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Well, you've read the notes, the cock crowed whilst you were reading the notes, and now it is time for you to post until the crowing
cocks, sorry, cows come home.
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And the word of the day is: EPIDEICTIC!
Smoke on your pipe and put that in.
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Yesterday was my dad's birthday. We went to a Chinese buffet restaurant and it took about 35 minutes to go 10 miles on the freeway!! There were a couple of stalled cars (I don't think that they were accidents) just before the exit I needed to take, so we had to go about 25 mph the whole time. :P
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Otherwise, even though we got there about 25 minutes late (we were supposed to get there at 5:00), we got there before the rush! My parents were there already and had a table and had gotten a few things, but there weren't many people at all waiting for tables. By the time we left, it looked like that there were more than a dozen people waiting! The food was pretty good.
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Afterwards, we went back to my sister's house and my dad opened his presents. He got a gift certificate for Barnes & Noble (every time, his absolute favorite gift...always ;)), "Smiley's People" DVD and the John Ford 5-DVD set. He loved all the DVDs!
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Then, we played Phase 10 (our standard family card game), and had some raspberry cheescake from Costco. It's what my dad wanted and it was quite delish!
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Uh, gee, esteemed BK, you don't like Lion King much?
'Cause we're taking the grandlads to see it this upcoming Saturday.
(The stage version.)
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And the word of the day is: EPIDEICTIC!
Smoke on your pipe and put that in.
EDICT ICE PI
CITE PIC DIE
ICED EPIC IT
DICE PIC TIE
Oh, d#ng, I'd like to see anyone else try to get a sentence that makes sense with an anagram for EPIDEICTIC. Me, I'm unpersuaded.
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Last night DR Ginny (via DH Richard) said:
"Earlier this evening, DH Richard and I got in my car to go to the grocery. Unbeknownst to Richard, the CD in my player is The Drowsy Chaperone and when he started the car the first thing we heard was the voice of the Man in Chair. Richard said almost immediately, "Is that Ben?"
From his lips to God's ears, as they say. Sometimes I feel like Man in Chair. I know lots of other Show Tune Afficianados (to use a milder term) who feel the same way but if the chance to play Man in Chair came up I would probably jump at the chance to do it.
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We had a wonderful time last night at Skip and Fred's . They are great hosts and Mr. Kennon is quite the cook. We had excellent vegetables (potatoes, hard boiled eggs, I know they aren't vegetables, yellow and red tomatoes, I know again technically a tomato is a fruit, and green beans) and we had flank steak. Yummilicious to quote a certain Mr. BK. Previous to that we had an array of appetizers including cheeses, shrimp and various dips. After all that sumptuous food we had an amazing apple dessert. Just enough. We didn't feel stuffed but we were sated.
Lots of good talk and lots of chances to play with Dylan and Toby the real rulers of the roost at Manhattan Plaza. Deb (VixMom) took some pictures and I'm sure she will post one or two in the next few days.
I'm very glad Larry liked the new Fantasticks. I thought it was excellent (I saw it August 6th). Now we are looking forward to the Singing Nun spectacle which Mr. Moore is orchestrating.
I need to wash my oatmeal bowl and resume work on the MacArthur Foundation.
Later, folks.
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Mornin' Larry and Woody.
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Good morning Ben and Larry
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Good morning, all! Yes indeedy, the soiree chez Skip and Fred was quite wonderful, and it's always a treat tp see friends I've not seen for some time.
Don't forget NIGHT OF THE HUNTER at NYMTF as well, DR Ben!
I may have breakfast with my San Diego friend, David Maxine, if he calls this morning. I've misplaced his cell phone number. He's staying on 86th Street so it's a short jaunt up Broadway to meet, perhaps, at The French Roast.
After that, I shall work here on charts for Ms Klea Blackhurst, and wait for whatever new fresh hell shows up.
TOD:
THE NEWS: oh, God, it was awful and I don't recall if it opened or played previews only.
MICE IN THE THEATRE: sometimes seeing a friend's work is not a fun experience, although my friend was the only good thing in it
THE SOUND OF A DIFFERENT DRUMMER: my first off-off-Broadway play, 1972, with nudity. 50-year old women (or male) playwrights should not play 18 year-old models and strip in public! It's so damaging to the audience's morale.
CARRIE: I know friends who like this score, but I think it was as poorly conceived as the dreadful production it was a major part of. The director's "classic Greek" concept and the music and lyrics' removal from backwater Maine to the Inner City were equally horrifying. Debbie Allen's musical staging, featuring a gym teacher in flowing chiffon dresses, was down to the level of her Academy Awards work.
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TOD:
Broadway/Off-Broadway: Hurlbury, Good, Streetheat. The first two were so boring I ket on falling asleep. I would have left but I was with friends who enjoyed it. Streeheat as mentioned in the past was the only show I ever left during intermission it was that bad.
Local: The Vistor done by a high school. Big mistake. Something that they should never attempted.
The Cocktail Party with wrong inflections on names and words and really English accents. Henry Higgins where were you?
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After our discussion of the Johnny Depp SWEENEY TODD film, I did a bit of research on life expectancy in mid-19th Century England. I found an article on public health that gave this information on the year 1842:
Industrial centers, like Manchester, had a life expectancy of 38 years for the gentry and upper middle class, 17 for a worker. Outside manufacturing centers, 52 for the gentry and 38 for a craftsman or farm laborer.
