Haines His Way

DR Jennifer,

Do you have the feather out yet?

Sorry to disappoint you, Elmore, but WONDERFALLS is dead and gone now. There was an interview with one of the producers at Zap2It, and he said Fox is done with them. 13 episodes have been filmed, but no more will be shown on Fox. They're shopping around now to see if another cable channel wants the already filmed episodes (like Bravo taking the marvelous KEEN EDDIE when Fox didn't want it any more), and there is also a possibility that the 13 episode series will be released on DVD.

TOTD -- What play, comedy or drama, would you most like to see turned into a Broadway-style musical?

Not totally adhering to the topic, but I once had the idea of making The Miracle Worker into a big, rousing, Jerry Herman-like musical called Workin' Miracles (ideally starring Sandy Duncan as Anne Sullivan.)  I got about as far as writing the cast recording album notes listing the numbers:

"Acute Child"--Kate Keller's sweet lullaby to Helen which turns dramatic
when she realizes that Helen is blind and deaf.

"Helen Around the House"--the Keller family, along with Vinnie the maid,
bemoans life with Helen--a comedy song

"We Don't Want to See You Go"--A song and dance number for the blind
girls as they say good-bye to Anne at the train station.

"You Bit Off More Cake Than You Can Chew"--James playfully teases (and
flirts) with Anne.

"The Dinner"--Stylized dance number for Anne and Helen as they struggle
over the fork and napkin.

"Workin' Miracles!"--The title song is performed by Anne when Kate
becomes discouraged by Helen's lack of progress. The song builds to a
rousing dance number as Anne and Kate are joined by Vinnie and Percy and
the other servants.

"Jimmy, Jimmy"--Anne's recollection of her dead brother--a ballad.

"You Can Have Your Cake (And Spell It, Too!)"--comedy number with Anne
and Percy as they try to teach Helen how to sign.

"How Can I Teach Her to Spell Love?"--Anne's first act closing ballad.

"They Don't Pay Me Enough" opens the second act--a comedy number sung by Vinnie.

"Why Can't She See?"--James sings of his unrequited affection for Anne.

"C-I-R-C-U-S"--the big production number. A travelling circus and its
performers provide the setting as Anne tries one last desperate attempt
to teach Helen the connection between signing words and their meanings.

"The State Home for Women Dream Ballet"--Anne is transported back in
time to relive the horrors she and her brother suffered as children.

"Very Good, Helen!"--the family sings praises of Helen's new dinner
table manners just as she slowly begins once again to test their
tolerance.

"Reach Those Fingers Up to Heaven"--Vinnie encourages the down-spirited
Anne with this soul stirring gospel number.

"Wah!"--Helen sings at last. This number segues into...

"She Knows!"--Anne sings triumphantly as Helen demands to know the words for everything in sight.

"The Key to My Heart"--the closing number in which Anne and Helen sing a
duet of their love for each other.

And I've always thought Waltz of the Toreadors would be fun as a musical - I actually began trying to do it in the early seventies, but didn't get very far.

A friend of mine in college wanted to do a musical from Dreiser's novel "American Tragedy," which became the film "A Place in the Sun."  The big song was "In a Rowboat with You."  

The problem with adapting a really good play is that it's pretty strong as it stands.  For example, ANGEL became a second-rate version of "Look Homeward, Angel," a play I really love.  I think HELLO, DOLLY! is an improvement on "The Matchmaker" because I never cared for the last act of the Wilder play.  I still can't imagine "The Skin of Our Teeth" as a musical because I think the music would need to reflect all the theatrical games and shifts of position going on in the original text. Maybe it should be a comic opera?

DR Panni, sorry to hear that daughter Racel wasn't picked as a contestant.  Can she try again at some later date?  Hopefully, the faboo dinner last night took a little of the sting out of the day.

DR Jenny.  I enjoyed your review of ASSASSINS.  While it doesn't sound like Sondheim & Co. haven't solved a few particular problems I have with the show (notably with the Proprietor and Balladeer characters and the inclusion of "Somthing Just Broke"), I'm intrigued enough from what you've written about this production to haul my butt up to the city and see it myself. (And what's the status of your Sondheim.com play?)

Here's a question for all:  what is your favorite euphemism?  When I was very young and our family went on vacations, we would usually stay in two ajoining rooms, my parents in one, us kids in the other.  I remember that I would hear strange sounds and bumping noises coming from my parents room.  When I asked the next morning what was going on, my mom would answer, "We were moving the big suitcase."  Genius that I was, it took me until I was about twenty before it dawned on me what that meant.  

