
Good afternoon all. A rather boring afternoon this is turning out to be. Baby fell asleep in the car on the way home, and is now conked out on the couch. Thank god he's finally learned to sleep on his own, instead of insisted on a human pillow. So now I am sitting here like so much fish, drinking a latte and contemplating lunch.
My only semi-big news...I'm getting cable tomorrow! Nothing fancy, just basic digital cable, which will run me about $40 a month, which thankfully fits into the budget. This will be the first time I've had cable since leaving my parents house, so it's very exciting to me :)
Hmm...no BK questions yet..I'll think about it some more...
-
I forgot to mention, Dear Readers, that I had a root canal done this morning. Isn't that exciting? Isn't that too too?
-
I'm happy about THE LAST OF SHEILA and thrilled about SWEENEY TODD. WOnderful news!
Sometimes Hollywood producers can be so stupid. Liza in the bittersweet story of Mabel Normand (more bitter than sweet, sadly) sounds like it would have been a wonderful idea. I think there is definitely a TV audience out there to see Liza do something big and wonderful on TV. She couldn't draw flies to the movie theater any more, but TV audiences would love her in a big TV movie, I think, if the subject was right and it got the right publicity. I guess they are afraid there would be production problems dealing with Liza, but she's still a big name, especially with Baby Boomers and older. (True, that's not the audience advertisers covet, but the ratings could be huge regardless.)
-
Quick healing vibes your way, DR Jay!
-
I agree MATTH - Liza as Mabel would have been fascinating.
And does anyone have any details on this Peter Bogdonavich - Natalie Wood movie?
-
A word I just encountered in something I was reading, the use of which should be a capital crime: "liaise."
What other words, Dear BK and Dear Readers, would you put into this category?
-
Panni - I quite agree with your Sesame Street comment. Almost all kids shows these days have stories compacted into 10 or 12 minute blurbs. A typical half-hour show is one 12 minute story, a break of some kind, the another 12 minute story. The results are just as you say...kids expect things to be short, quick, and exciting, then move on to something else. B
And while I'm ranting...another thing that bugs me...books. One day in the car Riley picked up a novel that happened to be lying in the back seat of my car. (if you know me, that comes as no surprise) He asked "Where are the pictures" "There are no pictures" "Does it light up when you open it?" "No" "Does it play music" "No" "Are there any buttons to press?" "No" "What a dumb book!"
These are the leaders of tomorrow, folks...
-
Re the discussion about the running times of shows and the inability of audiences to sit still for very long (bladder problems aside)... I lay some of the blame at the feet of SESAME STREET. Now don't get me wrong, I think that SEASAME STREET has done many fine things for young people. BUT the not so fine thing is that an entire generation now thinks of 15-20 seconds as the norm for the presentation of story or facts. A blip here and we move on, two blips there and on to the next thing. That's what kids see from the time they're old enough to sit up - maybe even before. When we lived in Canada, I made sure that my daughter watched Fred Penner, Sharon, Lois and Bram, The Friendly Giant, Mr, Rogers, of course. Shows that took time...
I definately agree that Seasame Street, video games, vcrs and MTV have all contributed to the restlessness of audiences, both at movies and at live performances. The attention span continues to decrease every year, and it isn't just young people that have been affected. I have seen people I know (not friends, acquaintances) who have walked out of a play I was in, during a scene, so that they could have a cigarette. And they then wandered back to their seats when they were finished. As an actor, if you are doing a long first act of a show, you can actually begin to feel the people tuning out the longer the act runs. Hell, half the time you have people talking through the performance anyway, so how much ruder is it to have them take a potty break during your soliloquy?
-
Quick healing vibes your way, DR Jay!
Thanks, Dear Reader Panni!
-
The Christopher Meloni Picture of the Week:
a publicity shot from his 1995 Fox sitcom MISERY LOVES COMPANY
-
Jed, I wasn't saying I don't like LIBIII and IV, I do, very much, song-wise. I'm just saying that to do a V would have been stretching into material I didn't think good enough. I am, of course, on record about LIBIII being problematic for me in terms of its quality, but no one else notices those things but me (I'm talking technically and orchestration-wise, not performers). I had a first-time (with me) orchestrator, who a) didn't understand the way the album needed to be done (even though it was explained thoroughly) and b) who wrote parts out so illegibly they could barely be played. I had to do an additional horn and reed date to clean things up. He learned quickly, though, and turned in really top-notch work on other albums.