An article on Victorian Manchester went into all the factory deaths and maimings, along with other forms of decreasing the population.
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Monday morning greetings! Here I am, about to go downstairs to the training room for 7 hours of training on Microsoft Publisher.
Will think about the TOD and try to post during my lunch break.
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I wish i could remember the name of the production that has to rank up there as most awful. I had gotten tickets as part of a silent auction package for a fundraiser. I have a feeling everyone attending the piece must have gotten tickets in the same manner-- there is no way they actually could have sold tickets to anyone but friends and family of the cast and crew. It was supposed to star Olympia Dukakis , but on the night of the performance it was announced that a prerecorded narration by Olympia Dukakis would be used instead. Wise woman not to appear in this. It was a "play" about aging with modern dance and some nudity (not pretty) and lots of symbolism. The director/writer/somebody wisley chose to have no intermission, because there is no way anyone - including me, would have returned for the second half. I don't think my sister has ever forgiven me for taking her to see this. I don't blame her really.
Morning all, I'm going to be late for work.
Toodles
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Morning all. DR Elmore, I found Devil in the White City fascinating. Disturbing, but fascinating.
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TOD: "Moving Out" is the first thing that comes to mind. "Aida" and "Art"were pretty bad, too.
Whenever I see a show I think is bad, my feet get hot and twitchy. I have to slip off my shoes and let my feet cool off, and that helps the wiggles. So if I report that I had to take off my shoes, you know I thought it was a bad show!
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Well, I have a very busy week and really need to get at it.
JRand - I always clean my dryer filter and don't run the dryer unless I'm home.
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Kerry -- I had to take off my shoes at the Phoenix Theater new project a couple years ago -- the one where the boy kept stripping down to his underpants.
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Good morning!
We're back to the summer doldrums of heat, humidity, and threats of afternoon thundershowers. All expected for this time of year but I'm nothappy about it regardless.
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I've had three really lousy, unentertaining experiences in the theater in NYC:
I HAD A BALL - I didn't.
AIDA - my thoughts equal bk's, and the bigger, more opulent production didn't make it any more entertaining for me. The audience around me screamed in ecstasy for Heather Headley, but I thought every number sounded the same, and all that melisma didn't impress me.
But the worst was HIGH SOCIETY. The show was like summer stock quality in terms of production (wonderful actors sunk by a terrible book and production). But I happened to be sitting in a somewhat broken seat at the St. James, and that is undoubtedly the LONGEST, most uncomfortable show I've ever sat through.
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Locally, I've been to some wretched productions. The one that comes to mind the quickest was a detestable production of WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. The worst acting I've ever seen in community theater (with actors I had done shows with and who were good in the right roles), and pacing slower than slow
And I think I wrote here before about the wretched FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON high school production I was forced to review against my will and better judgment. In addition to a lousy show, the school couldn't get the heat turned on in the auditorium, so we all froze to death trying to endure this monstrosity.
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A reminder that PRISON BREAK and VANISHED premiere their seasons tonight on Fox.
THE CLOSER has a new episode tonight.
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Good day one and all! I hope you all have a pleasant day!
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I have had a mixed bag experience with Phantom of the Opera. There was a traveling company that came through the area about 10 - 12 years ago that left an ugly taste in my mouth and soured me on the musical. IT was not until me and a freind were in the Twin Cities a year or so later and and she and her husband persuaded me to see it again and it was much better. It was closer to the original production that I had read about.
For some reason I am really attracted to Sondheim and Webber musicals.
I would someday love to see a Les Miserables.
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My apologies first to the esteemed bk....
AS the Cock Crows.....
AS the Cock Crows in wonder As the World Turns on his way to General Hospital.....
As the Cock Crows for the Young and the Restless to find the Guiding Light....
AS the Cock Crows all the Days of his lives as he searches for the nirvana of One life to Live
As the Cock Crows bold and beautiful singing to a All My children...
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Oh, I've seen some bad stuff in my time. I always have Perfect Crime to fall back on as one of the worst pieces of unadulterated sh*t I have ever seen and the reason I get so vehement about it is because it's promoted as a great, long-running mystery as if length of run had anything to do with quality.
Other nights of torture happened at Good Vibrations. How you could manage to suck out any kind of fun and enjoyment from a catalog of wonderful American pop music is beyond me but the producers and artistic team succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Dracula, the Frank Wildhorn musical, is up there in the truly awful category.
The recently closed Hot Feet is also a true disaster.
I'm having trouble remembering the names of some of my walk outs, perhaps submerging them in my memory.
The recent revival of Glass Menagerie, a beautious and fragile play, was massacred on Broadway with Christian Slater and Jessica Lange.
A truly wretched piece of crap was a thing called Uncle Bob, written by Austin Pendleton and starring George Morfogen from the HBO series OZ. I left at intermission and never looked back. I loathed it almost from the time the curtain when up. What stinking, awful garbage that was.
I also despised a piece done at Playwrights Horizons called Recent Tragic Events which purported to tell the stories of some people tangentially affected by 9/11. It took place in Mineapolis on the day of and day after (IIRC) the events. I thought it would be quite good because the set was an amazing recreation of an apartment in a specific kind of Minneapolis neighborhood. There was no curtain so I sat looking at the set before the show began. I thought it was a perfect re-creation of a South Minneapolis apartment, like someone had gone there and taken whole a piece of an apartment building and transformed it on stage. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing about the evening. It was filled with hateful, unsympathetic, nasty people for whom I cared not a whit. The show was awful in every sense except the set design and I hope the play never sees the light of day again.
