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[bk]

Tom of Oz: Scarlet Street and I have another idea, but it all depends on sales of the first CD.  I have the feeling we'll do it, though.  As for my own thing - I'm just not doing anything until I feel the timing is right.  But, as I've written, I've got two albums I'd like to do and I've already compiled material for each - both of them multi-singer albums.  I don't own the titles of my albums, even though, for the ones that were conceived by me I created them.  Oh, well.  I'm not at all sure there's another LIB to be done - I've gone through so much material and I was really stretching on LIBIV.  But, of course there's been quite a few shows since then, all of which have had cut songs - so who knows.

I must admit to liking Jerry.  I thought he was an interesting director, and I always found him funny when I was a kid.  Rupert Holmes and I went to his first preview in Damn Yankees and we loved him (he wasn't shticking it up too much then).  We went backstage and met him afterwards and he was wonderful.

Jrand: I'm really not a sports person at all.  Don't like football, can tolerate baseball, hate hockey.  I like watching ice skating.  The only sports I do occasionally is bowl or play poker.  I did used to play baseball in the early seventies with quite a star-studded team - Ricky Dreyfuss, Angela Cartwright and a bunch of other interesting young actors of the time.

Kerry: No.  But I will bitch-slap Mr. MusicGuy for never even showing up yesterday.  And I will further bitch-slap him for not having shown up in about three weeks.  What gives?

Jay: You'll read about the type of audience that used to go to theater in Kritzer Time.  I'm rather appalled by audiences today - I've seen men in shorts, I've seen people bringing food into the theater and worse eating it during the show (this, of course, is now the theater's fault, too, since they do like their concession money), I've heard people talking, and belching, and sucking their teeth, I've seen people making out, I've seen an elderly Jewish couple arguing so loudly that Timothy Hutton (in Prelude to a Kiss) finally turned to the audience and asked them to shut up), I've seen someone, despite the usual warnings) take a photo within the first five minutes of Tru (sitting in the first row - Mr. Morse stopped the performance and berated this person for five minutes, to much applause).  I don't like kids doing that "woo-woo" stuff in musicals after numbers - they think they're at a rock concert or something.  

[Noel]

we all don't drink an extra glass of wine at dinner just to have an excuse to get up and annoy other theatre-goers at the 90 minute point, but "pee happens"! If the creative team has a tale to tell, and wants the audience's undivided attention, they must be aware of competition. I, for one, would have no problem with 2 intermissions if that helped break the show into manageable parts.

I think Der Brucer is so right here.  Brevity is the soul of wit.  The wise creator wants to engage the audience's hearts and minds, not their bladders.

Ask BK: Do you have any thoughts about, or memories of, what is laughably referred to as "The Los Angeles River"?  I've been reading an article about it.

For those who don't know, it's the concrete trench you've seen in many a movie, such as Grease, and calling it a river makes me giggle.  But then, Los Angeles has the nerve to call its basketball team the Lakers, even though there aren't many lakes there.

[TCB]

Good morning or Good afternoon to all (Good night to Tomovoz)!  I would like to second or tenth the praise for last evening’s discussion.  It was very much a sit around BK’s living room and chat discussion rather than a let’s duke it out for ten rounds at the Armory fight.

Thank you WEL for an extremely well balanced review of Gypsy.  I wish some New York reviewers would take a few lessons from you.

For Ask BK Day:  (1)Is there a film, that you can think of, that the whole world seems to rave about, but for which you just don’t understand the attraction?  (2)If your Kritzer books should be optioned for film, is there a filmmaker, currently working in the industry, that you would feel comfortable taking on that task?

And a general question:  Does anyone know what happened to Mickey Deans?

[bk]

Don't really have any memories of the LA River.

I've had many discussions about directors for Kritzer.  While I wouldn't want to write the films, I wouldn't mind directing them, so names I've thought of that at least would understand the material are: Rob Reiner, Lasse Halstrom, Ron Howard (but ONLY if he would make it simply and not go on overload), Stephen Spielberg (I know he would "get" it, but again, I don't know that he has the ability anymore to just shoot a film simply without laying on every kind of cheap trick in the book).  To a lesser extent, Joe Dante, because again he would totally relate to the material - but he also, while simpler, just goes too far usually.  Anyone else have any ideas?  The hardest thing if this was to get made as a film is the casting of Minnie Kritzer.

