Haines His Way

It vaguely resembled his tune until she held the long notes, at which point her vibrato took over and practically did cadenzas of the operatic sort. But as long as she smiled through the song, no one caught on that she had royally screwed up Hammerstein's lyrics.

I remember too well Ms. U's performance as the Witch in Into the Woods at the Long Beach Civic Light Opera.  At the end of each of her numbers, she would throw her arms wide and give a beaming smile, resembling rigor mortis.  She was breathtaking...but more in the sense of the exhalation final breath than exalting.

I saw that it was Julie Andrews' birthday this morning and meant to mention it. She looks loverly for 70.

That used to be one of my favorites.

However....

I decided to rename my favorite breakfast (which heretofore was called Eggs Benedict). Benedict is a vicious homophobic Pope bringing great despair to his flock and pain to his church!  Unfortunately, the first known queer Pope was also a Benedict (IX), so I shall have to go with another Flame of the Vatican, Julius (III).

Henceforth, breakfast shall be "Eggs Julius".

der Brucer

Welcome, all, to Gay and Lesbian History Month!!!

 

Oh..

And while at Edgar's Cafe, I had the tiramisu (very good, and a nice "kick" from the Kahlua), and DR Antonia had a slice of their Black Forest Cake.

As for DR Rodzinski's Chocolate Velvet Boule - A "center" of chocolate mousse, surrounded by a thin layer of yellow sponge cake... and then it's all covered in a generous coating of chocolate ganache. YUM!

OH!  DR elmore (and MBarnum) - I realized that I left my bag of wagashi from Minamoto Kichoan at your place.  Guess that means I'll have to drop by before you head down to Carnegie Hall tomorrow afternoon...

OH!

DR elmore et al - As for the possible late lunch/early dinner at Barrymore's tomorrow, Sunday, keep in mind that it's matinee day, and by the time we gather there, we would most likely be fighting the post-matinee crowds.  So....

If you do want to keep it in the Theatre District, there's always John's Pizza - a great space, and since they're soooo big, there's never really problem with a group coming in at the last minute.  Plus, it's just great pizza.  -And since we will be meeting at Barrymore's on Monday night...

Or we could head further uptown too...

DRJose, remind me where John's Pizza is.  i've only been there once.

DRJose, remind me where John's Pizza is.  i've only been there once.

It's on 44th - right next door to the St. James and Angus McIndoe.  *And it really is an amazing space - on old church, all that stained glass.

...Here is a photograph of Pogue, Hisaka, and Pat, taken directly after lunch.

I didn't realize until now that DR Pogue is so comparitively short.

(Of course, that also equates to our esteemed BK being quite tall.)

After ANYTHING GOES was over, I felt in the mood for some decent Cole Porter so I put in the 1953 KISS ME KATE. I got restless with it, maybe because I've seen it so many times, and after skipping over the lengthy opening sequence that contains "So in Love" and "Too Darn Hot," I went right to the on-stage rehearsal and then up to the roof for "Why Can't You Behave/"

Enjoyed it as always but decided I was done with Cole Porter for the evening.

And, of course, DR Hisaka is a rose in lovely bloom.

 

ANyway, after putting KISS ME KATE back on the shelf, I took off the to-watch shelf a musical I've been threatening to do for weeks.

A CHORUS LINE.

Richard Attenborough made a lot of mistakes in this adaptation, but I think THE biggest mistake of all was using Jeffrey Hornaday as the choreographer. The dances don't look anything LIKE Broadway show dancing. Lord, what a mess! I had forgotten how overly busy and underwhelming the dancing is. And "I Can Do That" turning into a slapstick schtick number was disgraceful.

I got through "Surprise, Surprise," and I imagine "Nothing" is next on the playbill, but I'll have to finish it tomorrow.

Since so many of the men on the line had done A CHORUS LINE either in NYC or on the road (and some of the women, too, but not as many, I don't think), I have to wonder how they felt learning these crappy routines to replace the elegant, exciting show dancing they had been used to doing on stage. I know: it was a job in the movies that might have led to bigger things in Hollywood if the movie had been a hit, but they had to have been disappointed inside.

Evening folks!  Yes, Tis I in the City of York.

It’s been a long and exciting day.  The plane ride was lovely as always.  I love to watch all of the clouds and such.  I have learned that sitting on the left side of the plane when heading North is indeed the place to be.

Most interesting was the shadow of the plane that followed us faithfuly and then disappeared only to reappear when we made our decent.  It was also interesting to see the shadows of the taller clouds onto the lower clouds.

The guy who sat next to snored the whole way so I had to keep myself company by playing my word puzzles and such.  

When I arrived at the LQA, I had an easy time of getting my luggage but when I went to get my van ride I almost had a problem.  I happened to look at the ticket the lady gave me and realized she had the wrong Comfort Inn listed.  That would NEVER do so I had go back through the line and get a new ticket for the correct address.

It really didn’t take that long but by the time I arrived at the hotel at about 11:30 AM I was very tired and had not eaten a thing.

I have to comment of the very nice man who helped me into the lobby with my bags.  He just a guy on the street but he stepped up to help me when he saw I struggling to get them up the stairs.

The hotel check in went smooth but  the lobby was filled with people checking out.  I didn’t get the chance to ask about  you getting a room near mine, DR Jane.  Sorry.  I was just so grateful when they told me that a room was ready and waiting for me.

I called home and DR Elmore to tell him I made it safe and sound then went out in search of food.  I got one of the flat sandwiches that I always wanted to try and it was every bit as good a I thought it would be.  I took my BP meds because I was feeling funny then laid down.  I thought I set the alarm clock to get me up at 3 but didn’t wake up until 4:30!  I saw I had a message from DR Elmore about dinner and decided to try to get there.  I confess I was a bit groggy and disoriented so maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

I got lost and forgot that Chitty started at 7 not 8 and I lost the newspaper article I promised DR Mbarnum  (which I feel really bad about).  I couldn’t stay and enjoy dinner with my friends like I wanted to but at least I did get to eat and say a quick “Hi” before I had to catch a cab to go see Chitty.

I made it with 10 minutes to spare but as it happened the show didn’t start on time anyway.  There was an accident where I think a part of a light fell and hit some poor older lady in the head.  They worked on her and finely got her to her feet and out of the theater.  I do so hope that she is alright.

As for the show--it was wonderful!  I loved every moment of it.  Lots of “adult” references that would go over the kids heads but made it fun for an older crowd.

I then tried to retrace my steps to find that newspaper article but alas, no luck.  

DR Ginny needs not worry about how I feel about the Comfort Inn.  I really do like my room--only problem is that the internet doesn’t work in it and I’m typing this in the lobby.

 There’s more I would love to tell but I’m tired and need to rest.

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

So, today in the mail came WE'RE NO ANGELS, so I may put that into the player tomorrow after finishing A CHORUS LINE AND watching REUNION and THE OFFICE off the DVR.

With another heavy night of TV on Sunday, I need to watch those and clear it off to have space for more recording tomorrow night.

Here is another and now I really must go!

Have a wonderful night!