Oh, my, I don't usually get so upset and vehement. BK, it's all your fault!
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NOt a fan of the of movie musical they threw together called Grease 2. It was horrible and a real insult to the original musical and movie.
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The recent revival of Glass Menagerie, a beautious and fragile play, was massacred on Broadway with Christian Slater and Jessica Lange.
A friend of mine saw that play and was not impressed at all. She thought Christain Slater was WRONG for the role and too old.
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The Page 2 hop!!
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Easily the worst production that infuriated me was Nicol Williamson's one-man show about John Barrymore called JACK at the Geffen Theatre.
The most self-indulgent, masturbatory piece of theatre I ever saw. Nicol Williamson made no attempt to look or sound like Barrymore nor did he could he capture any scintilla of Barrymore's style, wit, or self-destructive tragedy. His history on Barrymore was sketchy and sloppy. And so was his performance. It was obvious that he didn't know his lines and he seemed to be making it up half the time. Utterly undisciplined. And his laziness and unpreparedness just displayed utter contempt for his audience. But perhaps he was right to be contemptuous, because the snobby, snotty, "oh-he's-British-and-famous-so- we-must-kiss-his-ass" sycophantish, LA theatre fakes gave him a standing ovation. I BOOED him. It was the first time ever in my life. And he richly deserved it! I was enraged by the end of the evening.
You compare his sloppy, shoddy performance to Christopher Plummer's impeccable one-man show, BARRYMORE, and there was no comparison, but you could see how horrible Williamson was.
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I was also infuriated at a performance. The revival of The Best Man starring Spaulding Gray was not so bad that is was legend but I do think his performance was one of the worst I've ever seen. He ruined the climax of the play because he DIDN'T KNOW HIS LINES!!! If you can't learn lines stay out of the GD theatre! SG was famous for his "downtown life monologues and in some films he can be quite good but in a piece that required concentration and technique and "acting" he failed miserably. I was furious at the end of the show and ranted for about five minutes to my theatre companions. They were very surprised at my spewing but they did agree with me that Gray had spoiled what would otherwise have been a decent revival of the play.
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Heading to the shower to get cleaned up for my lunch out with best friend John. I also have some errands to run this afternoon.
WBBL.
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Back from a wonderful breakfast with the 1902-1903 WIZARD OF OZ specialist David Maxine and his partner Eric Shanower, who's working on a huge graphic novel of ther Trojan War, THE AGE OF BRONZE. I'm waiting for Vol 3, which begins with the start of the war, to be published; Vol 2 ended with the sacrifice of Iphigenia and the launching of the fleet.
We talked of much and had a wonderful 90 minutes; Eric and Davidf were off to a plane back to San Diego and I'm back to work for Ms Klea Blackhurst. Hopefully, I'll be helping David with his new edition of the original musical extravaganza THE WIZARD OF OZ.
http://www.hungrytigerpress.com/aboutus.shtml
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Great time and conversations out at FJL and Skip's place yesterday evening. And the food! Dee-LISH.
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SURVIVING GRACE with Ileana Douglas was the one thing TPunk and I had to leave at intermission.
BKLYN, or however they spelled it, didn't give you the opportunity to leave at intermission, which was smart on their part. That was one that I despised from the moment the performers showed up on stage. TPunk can attest to how up in arms I was after that show.
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Good morning everyone. Had a most enjoyable evening last night at Fred and Skip's. It was nice catching up with everyone and meeting Skip, who by the way is an excellent chef. We also discovered a great new reality show to add to the roster of our shows- Design Star on HGTV.
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I forgot about the awful and appalling BKLYN!
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I forgot about the awful and appalling BKLYN!
And I forgot such turkeys as:
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS: a great book by Kenneth Grahame made into an appalling musical, with a bizarre S/M scene for Mr Toad and the Jailer's Daughter
RAGGEDY ANN: when the wolfman sidekick of Dr Death started howling in act two and the terrified kid in the balcony screamed "Let me out!!!!" he spoke for all of us
CHARLEY AND ALGERNON: poor PJ Bejamin, this and THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS!
LESTAT: I love Jose, Hugh Panaro and Carolee Caramello, but this was a mess
PASSION: first Sondheim show where I longed for an Andrew Lloyd Webber score
CAN-CAN: Ziz Jeanmaire and disco arrangements so horrifying that not even the great Avery Schreiber and Pamela Sousa could save!
DANCE A LITTLE CLOSER: close a little faster
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And yet another one pops into my brain, Pig Farm. This recent disaster was foisted on us by Roundabout as part of their Off-Broadway season.
I was looking forward to it because some of the same creative forces behind Urinetown were behind this.
It was, in a word, AWFUL. I left at intermission. It was everything that Urinetown was not. Stupid, mean, unfocused, badly written, badly acted, badly directed and just plain garbage.
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PIRATES OF PENZANCE as performed at Salem's Pentacle theater.
They took great liberty in changing some of the characters AND the background singers/dancers were mugging and upstaging the main peformers so much that it became quite distracting.
I hated it.
