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Well, you've read the notes, you are now stuffed to the gills, notes-wise, and now it is time for you to post until the cows come home - they're a little crabby right now.
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And the word of the day is: SCROD! (in honor of our fish jokes).
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One minor lyric flub was when I was playing Hero in Forum about 10 years ago and I was singing "Love, I Hear." The original line that I screwed up was "I've never felt so well before." Just as I was heading into that part of the lyric, I realized that I had no idea where I was going with the lyric and had the forsight to sing that part of the line a little more quietly, so I don't think too many people noticed that I sang "Today I felt so well before." Not a big deal at all. That's just one (and the most minor) of flubs.
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The major flub...and I mean MAJOR, was when I was doing a locally produced annual revue called The Magic of Broadway (which is no longer being produced since the theater company that used to do it no longer exists) and this particular year's title was The Magic of Broadway...the Envelope Please. We did songs that won the Academy Award® for best song. It was a follow-up to the previous year's MOB (I forget the subtitle, though) where we did selections from the Broadway musicals that won the Pulizer Prize for Drama (it was my suggestion!).
Anyway, one of my solos was "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," which I really didn't know before we did this revue...and I never learned it as thoroughly as I should have. Big mistake. Either the second or third night, I just totally went up on my lyrics right after the first line. I had no clew what any of the lyrics were. The accompanist (and musical director) couldn't really help me. He just kept vamping for what seemed like an entire minute. When you have completely forgotten lyrics during a performance, a minute is one heck of a long time. Finally, I was able to start singing but I started to sing the third verse. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to just go with it and I was able to sing the second verse when the second verse came and I got through the first verse at the end of the song. I had a big giant grin on my face the whole time...filled with panic, though. The audience totally knew what was happening to me and were very sympathetic. I've never gone up like that before...and I never will again!
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The worst flub experience I ever saw on stage was when I was playing Noah in THE RAINMAKER in St. Petersburg, Florida. James Drury was playing Starbuck. And Larry Drake was playing Jimmy (as an over-eager puppy by way of Hoss Cartwright). Our H.C., who was not a sterling actor to begn with, I think had been soaking up too much Florida sun and mai-tais around the pool in the afternoon and started playing the role like he was on vacation. One night in the opening breakfast scene, he skipped a whole page of necessary expository dialogue between him and Lizzie, who was played by a wonderful actress Deanna Dunagan. Since it was a scene between her and H.C., there was absolutely nothing Larry or I could do to help bail her out and we could only look sheepishly at each other over our coffee cups at the breakfast table. In some sort of magnificent tour de force, Deanna manage go back and seamlessly pick up all the lost dialogue and bring H.C. right back to where he'd screwed up the first time and he still couldn't get out the right line, leaving Deanna to say it for him, "And, pop, I know you were going to tell me you think I'm beautiful anyway, but..."
Boy, when we got off stage, Larry was in a towering rage and lit into H.C., decimating him with the ultimate insult, "You know, you USED TO BE GOOD in this role." Which was actually a lie, because he had never been more than adequate in the role. But it certainly cowed him.
I can only remember a few times where I've fluffed lines. I've never had an incident where I actually missed pages of dialogue or an entrance or anything. Or went up, dead cold.
Cyd Charisse was rather amazing to work with, because she was great out bailing people out when they went up...unless they weren't standing where they were supposed to be. Being a dancer, she was related to everything by movement. So if the blocking got off, she was thrown.
Martha Raye used to have planned break-ups in her shows. They were actually quite a challenge as an actor to try and make them as credible and spontaneous as possible. There is nothing worse than fake, forced, phoney laughter.
I used to have a friend in MacBeth who would always try to crack me up when I was playing Malcolm. I had the final speech upstage with everyone having their backs to the audience. One night this actor, Tim, pulled out from his tartan...unseen by the audience but quite visible to me...a good luck token from his dressing room -- A Sesame Street Grover puppet. I almost went up that night with this stupid puppet peeking out from under this guy's tartan.
Later Grover got kidnapped (not by me) and ransom notes would appear in different places on stage where Tim could find them. I think the puppet would also make sudden appearances on stage where Tim could see him, but couldn't get to him. One night Tim finally opened up a piano in The Imaginary Invalid and there was Grover lying on the keys.
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Just a very quick "Good Morning" all! It's hot already! Then in the afternoon/evening we get the bad rain storms. Summer!
Have a good one!
:)
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Now I know all of the dear readers is a huge fan of potatoes and nobody can live without the great farm product.
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DR TCB mentioned yesterday;
"LOL! Sorry, Hisaka. I read it that you wanted a rock garden with lots of airplane parts. It must be the Vicadin."
A garden with lots of airplane parts is quite artistic and avant-garde, DR TCB. Not bad! :)
And... may I ask what the Vicadin is? ???
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As to John Wayne film,
Has anyone ever seen “ The Barbarian and the Geisha”? It’s going to be shown on TV the day after tomorrow and I’ve not decided to watch it yet. I’m curious to know how someone who watched it thought about, for reference.
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Good morning! Today, I'm like a chicken with its head off: DARLING OF THE DAY, three reports to revise and edit, and a possible trip to Midtown for a contract. I'm feeling fine but a bit scattered.
TOD: Too many frightening memories and too little time. Wait for the book.
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TOD: Too many frightening memories and too little time. Wait for the book.
Hi, elmore! Thanks for not mentioning my nose-dive into the orchestra pit at the end of the opening number in our You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown dress rehearsal.
But don't you think we should tell all these lovely people about the stage catching fire during the flaming drinks scene in Auntie Mame?
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TCB
Asked yesteday who was Judy Garland's Third Husband who was gay.
Vincent Minnelli
Mark Heron
Mickey Deans
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Good Morning All,
Home from Chicago. Home from sticky hot weather (to kind of sticky, very hot weather).
The fund-raising concerts went well, and I'm glad they're over for another year. Thank you all for holding down the fort.
I was thrilled to come home and find Guy Haines in my pile of mail. After I sent him home, I realized he'd brought two CD's with him. So, yesterday's commute was improved by hearing Guy sing to me on the way to work. Since I wasn't looking forward to going back to work (especially right away), the arrival of the new CD was perfect timing.
One of the first stage mishaps of mine was having a moth fly in my mouth in the middle of some song. As I recall, I hesitated for a moment trying to figure out what to do and ended up just swallowing the moth.
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Hisaka said:
And... may I ask what the Vicadin is?
Vicodin is a pain reliever and also, when used inappropriately, highly addictive.
Here is a link to some information on Vicodin.
http://www.drugs.com/vicodin.html
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I went through a period of falling off the stage, down set pieces and just generally falling.
In a production of a new musical in Saint Paul in the late 70s I played a Peter Lorre type character. The set was referred to as the Jim Jones Memorial Design (the show was being done at the time the Guyana People's Temple was happening). It was one of the worst sets I EVER had to step on to. It was dangerous and ugly and not actor-friendly at all. There was a staircase from which I needed to make an entrance and I fell from the top of the staircase to about the middle, ending up on my back (luckily I was unhurt) struggling to get up without falling to the floor from the staircase. During rehearsal the director had another idea that I should enter from the back of a very high platform (the director was an idiot to speak in the vernacular) but that idea was changed when I realized I would have to climb a VERY TALL shaky ladder to get to said entrance point. My fear of heights and my resolute refusal to do that stage bit saved me.
Another time I was doing a production of South Pacific, playing one of the sailors in the chorus. Near the end of a scene early in the show we had movement by Billis' washing machine. As all the other sailors were leaving, I had a misstep and fell INTO the washing machine (it was a very large set piece) and hung upside down. My shoe had caught on the rim and was holding me, otherwise I would have fallen in completely. The audience loved that bit and thought it was real. Billis (who was a very large man and those who have met me know I'm rather a small statured person) picked my up by the leg and carried me off stage with him as he made his exit.
I toured much of 1982 doing Sesame Street Live. I played Oscar the Grouch but when I wasn't on stage as Oscar I played a Keystone Kop type character. There were six of us. We all had big, black clown type shoes. It took me a while to get used to working in the shoes. I was a replacement actor so the other performers were all used to running and walking in those boats. I, however, on my first night on stage in New Haven, fell coming up the ramp. The shoes were so big that I kept stepping on them as I tried to get up and because of that I kept falling again. It took me probably 3 minutes to finally get up. Luckily, the entire cast was covered in full Muppet body gear so the audience couldn't see them laughing hysterically. I could see their bodies shaking with laughter and it didn't stop for a long time. I also continued to fall (never into or out of the garbage can, remember I played Oscar) for a while. It was the joke of the company and on closing night in Mayaguez Puerto Rico, unbeknownst to me, the entire cast planned an elaborate prank where the minute I made my first entrance on stage, they all fell down. The audience was a bit mystifed, but I screamed with laughter. Even the stage manager found it funny, though she said it was good they did it on closing night so it couldn't be repeated, otherwise she would have to write up the incident.