-
I'm happy about THE LAST OF SHEILA and thrilled about SWEENEY TODD. WOnderful news!
Sometimes Hollywood producers can be so stupid. Liza in the bittersweet story of Mabel Normand (more bitter than sweet, sadly) sounds like it would have been a wonderful idea. I think there is definitely a TV audience out there to see Liza do something big and wonderful on TV. She couldn't draw flies to the movie theater any more, but TV audiences would love her in a big TV movie, I think, if the subject was right and it got the right publicity. I guess they are afraid there would be production problems dealing with Liza, but she's still a big name, especially with Baby Boomers and older. (True, that's not the audience advertisers covet, but the ratings could be huge regardless.)
Whatever problems Liza may be having with her personal life, I still find her to be absolutely hysterical on Arrested Development. Granted, she is not the central character on the show, but I think she looks great and she seems to be having a wonderful time doing the sitcom. I would gladly tune it to watch her in a TV film, preferably one that doesn't include singing.
-
Both Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis won Emmys for their performances in LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME AND MY SHADOWS, and they were well deserved. I agree that Judy Davis started a little too soon in the film trying to play the 22-year old Garland in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. The makeup had to be very thick to try to disguise Davis' true age. Still, I got that DVD the day it came out, and have watched it quite a bit. They chose some wonderful actors for the men in Judy's life.
-
The Christopher Meloni Picture of the Week:
a publicity shot from his 1995 Fox sitcom MISERY LOVES COMPANY
Thank you, MattH, you give me a purpose for living.
I suppose, if you were posting a weekly Brian Kelly photo, you would be giving me a porpoise for living!
No groaning!
-
I watched "Mystic River" last night. IMHO a good movie but not one I would want to watch again. Thus not great.
When I attend theatre or cinema here, it is still unusual for anyone to leave unless there is an interval.
More so in the case of theatre. School sessions here are usually just under two hours long. It is still not the norm for children to need a toilet break during a class of that duration. I think that there may be a need for children to be taught appropriate theatre behaviour. From my limited experience of New York theatre (I have only seen about 6 shows), audiences are the worst I have experienced in terms of chatter and restlessness. London audiences would not be as rude - and even matinees are not a problem. My experiences may of course may not be representative of the norn at all.
-
When I attend theatre or cinema here, it is still unusual for anyone to leave unless there is an interval.
More so in the case of theatre. School sessions here are usually just under two hours long. It is still not the norm for children to need a toilet break during a class of that duration. I think that there may be a need for children to be taught appropriate theatre behaviour. From my limited experience of New York theatre (I have only seen about 6 shows), audiences are the worst I have experienced in terms of chatter and restlessness. London audiences would not be as rude - and even matinees are not a problem. My experiences may of course may not be representative of the norn at all.
I have to tell you that the rudest behavior by audience members that I have witnessed has come, not from children or teens, but from people of an age at which they should know better.
-
DR Sandra has a new pic! En garde! :D
So - Cloris Leachman can't even audition for Minnie?
Then Benjamin would be related in a way to Freddy Krueger and the Twilight Zone cornfield! ;D
-
Jrand - I don't think the 67 "Judy at the Palace" is on DVD yet.
Re the Garland telemovie: Sid Luft supposedly hated it and complained that he was played by a gay actor (I don't know if Victor Garber is officially "out" or not or even if he is gay).
Re: McKean in HAIRSPRAY... I just read the headline which made it look like it was a done deal. However Broadway.com would not have printed it if it wasn't close to happening.
I know this was asked to BK, but two revisals that absolutely ruined their source material were DAMN YANKEES (all new book not nearly as good as the original) and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (BP version with three songs cut --- and a 4th later in the run---, an all new book and the change in the order of the songs). Why do these shows if you don't trust the material?
Running time of shows: To my knowledge, the classic R&H shows ran between 2 hrs 55 minutes and 3 hrs so they wouldn't go overtime. The first acts were at least twice as long as the second acts. Today's new shows seem to average about two hours and fifteen to thirty minutes, with first acts still much longer than second acts. A show should be as long as it needs to be to tell its story. The best non-musical I ever saw was nine hours long with a dinner break (NICHOLAS NICKELBY) yet it seemed shorter that many two or three hour shows.