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There are two candidates for worst play I've seen in a theater. Both were when I was in college, and each was, mercifully, the one play of the year that I could exempt myself from (for other studies).
One was "She Stoops to Conquer" in my Sophomore year -- the only thing fun about it was the wigs the ladies wore...and what made them fun was the absolute lack of mastery the ladies had in moving about the stage with the wigs on their heads. I had to leave at intermission for fear of laughing out loud at anything more ludicrous than what had gone before.
The next -- a deadly dull presentation of "Darkness At Noon" -- was the first production of my Senior year. It was abominably "acted" by one of the most miscast group of people imaginable.
Lines were "recited". I was appalled that esteemed classmates were involved with the production.
Of course, I was in a couple of turkeys myself. One was a one-act called "The Monkey's Paw." I was a wet-behind-the-years "young" Freshman...and I played the "old man" in the story. I hadn't a clue how to sound -- much less "move" -- like an old man. This was one of a series of student director-directed one-acts, so...! The director of the one-act, Kate Swofford, actually went on to become a professional director, mostly in television.
Another, in my Sophonore year (it was a BAD year, apparently) was "Antigone". I was a member of the chorus. We weren't bad...but our costumes were bad, our makeup was bad, the set was blah/bland, and the direction was very lacking.
(TomovOz, it was this production I sent you a picture from several years ago).
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.. if the chance to play Man in Chair came up I would probably jump at the chance to do it.
You and Tom Cruise :)
der Brucer
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One of the worst shows I've seen was the tour of Seussical that came to Sioux City. I don't often leave at intermission, but I left this one
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One of my pet peeves is the quality of a lot of the tours we get here. I know we aren't big enough to get the first string, so to speak, at one time I was a big RENT fan, but by the time it got here, it stunk. I can't remember the other shows we had that year, but they truly seemed like a poor college production at best. Very disheartening and because of it a lot of subscribers have gone to picking individual shows.
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Of course, Les Mis was incredible. It was Broadway quality, which set the bar extrememly high for the remainder of the season. It wasn't the same year as RENT, but in a way it was sad to see what they can do in our theatre, but they don't
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We got the tour of CAn-CAN with Chita Rivera and the Rockettes. What a terrible show. Chita for all her talent couldn't save it.
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Just biding my time until my ride picks me up. La la la la la . . . . (in my Pee-Wee Herman voice).
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TPunk can attest to how up in arms I was after that show.
Any excuse for a hug 8)
der Brucer
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PASSION: first Sondheim show where I longed for an Andrew Lloyd Webber score
Me too! I will join you in the stoning pit (or so Sondheim fans use the stocks?).
der Brucer
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Wonderful choices for excruciating shows!
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I guess I must have blocked RENT from my mind. I thought it was awful.
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Now I must get to the paperwork that was generated from my weekend meetings.
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. . . . (in my Pee-Wee Herman voice).
Speaking of whom:
bk noted:
Apparently, these people don’t go to the theater very much – they chatted, they laughed at inappropriate places, they screamed and stomped whenever a relative showed up and they ate their candy loudly.
Just lucky Paul Reubens wasn't there!
der Brucer
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I hated Phantom. Some lovely lush Puccini-esque melodies, however. Wonderful orchestra. Swell constumes. Special effects up the wazoo. I wanted to enjoy it at least $55 bucks' worth... I even went, subsequently, to see the movie - oy. I left halfway through. Just don't appreciate that show...
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Coming Soon:
(http://bellytwins.com/images/HoorayBollywoodFlyer.jpg)
der Brucer
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I left halfway through. Just don't appreciate that show...
Well, if you leave Phantom half-way through, you only get to hear the two melody lines repeated four times - you get more of the same in Act 2.
der Brucer
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TOD:
JUMPERS - the recent Broadway revival, which had opened to great acclaim, but I just couldn't follow what was going on.
THE CRYPTOGRAM - I've loved the work of everyone involved on other show, from writer to director to actors to even the producers of the show, but this was the longest 75 minutes I've ever sat through. Then it opened to total raves!
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About that Phantom production... sometimes, I just DON'T GET IT... and it may have more to say about me, than it does about the production or the piece...
I remember sitting in the orchestra section at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, during my NYCO days... we were doing the annual LA 3-week stint... I was covering a role in Massenet's MANON, and was in the house for the first performance. Sitting there, listening to that great orchestra play. The huge Tito Capobianco production, all the beautiful, over-the-top sets and costumes, some of the best voices in the company... and I just didn't GET IT. Watching singers mincing about in a Fragonard painting... I looked around at all the patrons, sitting in rapt attention, facing the stage -- and I thought, "What are all of you looking at? What are you listening to?" It was a bad moment, I tell you.
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But this Page 3 moment is one I could dance to...
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I found the first act of THE COLOR PURPLE excruciating to sit through, nothing to do with the actual quality of the writing, just that the events of the story pained me and I could find no humor or comic relief at all in the mistreatment the first act depicted. I had never seen the movie nor read the book, and asked at intermission if this is what the story is like the whole way through, and was assured that it was not. And indeed, the show turned breathtaking for me in what i estimate was the last half hour, when it began to fill me with the euphoria of the notion that as bleak as events may seem, there is hope for salvation and redemption. it was the most willing standing ovation I've ever given. And I wondered if the euphoria of the last half hour would have been possible without the unrelenting cruelty of the events up to that point. But it's the only time I almost left at intermission at a show where I truly admired the talents of the writers and director and cast.