I'm Dan (the Man) and I approved of this post.

Thanks for the great laugh, Dan!
Love the "big suitcase" bit, too!

I would LOVE to see that Helen Keller musical, DRDAN!

Well TCB - MATTH has chosen You Can't Take It With You and I agree, but I will also add Moss Hart's Light Up the Sky and just for a challenge Hedda Gabler.....that big piano finale alone would be a Busby Berkeley delight!

CAPRICE was the last movie shot in the original CinemaScope process, just so ya know.

So, every time this site goes into CinemaScope, we can blame it on Caprice?

I always hate changing the clocks ahead.  It takes me about a week to adjust my internal clock to the new time--I want to stay up an hour later and then I suffer in the morning.  And the first day always seems like the longest day in the year.  With today's awful weather here in Philly, it's going to feel longer than usual.

Yesterday I attended the first game held in the Philadelphia Phillies' new ballpark named (ugh!) Citizens Bank Park.  For watching the game, the place can't be beat--there's not a bad seat in the joint.  Even as you move through the other areas around the concession stands or the rest rooms, there is always a view of the field.  If there is one thing wrong with the place, it's that it seems to lack any kind of defining character--architecturally, it's on the bland side and doesn't reflect any kind of Philly flavor.  But aside from that, there's a real grass field, a great deal of the seating is at field level, and a feeling of wide-open space that was sorely lacking in the late and unlamented Verteran's Stadium.  It's a real pleasure watching a game there.

I love day light savings.  I wish we could just stay on it all year long.

We took our boys to their first baseball game at Veteran’s Stadium.  It was only the second time I ever saw the Dodger’s loose.  Mike Schmidt hit two or three home runs and became our younger son’s hero (they share the same birthday too).  And he absolutely loved the Phillies Phanatic.  Such sweet memories and so sad the stadium is gone.

From play to musical:

It would be a challenge, but the best candidate in Tom Stoppard's list of works would be Arcadia.  A widely diverse list of characters, an interesting mystery at the heart of the play, tragedy and love and comedy all intermixed.

It would probably have to be done as a "chamber musical," as simply staged as the original play as possible.  I can't see it as being one of the most popular shows ever written.  And whoever wrote the music would have to immerse himself/herself in the contrasting musical eras, and find some way to bring them together.  Still, Stoppard has already written into the play the finale: two couples, learning to waltz in their separate eras.

Why wait two years..it works for a long time as follows

05-05-05
06-06-06
07-07-07
08-08-08
09-09-09
10-10-10
11-11-11
12-12-12

DR Jane: "Lawrence AFTER Arabia" (Ralph Fines) really lays it on the line about how the British, French and Americans sold out on the Arab tribes.  The west is indeed reaping what was sown. (Fines was good but should have worn blue lenses!). "Lawrence Of Arabia" would certainly be in my top 3 films of all time.

Thanks for the great movie moment ideas.

And also thanks for commiserating with Rachel's loss on Wheel. We've just returned from the Hollywood Collectors' Showcase which we attended on bk's recommendation. We had a blast and Rachel won a great raffle. So now she's over the "I'm a loser" song she was singing because of Wheel.

PennyO - Had I not been in a semi-timecrunch getting to Lynnwood on Friday, I would have loved to meet up with you!  Any chance you'll be around tomorrow afternoon?  Planning on taking Stevens Pass again on my return trek to Wenatchee

Oh, shucks - When you passed by last time, I was just hangin' and gardening. Tomorrow I'll be running around Seattle and Monroe on sundried errands accompanying my trying to get outa here to drive down to LA. But I'll be back from Mid-May through the summer, with a week in LA for my mom's 80th in the new house, and about 2 weeks in Ashland end of June-July, to dog and kitty sit for Jane and Keith while they are in Eastern Europe with their boys.

Take my word for it - it's plumb gawjus here right now. Hate to leave.

They Might be Giants.  It's already been made into a film, but I've always thought it'd make a terrific musical entertainment.  

And even though I know it's cheating, I think Psycho would make a terrific musical comedy.  

HainesHisWay favorites Hinky Meltz and Ernest Ernest wrote several songs for an aborted production of the musical Pyscho. Several of the song lyrics were posted here.