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[td]

First it was the most anticipated film to hit home video (back in the day!), then it was announced for August of 2003, and now it has been postponed indefinitely.

and, never before on home video:


and to get slightly bizarre:
http://www.geocities.com/porterguide/graphics/atlongpo.jpg

Of course, I would still like to see:
KING'S ROW
VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
SONG OF THE SOUTH
THE TAMARIND SEED
ALL NIGHT LONG (Gene Hackman, Dennis Quaid, Dianne Ladd and Babs).
The Doris Day Warner musicals
The Esther Williams Collection
The Greta Garbo Collection
The Al Jolson Collection
Ported dvds of THE DAWN OF SOUND 1, 2 and 3.

[Joy]

Wouldn't want BK to be sad, so here I am.  Yesterday every time I tried to post I got interrupted.  But I'm back to being a singer/actress/dancer who temps, so I will hopefully have more time and access to company resources and will be able to keep up with HHW.  

I have nothing to add to the DVD wish list, although I do have a question.  Why does Disney release DVDs for such a limited time and then lock them away in a vault for ten years?  Seems like bad business, but then, I have no business acumen.  At all.

[Joy]

Okay, so I am going to an audition for Playwrights Horizons/Public Theatre on Thursday and I'm thinking about what to sing for it.  Should I do something showy and vocally expansive, like "I Have Found" or "Infinite Joy" (both William Finn) or should I do something charactery and not so vocally exciting, like "You Can Be a New Yorker Too" (edgy and galvanic) or "Crossword Puzzle" (neurotic) or something legit and dramatic, like "I Had Myself a True Love" from St. Louis Woman?

[Jennifer]

Hey how come it still talks about having a pj party in the "news" section at the top of this page?

Oh and welcome back DR Joy!

[Joy]

Thanks, Jennifer!  See, now that I actually have time to post, there are too few people around!

[Jrand73]

All good choices DRJOY....  I thought you had an audition last week as well?  How did that go?

Now this may sound weird....but could you do some of both songs?  Maybe starting with "You can be a New Yorker, too" and moving into "I have found"....

If you can't, I say edgy/charactery gets my vote!  Make 'em like YOU first then your voice!

[Joy]

All good choices DRJOY....  I thought you had an audition last week as well?  How did that go?

Now this may sound weird....but could you do some of both songs?  Maybe starting with "You can be a New Yorker, too" and moving into "I have found"....

If you can't, I say edgy/charactery gets my vote!  Make 'em like YOU first then your voice!

I did have an audition last week for The Producers.  It was an Equity call and I wasn't even sure I would get seen, since I'm not yet Equity (although I have 15 points so far); but I did get seen, so I'm hoping the same will happen for this one on Thursday for Playwrights/Public.  Anyway, the Producers went pretty well, if a bit rusty.  I just need more practice.  It's been too long.

In the meanwhile (oh, a Sondheim reference!), there are tap, jazz, theatre dance and ballet classes to help me brush up and help my body remember what it's like to perform, and there is much practicing of songs to be done.  I have to find a couple good monologues, too, if anyone has any ideas.  My old one is pretty stale and I'm not sure if it works anymore.  I would like to find something offbeat and creative, even something from a movie or an original piece.  If one of you writers wants to write one for me, there's a free CD of Our Wedding:  The Musical! in it for ya!  It should be no more than two minutes in length, and I need one comedic and one dramatic (but not tragic, not self-pitying).

[Joy]

Oh, and JRand...I forgot to answer the second part of your post:

I can do both if they ask me for both, but I have to do one first that makes them want to hear something else.  It can be tricky, especially when you don't know what shows they're doing but they tend to be (with exceptions like My Life With Albertine) contemporary and vocally acrobatic, often edgy.

[Jrand73]

I see...hmmmmm.....then "I Have Found" is NEVER a bad choice...LOL....   Listening to OUR WEDDING, I bet you can sing the socks off of that song!  LOL....

And are you familiar with TALKING WITH by Jane Martin - it is a series of female monologues of different kinds...they are all long....but there is some good material in there.....especially "Rodeo Girl" and "Clear Glass Marbles"....should be at the library.

[Matt H.]