So for the TOD; the first act of THE COLOR PURPLE.
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Oh - yes... I remember HURLEYBURLEY. Hated it. Tried to like it - Wally Shawn, old friend, was in it... lots of good actors. I just hated the play.
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Off I go to the airport to pick up the same nephew, who has to pack up and move out of his Seattle apartment in the next 2 weeks, to move to Santa Cruz and live in the famous Motorhome of song and legend... now, where will he store all his STUFF???
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Aunt Dan and Lemon - loathed and despised it. I think it's an over-rated piece of tripe. I saw it in London and could not wait to flee the theatre.
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Cillaliz, sounds like you're getting a lot of the non-equity touring versions of shows that have become epidemic.
I would have killed to see JUMPERS. It was a transfer, I believe, from the National in London, where it got brilliant reviews, starred Simon Russell Beale, maybe one of the best actors working today, and written by Tom Stoppard, my favourite playwright. I've read it. It's an hysterically funny play.
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If I'm honest, I also hated ASSASSINS. I find Mario Cantone insufferable.
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Hmmmmmmmmmm...........
I see...
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London
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I see...
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France....
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If I'm honest, I also hated ASSASSINS. I find Mario Cantone insufferable.
Mario notwithstanding, (a major point - he was really annoying), I enjoyed the show.
der Brucer
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France....
is the next post boxers or briefs?
der Brucer
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Hmmmmm...
Aunt Dan & Lemon....ugh
Something by Dan DeLillo which was horrible I have blocked the title from my memory
BUT the most horrible play I have ever seen....it made me mad I was there... LEND ME A TENOR....I hate this play, it is NOT funny....it is dumb....I hate it....it doesn't make any sense...it is a stupid play....I hate it.
But then, I liked AIDA, so there you are. Not saying it's a great show, but I liked it.
Hated THE LION KING....
The absolute WORST musical was a touring company of 42ND STREET....awful costumes, awful music, awful acting....and I think the taps were on tape. When everyone walked out onstage, no clicking sounds from their shoes....but plenty when the dancing started....
Most unexpected - I didn't think I would like Faye Dunaway in MASTER CLASS....but she was great....when she finally started the show 45 minutes late....
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The Taps Were on Tape....that is the name of my new play.
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Learning my lines for MOCKINGBIRD....know most of Act One.....
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I just finished looking at the latest NEW YORK magazine; besides the most frightening photo of Donatella Versace with a really really really horrifying face job, there's an article on THE FANTASTICKS. Tom Jones is 78, and his performance as Henry, the Old Actor is amazing!
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Oh, did I hate The Crytogram - I think I actually nodded off for about ten of its seventy-five minutes. I couldn't even go backstage to say hello to some folks I knew.
For me, the most excruciating musical I've ever sat through was the Dutch or Danish or whatever it was Cyrano, on B'way. That was painful, but it was opening night, I was someone's guest, they wanted me to record it, and I could not leave.
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Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party was a similar torture-ridden experience.
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And I'm afraid that the early preview performance of Passion that I attended literally put me to sleep. But two of the show's "best" numbers weren't in at that point.
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Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party was a similar torture-ridden experience.
How could I have forgotten that piece of crap????????
If there had been an intermission, the second act would have played to half a house.
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I saw Cryptogram. Except for Ed Begley, Jr, being in it, I remember nothing about it.
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One of the absolute worst performances of a musical that I LOVE was a touring production of A Little Night Music. I don't remember the exact year I only remember it was in the mid-70s. It was a bus and truck and played a large auditorium on the campus of St. Catherine's University in Saint Paul. It was abysmal. I loathed it and would have left at intermission except that I was with my sister who wanted to see it and actually enjoyed it. Even the glory of that magnificient score could not keep me from loathing the production. It was cheap, badly acted, badly directed, badly sung. The word BAD does not do justice to the level of awfulness of this production.
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Did several errands, made several telephonic calls and have jogged. Must now relax for a moment or three, then write.
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Beale was in JUMPERS when I saw it. But I couldn't follow it at all. I should probably read it, but it's the only Stoppard play I've seen that I've had no luck understanding.
A friend had handed me pages of background notes on it a few days before I saw it, but I foolishly didn't read them. My loss, i know, but still an excrucitaing experience.
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Supposedly true story overheard at HAPGOOD, a Stoppard play that played at Lincoln Center Theater about ten years ago:
Woman: Sir, that signs says gunshots will be heard at this performance.
Usher: That's right, Ma'am.
Woman: Why only at THIS performance?
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OH DEAR!
(http://www.armorofgodpjs.com/images/home.jpg)
der Brucer
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CALLING SUSAN B. ANTHONY!
Associated Press (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209589,00.html)
Church Fires Teacher for Being Female
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (Aug. 21) - The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job - outside of the church.
The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.
The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."
der Brucer
Wonder if she got some PJ's as a parting gift?
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is the next post boxers or briefs?
der Brucer
...do you feel a thong coming on?
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OH DEAR!
(http://www.armorofgodpjs.com/images/home.jpg)
der Brucer
Why....those are just a hood away from being....you know...
There are some very scary people in this world, and most of them are scary because of their religious bents...
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Learning my lines for MOCKINGBIRD....know most of Act One.....
"Maycomb was a tired old town...."