Those are my stories of difficulties on stage.
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TCB
Asked yesteday who was Judy Garland's Third Husband who was gay.
Vincent Minnelli
Mark Heron
Mickey Deans
What is this, the Judy Church of Scientology?
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Kerry, good to have you back. I went to the Web site and as a person who does research on nonprofits every day, may I say THANK YOU for including your EIN in the body of your Web site. What an intelligent (and rarely done) thing to do. It would make some of my work so much easier if various nonprofits had, along with an easily identifiable address, their EIN clearly marked. You and Lyn are smart cookies!
P.S. Jason, there is a picture of you at the Web site. Have you seen it? The link to the site is from a couple of days ago, Friday I believe.
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By the way, Anthony has over 700 pictures from various sources related to his production of Forum so it will be a while before he sifts through them.
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DR Ben, amen to the EIN!
My DH Richard also had a mishap in South Pacific (in high school) when a palm tree was added to the set and he smacked into it. It got a laugh, so I guess they left it in.
He greeted me upon my return from work last night wearing Harry Potter glasses, which was quite a departure from his usual aviator style bifocals. ;D
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Greetings all.
TOD: I played Charlie Brown in a summer camp production. I went up on my lyrcs to "The Kite." I have tried to block that from my mind for lo these 30 years. Thanks for making me remember. So much.
DR Jason: Is your friend doing WAIT UNTIL DARK at BVT? I know that's their next show, but forget what's after that. Naples is probably 40 minutes to an hour south of us. I haven't been since we moved up here, but I knw it has a certain reputation.
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***** SPOILER WARNING FOR Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You *****
My favorite stage mishap story: I was playing Aloysius in Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You . The performance had not been going at all well. For one thing, Sister's habit was falling apart and her wimple kept collapsing over her eyes. Anyway, at the climax of the play, Sister Mary pulls out a gun, shoots and kills one character. Then she aims the gun at another character and is supposed to shoot and kill him as well. Except this particular night when all the gun would do was to go "Click! Click! Click!" The non-dead members of the cast stood agape with eyes bulging out of our heads, staring at Sister Mary and her useless gun, wondering what to do. Fortunately, our Sister Mary was played by a quick-thinking actress who also happened to be an assistant district attorney for the city of Camden, NJ. Learned about such situations, she grasped the gun by its barrel and pistol-whipped the actor who was supposed to be shot. The actor, with a dumbfounded expression on his face, took one beat too many before he realized that he should collapse to the floor. My reaction to all of this was initially jaw-dropping shock, but then I suddenly lapsed into fits of laughter, which I attempted to suppress by clamping my lips tight together in an extreme frown. The actress playing Philomena was also cracking up, but her character got to run off the stage. The actor who was "dead" on the floor managed to fall with his back to the audience and I could see that he was also convulsing with laughter. Sister Mary, verging on hysteria herself, compensated by shrieking the rest of her lines at me which, combined with the total collapse of her wimple to the bridge of her nose, sent me further into trauma. I really don't recall if I managed to get any of my remaining lines out or not. The audience, for the most part, was enjoying it all, believing that this was how the play worked, but I could hear the giggles from the crew and people in the audience who knew better. Mercifully, the play finally ended and we finished with by staggering through our curtain call, still in fits.
Strangely enough, I received some of my best after-show compliments for my performance that night.
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TCB
Asked yesteday who was Judy Garland's Third Husband who was gay.
Vincent Minnelli
Mark Heron
Mickey Deans
The night is bitter,
The stars have lost their glitter;
The winds grow colder
And suddenly you're older -
And all because of the man that turned out gay.
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Miss Somers' ride along Broadway won't be a long one. According to Playbill On-Line the show is closing on Sunday. It was a limited run anyway but it was originally scheduled to go through Septemeber 3rd.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/94103.html
I'm not surprised. While she didn't get very good reviews, they were better than I thought the show would receive.
I don't want to seem to be bashing Miss Somers because as I said a few days ago, I went with no expectations and it would have been great had she been able to pull it off. I don't go to the theatre hoping people will fail. But this show is/was just so wrong in so many ways. I think much of the blame can be placed with Alan Hamel, her husband but somebody needed to say "This doesn't work. don't go to Broadway" I think if it had been a Vegas revue/show (in Nevada) it might have been better received but (I don't want to sound like a theatre snob because I don't like them any more than the next person) this is just NOT a Broadway show.
That, my friends, is my two cents.
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Today is National Lollypop Day.
(Sweet! :D)
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Scrod is dorcs spelled backwards.
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Time to head to work.
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The only time I've ever gone up on lyrics or dialog was doing an awards show once singing "Ten Minutes Ago" with one of my dearest friends. I've sung the song dozens of times and never had the slightest trouble, but that night the words just didn't come and I fum-fahed my way through one line of the lyrics until she took over.
Never understood why I went up at that moment. I wasn't up for any awards at that ceremony; I was just part of the entertainment, and we had rehearsed for a couple of weeks. Strange.
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As far as other goofs on stage, the one that comes first to my mind was playing Judge Thatcher in BIG RIVER. He's part of the opening number, of course, and I remember I was in the dressing room getting ready and lost track of the call. All of a sudden came, "Places," and since the Judge is in the opening number (as is almost everyone else), I rushed our and got into my seat on a platform that rolled out as I waited for my verse in that opening number.
The overture fisnihed, the opening scene started, and I looked down and saw that I had on the moccasins I had come to the theater in and hadn't changed into my dress shoes. I knew I had about thirty seconds, so I bolted from my chair, ran back to the dressing room and stuffed my feet quickly into the shoes and dashed back out (stuffed the laces into the shoes). I sat down the second my platform got rolled out. My face was burning from anxiety and sheer terror that I had almost missed that entrance. I didn't mess up the lyrics, but Judge Thatcher was breathing heavily throughout that number.
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I remember the worst I ever felt for a fellow performer was the friend playing Gladhand in WEST SIDE STORY. During the "Dance at the Gym," he's the one who had to lead the recreational dancing until the Sharks and Jets finally just ignore him and take off on their own.
Well, the poor guy (the night the show was being taped) got out there and froze after "Form two circles." All he could think to say is," OK, you've formed two circles, and now let's make sure you've got two circles. Are the two circles ready?" He had no clue what he was actually supposed to say, and the actor playing Riff finally had the presence of mind to give the cue to get the music going.
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I am very happy that the second season of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW is being released (at long last) next week. It's much more reasonably priced that the first season, and hopefully it will sell better allowing Fox to release the other five seasons.
I've always felt this was the best sitcom ever made in terms of humor, character and story development, and I can't wait to relive these wonderful episodes with hopefully more on the way.
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No offense to Suzanne Somers, but I just don't think she's had a career that would make for a memorable evening of reminiscences no matter how cleverly staged or written it was.
Elaine Stritch, like her or not, had a career in the business that was worthy of an evening. Chita Rivera's upcoming one woman show should also provide a memorable occasion if it's put together with insight and theatricality.
I just don't think Suzanne Somers has had the sort of career that would lend itself to a one woman show.
However, I didn't see it and am just offering an opinion based on reviews I've read and my own (limited) knowledge of her career.
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And if you don't like THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, there are second season DVD sets of THE BRADY BUNCH and ENTERPRISE coming out next week and also the third season of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, so comedy of ALL types available next week. (No, I don't think ENTERPRISE is a comedy, though it certainly has its lighter moments.)
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George: There's only one tour of FULL MONTY going around that I know of, so you'll see Tommy. He's the understudy for Malcolm, Ethan and Keno the Stripper. He'll also be in the ensemble.
Stuart: No, he's doing DAMES AT SEA - the show after WAIT UNTIL DARK, which I believe he said opens Friday. Tommy'll be playing Lucky in DAMES. Go see him and report back to me. :) He's got a great voice and he's very funny, so...he'd be worth the trip. And he's really cute. :P
Jose: I don't know if you'll check this before we meet tonight: You're confirmed for Suzanne Somers on Friday night. We'll be sitting together so we can giggle together. Hehe...
Onstage screwups...hmmm. I have so many (what does that say about me??). There was the time in SWEENEY TODD that I was doing "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir," which is a really difficult song and happens to be the first thing Toby, my character, does onstage. It's early in the first act and I had just gotten to the really fast part of the number when I started noticing people getting up and leaving the theatre - several of them. It was the Sunday matinee, so the sun would come streaming into the theatre every time they opened the doors and I kept thinking, "nobody's even dead yet! Why are they leaving?!?" and I totally went up on the song. Forgot the lyrics completely and just fumbled my way through til I hit a musical landmark and got back on track. Very scary and terribly embarassing. And it was the closing performance.