-
Oh, and here is your Allison Hayes picture of the week.
Just another day on the Columbia Pictures lot.....yes, Allison was a swinging chick! 8)
-
RE: Length of shows.
The producers wired George Bernard Shaw when they were presenting his "Saint Joan" in New York: "Need to change play so commuters can make last trains home."
GBS wired back (of course): "Change the trains."
-
Sid Luft is a jerk.
-
DR Jay. I would agree. But when was the behavoiur pattern learnt? A fellow Hainsie noted my use of "interval" rather than "intermission". The latter tern has been out of vogue here since the 1950's. With my background it is wonder I didn't use the term recess.
-
At least you didn't call it half time.
-
Sid Luft is a jerk.
And anybody who says clark is a jark
-
Stretching or not, I find the later editions to be wonderful CDs.
Giving birth to even the finest of creations often results in stretch marks.
der Brucer (since BK doesn't like GWTW he prob'ly don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies either)
-
At least you didn't call it half time.
Colin, being a football follower, would have done so.
-
I spent two hours this afternoon watching the unusual allegorical drama STRANGE CARGO. I'm going to do some research on whether it was a success or not (can't imagine such a talky, quasi-religious piece doing big box-office), but what a way to end the Joan Crawford-Clark Gable series of films they did together.
Have to say, though, that the somewhat homoerotic relationship between Albert Dekker and John Arledge took me by surprise. They slipped in a line of dialogue where Dekker said they'd be together like brothers, but the looks between them looked nothing like brothers to me.
-
Thank you, MattH, you give me a purpose for living.
I suppose, if you were posting a weekly Brian Kelly photo, you would be giving me a porpoise for living!
No groaning!
Hey, a weekly Brian Kelly photo would do me a world of good!
-
Oh, my gosh! The Catholic CHurch gave STRANGE CARGO a C rating - condemned due to the use of a Christ-like figure (played by Ian Hunter) who helps the other characters make moral and ethical decisions during the picture. Some looping was done cuts made, and more actual scripture quoted, and the Catholic Church re-rated it with an A, but the damage was done, and many theaters wouldn't book it due to the pre-release publicity of its original C rating. A box-office disappointment for Gable in the year following the blockbuster GONE WITH THE WIND (though he had a smash hit with BOOM TOWN also in 1940).
Amazing the power of the Legion of Decency back in those days.
-
It's a shame that, seemingly, nothing can be done:
Remove the concrete to make it "natural" and you risk massive flooding.
Make it illegal to pollute it, and you drive businesses out of business.
Convert it into a freeway and you've merely given Los Angeles more of the same.
A beautiful river is a feature of so many great cities, and, the Tad Friend article points out, L.A. has the smallest acreage of parks, per capita, of any American metropolis.
So many songs come to mind (what's the one from Say Darling? But one could make an ironic comment with a segue from Schwartz's L.A. version of "We Can Build a Beautiful City" to his "rivers belong where they can ramble."
Here's a radical thought: maybe we shouldn't be building houses "where rivers ramble (or, in particular, where they "rampage").
It's seem the developers rail against nature like Salieri against God - and to the same effect.
It's ironic to drive down to the water's edge at Cape Henlopen (where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean) - here is the scene of many an historic storm - here is where nature reclaimed her territory and washed the lovely Lighthouse out to sea. Here is where new developers are builing colonies of houses teetering on the waters edge. (They ease their conscience by putting the houses atop a full ground level "basement" which has break thru walls should the surf come a-pounding - clearly the intent is that these ground level rooms be treated much like a garage or storage shed;needless to say, the windows are all covered with the most expensive "treatments" and I suspect the rooms filled with expensive rec room accoutrements to be claimed on insurance forms come the tide.)
der Brucer (humming "when will we ever learn....")
-
I want Allison Hayes's legs!
-
LOL DR Sarah....
You will also need a white bathing suit, red shoes, and a lovely upholstered chair. 8)
-
Hey, a weekly Brian Kelly photo would do me a world of good!