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...do you feel a thong coming on?
I'm still waiting for "Thong of the South" on DVD
der Brucer
"Thong in My Heart" just doesn't work.
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I likewise had some errands to run after lunch. Was so glad to get back home and out of that humid hell called the South in summer.
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I only got two shows viewed this afternoon. I started off with last night's ENTOURAGE. Martin Landau guested again and did a marvelous job. Jeremy Piven was perfection. I'm really pulling for him at the Emmys this coming Sunday.
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Then I watched last night's COLD CASE rerun. I had never seen it, obviously one of the shows that got delayed during its first run due to late ending sports of some kind on CBS. June Lockhart was a guest star, and she looked very good.
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Cillaliz, sounds like you're getting a lot of the non-equity touring versions of shows that have become epidemic.
That wouldn't surprise me a bit. I keep buying my subscription hoping that if they keep selling tickets we may get better quality shows, but who knows. I'm hoping this year will be better....time will tell.
The season starts with I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU and HAIRSPRAY in October
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Then I watched last night's COLD CASE rerun. I had never seen it, obviously one of the shows that got delayed during its first run due to late ending sports of some kind on CBS. June Lockhart was a guest star, and she looked very good.
The show originally aired in April - the blues numbers were great (I appreciated the director letting the numbers play full course).
der Brucer
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I hated Phantom. Some lovely lush Puccini-esque melodies, however. Wonderful orchestra. Swell constumes. Special effects up the wazoo. I wanted to enjoy it at least $55 bucks' worth... I even went, subsequently, to see the movie - oy. I left halfway through. Just don't appreciate that show...
Didn't you audition to join the Company?
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Playbill article on Kritzerland's upcoming release. Gans got to it quickly...
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/101535.html
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Off to clean the dining room and do some other odd jobs around the house. Haven't decided what I'm going to watch when I fire back up the TV. Maybe some WILD WILD WEST episodes. We'll see.
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You can't have been involved with community theater for fifty years, like I have, without seeing some dreadful productions. A lot of those were made even more frightening by the fact that I had friends in the production who knew that I was out front.
I have been fairly lucky with professional productions, touring companies, and New York productions (both Off-Broadway and On). I believe the worst experience I ever had in New York was that awful production of PERFECT CRIME (or whatever it is called) that has played for years in that attic above Times Square. I should have checked the Playbill carefully because I am sure that P.T. Barnum must have been involved as either a producer or a publicist. And the audience of tourists gave the cast a standing ovation!
Still, I believe the worst thing I ever sat through was LEGENDS with Carol Channing and Mary Martin. It depresses me to this day that this was the only time I ever saw Mary Martin perform on stage.
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Then I watched last night's COLD CASE rerun. I had never seen it, obviously one of the shows that got delayed during its first run due to late ending sports of some kind on CBS. June Lockhart was a guest star, and she looked very good.
I also watched COLD CASE last night, a series I had never watched before. I thought it was very good, and I especially enjoyed Merideth Baxter (whatever happened to David Birney?) as the lead actress' alcoholic mother. A terrific job.
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Well- MattH is a very bad influence!
I was onsidering asking him about the chances of my getting a few bucks for cartons of LaserDiscs in the basement (the old LD Player doesn't work!). Well I checked, and out of the 113 Titles, 48 are of things we do NOT have on DVD! (Inclusing at least one, Charleton Heston in "Crucifer of Blood" which is not even on DVD.)
So I snooped on Ebay and snagged a used LD Player for $15.50 plus $25 shipping with some extra LDs:
Up for auction is a Pioneer LD-V2200 LaserDisc Player. This auction includes the remote control unit originally packaged with this product. Both units are used, but in excellent working and cosmetic condition! They have both been tested for use, and both work perfectly. I'm also throwing in the remainder of my LD collection. Titles included are: From Dusk Till Dawn, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, The Mangler, Sleepwalkers, Scanners 2, Mars Attacks!, Pulp Fiction, The Howling: New Moon Rising, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, and Freddy's Dead, which is still in its original shrinkwrap and has never been opened! All of the other discs are used, but in excellent working condition, with only minor shelf wear apparent on their sleeves. The discs themselves are scratch-free and play fine.
Granted, the LDs are not exactly my cup of tea.
And while I was at it, I got a copy of the Criterion "Time Bandits" for $15.50 ($36 on Amazon).
der Brucer
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"Cold Case" aired here at 11 p.m.
At 10 p.m., we saw "Big Brother 7"
Before that it was all football and "The Fifth Quarter" a one-hour plus WRAPUP show.
Sigh.
Thank goodness for a Miss Marple mystery on one of the 5 PBS stations I get, plus a new episode of "The 4400" at 9 p.m.
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Did you know:
COCK CROWS is COWS CROCK scrambled?
der Brucer
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Did you know:
COCK CROWS is COWS CROCK scrambled?
der Brucer
You have been around Woody too much!
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TOTD:
Professional productions of
High Society
Blood Brothers
Chess
The Woman In White
The Beautiful Game
The Lion King
Non professional productions of:
Showboat
Carnival
George M
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We got the tour of CAn-CAN with Chita Rivera and the Rockettes. What a terrible show. Chita for all her talent couldn't save it.
Lordy, der B and I saw the same tour. Ugh. To put it mildly.