Actually, DIsney is very cagey with their classics. They KNOW the demand for them will always be there. They're family-friendly and don't date at all since so many of them are set in eras where the period isn't very important. So, by locking them away after a certain period, the demand for them grows and grows until they can release them all over again with GREAT fanfare. They're lucky that they have enough product out there to keep people relatively happy until their classics are re-released again. I mean, things like DUMBO and ALICE IN WONDERLAND are always in print, so that will always tide people over until THE LITTLE MERMAID or ALADDIN is released.

[Matt H.]

I have THE LITTLE MERMAID on laserdisc and would be glad to make copies on tape or DVD for people except my laserdisc machine has been acting up lately. I think I have a laser that's about to go out. I'm going to have to scurry around a bit to find a new or used-in-good-condition machine.

[Matt H.]

I'm going to have to cheat on my list of five most wanted discs.

1. The four MGM/Miss Marple mysteries with Margaret Rutherford.

2. The other five editions of THE THIN MAN series.

3. EASTER PARADE

4. IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER

5. TARANTULA

[Matt H.]

In a conversation on-line last week with the head of 20th Fox home video, STAR! is definitely going to be released this year (he said in the next couple of months). Ditto VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.

[Dan-in-Toronto]

DR Joy,

I'd avoid "Infinite Joy," simply because they may find it a bit gimicky to hear a song with your name built into it. "I Had Myself a True Love" may invite too many comparisons (not a bad thing, but it may distract the committee).

As for a monologue. I just finished reading Ambulance Girl (How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT) by Jane Stern. It's a short book with short chapters, and mixes some really funny stuff (while training, she develops a specialty in spreading butt cheeks) and poignant stuff (bonding with a dying crack addict). I don't know if this is standard monologue material, but the book is new, written in the first person, and provides quite a range of emotions.

Good luck.

[Matt H.]

Did I read that the next of the Disney Platinum series films was going to be CINDERELLA or was it ALADDIN? I think it's one of those two with LADY AND THE TRAMP and THE LITTLE MERMAID (both of which are out of print now but have been released on DVD before) for 2005 or 2006.

[Panni]

Good morning. For purely selfish reasons AND because it's good and certain people refuse to watch videos, I'd like to see MISS ROSE WHITE on DVD. Actually, Hallmark should put their whole library of special releases on DVD. I'm sure there's an audience out there for that kind of thing. I may just write to them and find out if that's in their plans - and if not, suggest that they put it in their plans. So there!

[Matt H.]

And I know ALICE IN WONDERLAND, POCAHONTAS, and MARY POPPINS are getting new 2-disc sets this year, I guesss to replace the single discs that are available now.

[bk]

What interesting lists!

Mine musts:

Li'l Abner (this is just something I MUST have)
Sundays and Cybele
The High and the Mighty (rumored to be coming)
Ride the High Country (also rumored)
The Girl Can't Help It/Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter

[Matt H.]

For those of us who are really film buffs, an interesting question might be to list some films that you've bought and re-bought the most over the years as the technology has changed.

I know THE WIZARD OF OZ and MARY POPPINS have been bought at least four times by me.

[Jrand73]

Oh.... DRPANNI - you wrote one of my favorite TV Movies on one of my favorite subjects:  Amelia Earhart!!!

And Diane Keaton did a good job portraying her!  What a mystery that was!  Did you do a lot of research for that movie, or did they tell you what conclusion to reach?  It is such a mysterious and controversial subject....I would like to see it again!

[Jrand73]

I know what you mean, DRMATTH!  And Disney is a master at getting us to re-buy!

MR BK has some great choices there....

Rita Marlowe:  If you are the  president, vice president, and treasurer of Rita Marlowe Incorporated, what will I be?

Rock Hunter:  Although I will fill the fuctionary positions of the corporation, you will be the titular head.

Rita:  (vocal response that defies description)!

[DERBRUCER]

SONG OF THE SOUTH

I suspect the PC crowd will prevent this from ever happening. Look at all the fuss over the re-issue of one of my favorite children's books, "Little Black Sambo" - in which the Sambo clan exhibits all the best of familiy values and Little Black Sambo is a delightful character with whom all children can identify.

der Br'er Brucer

[Jay]

Speaking of auditions......