You mean the guy who produced this:
(http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/27/39/10m.jpg)
der Brucer (obviously barking up the wrong whatever)
-
Extracted from the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-goldstein28jan28,1,2500856.story?coll=la-headlines-california)
THE BIG PICTURE
Interpreting Academy's Cold Shoulder
By Patrick Goldstein, Times Staff Writer
You can bet everyone in Hollywood is debating how to read the Academy's refusal to give a best picture nomination to Miramax's "Cold Mountain," freezing the studio out of Best Picture contention for the first time in 11 years. Is it a true commentary on the film's merits or — gasp — payback for Miramax kingpin Harvey Weinstein's brass-knuckled Oscar campaigning in recent years?
…
If I were running Miramax, here's how I would read the academy's message: Give us a break from grand, high-priced star vehicles like "Cold Mountain." In an era where the big studios care more about merchandising action toys than making movies, it's time that Weinstein, the last great Svengali of quality films, went back to doing what he did best — being a feisty underdog, not Hollywood's playground bully.
der Brucer ("svengali", "playground bully" - ooch!)
-
so how much ruder is it to have them take a potty break during your soliloquy?
Makes me want to see TO BE OR NOT BE again. Jack Benny's face each time Robert Stack leaves is one (several) of the great moments of comedic film.
-
THE VIEW FROM OLYMPUS
(http://ai.pricegrabber.com/muze_images/Video/DVD/91/176191_118x160.jpg)
And this (below) is a 15 min DVD?
(http://ai.pricegrabber.com/muze_images/Video/DVD/49/187149_118x160.jpg)
This special program of patriotic songs sung by Judy Garland on her eponymous television show was prepared in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 to help lift the spirit of the US and its citizens. Containing songs such as "America the Beautiful," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "Smile," SONGS FOR AMERICA is not only seeking to provide an emotional tonic, but a financial one as well, as all proceeds from the sale of this program will be donated to the American Red Cross.
der Brucer
-
Evening all!
Jane said:
Danise I knew you would answer Noel’s question. Your post was so great I had to read it out loud to Keith. He would like to know if there are female counterparts to Werewolves. He assumes, based on his viewing experience, the human canine corps is only male. If female She-wolves do exist, can they have cubs?
Saw your post about the female werewolf, Jane, but didn't have time to answer you last night.
First, I should point out that there is a female werewolf in An American Werewolf In Paris.
I don’t seem to be able to recall how it was handled in any great detail but my own feelings on the matter is that women don't/can’t become them. Certainly there would not be any cubs.
First, you have to take into account that a werewolf is not a naturally occurring species. It is a curse brought about by offending a gypsy woman or being bitten by a werewolf. There is no real need for the werewolf to procreate.
Unlike the vampire, werewolves are not typically considered a sexual object--at least not that I'm aware of but I'm not going to go there. Then you have your burly men, which is a whole other subject (not by much) but I'm not going to go there either.
I should also point out that werewolf behavior isn't that far off of your typical human male. Think about it--they run around all night, make lots of noise, don't worry about how their hair is combed or their appearance, scratch in public and then come dragging home the next day, horribly sorry, swear they won’t do it again and within a month, they're out there again. Except for the killing (unless you count the beer bottles) I can't see any difference between them and a club-hopping guy.
We women, on the other hand, already have one cycle to deal with that already has been known to strike fear into the heart of the bravest of men. Which would you rather face--a werewolf or a woman with PMS? I don’t think I have to tell you where the smart money would be.
Not to mention, no amount of werewolf spittle would make ME grow any more hair then I already have to deal with. It's bad enough that I have to spend the time plucking my eyebrows and shaving without dealing with MORE facial/body hair.
No, werewolves are definitely a guy monster.
Let me go read the posts for today and I'll be back.
-
so how much ruder is it to have them take a potty break during your soliloquy?
While TCB is on stage intoning "To Be, or not To Be", I'd be squirming thinking "To Pee, or not To Pee".
der Brucer (thinking "ruder" would be not to leave before taking a potty break!)
-
Which would you rather face--a werewolf or a woman with PMS?
But a werewolf with PMS - now that is a scary thought!!!!!
-
I have to tell you that the rudest behavior by audience members that I have witnessed has come, not from children or teens, but from people of an age at which they should know better.
Back in the days when I was acting in children's theater, we once did an open-air show during which parents would often talk in a perfectly normal (meaning LOUD) voice to their kids all through the play. Drove me nuts.