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That wouldn't surprise me a bit. I keep buying my subscription hoping that if they keep selling tickets we may get better quality shows, but who knows. I'm hoping this year will be better....time will tell.
The season starts with I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU and HAIRSPRAY in October
Cilla I wonder if those are some of the same companies we get up here. Some shows have been downright insufferable.
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I'm still waiting for "Thong of the South" on DVD
der Brucer
New tongue-twister: say "Thong of the South" three times quickly!
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My brother is doing impressions of Frank Sinatra singing Britney Spears and rap songs.
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"Hit Me Baby One More Time" is especially good.
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The problem with der B's LaserDisc player purchase is, now we'll have to go through all the stuff that's in boxes downstairs and haul all the non-duplicate titles upstairs.
WE DON"T HAVE ENOUGH SHELF SPACE FOR ALL THE DVDs WE HAVE IN OUR COLLECTION!!!
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I'm back to preparing one of my old stand-bys for dinner tonight: sweet and sour pork.
Only, lately I've been pulling a switch on what I do.
I found this great ginger/soy dressing that makes an incredible dipping sauce for the pork.
So, I instead serve the sweet and sour elements as a salad! Very easy, a quick visit to the store's salad bar for onion, carrot, bell pepper, tomato, all served up on shredded iceberg lettuce and dressed with a little sweet and sour sauce. Maybe a few sesame seeds sprinkled on top!
I'm going to try punching up with rice with a little lemon juice, just to give it a bit more flavor.
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The bad news is, I'm scheduled to start work at SIX IN THE MORNING tomorrow.
That's a blech.
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I must say I'm pleased with how fast the Simply Sondheim orders have been coming in. Keep 'em coming!
I thought I might have five minutes to relax, but that didn't prove to be the case. The telephonic device doesn't stop ringing, then I had more errands and I'm afraid I haven't written a word (I may do a page or two when I get back from my early dinner).
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The problem with der B's LaserDisc player purchase is, now we'll have to go through all the stuff that's in boxes downstairs and haul all the non-duplicate titles upstairs.
WE DON"T HAVE ENOUGH SHELF SPACE FOR ALL THE DVDs WE HAVE IN OUR COLLECTION!!!
Don't you hate it when that happens?? ;)
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Well, I'm off to look at another condo in the same place that I looked on Friday, and then there might be another condo in a different place. I don't remember if my sister said that the second one was on the same street or a different street. We'll see.
Later!
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And since we're so close...
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Happy Page Five Dance!!
;D
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My brother is doing impressions of Frank Sinatra singing Britney Spears and rap songs.
And considering he's pretty much tone deaf, he's doing pretty well!
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Don't you hate it when that happens?? ;)
Ugh, that word!
::)
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Waiting for my book dealer pal so we can sup - he's about ten minutes late right now.
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Oooo, lovely surprise waiting for me when I arrived home from work - my sparkling prize for the Unseemly Trivia Contest. We listened during dinner and I LOVE IT!
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Oh, lovely. We are getting a storm tonight!
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Cough, cough :P I've been rearranging books for the past hour or so and stirring up a lot of dust! Thankfully, it's cool enough that we can have our windows open.
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Good grief! A ssssllloooowwwww Monday!
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Horse Racing Comment
The only shows I have seen on Broadway that I thought were awful, were RENT and VELVITA. I would have left at intermission of VELVITA, but the friend I was with was sleeping so peacefully, that I hated to wake him.
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I'm watching the Spike Lee Documentary on New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina...then I get to write a motion and a brief...oh joy
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Did I mention CATS, or is that a given?
[/i]
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I'm watching the Spike Lee Documentary on New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina...then I get to write a motion and a brief...oh joy
What a coincidence! I am watching the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, and I am wearing briefs.
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Oh my god! Cats! I had to stay and watch as I was reviewing it for my radio program at that time.
Will Rodgers Follies another abysmal show. I would have left at intermission but I didn't because I thought my parents liked it. Funny they thought the same thing of me. We should have learned to communicate more
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BK:
My sparkling trivia prize arrived today and what a wonderful surprise! I truely didn't expect it. I hope it wasn't your only copy. I am going to listen to it right away!
WOW!
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My copy of the Kevin Spirtas DVD arrived today!! "Kyle XY" is coming on at 8:00, so I'll watch the DVD right after that. ;D
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I was not impressed with Georgy.... I was expecting more and I felt let down.
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Bruce, just so you know, I moved the "click-through" on the All That Chat LAST STARFIGHTER banner from the Kritzerland home page to the Kritzerland catalogue page. So if any people are accessing Kritzerland through the catalogue page, that's probably where it's coming from.
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So, BK, what were you doing with your book-dealer pal? What kind of book deals were you making?
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I am pleased to report that my interview with wrestler turned actor Samson Burke is in the new issue of FILMFAX magazine whichi will hit store shelves any week now!!
Samson Burke starred in THE 3 STOOGES MEET HERCULES, FIVE FOR HELL, THE VENGEANCE OF URSUS, THE TRIUMPH OF ROBIN HOOD, THE NIBELUNGEN, I AM SARTANA YOUR ANGEL OF DEATH, and one of those Kommissar X spy movies.
(http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/hercules/samsonburke/samsonburke14.jpg)
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I was not impressed with Georgy.... I was expecting more and I felt let down.
Georgy what? Have I missed something?
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MBarnum, congrats on your article!