Cut to closing night of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS: I was playing Prince Dauntless and had gotten to the Act One Finale, "I'm In Love With a Girl Named Fred." It's a crazy list song much like the Twelve Days of Christmas, only the chorus depends on what my character says so they can sing it back. Well, I got up to around the 10th way I was in love with the girl named 'Fred and I forgot why I loved her! Totally went up on the lyrics and the chorus, who weren't the brightest and best when it came to musical theatre and hadn't taken the time to actually learn the song, didn't know what to sing because I couldn't remember my words! Lesson for the chorus: NEVER TAKE YOUR CUE OFF ANOTHER SINGER!!
Cut to OKLAHOMA!: I'm playing Jud and Curly and I are in the smokehouse a-fightin'. He ticks me off and I fire my gun to skeer 'im. He's supposed to skeer me back by picking out a knot-hole in the wall and firing at it. The bang of his gun is what makes Aunt Eller and Ali Hakim and various party guests come out to see what's going on. Well...our Curly wasn't very bright and he hadn't taken the time or shown the interest to learn how to load his own gun with the blanks. Our stage manager was out one night due to an injury, so it was up to us to load our own guns. We got to the scene and my gun went off just fine...we get to the point where he's supposed to shoot and...he skips three paragraphs of dialogue and waits for Aunt Eller to interrupt him! Well, there was no gunshot, so she had no idea she was supposed to come out 'cause he didn't warn anyone that the gun wouldn't be going off because he didn't know how to load it. He just let us look like fools instead.
Also in OKLAHOMA, I think on the same night, after Aunt Eller and Ali Hakim come out to stop us from killing each other, I'm supposed to ask Ali about "The Mighty Wonder," a weapon that I want to buy to kill Curly. I completely skipped the whole exposition of that plot device and didn't know it until the guy playing Ali came after me in the dressing room with panic in his eyes. "You forgot the Mighty Wonder!! YOU FORGOT THE MIGHTY WONDER!!!" So we added that whole chunk of dialogue into the scene in the second act where I actually BUY the Mighty Wonder. It was awkward, but I guess it worked.
And I won't even go into the issues we had with Aunt Eller and the auction scene. It was like a grab bag up there every night - you never knew what you were gonna get with her.
And then there was the time I puked in front of my entire elementary school during the 5th grade Christmas concert...
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Bah! I just got word on the four show season the local community college is doing fall 2005/ winter 2006, and there is nothing I'm interested in:
Agatha Christie's A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
INHERIT THE WIND
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Excellent stories all. I have a few. I've seen a few.
Headers: Opening night of the revival of She Loves Me, Diane Fratantoni (sp?), Amalia, came out for her curtain call and went right off the stage - she was helped up and took her bow.
In my show, Stages, Linden Waddell was doing her big second act opening number, The Girl That Men Go Mad For. It was VERY dark (just a spot on her), the stage floor was completely black, and there was no glow tape on the edge of it. I was sitting in the back of the house and I could see she'd moved too far downstage. She made her cross to stage left and went right off the stage - the audience gasped, but I tell you that girl was up on her feet, climbed back up on the stage, found her light, without missing a lyric or a beat!
As for me -
My oft told Forget-Me-Not Lane story - it's a memory play, so frequently, John McMartin's character would have to sit and watch us young'uns reenact scenes from his youth. Bud Cort and I are doing our final Act Two scene, where we're twenty-one and haven't seen each other since we were sixteen. His character has grown up, changed, while mine hasn't. It's very awkward. At one point, Bud has a line, "I'm into Debussy now." After which, McMartin shakes his head and says, "Poor prig" commenting on his younger self's pompousness. Then Bud has more lines, as do I. So, Bud gets to his Debussy line, and speaks it. Silence. Silence. Our eyes both sort of veer over to McMartin, who has NODDED OFF. Bud doesn't know what to do, and I certainly can't bail him out. He sits there for the longest time and then, haltingly says, "Debussy.... He was quite a guy," really loud. McMartin's head snaps to and he finally says "Poor prig" and on we went.
There was another night in the same show where we had a really vociferous LAUGHER in a front row. Only this guy would always laugh just before the laugh line. Every single time. In my first big scene of the play, I've got all the laughs. And, just as I get to each of them, but before I actually say them, this guy guffaws as loudly as you've ever heard anyone guffaw. Other audience members start giggling because of the guffawing, and Bud and I are looking at each other, barely able to keep a straight face, and I'm sitting there delivering laugh lines that aren't getting the laughs because the buy is guffawing prior to them and no one is hearing the jokes. Bud and I finally lost it, and were just howling - trying to howl in character, of course. We got it together and got through the rest of the scene, and then laughed for twenty minutes backstage.
Finally, there was the time I was in a college theater class. We were all doing our Shakespeare speeches. As always, I was overtired, had learned mine very late, and wasn't all that prepared. I got up, struck a pose, and said, "Let ME play the fool." After which, I could not remember one other word. I started again. Same thing. Again. Same thing. I finally gave up the ghost and said, "Let ME play the fool. Play the fool ME. What kind of fool am I? Foolish me. Tra la la," and I skipped off the stage.
I put that incident in Stages.
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My lovely neighbors had some bush people with a buzz saw doing stuff at eight o'clock this morning, which, naturally, woke me up. Very annoying. They were through at eight-ten, but I was up and that was that. I do not like those neighbors (the bush people couldn't do their ten minutes at nine?) and I do not like bush people with buzz saws.
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And he's really cute. :P
What more do I need? (A BABY reference)
We'll see if we can get down there..... ;)
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For my high school graduation gift, my piano teacher surprised me with tickets to see Bob Goulet, Entertainer, in the national tour of CAMELOT. She had gone all out for these tickets - Center Mezz, Second Row, center seats - but the fool lady three seats down from us ruined the whole experience. She was totally snookered and when Lancelot came out singing "C'est Moi," she started singing along and mimicking his staging, sword thrusts and all. That went on for a while and then I guess she passed out 'cause she shut up until the finale, which she sang, as well.
During that same performance, Mr. Goulet, who was playing Arthur, of course, got tickled by something Mortimer did and turned his back to the audience and laughed for a good three minutes. He actually grabbed onto the tapestry drop hanging upstage and just stood there laughing with his back turned to us. Now, I know you get tickled and break up sometimes - it happens to all of us - but if you're going to do it, share it with the audience and let them laugh with you. Don't turn your back!! I lost some respect for Bob that day.
My high school choir show was the big event of the year at our school. We rented a theatre and rehearsed off-campus for three full days for tech. The show was taped and broadcast on Cable Access for months and months and the show was a HUGE fundraiser for the choral department. Don't worry - we didn't do legit shows - we did variety shows with those tracked choral arrangements, so I don't think broadcast rights were an issue. Anyway, I was big on my PHANTOM OF THE OPERA kick back in '94 and I convinced our director to do a whole section of numbers from the show. We had 300 people design and construct their own costumes and masks for "Masquerade" and we also did "The Phantom of the Opera" and I did "All I Ask of You" with one of the girls from Show Choir. The guy who was playing the Phantom came down to sing the title song, wearing the tux and the cape and the mask, which was held onto his head with an elastic string. He had long hair, which he had pulled into a ponytail, and when Christine went to remove his mask ("I am the mask you wear..."), the elastic got stuck on his ponytail and the mask snapped back and smacked Brad (the Phantom) in the face as he sang "It's me they hear (snap!)." Of course, that's the night they were taping and every time it was on Channel 2, we all watched to see Brad's mask pop him in the nose. Secretly I was watching to see how good my Masquerade mask looked in the lights. I spent 3 weeks sewing sequins on that mask - 4,000 of them. And nobody knew...?? Ah, the innocence of high school.
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I think I've recounted this tale in this forum before.
When I was a college sophomore, our drama department produced "MacBird", a political satire based on "the Scottish play" set during the administration of Lyndon Johnson.
My part was The Wayne of Morse. Wayne Morse was a senator from Oregon (started his political life as a Republican and converted to Democrat -- was very pro-Viet Nam during the Johnson administration) and the directions had him making huge entrances to the strains of the William Tell Overture. The character always carried around a huge lance.
Our props mistress provided me with a fantastic lance (wood and papier mache) from the git-go, but the sound guy just couldn't bring himself to providing me with my cue music during "rehearsals" even one week from production date.
One evening, we were told we were having an early tech rehearsal and we'd get all our cues and sounds, etc.
Just at my entrance, I waited for my cue. Nothing. Silence. The director yelled out, "Where's the Wayne of Morse?"