When I was going to high school in Toronto, the school would once a year take a trip to Stratford. I'm sure the actors dreaded these student matinees. I have very vivid memories of seeing Christopher Plummer and Zoe Caldwell in ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA. There was a moment in the show when Plummer came right downstage and did a kind of drunken belly dance. The kids went crazy, started throwing things, yelling (this after talking through the rest of the play). Plummer stopped and told the audience that unless they shut up he wasn't going to continue. They did and he did. Good for him!
-
LOL what a wonderful story, DRPANNI. I too have dreaded performing for student matinees. I just have a feeling that those kids would rather be anyplace else....except of course in the classroom. And I am not sure what the teachers tell them, if anything.
Of course some of the kids want to see the play - but most of them have NO interest in it. Why not limit it to drama classes or students who WANT to see it? That wouldn't sell many tickets. And of course theaters can point with pride in their grant requests that they served "this many" youngsters in their "Plays for High Schoolers" program!
Congratulations to Christopher Plummer! Would that someone in some of our morning presentations of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK would have said something to the little darlings who threw pennies onstage....God knows their teachers weren't saying anything...if they were even in the auditorium at the time!
NOW....I just finished watch "In This Our Life" and I must say that when Miss Bette Davis was let loose, she knew no bounds....hand wringing, eye popping, hip switching, hair pulling, she did it all and then some! And her character's name was Stanley Timberlake.....a sister of Justin no doubt!
-
In the telefilm me and My Shadows an acquaintance of mine who I worked with on Sirens and did a reading of a play I co-wrote played Judy's Father. Victor Garber I am not sure is out or not. He is gay. But he is not an "A" list actors so the tabloids generally leave him alone. He has gone to the Emmy Awards with a partner.
-
Ah - another "Me and My Shadows" story.....Thea Gill who plays the blonde lesbian on QUEER AS FOLK played Lucille Bremer in the film, but the scene was cut out....they were doing the "mirror" scene, and Miss Judy Davis complained repeatedly that Thea was blocking her in the shot, not unlike what happened when Garland and Bremer were filming the actual scene for MEET ME IN ST LOUIS. Thea said it was NOT a happy experience for her, and being left on the cutting room floor made it even more so! Her experience with Miss Davis was not pleasant.
-
Oh DR ANN you got cable just in time for TCM's 21 Days of Oscar!!!
-
Bruce:
Have you ever recorded any of your songs from the planned follow-up to the First Nudie Musical called Sailors! Sailors! It sounds like a hoot. And in they age of Don't Ask Don't Tell it might play very well if it was ever filmed.
-
The Christopher Meloni Picture of the Week:
a publicity shot from his 1995 Fox sitcom MISERY LOVES COMPANY
Holy crap! He was so adorably, er, YOUTHFUL then. . .
-
DR Sandra has a new pic! En garde! :D
So - Cloris Leachman can't even audition for Minnie?
Then Benjamin would be related in a way to Freddy Krueger and the Twilight Zone cornfield! ;D
Cloris can audition, if Caliborne can, too.
-
Colin, being a football follower, would have done so.
Now, when you say "football, " are you really talking about "soccer?"
-
Sailors would have been so much fun to do back then. Probably still work, although the script would need a lot of futzing with. I did record everything from Sailors, and I know I have it here somewhere because I was listening to it not so long ago.
-
For Jane: Today I went to the zoo lake, and the Mandarin duck came within five feet of me.
-
Swishy Sarah did you receive my email a few days ago?
-
But a werewolf with PMS - now that is a scary thought!!!!!
For sure! LOL! I hope you guys know I was pulling your leg again. :D
-
I also saw a lovely pair of wood ducks.
-
For Jane: Today I went to the zoo lake, and the Mandarin duck came within five feet of me.
Did you take that beautiful photograph? Breathtaking aren't they! I'm so glad you got to see it up close. :)
-
I believe the female Wood & Mandarin Ducks are very similar. We couldn't tell if there was a female Mandarin mixed in with our flock of Wood Ducks, just the male.
-
But a werewolf with PMS - now that is a scary thought!!!!!
you've just described June Lockhart at a convention!
-
I often have trouble distinguishing female ducks. They often do look similar. But I think you're right -- the female wood ducks and mandarins look similar, although they look quite different from other female ducks.