I interviewed for a job that I am very interested in the week before last and just got a call from the potential boss inviting me back to meet with his boss, some potential peers, and several potential direct reports.

That I received this invitation indicates they like me, but it will take this second round of interviews to get me to the Sally Field position in their perception.

So keep your fingers crossed!

[DERBRUCER]

I have THE LITTLE MERMAID on laserdisc and would be glad to make copies on tape or DVD for people

If you don't have it, we would be glad to loan you "BAMBI" on LD so you could do "whatever".

der Brucer (thinking he should check the LD inventory and see what else is there that is not on DVD)

[Dan-in-Toronto]

DR Joy,

Another good moment from Ambulance Girl.

Before the author - a well-known writer of food-related books and articles - meets a shrink who helps her realize that, by helping others (as an ambulance girl), she will save herself, Jane has spent a good year with her current psychiatrist, trying to work through a thirty-year-long fear of riding in buses. One day, the author's car breaks down and she runs to the doctor's office, breathlessly arriving ten minutes late. When she explains the situation, the doctor asks her why she didn't just take a bus.

[DERBRUCER]

Having made two constructive posts, It's time to get back in character:

Dear BK:

In your commentary you noted:

"...Escape to Athena, which was written by my pal and book blurber, Dick Lochte. I’ve never seen it, but from what I gather it’s not so great. Still, with a cast like Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Clauda Cardinale, Stephanie Powers, Richard Roundtree, Stephanie Powers and Sonny Bono..."

My question: did Stephanie Powers get paid twice?

der ever-fussy Brucer

[Dan-in-Toronto]

Speaking of auditions......

So keep your fingers crossed!

DR Jay,

They are. Toes, too. And good vibes are zooming westward.

[William E. Lurie]

Sorry I have been E&T over the long weekend but I will catch up on the notes and posts I missed.

In case you are wondering why I was E&T we had so much to do that we decided not to even turn the computer on all weekend.  If it was on we would both have been tempted to stop doing what we were supposed to be doing and spend time on the computer so that nothing would get done.  Instead we (1) totally de-Christmased the apartment and put everything away which means we can't walk in the walk in closet; (2) cleaned the apartment; (3) prepared and hosted a surprise birthday party for one of Ray's sisters.  Even though some of the guests didn't want to come because of the weather, his sister was surprised by the guests who were there.  In fact if everyone would have showed up we probably wouldn't have enough food since everyone ate like pigs.  We wore pointy hats and even got the dog and one of the cats to wear one.  We had do-it-yourself sandwiches (with ham slices and cheese chunks) and homemade potato salad and coleslaw plus I baked a checkerboard cake using orange and pineapple cakemixes for orange and yellow checks (with creamcheese frosting) plus I got a lot of use out of my ice cream maker: chocolate chip, strawberry and chocolate made with Slpenda instead of sugar since a couple of the guests were diabetic.

The only other thing we did this weekend was see NEVER GONNA DANCE for the second time.  It holds up beautifully a second time and was just as entertaining as the first.  Audience reaction was great.  I still don't know why the critical reaction was luke warm.  It's just a good old fashioned fun musical.

Movies I want released on DVD (I'll only list 4)
   THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT
   THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT 2
   THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT 3
   THAT'S DANCIN'

[td]

I suspect the PC crowd will prevent this from ever happening. Look at all the fuss over the re-issue of one of my favorite children's books, "Little Black Sambo" - in which the Sambo clan exhibits all the best of familiy values and Little Black Sambo is a delightful character with whom all children can identify.

der Br'er Brucer

I think that Disney is testing the waters here, for on the 2 disc edition of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, there is a ten minute segment from SONG OF THE SOUTH!

Disney would be wise to present SONG OF THE SOUTH not as a Platinum Edition, nor as a Vault DisneY (which is actually now defunct, despite the menus on 20,000 LEAGUES) BUT as a LIMITED EDITION TIN.  
Press only about 100,000 or so, and see how the sales are; then, if sales warrant it, present a standard edition.  That way, those of us who want it, can get it and those who don't even want to see it released, won't have to buy it to bitch.

[Jay]

Thank you, Dear Reader Dan-in-Toronto.