I replied, "He's in the wings waiting for the promised musical cue!"
The sound guy yelled, "It's still not ready! Provide it yourself."
So, I summoned my strongest "all-the-way-to-the-back-of-the-house" voice and sang out the "dah-de-dump, ti-duh-dump.....dah-de-dump, ti-duh-dump" and began my onstage charge.
Thing is, something was on the floor that oughtn't to have been there. I tripped. But my lance made its entrance...boldly thrusting toward the fly area and then crashing to the floor where the point of it bent...pronouncedly.
There was dead silence. Then someone whispered, "He tripped." And bedlam ensued. Gales of laughter swirled around the theater for what seemed like 10 minutes.
I was mortified.
I got through the so-called "tech" without further incident, and my music was provided from then on.
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I finally finished my final journal entries from my trip to Paris/London. You can check it out at
http://www.livejournal.com/users/maestromatthew/
Be sure to scroll down and read from the bottom up so you read in chronological order.
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TOD - cut to 6th grade, I had to sing The Little Drummer Boy in the church Christmas show. I had a drum and everything. Someone started to laugh (which was typical) and I totally lost it, and started laughing as well. It was not pleasent as I look back on it.
Cut to a few years ago in church. I had to fill some time after communion as our song didn't quite make the length of the line that Sunday, and I began sing something that I had been singing with my second graders for at least 3 years. I don't claim to be able to memorize anything, I have the hardest time. But I took a stab at this song, so I started: "It happened on a journey to Galliee one day....." - total blank... I noodled on the keyboard some more and started over "It happened on a journey to Galliee one day....." nothing, couldn't remember a thing. So I noodled some more and tried a third time "It happened on a journey to Galliee one day....." - I finally gave up. When the pastor began his final words he looked over at me and said "and maybe next week, we'll find out what happened on the way to Galliliee.". It was a red-faced moment!
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I've already told my going up stories here before (none involving me personally, I was just the piano player :)).
But there was a touring company of West Side Story here a few years ago and at the denoument, the gun didn't fire. Tried again. Didn't fire. At which point, he threw the gun at Tony (no joke). You guessed it--the sound of a firing gun. Tony lay mortally wounded while an audience of about 1000 tried very hard not to laugh.
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I went out to lunch and when I returned it seems a Mr. Guy Haines dropped by to deliver two CDs! I missed my chance to see the legend. I am told that his head has a large bandage which severly restricts the amount of face which can be seen. Oh, well. I missed Guy but I do have New Guy in Town and After the Ball.
Thanks Guy!
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Sad note for you Star Trek fans. James Doohan has died.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050720/ap_en_tv/obit_doohan (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050720/ap_en_tv/obit_doohan)
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Hi, elmore! Thanks for not mentioning my nose-dive into the orchestra pit at the end of the opening number in our You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown dress rehearsal.
Oh, that reminds me (I can't believe that I forgot it)...I was playing Charlie Brown in a production of the revised version of ...Charlie Brown and in the act one finale, "The Book Report," I frequently went up on my words during this. :-\ They finally had to give us clipboards with giant pencils so that I could write my lyrics on that because I just couldn't get them into my head for the first weekend. Thankfully, the second, and last, weekend was fine. And the clipboards and pencils (with bunnies on them) were so cute, they decided to keep them.
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Whassamatter?
Everyone turn shy all of a sudden?
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Random thoughts oh last night's "Big Brother 6" (and my feelings about some of the players since watching last night):
I loathe Eric.
I despise April.
I abhor Rachel.
And I especially detest Beau.
April is a troublemake. Yes, she had to warn Michael not to be overfriendly towards her. Yes, he kissed her on the neck and she told him to cut it out. He did. But April continues to lie to Eric to stir him up against Michael. April lied about him continuing to bother her. She sure ain't all THAT, I can tell you!
Rachel is a snitch...and an eavesdropper. Beau is a pathetic little tattler, too. Rachel had no idea what she was hearing, but assumed the worst and passed it along. Any decent person would have kept it to herself. Beau was confided in and immediately betrayed the confidence. (His partner, Ivette, is fiery, and totally out of her gourd, IMO).
Eric is a mini-Nazi who has let being head of household feed his egomania. Loved the confrontation in the yard last night...and Michael's standing up to Eric's inane ranting.
Sorry Michael will be leaving tonight, too. He makes things interesting.
Kaysar is a wimp.
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Other BB6 watchers should weigh in at any time. Please feel free to disagree.
:D
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Other BB6 watchers should weigh in at any time. Please feel free to disagree.
:D
I would, but I agree. ;)
Though, I have to admit that what transpired last night in the yard seemed to be the most exciting thing to happen on any BB, including the one where that crazy guy "pulled" the knife on that trailer trash girl.....
This does seem to be a den of vipers. And loads of people swearing to get "revenge" on those who voted out their teammates. Pul-eeeeze! Get over yourselves!
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And now that it's 3:05, I'm off to lunch. FINALLY!
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DR Stuart: It's "high" drama, despite the fact that it's a summer show.
What irritates me more than anything is all the little "chickie pops" calling Eric "Cappy".
I LOVED what Michael said to him in the yard last night...I thought it was HIlarious!
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Re: BB6.
I don't find Michael in any way appealing, any longer. When Eric and Kaysar told him to try to control himself and stop "sexually harassing" the girls, he should have just said, "Woops, my bad. I will try to get hold of myself." Instead he placed the blame on the messengers and the "victims"...everyone but himself. And last night he was totally playing the jerk, I thought. He acts more like a 3 year old, then an adult.
Kaysar is in a very tricky spot. He has a secret partner that is turning into a big liability for him. Kaysar is trying (maybe too hard) to smooth things out between those in the house who are upset. He needs to distance himself totally from Michael, but it is not easy thing to do that to someone you are supposed to be a team with...but if he doesn't then he is going to be a marked man...although he may be already. I don't think he had any idea that Michael was so emotionally immature. And I don't think Kaysar is a wimp at all. He has self control and maturity far beyond his years. He also has sexy eyebrows and that 5 o'clock shadow that drives me wild...er, oh, I am digressing...
I thought Ivette was way off base in her remarks to Kaysar. I like Ivette, but she does have a temper and flies off the handle, particularly when she drinks, it would appear.
And boy did Kaysar get offended when Ivette suggest that he had no respect for women! I have no idea where she came up with that, and as far as I can tell it was uncalled for.
Eric does go a bit far on the bossing people around, and I image some are going to get tired of that. I don't mind him so far.
Janelle is a BIG trouble maker. She is playing a pretty good game, however...even if she is totally evil.
Everyone in the house needs to stop the drama and start remembering that they are playing a game.
Right now my favorite is Howie...'cause he just cracks me up! What a goof! And he planted quite a kiss on Beau!!
Them's my thoughts. All in all, a pretty fun episode!
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PS: Kaysar has been trying his darndest to keep Michael out of trouble, but to no avail!
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Is this how it's going to be all day?
We haven't even hit 60 posts by Noon? No page 3 -- and it's after 1 p.m.????
We were at page 3 at 8 a.m. yesterday.
What am I? BK all of a sudden?
I need to get a grip on myself.
Whoa! There I am.
Owwww...!
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I have not been watching BIG BROTHER, but I have been reading the summaries that are provided the day after each broadcast.
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RENO 911! had a very off night last night. I didn't get around to it until lunchtime today, but I think this was probably the lamest show they've had this season. Very disappointed in it.
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I finally finished up BENT today. I started it last week, and then put it away since I wasn't in the mood for its somber story. I was pleased that it remained almost totally faithful to the play apart from the tune for "Streets of Berlin" and some tinkering with some early scenes.
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I put in SHARK TALE to give me a complete change of pace when I go back downstairs to watch more DVDs.
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On the DVR front, I still have the Greenstreet-Lorre THE VERDICT to watch as well as 21 GRAMS.
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Ah, DR Matthew, at last we see an avatar for you. Thanks for letting us see whom we're talking to.
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Yes, I saw the announcement of James Doohan's passing when I logged onto AOL just a bit ago. When I pull out my STAR TREK TV episodes to watch one occasionally, I always have enjoyed his contributions.
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To echo DR Ron Pulliam's sentiments:
Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!(An ANNIE reference)
4:30 PM and still on page 2?
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To echo DR Ron Pulliam's sentiments:
Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!(An ANNIE reference)
4:30 PM and still on page 2?
Seems like I should have looked at the post count before posting......
But now, for a Page 3 Dance.....
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And somewhere in here will be my 1000th post.
Comme ca.
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That was the one, DR Stuart. Congrats!