-
And, yes, I took both photos today.
-
Danise, Keith very much appreciates your (apparently vast) knowledge of lycanthropy (he made me type that!) so much so that he swears he'll donate to every street gypsy in Ashland lest he angers them. He says they may have ties to the "old country."
-
The lovely wife and I have attended several matinees with school children in London and I must say they have always behaved with impeccable manners and viewed the plays we've seen (stuff like Merry Wives of Windsor) with a great deal of engaged curiosity. They've been some of the nicest audiences I've said with. But by and large, the British audiences are fairly well-behaved...the rudest behaviour usually comes from some audience member jabbering in a foreign tongue....or an American accent.
-
Must be on a dinner break. My TIVO unit just froze whilst watching The Prize. Froze, I tell you. No buttons would work, standby wouldn't work, nothing, just call TIVO Bird's Eye for it was frozen. I had to call customer care and they suggested unplugging it from the back of the unit which I did. That did the trick, it rebooted itself and all is now well in TIVOland.
-
Oh DR ANN you got cable just in time for TCM's 21 Days of Oscar!!!
I love everything about this time of year...the memories of Oscars past and present...the whole over-the-top-ness of Oscar season. The FABULOUSNESS of it all.
And I love TCM. A few weeks ago, when I was flat on my injured back, I lay upon the couch and watched TCM for three solid days. Helped me get through it with my sanity as intact as it ever was, it did.
Victor Garber, eh? Who knew?
-
By the way, here in Minneapolis, it's currently -6 degrees, with a wind chill of between -20 and -30.
BRRRRR!
-
Can't remember if somebody already mentioned it, but big Sondheim news over at The DVD Place, on the message board.
-
Sailors would have been so much fun to do back then.
Considering the glee with which some of us might pounce upon that line, you might want to do a quick edit!
der Brucer (whatta ya mean, back then?)
-
Okay - I thought I'd heard everything. Just read there's a new 2 episode reality show in which a "little person" (saw his photo) searches for a mate. The big question of the show is will he date normal-sized women or women his size. I'm not making this up.
-
Good night.
-
Jane, I did get your email, only my computer never notified me until about 4 hours ago! Unless there's any way you could get down to my restaurant this weekend, I really don't think there's any way we can get together. I don't have transportation to DC, unless some friends come with me, and I DEFINETLY don't ahve transportation to MD.
Dissapointing, eh?
I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I HAVE MY DL!! AGH I'm becoming impatient!
-
Okay - I thought I'd heard everything.
And thought we's seen everything, and then along comes:
(http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2004/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/01/22/erotic.museum.ap/story.erotic.museum.ap.jpg)
(Extract from CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/01/22/erotic.museum.ap/index.html):
Sex museum a tribute to the tame, tawdry
'It could not be PG'
Thursday, January 22, 2004 Posted: 12:03 PM EST (1703 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- One look at Hollywood's newest tourist attraction and it's easy to mistake it for any number of adult shops along the popular Walk of Fame.
The nude pictures, sex toys and stag films aren't meant to arouse but to edify. This is, after all, the Erotic Museum, which pays tribute to all things sexual, from the tame to the tawdry.
der Brucer (Gee, a home for The First Nudie Musical memorablia)
-
Not to mention, no amount of werewolf spittle would make ME grow any more hair then I already have to deal with. It's bad enough that I have to spend the time plucking my eyebrows and shaving without dealing with MORE facial/body hair.
"Be Italian!" (A Nine reference! ;D)
-
But a werewolf with PMS - now that is a scary thought!!!!!
Didn't they deal with that on Buffy?
-
Didn't they deal with that on Buffy?
. . .as a matter of fact, they did. Isn't that why Oz left Sunnydale ?
-
I have a shot of Christopher Meloni looking even younger, DR td: from his first sitcom THE FANELLI BOYS. Maybe next week or something else fun. We'll see. I could put it up now, but I don't want to wear out his welcome.
-
I am glad that the first rounds of auditions are over, and now we get to the winnowing down process on AMERICAN IDOL. I think two weeks of these auditions was one week too many, but the ratings have been through the roof, so obviously lots of people disagree. I noticed there was to be a special on Monday night showing the best and worst of the auditions. Anything for ratings.