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Storage space for all my media continues to be a major problem here. I'd probably be able to figure something out if I'd stop buying stuff, but the goodies just keep on getting released, and what's a fella to do who lives for this stuff?
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...which means that if anyone happened to be at their local Barnes and Noble and began perusing the magazine rack he or she might spot not one, not two, but three of my interviews..all of which are running in three different publications at the same time!!!
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Thank you PennyO!
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I bought a used laserdisc machine to use as a backup, too, since they don't seem to be making them any more, and I've got too many lasers of movies that the studios don't seem to be in any hurry to put out on DVD.
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So tired... I picked up my nephew at the airport, and dropped him at his soon-to-be-ex-apartment. Then I drove over to my mountain-neighbors' Seattle house... I started helping the lady fill in disability papers she has been unable to face since being diagnosed a few months ago with Parkinson's Disease. I must say, she looked a world better yesterday up here in the woods than she did last summer... I thought she had leukemia or worse. Parkinson's isn't as bad as what the rest of us were imagining, especially since she is now medicated for it! Anyhow, it was a grueling two hours, more for her than for me, and finally I stopped and said I'd come back and do more of it on Wednesday. Sometimes I forget how incredibly, magically lucky I have been all my life. Today, I remember.
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I started my eveing of viewing with the Private Screenings interview with Shirley MacLaine which I didn't even remember having. I had some DVD-Rs that I hadn't labeled, and this interview was on one of them. Very good interview.
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So, I think I'll chow down on leftover salad and maybe a DVD! Bye for now.
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Then I watched the gay-themed movie ADAM AND STEVE with Malcolm Gets and Craig Chester. ENjoyable romantic comedy with a simply incredible country two-step dance number near the end of the film. Took my breath away.
And the supporting cast is just loaded with familiar names and faces: Parker Posey, Chris Kittan, Sally Kirkland, Julie Hagerty, Paul Sand, and Melinda Dillon.
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Enjoyed tonight's new episode of THE CLOSER which involved murders and illegal immigrants. Brenda also ran into more rpobelsm with LA traffic, an on-going storyline tonight. Trouble is that I didn't quite understand how her little problem with that got worked out even thought then murder mystery plot was very involving and one I enjoyed quite a lot.
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FInished the evening with the MEDIUM rerun which guest starred Molly Ringwald as a victimized blind woman. Remembered a good bit about the episode as it unfoled, but I still liked seeing the show.
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Page Six Bambi Dance!!!
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Tomorrow I'll check out the premiere of VANISHED that came on tonight.
I also started watching "The Making of ADAM AND STEVE" on the DVD and didn't quite get finished with it either.
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On my way to bed now.
Good night!
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Ate way too much Casa Vega food and feel like I'm going to burst open.
Pogue - no deals. We just had some good book conversation and I, like you, know of nothing more fun than to be with real authentic book people.
Shayne - glad you liked the prize. I managed to get a few copies from one of my ex-Bay Cities partners.
FJL - Well, we've had a couple of Starfighter orders today and other catalog titles, so maybe it's working!
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I am pleased to report that my interview with wrestler turned actor Samson Burke is in the new issue of FILMFAX magazine whichi will hit store shelves any week now!!
And your piece in Scarlet Street kept me busy while waiting for Woody in Borders.
der Brucer
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I thought we'd gotten over the August hump, but apparently that isn't the case, damn it all.
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Storage space for all my media continues to be a major problem here. I'd probably be able to figure something out if I'd stop buying stuff, but the goodies just keep on getting released, and what's a fella to do who lives for this stuff?
Too bad they dont design houses that accomodate tape / dvd collections...
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And your piece in Scarlet Street kept me busy while waiting for Woody in Borders.
der Brucer
And I hope you enjoyed it Der Brucer!
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Well, I suppose I could tell exciting stories about paperwork.
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Trouble is that I didn't quite understand how her little problem with that got worked out
Brenda's FBI beau, Fritz, suggested she use "politics" to solve the problem; so, she cajoled Chief Pope into presenting the Chief of Traffic with a commendatory medal for their wonderful cooperation in finding van with the two bodies ("Thank you very much"). In the cermonial handshake, the traffic chief gave back Brenda's car key.
der Brucer
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And I hope you enjoyed it Der Brucer!
I'd have enjoyed it more in a personal copy (attempts to get my paid subscription honored have met with failure).
der Brucer
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I'm still alive. Just haven't had much to say.
Caught up with a wonderful Chabrol film yesterday: LE BOUCHER. Hghly recommended.
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not overly chatty I guess on my end... Had a very stressful night at work... First week of classes have started here. Computers were down... Business office and the registrar's office were cranky, errant dogs and printer malfunctions...
Thank god tomorrow is another day..
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Thank god tomorrow is another day..
Maybe yes...then again... (where is your Celtic pessimism)?
der Brucer
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I'm watching Kevin Spirtas' DVD. Wow! The guy sure has energy!
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It's a great DVD! I heartily recommend it to everyone!
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Hey, Oz! Hey, George -
Just checkin' in before heading off to bed. Good night, Knights!
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Sweet dreams, me hearties! Oh, well, maybe not YOU Oz... it's morning where you are. Well, have a good day, then!
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Everyone should listen to George and MattH re Kevin's DVD.
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I'm listening to the commentary on the DVD, now. Funny, informative...GET THE DVD!!
;D