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Cut to OKLAHOMA!: I'm playing Jud and Curly and I are in the smokehouse a-fightin'. He ticks me off and I fire my gun to skeer 'im. He's supposed to skeer me back by picking out a knot-hole in the wall and firing at it. The bang of his gun is what makes Aunt Eller and Ali Hakim and various party guests come out to see what's going on. Well...our Curly wasn't very bright and he hadn't taken the time or shown the interest to learn how to load his own gun with the blanks. Our stage manager was out one night due to an injury, so it was up to us to load our own guns. We got to the scene and my gun went off just fine...we get to the point where he's supposed to shoot and...he skips three paragraphs of dialogue and waits for Aunt Eller to interrupt him! Well, there was no gunshot, so she had no idea she was supposed to come out 'cause he didn't warn anyone that the gun wouldn't be going off because he didn't know how to load it. He just let us look like fools instead.
Jason -- Do you have any photos of you as Jud? I would love to see pictures of you in that part. You are a handsome young man, and obviously a talented one, but I just can't imagine you in that role. Now, my other son, Jed..................
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As a matter of fact, I do...
I had to wear a LOT of makeup to ugly myself up. ;)
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And here I am in THE KING & I. Oddly enough, I didn't need much makeup to play a convincing Asian man... ::)
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I'm on my 4th track of the new Guy Haines CD and once again, I'm mesmorized but the way Guy's voice is very soothing and Mr Geissman's arrangements are spot on with each song and the whole thing (up to track 4!) has everything one would expect from a Guy Haines recording. Thanks, Guy!
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The night is bitter,
The stars have lost their glitter;
The winds grow colder
And suddenly you're older -
And all because of the man that turned out gay.
Thank you for my breakfast smile DtM
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I shall also weigh in on Big Brother 6.
DR Ron, I agree with many of your opinions.
Okay let's start with who I hate. I do not like Eric. He is bossy and I cannot wait until they get rid of him.
I cannot stand Ivette. I did not like what she did with Kaysar last night. But there is a ton of stuff that they are not showing with her. She is gossipy and mean and on the feeds she is 1000 times worse than what they show.
I liked what Kaysar did last night. He seems very reasonable and level-headed.
And I disagree with DR Mbarnum. I liked Mike last night. I do not know exactly what the did re: the sexual harrassment issue. I saw him kiss april's neck. But I think that eric et al have been making this into a huge issue, because they want to get mike out. If mike did something to jennifer, then she should talk to him.
But I did not find that mike was acting like a child last night. I thought those bullies (eric and the others) got exactly what they deserved. And i definitely think Big Brother should have imposed a penalty on Eric for almost attacking Mike.
My favorite is Janelle. Yes she is sneaky. But i love her. I loved how she played chess and played dumb to find out who was smart. I loved how she is spending time with mike and kaysar, and doesn't care what the others think. ANd i love that she has figured out eric's true actions (same for ivette).
I think james is the mastermind (even though eric took credit for all his ideas). I sort of like him. And i do like sarah (his gf).
I wish that mike and janelle could stay. And i really hope janelle or kaysar wins HOH tomorrow.
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I shall also weigh in on Big Brother 6.
DR Ron, I agree with many of your opinions.
Holy COW! I'm having a heart attack!
Really?
:D
I, too, find Janelle interesting and level-headed.
I can't believe Eric thinks he had the right to tell Michael to stop hanging around Janelle. His nominating them both reeks of April, April, April...whom I despise more than anyone in that house.
She complained to Eric about Michael. Eric told Michael to cool it. Then she complained to Eric that Michael was hanging around Janelle too much. Then Eric told Michael that he needed to stop doing that (and Janelle was NOT complaining). That's when Michael told him he was not the boss of him. April told Janelle she shouldn't be hanging around Michael. Janelle told April she didn't see things the same way and April warned her that she needed to pay attention. Then...both Janelle and Michael are up for eviction..and it's April the cameras cut to time and again...looking smug, and self-satisfied, and full of intrigue and character assassination.
I can't stand her.
:D
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And here I am in THE KING & I. Oddly enough, I didn't need much makeup to play a convincing Asian man..
The kilt, however, is an exotic touch. ;D
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And I disagree with DR Mbarnum. I liked Mike last night. I do not know exactly what the did re: the sexual harrassment issue. I saw him kiss april's neck. But I think that eric et al have been making this into a huge issue, because they want to get mike out. If mike did something to jennifer, then she should talk to him.
To me, the point is that April and others had said they were very uncomfortable with Michael's kissing on them and stuff. Eric told Michael about it, but Michael blew it off. He should have listened. I think at that time Eric still thought of Michael as being an allie...but I could be wrong about that.
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The kilt, however, is an exotic touch. ;D
Maybe it was a sponsored production dubbed "The McKing and I".
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But I did not find that mike was acting like a child last night.
When he was outside making remarks to the two girls who were power walking, I thought that to be very immature...and when he was making fun of Eric's grandparents dying or how they died, I thought that was very immature. Plus he has sulked and acted very childish ever since being nominated...at least that is how I see it.
I do think that Kaysar is the most level headed person in the house.
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To me, the point is that April and others had said they were very uncomfortable with Michael's kissing on them and stuff. Eric told Michael about it, but Michael blew it off. He should have listened. I think at that time Eric still thought of Michael as being an allie...but I could be wrong about that.
I agree with you that Michael did not seem to take Eric's warning seriously. But I also think Michael backed off the ladies. Except Janelle. What irks me is that Eric came back and told Michael to lay off hanging around Janelle. That was none of his, or anyone else's, business.
Eric doesn't like to be disobeyed. I wonder if he's going to spank anyone.
:D
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Eric doesn't like to be disobeyed. I wonder if he's going to spank anyone.
:D
I will volunteer ;D
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I missed Big Brother last night, so I feel out of the loop, but I will watch and join in after then next episode
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My impression was that Eric wanted Michael to stay away from Janelle because Michael was still part of the alliance and Janelle was evil. I may have misconstrued that, however.
I just don't think Eric would tell someone to do something just for the heck of it...it would all be a strategic move for him.
However, the way he goes about it is likely to rankle a few people, I would think. He does tend to be bossy and I think he is so used to it he doesn't even realize he is doing it.
How short is he, anyway?
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I missed Big Brother last night, so I feel out of the loop, but I will watch and join in after then next episode
It really was a good episode! LOL!
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I, too came home to find Guy Haines in my mailbox (it's a very large mailbox). I brought him in out of the heat and am very anxious to hear him sing to me.
First I have to recover from cleaning out the eaves while there is a 103 degree heat index. I awoke to a downpour...in my basement! It only happens when the eaves are clogged, so I had to climb the ladder and clean out the muck.....YUCK!
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BTW
This is Mickey Deans (judy's last husband)
(http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=Mickey+deans/v=2/SID=e/l=IVS/SIG=11gqbhvvd/EXP=1121993398/*-http%3A//www.jgdb.com/jmd1.jpg)
This is Mickey Deems the actor
(http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=Mickey+Deems/v=2/SID=e/l=IVS/SIG=121pp26g4/EXP=1121985885/*-http%3A//www.tvparty.com/recmack/mm-mickey1.jpg)
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MBarnum, non-stop is much nicer. I suppose Jose is the expert on getting around the city without a car.
My eyes are burning and it is difficult for me to look at the computer screen.
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My CDs also arrived tonight.
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1st stage story. This was when I was watching a local production of Sweeney Todd. In act one where Sweeney cries out, "AT LAST MY ARM IS COMPLETE AGAIN" he throws his arm with razor in his hand up in the air well the blade went flying fron the handle and it look as if Sweeney was giving a black power salute.
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2nd story: On Broadway. On the TWentieth Century, 2nd Act. Imogene Coca's character is hiding in one of the compartments and there is a scene going on in the adjoing compartment. At one point she decides to leave and when she does, the door handle came off in her hand. She tries to put it back on but can't. She ends up sneaking around the corner. of the set.
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3rd Story Broadway. What turns out to be a very early preview of a show called Streetheat (The only Broadway show I ever left during intermission) I think it was Vicki Lewis who during a song, her mic goes out and Glen Scarpelli breaking character goes out and shares his body mic with her.
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My impression was that Eric wanted Michael to stay away from Janelle because Michael was still part of the alliance and Janelle was evil. I may have misconstrued that, however.
I just don't think Eric would tell someone to do something just for the heck of it...it would all be a strategic move for him.
However, the way he goes about it is likely to rankle a few people, I would think. He does tend to be bossy and I think he is so used to it he doesn't even realize he is doing it.
How short is he, anyway?
Michael and Janelle have discussed his "stature"...Michael suggests Eric is probably the fire station janitor and wonders how he ever manages to reach the fire hoses, and Janelle suggests he's probably the fire station cook.