-
Now, when you say "football, " are you really talking about "soccer?"
No REAL football. Australian Rules football. Nothing like that strange American game nor much like soccer either. It's only relative is Gaelic Football. Check with Jose - he wants to return to Oz in the football season!
-
It is the middle of Summer here in Oz and we have just had a hail storm. Most unseemly weather. Thunderstrom is here so I had better disconnect the computer.
-
What are your thoughts on the decorum of audiences at live theatrical and/or musical events these days?
When I went to see phantom we had the people next to us come in about half an hour late, insist on being seated, made a big fuss about us having moved one seat over, into their seats, and then proceed to eat peanuts-- peanuts out of plastic!
And they call me a kid..
-
Good evening!
DR MattH - I believe next Monday's "American Idol" will be devoted to the singers who got passed on, but who did not get any air time these past two weeks. -I'm looking forward to it, since they kept saying "we found this many singers in this city" - then flashed pics of those singers, but we never heard most of those singers. However, all those bad/good people were fun to see and hear. -And the "tribute" to the more memorable contestants during the last ten minutes of tonight's episode... I'm gonna have to get the Best Of/Worst Of DVD of this season! And I'm also looking forward to the winnowing down of the big group to the 32 - which will make the live shows which start ???. -And then I'll probably not tune in again until the final rounds as usual. *I'll also be in production most of this spring, so that will eat into my TV viewing time - which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Hmm.. An Erotic Museum... Well, There is a Telephone Museum here in Richmond... And there was a private museum in Washington, DC in the basement of the curator: The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health. -He had to close down for various and sundried reasons (more practical than anything else), but is trying to get it up and running somewhere again. -The things you come across in the newspaper!
Oh, and my adventures in Slow Cooker cooking continued tonight... -I would have said Crock Pot cooking, but since that phrase is trademarked by Rival, and the one I bought (on sale!) is not a Rival... Ah, well, I digress... Tonight's experiment was an Asian style pot roast... star anise, szechuan peppercorns, ground chilies, etc... Came out rather nicely. However, next time I'll finish it off with some lemon and/or lime juice - needed a little acid, I think. But it came out very well - and my addition of sweet potatoes to the pot worked nicely too. My friend, Mark, came over for dinner - and to watch AI - and he helped make sure I didn't have too many leftovers for tomorrow. ;-)
DR Tomovoz - And at this point and time, it does look like I'll be returning during "footy" season!
As for audience behavior... I like school matinees - most of the time. Sometimes their reactions are a bit over the top, but, hey, if they're reacting, it means they're watching and, hopefully, listening too!
The worst student matinee in my experience was for a production of Side By Side By Sondheim. They were actually very well behaved throughout the first act. However, when they got back from intermission, you could tell that they had time to get some fresh air into their lungs, and some sugar in their systems... And that they were finally awake! *The "matinee" started at 10:00AM! So... The Narrator - who happened to be the Artistic Director of the theatre company too - started the introduction to "Anyone Can Whistle"... And what did the kids in the audience start doing? Well... After three stops and three warnings to the audience, we finally got past the piano introduction. -Of course, after "...Whistle for me." was sang... Guess what? Ah, well...
My worst audience experience as a member of an audience was at the closing night of Passion on Broadway. Closing Night! A woman behind me proceeded to call her doctor's office in order to arrange a doctor's appointment!!!! She called him - she did not receive a call! Well... The receptionist answered... Then she waited... Then she told her doctor that she was at a show... The she told him she was enjoying the show... Then she made her appointment... Of course, this whole sequence occured during one of the book sections... quiet book sections! People were looking back at her... Stares of death were being stared left and right, back and front! Of course, I tried to motion for an usher, but that would have caused even more commotion since we were in the middle of the mezzanine. -AND what kind of doctor and his receptionist is actually in their office on a Sunday night?!?!?!?! I wanted sooo much to turn to her after the curtain calls, and read her the riot act! But cooler heads prevailed. Ah, well...
-But that voice is ingrained in my head, and if I ever hear that voice agai behind me in a theatre again during a show... "Slowly I turn..."
*I know I've relayed those stories before, but... Enjoy!
-
Where is this Erotic Museum? I must pay a visit.
