Haines His Way

My head is swimming.  It's out there in the pool right now, my head is, whilst I sit here, headless in Studio City, typing merrily away.

Hi all, I have been errant and truant for the last few days with no good excuse other than I haven't found time to sit down at the computer until now.

Today turned out to be a very busy day- attended one of two mandatory orientations for my internship at the Jewish Board.  This one was a massive new hire orientation that all interns receiving a stipend had to attend.  In two weeks I get to attend another one just for interns.  Fortunately, I got to meet two new employees that I will be working with on a daily basis and they seem very nice.

Then I swung (Tarzan reference) over to Queens to have lunch with Rodzinski, went home and did two loads of laundry, and then went back downtown to audition for my friend's theater company.

This was the first audition I've been on in over a year and a half, and it was pretty mediocre if I must say so.  I didn't really prepare myself very well and I was super nervous.  My right leg shook uncontrollably the entire time I was singing...  I bet they were super impressed

A few days ago after toasting Jose on his birthday, I had the pleasure of seeing the off-Broadway show, The Great American Trailer Park Musical.  It was a very cute show, some of the music was so so, but overall, well done and it was one of the campiest and most energizing Act 1 finales I've ever seen.

It starred Orfeh as a stripper on the run from her crazy ex-boyfriend- I've never been a huge Orfe fan (mostly because she seems to show up at EVERY opening night party/theater event in the tri-state area) but she is great in the role and gets to show off her huge voice.

I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun/campy show.  And it's only 2 hours long with intermission.

I would also take the time machine back to Sheffield England so I could meet my grandmother's father who, it turns out, was the property manager with a big theatre company in Sheffield. It seems I come by my theatrical bent naturally.

I would also have to make a trip to Ireland to meet those relatives (from my grandfather's side - my father's father) since I love Ireland almost as much as I love England.

DR Jane, go to http://www.tvrules.net

Just scroll down till you see it.

They have every major station's listings for the Fall Season (abc, nbc, cbs, fox, wb, upn).  It show all the premiere dates.

Only problem for me re: any shows is that I haven't read about most of them yet (the Tv Guide and US Weekly fall previews aren't out yet).

Thanks.  Unfortunately only a few of the new shows had details.  

Wow the first post in over an hour!

Good Evening!

What a beautiful day it turned out to be here in NYC.  None of the predicted storms materialized - although there were a few sprinkles mid-afternoon - and by late afternoon there was a nice breeze breezing up and down Broadway.

I just sort of wandered about today.  I ran a few errands, checked on a few things, but otherwise just walked around a lot.  I decided to explore Columbus Ave for a bit - just had never walked it from Columbus Circle before.  Lots of neat discoveries, and I finally found one of the first Mexican restaurants I remember eating at back in the early 90s, Santa Fe.  It was right off Columbus in the low-70s.  I may have to revisit it again soon - I seem to remember a really good chicken mole.

Then I treated myself to dessert and coffee at Edgar's Cafe on 84th.  The waitress suggested the "Chocolate Madness", so that's what I had - a flourless chocolate creation in three layers: a flourless chocolate cake base, chocolate mousse and a thick layer of chocolate fudge (basically) on top.  Quite decadent.  And to accompany my Madness, I had a cappuccino affagatto style - with a small scoop of hazelnut gelato.

And, yes, the diet starts tomorrow.

A couple of DVDs were watched tonight.

As promised, I took THE FANTASTICKS off the musical shelf and watched it again after more than a year away from it.

For me, the magic is totally missing. The music is handled well by the two young ones, mediocrely by El Gallo, and just awful by the actor playing Huckabee. Why cast a musical film with a nonsinger? Surely there are plenty of character actors out there who could have sung what needed to be sung. Paired with the very musical Joel Grey, I felt embarrassed for him trying to hold up his end of the singing and dancing paired with someone as gifted as Joel Grey.

And this intimate little show was filmed in P A N A V I S I O N ! ! ! Why? And to fill that wide, wide space, a lot of extras were put in that again for me desroryed the charm and intimacy of the piece.

So mixed to negative from me on THE FANTASTICKS.

(The transfer was very sharp, however, and had terrific Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.)

I should probably check out the TV version of THE FANTASTICKS at the Museum of TV & Radio. I suspect it would have that small feel and intimacy that I so much wanted to see. Susan Watson and John Davidson, right?

After that I wanted to rewatch portions of GYPSY again (Russell/Wood version). I put in the "All I Need Is a Girl" number and let it run from there. Again, I say that the movie has never, ever looked this good on any other presentation I've sever seen. I keep meaning to see if THE MUSIC MAN looks this razor sharp and spotless, but other films keep interrupting me.

And after taking a closer look at the music for the show I was offered, I decided to turn it down.  It's just a little too "rock" for me, just a little too far out of my comfort zone.  It would be one of those shows that I would enjoy from the audience, but I'd be sitting there the whole time wondering just how they did all that.  I don't "talk guitar" all that well.  Hedwig and the Angry Inch is another show I like watching and listening to, but I just can't imagine myself rocking out that much.

I happened to be in midtown, so I stopped by the producer's office, and broke the news to her in person.  She totally understood.  I offered to help out if they got caught in a bind, and something tells me that I'll be getting a call or two (unfortunately, for them - if you get my drift).

And as has been my "luck", I ended up getting booked for a few more days of auditions today, and I might be heading out to do a week of the Little Shop tour.  

Rodzinski and I plan on seeing the show from the audience and you are welcome to join us.  

I was just reading about THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL in Ken Mandelbaum's column today. Sounds like fun.

TOD;
I’d like to go back and see shooting West Side Story in NYC (around the present Lincoln Center and/or somewhere in upper west side? – where the first-twentyfive-minutes sequence of the film had been taken in), in 1960.

What a great choice, and to see Jerome Robbins working with dancers would be a great treat! We could also see Robbins and Wise and see where it started to break down between them in their directing chores.

I am really curious to see how ROME did in the ratings last night on HBO. Usually it takes a couple of days to get overnight ratings on pay cable shows. Hopefully, we'll see tomorrow what kind of audience turned out for the show after months of heavy hyping on HBO.