I think Eric is between 5'6" and 5'8".
I visited the Canoe site (thank you, Jennifer, for the link) and read some of John Powell's excellent summaries.
James is the real genius behind all of this...he's the one who wanted Michael to go (getting rid of a threat) and devised the deceit of voting for Kaysar in the first eviction round and then spreading the rumor that it was Michael voting against the alliance (and thus, breaking it). Of course, they never counted on Kaysar being aware that Michael would never have voted for him to leave.
Ivette is apparently much much worse than we've been allowed to see...she's bigoted, racist and she hates Michael because he apparently bit her on her butt. She hasn't outed herself to the house, apparently, but she is the Big Brother show's first "out" lesbian. She gossips about anyone and everyone. She particularly hates Kaysar, says he smells, mocks his praying, claims he is a ticking time bomb and that none of them are safe!
Eric has fueled this kind of talk with alarmist behavior of his own, expressing serious concern about the safety of his family when Michael is evicted because Michael knows Eric's last name. It's the same with the "sexual predator" talk...Eric character-assassinates Michael at every turn.
A lot of the ladies are down on Kaysar because he talks to Michael. They presume he doesn't have their interests at heart and now they want him to go next.
Meanwhile, Kaysar has expressed alarm to Michael about Michael's personality having severely changed since they entered the house. Kaysar's never seen him like he is now. Of course, I am certain Kaysar never stared down a Cuban lesbian who accused him of having no respect for women, either.
Life in this house will NEVER be boring. If CBS plays it correctly, the season could just be amazing.
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As a matter of fact, I do...
I had to wear a LOT of makeup to ugly myself up. ;)
Sorry Jason, you are still too cute.
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My actor's nightmare #1
Gypsy. I was playing LA. There is a quick costume change so I placed my costume and prop in a specific place so I could do it.
This was opening night.
I ran off after the blackout. One of the stagehands moved everything. It took me a few minutes find my costume and change. But I could not find the prop.
I thought I was late. So I ran on stage and noticed that the traveler was open and nobody was onstage. (They were late in the scene change). Well everyone came on stage and the scene progressed until my line where I am suppose to give Louise her birthday a stuffed blue cat.
This was important because she sings about it in the song Little Lamb. Well I adlibbed that I bought it for her, but I lost it!
Well it doesn't end there. The matinee was the next day I moved the costume and prop to a different place. Once again the stagehands moved them. I didn't make it on stage on time. I did find them. My friend at the time was playing Rose and told her what happened. She told me to come on with her. Well she entered from the bathroom with me and roared with laughter. They all had dirty minds.
The rest of run I had no problems
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Oh, here is an interesting twist that I may be adding very soon to my theater resume.............. I may be playing half of a run of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, as Tevye, begining in about three and a half weeks.
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This the outdoor production in Gig Harbor? They still needed somebody at this point?!?
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Do you need to be half Jewish TCB?
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I'm back and must now shave.
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Must be off to meet Ann at her workplace from where we will head up to Seattle to knock some rust of the vocal chords with some Germanic Latin. The Seattle Symphony Chorus (of which Ann is a member) is hosting a summer series of "anybody show up and sing" evenings, and tonight we will be joining in for Carmina Burana. Just plain fun stuff to sing, I tell ya!
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Very interesting day, Stages-wise. The mixes are really good, it sounds soooo much better than the LP, and we added some percussion to a few songs - bells and xylo, which, as elmore well knows, I love. Haven't overdone anything, though - keeping it very pure. Grant will be added on two tracks - one guitar, one banjo. There are twelve songs that have been completely remixed from the multi-track. We did a test on one of the five songs from the album master, and while it won't sound as good as the ones we remixed, we were able to EQ it and play with it so that it sounds at least of a piece. That made me very happy.
The bonus album, Together Again, is one of the worst-sounding albums ever recorded. We're trying our hardest (if we had the multi-tracks it would be a breeze, but we don't). I'll be writing about all of this in the booklet, but TA was recorded very fast, and the engineer was a proper idiot. For all the group numbers, the cast was in a room the size of a closet with one mic. Horrible. There is no reverb at all on the album. Horrible. So, we're doing lots of work on the dynamics, we've added some reverb, and we're doing our best to get in on the voice frequencies to make them pop as much as possible. I will say that going back and forth between our new version and the album, one can hear a significant difference. It will never be a great-sounding thing, but we've definitely helped it along - and, after all, it's a bonus.
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Since Michael's picture of Mickey Deans didn't post, here is another one. Judy looks terrible (it was near the end of her life, after all). The photo was probably taken in London.
FYI, Mickey Dean's real name was Mickey Devinko. He died in 2004 if I recall correctly
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Well I change the photo and then I saw that DR, Ben posted another. That was first time I ever saw that linking problem.
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DR Jane, in response to your question from yesterday. My internship (or "advanced year field placement" in fancy social work terminology) is with a residential treatment facility in the Bronx. I'll be working with children who are severely emotionally disturbed and mentally ill. It should be quite challenging.
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My final acting nightmare story and the reason why I gave up theater acting.
I was doing the play Execution of Justice in Denver, CO. One of the roles I did was Dr. Blinder and his famous TWINKIE DEFENCE. Well it was like a 10+ monologue. I was on stage basically by myself. One night I went up and I went totally blank in the middle of the monologue. The other two actors onstage of course did not know my part. I move around the stage trying to remember what came next. I couldn't remember it and just skipped ahead to what I did remember.
For the rest of the run I was so scared that I would go up again. I would go on doing the lines, but never again really acted the part. I never acted on stage again.
But did movies and tv where you can do retakes and is a different type of acting.
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Must be off to meet Ann at her workplace from where we will head up to Seattle to knock some rust of the vocal chords with some Germanic Latin. The Seattle Symphony Chorus (of which Ann is a member) is hosting a summer series of "anybody show up and sing" evenings, and tonight we will be joining in for Carmina Burana. Just plain fun stuff to sing, I tell ya!
I love Carmina Burana! We did this when I was at Western Washington University and the recording with June Anderson was the very first CD that I ever owned! I got it in 1987 and I still own it. ;D
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Rodzinski and I have a date to see The Blonde in the Thunderbird on Saturday night. I am especially glad that we are going now that I've heard it's closing on Sunday.
I will be sure to have plenty of pre-show margaritas!
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DR Jane, in response to your question from yesterday. My internship (or "advanced year field placement" in fancy social work terminology) is with a residential treatment facility in the Bronx. I'll be working with children who are severely emotionally disturbed and mentally ill. It should be quite challenging.
Then posting here will be extrememly easy for you!
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We'd better get some postin' goin' on. That's right, after Ben's description, "The Blonde in the Thunderbird" sounded irresistible.
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Just watched most of HOOP DREAMS, which I had never seen. Really a powerful film.
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I was directing "Salad Days," and there were two memorably nightmarish things about it. Unbeknownst to me, this older, slightly daffy woman I cast for the chorus was carrying onstage an extra pair of shoes for this scene when the magical piano causes everyone to dance in the park (don't ask). While everyone else was dancing, she would change into her shoes onstage and then dance. When the scene ended, she literally crawled onstage during the next scene to grab the pair of shoes she'd left behind. Her reasoning for this opening night change of business? "My character didn't know she would be dancing when she came to the park, so why would she be wearing dance shoes already?" Never mind why she'd have a pair to change into!
The other thing, which TPunk unfortunately suffered through was this woman who had a long phone monologue-scene while she was getting her nails and hair done. There was a lot of precise stuff and she could not learn the lines and WOULD not learn the lines, though she kept promising me she'd have it by opening night. Meanwhile, poor TPunk and another actress had some funny business they were supposed to do at certain points, but the woman would skip all over, drop whole sections, you never knew what she was going to do! I finally gave TPunk and the other actress some basic comic business to do just to survive and basically wrote off the whole scene. Ghastly.
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TCB:
The "T" stands for Tevya
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DR Jane, in response to your question from yesterday. My internship (or "advanced year field placement" in fancy social work terminology) is with a residential treatment facility in the Bronx. I'll be working with children who are severely emotionally disturbed and mentally ill. It should be quite challenging.
I bet it will be challenging. I hope it will also be rewarding. Is this the area of social work you are interested in perusing?
When I was in high school we had a woman you worked for our family. She was a great influence on my life and was kind to wait until I moved out of the house before giving notice. From our family she became an aid on a mental ward in a hospital. She teased it was a piece of cake after working for us. I think she was teasing, not really sure of that one. ;D
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You know, I have just noticed a DEARTH of postings here at haineshisway.com. Yes, I say a DEARTH. Why on earth a DEARTH? I shall now be on my way to sup with Mr. Richard Valley and his ever-lovin' Tom, and when I return (hopefully in two hours time), I don't want to be seeing a DEARTH.