-
Okay - I thought I'd heard everything. Just read there's a new 2 episode reality show in which a "little person" (saw his photo) searches for a mate. The big question of the show is will he date normal-sized women or women his size. I'm not making this up.
Two episodes? Well, at least, it is a short show.
-
... And there was a private museum in Washington, DC in the basement of the curator: The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health.
But it was only open once a month.
-
If DR Pogue logs on tonight, I'd be interested in hearing his opinion of the latest WGA mess. For those of you who haven't read about it, the newly elected President of the Writers Guild resigned when it was discovered that she actually hadn't done enough work in the past year to qualify for membership. The vice-president took her place. Now it's been revealed by the LA Times that some of the pertinent information in his bio might be false. This, by the way, is the worst possible time for this kind of thing as we are about to go into major negotiations.
Anyway, my question to Pogue is - Do you think the fabricated bio details and the strange defence of said details undermine his credibility enough that a second resignation should be called for?
-
There is a Telephone Museum here in Richmond...
There's a very good shoe museum in Toronto.
-
Tom the risk taker! Have returned despite this ongoing performance by the thunder gods. All was relatively peaceful in the heavens until the ascent of DR Panni who it seems is organising the shifting of heavy furniture from one cloud to another.
-
Are the good shoes the right ones or the left ones? Is "good" an indication of the moral standing of the occupant of the shoes? So many questions. And I have not even mentioned souls.
-
The Erotic Museum: 6741 Hollywood Blvd.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. (Museum opens Jan. 16)
Admission: $12.95 for adults and $9.95 for students and seniors. No one under 18 is allowed.
Information: theeroticmuseum.com, 323-463-7684.
-
And are there atheletic shoes, too?
-
Are the good shoes the right ones or the left ones? Is "good" an indication of the moral standing of the occupant of the shoes? So many questions. And I have not even mentioned souls.
A polished post, DR Tomovoz.
-
All was relatively peaceful in the heavens until the ascent of DR Panni who it seems is organising the shifting of heavy furniture from one cloud to another.
Only on the happiest site on the internet could I be blamed for thunderstorms in Australia. How wondeful!
-
The Erotic Museum: 6741 Hollywood Blvd.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. (Museum opens Jan. 16)
Admission: $12.95 for adults and $9.95 for students and seniors. No one under 18 is allowed.
Information: theeroticmuseum.com, 323-463-7684.
Before der Brucer sees this...
You did get this information from the Internet, right? (And not from repeated visits? ::))
-
Only a heel would blame you for anything Panni. We really need the rain here in Oz after years of drought . Take the credit and not the blame.
-
You did get this information from the Internet, right? (And not from repeated visits?
I shall be the lady my many-times married mother taught me to be and not answer. You must draw your own conclusions, DR SWW.
-
Only a heel would blame you for anything Panni. We really need the rain here in Oz after years of drought . Take the credit and not the blame.
Even better. I'm ending the drought in Australia. You realize I could be institutionalized for making a claim like that. You'd all have to testify to back me up.
-
I actually did notice The Erotic Museum last time I was on Hollywood Blvd. - when my daughter was visiting - and said to her, "I have to come back and see that!" She gave me one of her "I have a strange mother" looks.
Which brings a thought to mind... The best compliment I ever got from my dear daughter was when she first saw my place here in Studio City. It's the first home I've put together just for me in years - since my daughter was born, to be precise. She looked around and said, "This is really you."
I asked her what she meant by that and she said, "It's bohemian."
I was thrilled (a) that she actually used a word like "bohemian" and (b) that she finally saw me as who I was, not just as her mom.
-
Maybe canonised. Institutionalized (note US spelling) always reminds me of the marriage is an institution joke of old. (for the young readers: Who wants to be committed to an institution?) Can a God be a Saint? It may be a lowering of grade.
-
DR Jose. Do hope you have the time to visit us and see a Football game. We should be able to organise tickets
to the changing rooms for a game.
-
Maybe canonised.
Saint Anna. It has a nice ring to it. Saint Anna Maria (my middle name) is even better.
-
You may not be welcome at The Alamo.
-
Time to sign off. Good-night, all.
-
Me, too. Good night all.
-
And from Oz too. Good night my friends.
-
Oaky, we're dropping like flies. I'm going to go to sleep also. Goodnight everyone!
-
What a bunch of lazy bones.