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Semi-unrelated useless bit of info: my mother once worked in a mental ward where one of the patients was Victor Mature's mother. So there you have it.
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I'm back and must now shave.
Better that than needing to shave your back!
:D
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I have returned to the living. Yes! I have finished reading about Mr Potter.
Could be worse - I could have spent my time with reality TV. lol.
I have enjoyed the Potter books and films.
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My advice to prospective CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY viewers:
Save your money. Buy candy instead.
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Ron P: Been out with the DSC* this week?
*Dim Sum Crew
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Advice will be followed. Depp has already had his chocolate movie.
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Ron P: Been out with the DSC* this week?
*Dim Sum Crew
A clever anagram for cud swimmer I guess!
Image of cow olympics perhaps.
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Advice will be followed. Depp has already had his chocolate movie.
He is hands down the worst thing about the movie, and I have enjoyed other performances of his. This is way off the mark. In my tender opinion.
The Gal's home!
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Darn, the previews give me the same feeling. I would pass on the movie but Keith wants to see it. I hope we don't agree with you but fear I will.
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I bet it will be challenging. I hope it will also be rewarding. Is this the area of social work you are interested in perusing?
When I was in high school we had a woman you worked for our family. She was a great influence on my life and was kind to wait until I moved out of the house before giving notice. From our family she became an aid on a mental ward in a hospital. She teased it was a piece of cake after working for us. I think she was teasing, not really sure of that one. ;D
I definitely want to work with kids. If I could have my pick, I would work with gay and lesbian adolescents and teens. It's such a difficult age to be and with the added stress of questioning your sexuality, dealing with the reactions of others... such a vulnerable group.
And I actually have made similar comments to my co-workers about working with them preparing me for my internship. And with some of them, I mean it!
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I didn't mind Depp as much as Rodzinski did. But the squirrel scene alone was worth seeing the movie!
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We ain't gonna have no stinkin' DEARTHS
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Did any of your co-workers turn to you for help?
Oh good, so glad to know there is a reason to see the movie. :)
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Perhaps we can enlist Harry Potter's Dearth Eaters.
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Question for all of the Harry Potter fans who have completed book 6 - without revealing any spoilers - how did you feel this one measured up to the other books? I really liked it, but I still think that 4 and 5 are my favorites.
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He is hands down the worst thing about the movie, and I have enjoyed other performances of his. This is way off the mark. In my tender opinion.
Both Ebert and Roeper liked the movie but not him in it. I think he's freaky looking in the commercials, and seems to be in a different movie. :P But I do want to see it.
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Did any of your co-workers turn to you for help?
Actually, quite a bit. Being in HR, I guess that's to be expected, but I think the fact that most folks know that I've been in school to become a counselor encourages them to seek me out.
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Question for all of the Harry Potter fans who have completed book 6 - without revealing any spoilers - how did you feel this one measured up to the other books? I really liked it, but I still think that 4 and 5 are my favorites.
I enjoyed it particularly for the "growth" of the major characters. (relationships and friendships seem to have progressed in a realistic way). I think I enjoyed the 4th book least. I thought it needed some editing! It will be interesting to see how the fourth film copes. (without Dobby for a start!)
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"I"?
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I'm at work and today is the cut-off day to get all of the invoices paid for this month. I've entered all the information into the computer and printed the vouchers to go with the invoices. All I have to do now is assemble everything. Each invoice has three copies and one copy gets one copy of the voucher and that stays in here in the Acquisitions department (where I work). The other copy of the voucher goes with the other two copies of the invoice and all of that will go to the Library Board of Directors to be approved so that the checks can actually be printed and sent to the vendors.
So that's what I have to do now...assemble everything and file the board (not bored) copies so that they can be paid. I don't know how long it'll take, but I can't leave tonight until it's all done. Tomorrow morning, we have to run a report that totals everything by vendor and we have to make sure that everything is correct. After that, we pass the board's copies to the business office and they get it all ready for the board to approve. The library board's monthly meeting is a week from tonight and they need that much time to do whatever it is that they do. That's why it all has to be done by tonight...and as I've said before, I'm a procrastinator. ::)
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Question for all of the Harry Potter fans who have completed book 6 - without revealing any spoilers - how did you feel this one measured up to the other books? I really liked it, but I still think that 4 and 5 are my favorites.
Give me a few days to answer that. I still haven't begun reading the book. So far 4 is my favorite.
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BTW
This is Mickey Deans (judy's last husband)
(http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=Mickey+deans/v=2/SID=e/l=IVS/SIG=11gqbhvvd/EXP=1121993398/*-http%3A//www.jgdb.com/jmd1.jpg)
This is Mickey Deems the actor
(http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=Mickey+Deems/v=2/SID=e/l=IVS/SIG=121pp26g4/EXP=1121985885/*-http%3A//www.tvparty.com/recmack/mm-mickey1.jpg)
Well, there's no confusing those two!
And I think I spotted quite a few people sporting the same look as Judy's on news reports covering the midnight Harry Potter parties last weekend.
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The picture of Judy Garland and Mickey Deans on the previous page was taken on their wedding day. Behind them in the picture (if I remember from a non-cropped pic I've seen) is Johnnie Ray who was Mickey's best man, I believe.
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I did watch SHARK TALE earlier tonight, and though it can't hold a candle to Pixar's computer animation efforts (the underwater animation of FINDING NEMO is worlds more sophisticated and polished than the underwater work here), it was still entertaining and VERY colorful.
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After SHARK TALE concluded, I put in CHICAGO which I hadn't seen since I first got the DVD shortly after it came out. Truly enjoyed seeing it again and found it quite marvelous. I opted for the DTS surround mix on the DVD, and it's spectacular.
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In honor of James Doohan, I may watch some STAR TREK TV episodes tomorrow.
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After enjoying EAST OF EDEN on Saturday, I've been fingering GIANT trying to descide if I want to give a day over to it since it's so long.
I HATE that the special anniversary DVD is not an anamorphic encoded disc. Warners is usually so good about doing that to their prized flicks, so that's really a surprise.
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Hopefully, this isn't The Day Dearth Stood Still.
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It's Dearthy Dan.
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Off to bed now. Hope everyone has a pleasant rest of the evening. Good night, all.
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Let's hope Dearth Takes A Holiday.
Ha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha! I got a million of 'em!
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I'd encourage you DtM but I don't have a dearth wish.
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I didn't mind Depp as much as Rodzinski did. But the squirrel scene alone was worth seeing the movie!
While I would say it's far from the best movie I've ever seen, I really enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But then I've always been a Willy Wonka fan and loved the Gene Wilder version. I heard enough before I saw it, (including a "How they made" show in HBO) to expect something completely different from Depp's Wonka and had heard that this version is darker and much closer to the book.
I've always thought Willy Wonka has to be an extremely strange character to have a chocolate factory like that, (what would you be like if you'd been secluded in a factory with just oompa loompas for that many years!) so I didn't mind Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka at all.
It's a bizarre story and the movie is bizarre. I had already heard it was like being on acid when you're sober, so I was looking forward to the visuals. I really didn't like the additional back story about Willy Wonka's childhood, and thought that detracted from the story. I also prefer the ending to the Gene Wilder version better than this one. But I enjoyed it.
The Squirrel scene is a kick. Did you catch the very quick Edward Scissorhands moment near the beginning?
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Just in from ALL SHOOK UP with a few friends of mine and DR Jose! We dished, we gossiped, we dropped names and had burgers at McHale's. A good time was had by all.
And DR Jose and I will be visiting with Ms. Somers on Friday night...we'll just miss Rodinzki and TPunk. :(
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Good Evening!
I'm reading... I reading...
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DR Jennifer, what were those BB6 links that you suggested...I think I need to be checking them out.
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I'm finally done assembling all the invoices and vouchers and will now go home and eat. I'm famished. I have to be back at work at 8:30 in the morning (my usual get-out-of-bed time ::)) to run the reports that need to be run because my supervisor (whose name is also George) is on vacation getting married (again) to his wife. They weren't divorced or anything...it's just that none of their families were at their first wedding (they drove to Mexico on a whim 21 years ago) and their families wanted to throw them a wedding, so they did. Anyway, George (my supervisor) usually runs the reports, but he's gone until next Tuesday, so he can't...and it has to be done early in the morning. :P
I also have another forgetting lines story AND I got a call earlier that makes me go AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! >:( But I have to get home and eat first before I tell them.
Be back later.
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Since I don't have any stage blunder stories, here's a fish joke.
I went fishing today and accidentally dropped my wallet into the river. A carp grabbed my wallet and swam off with it and passed it off to another carp. That fish passed it off to another carp. It was the first time I had ever seen a carp-to-carp walleting.
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That was her grandpa's best joke, folks.
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Oy!
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I played Tony Wendice in a play that will be forever known now as DIAL Z FOR ZIPPER.
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Some fun movies on TCM in the early morning hours...anyone ever see JALNA? Great film! It seems like someone here once mentioned that they wanted to see it.
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Good Evening! ...again...
A good day of auditions. It was Singers who Dance day today, so I got to play for a bunch of people. Men in the morning, Women in the afternoon. Like a lot of auditions sessions, this one was like old home week for me. I saw a lot of old friends, new friends, people I've worked with, etc. Lots of hugs today!
:)
We made pretty good time in the morning, so we ended up with a two hour lunch break. We all headed over to Teriyaki Boy for a very good and cheap lunch, and then we walked down to The Little Pie Shop for, well, Pie!
The conductor and assistant choreographer are no longer The Little Pie Shop virgins! And we broke each of them in with their signature pie, the Sour Cream Apple Walnut. Myself, I tried their Chocolate Cream Pie today. Very good. Tomorrow, I think I shall try the Peach-Raspberry.
;)
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As DR Jason already recounted, I met up with him and his pals, Joe and Mike, and we headed over to McHale's to grab some dinner. Burgers all around. Big burgers!
I had a wonderful time at dinner. Lots of dish, lots of speculation, lots of fun! And it turns out that both Joe and Mike had worked at places I've worked at before, so we were trading lots of names of people we've worked with. The Good and The Bad.
And then it was off to All Shook Up...
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I'm back from a deelightful dinner with Richard Valley, his ever-lovin' Tom, and Walter Willison. We ate at a jernt called Cafe Figaro. I THINK I was a good boy, diet-wise. First off, it was my only meal of the day. I had onion soup, one half a roast chicken in a very light mushroom sauce, no French fries, and a tiny salad with vinaigrette. I feel really full, but I don't think it was all that bad, calorie-wise. The food was really excellent and I loved our Brazilian waitress, Deborah.
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Before dinner, we met in front of the TKTS booth. I still needed to buy a ticket to the show as did Mike. Well, we decided to check in after dinner just in case some better seats may have been released for sale.
Once we got back there, the only seats they had for sale were the $100 Rear Mezzanine seats - well, down to $53.00 with the discount. Hmmm... Well, the standard Balcony seats runs $39.00, so we just headed over to the box office across the street, and purchased two tickets in the third row of the balcony.
The seats were OK, if a little high up. However, at intermission we moved down - there was a whole row that was practically empty. A better view of the show for the second act.
...And as we were taking our seats, one of the ladies who was sitting on the end of aisle, sort of asked rhetorically, "And just how much did you pay for your tickets?" -She had obviously paid the $100 for her seats. Ah, well...
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As for the show itself, I liked it. I didn't love it, but I had a good time. Some fun scenic touches and effects, as well as some neat costume tricks - for lack of a better word.
Musically, there were times when I missed the songs being sung in Elvis' baritone range. Most everything seems arranged for at the high end of the belt range - very "American Idol" vocal stylings. However, I was really impressed with Stephen Oremus' vocal arrangements. Truly well done, and very "tight". And the band was pretty hot too.
Cheyenne Jackson is indeed very nice to look at, but there are a couple of other nice things to look at in the show too. ;)
We waited at the Stage Door afterwards for a couple of the actors I know in the show, but they "escaped" via the other exit. Ah, well... It was good seeing them on stage having a good time.
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OH!
We had finished a little bit earlier than scheduled in the afternoon too. Our conductor decided to head over to TKTS to check out what was available. He ended up getting a ticket to The Light in the Piazza which was on his list of shows to see if he could this week. Avenue Q and Wicked were also on his list.
I suggested that he go ahead and head over to the Box Office for each show to see if there were any single tickets available for tomorrow or Friday. I went along with him to the Golden to check on Avenue Q. When he got to the window, he asked what the best available single would be for tomorrow. After a flurry of typing, the clerk, "Well, actually, I have a seventh row center seat available." He took it!
-And after checking the seat location, it appears that it was a house seat that had been released for public sale since it was the same seat I had when I went to see it last year.
:)
-He decided to hold off on heading up to the Gershwin to check on Wicked. He actually wants to see The Musical of Musicals too, and since that will most likely be on TKTS, he'll just pay 1/2 price for that, and splurge on Wicked another time.
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...And speaking of tickets...
I just got a phone call from a friend who's in town for a few days of vacation. He waited in the Cancellation line for Spamalot today. For hours. He was only a few from the front when he first got there. Some people had left, and some people before him had snagged a seat or two. He was soon at the front of the line. After another hour or two of waiting, he was just about to leave - since his friends had been out sight-seeing all day without him - when the box office guy told him to come to the window!
He was at best hoping for a single for himself. Possibly a pair for him and his partner. Well, he ended up with FOUR 11th Row, Center Orchestra seats! FOUR OF THEM! So, he was able to take his partner with him, as well as treat his hosts to an evening in the theatre too!
:)
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Other random news today...
I had a nice run in, literally, with Hugh Panaro earlier this afternoon. I was just walking around after the auditions, and he was getting away for his between show break - he's playing the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera. It was very good seeing him again, and we chatted for a good ten minutes. We're going to try to get together next week for dinner.
:)
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While walking through the lobby of the Equity building, I ran into one of my former students from VCU. And he was coming into the Damn Yankees call. Well...
When it came time for his turn, he walks into the room laughing... "Jose, I know you're gonna laugh now too..." He opens his book, and the song is "Look Around" from Golden Boy. -Which happens to be the very FIRST audition I ever worked with him on about five or six years ago!
And, yes, I did start laughing.
-And he snagged a callback too!
:)
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Okay, here's my last story about forgotten lines in a show. In 1990, I was in a local production of Amadeus and the producer (TCB, it was Jeff Kingsbury of Capital Playhouse, friend of Shari O'Hare) was playing Salieri. That was the kind of show where just about everybody in the production had their scripts either hidden in their costumes (like me) or just off stage so that as soon as they got off stage, they could look and see what's coming up next. It was not a good production. But I digress. The night before we opened, the director (a tiny little old lady who was anything but demure) and Jeff were arguing with the lighting designer about the lighting design...specifically that it was sh*t. They were not pleased. At one point Ruthie (the director) yelled at the lighting designer, "JUST LIGHT THE F*CKING STAGE!!" Anyway, that night, Jeff and Misi (our fabulous stage manager) rehung all of the lights and totally redesigned it...over night! The next day (opening night), we had to hold the house and not let anyone in until about five before eight, because the lights weren't done. Finally, the show started. It was, to say the least, stressful.
Well, Jeff (as Salieri) had a monologue that bridged one scene to a another and he flubbed up a bit and was about to get back to where he was supposed to be (or so he said later ;)) but before he could, the guy playing Mozart came in and continued with the new (and wrong) scene. Jeff had no choice but to keep going. Everyone off and back stage were quickly going through their aforementioned scripts trying to find out where the guys went...FIFTEEN PAGES LATER we all caught up and continued on as best we could. The problem wasn't just that FIFTEEN PAGES were cut out of the opening night performance, but that there were a couple of people in the show whose only scenes were within those fifteen pages!! They took their bows, but didn't perform that night at all! That was in June. For Jeff's birthday (in September), I had those 15 pages of script photocopied and put onto a nightshirt with the title "The Mis-Carriage of Figaro." End of story. ;D
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I also have another forgetting lines story AND I got a call earlier that makes me go AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! >:( But I have to get home and eat first before I tell them.
Be back later.
The phone call that I got earlier was someone from my credit union's debit card processing place asking if I had made a charge for $4.10 (also, he gave me more identifiying information and I didn't tell him any confidential info). Anyway, I didn't charge anything for $4.10!! He said that this charge was attempted but rejected by them. He said that it could be someone testing the system, trying to get money from my account!! I don't know what they do to confirm a purchase, but he suggested that I could either cancel the account and get a whole new number or have a temporary block put on my account so that charges that I have made already would still go through (which is what I opted to do). I'm going to call my credit union first thing in the morning to find out what they know and what I could do from here. I have several bills that are automatically deducted and if this doesn't get cleared up soon, I could be in a world of financial hurt! :o So:
AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! >:(
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Oohh... I think I can just make it...
I'll have to save some of my flubbed line stories for later..
I have auditions to play in a few hours... And since it's the Dance Call, I'm pretty sure I'll be playing the dance break of "Shoeless Joe" at least 200 times tomorrow/today... If not more...
So... Goodnight.
...and as he clicks "Post"...
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WHEW! Made it!
;)
Goodnight.