[bk]

Oops, forgot the other part of the question: This is just me, but I have never liked Gone with the Wind, it just bores me to tears.  I know this is sacrilege, but there you are.  And there are plenty of current films that people rave about that I cannot even sit through, such as A Beautiful Mind.  I shut it off after an hour.

[Jrand73]

Martha Coolidge did a very nice 1950's movie called THREE WISHES!  It had a kind of flashback-mystical quality that would be nice for le cinema du Kritzer.

[Ben]

Quote from TCB 01/28/04 "And a general question:  Does anyone know what happened to Mickey Deans?"

He died in July of last year and according to my sources, he is buried at Ferncliff Cemetery, the same one where Miss Garland is interred.

[DERBRUCER]

Ask BK: Do you have any thoughts about, or memories of, what is laughably referred to as "The Los Angeles River"?  I've been reading an article about it.

For those who don't know, it's the concrete trench you've seen in many a movie, such as Grease, and calling it a river makes me giggle.

Well, Noel, if you lived down-stream of the Los Angeles river you would not giggle. That concrete trench becomes a horrendous roaring torrent come the rains - unsuspecting folks have been caught up and washed away; ungodly tons of debris (Styrofoam cups, wornout tires, rusty lawn chairs, dead rats, and occasional miscellaneous body parts) come cascading down the trench to clog up the entire Long Beach harbor and spread unspeakable amounts of detritus on its beaches. The residents along the lower reaches of the LA River have, until recently, labored under an onerous Flood Insurance Tax imposed by the Feds because the real estate was in danger of total inundation come the 100 year flood. Thanks to the generosity of Federal Tax Payers who forked over many billions of dollars to raise the concrete walls of the concrete trench (which necessitated rebuilding lots of bridge overpasses), the tax was lifted last year. Of course, while this raising of the banks was going on the eco-nuts wanted the river returned to its primeval state - which would ensure most of So Cal being turned into a new Pacific Bay come the rains. The state recently enacted legislation requiring the cities that line the river to clean up their act and prevent all the crap from washing into the "trench" - they are vociferously resisting, claiming that the cost of preventing the ghastly run-off from their neighborhoods would force the closure of schools, etc, etc, and it's a puzzlement. I must admit that the zero-tolerance policy on run-off pollution is tough to meet. For one, it requires all parking lots to have closed drainage systems that enable them to be washed without the water running into the streets or storm drains. (Since LA is dry most of the year, parking lot surfaces (as well as drive ways and streets) soak up lots of oil from vehicles - come the first rain, and seven months of oil drippings get sucked out of the pavement and poured into the LA River - to later wash up on the beaches at the river's mouth.

der Brucer (any body want to hear about the San Gabriel River - next trench East?)

[Panni]

jrand 53 - That picture of Judy G. is so sad...

[William E. Lurie]

Thank you for all your kind comments on my GYPSY review.  Did any other DR see this production?

Re Judy Garland, I saw her twice in person and it was like night and day.  I saw her in Chicago in about 1964 and it was awful.  She liked to "perform late" so the concert was scheduled for 10:00.  Then we had to sit through an hour of Peter Allen and his "brother" before Judy came on at about 11.  She was not in good voice and she even forgot lyrics to "Over the Rainbow".  Despite that experience, I went to see her at The Palace in 1967 and it was everything I had always read about JG concerts.  At the end I rushed to the stage like everyone else (it was almost a magnetic force pulling me) and I got to shake her hand.  I told her I had come all the way from Chicago to see her (not totally true... I also came to see other shows) and she told me she would be going to Chicago in a few months.  The friend I came to NY with was not a Garland fan, so he went to a movie and met me afterwards.  He said I was in a trance the rest of the evening.

[William E. Lurie]

By the way, does BOY FROM OZ mention the fact that Peter Allen and Mickey Deans had an affair?

[Jrand73]

Yes DRPanni, sad ...   Mickey Deans was listed as a pianist in his obit, so I guess he was playing in bars.....  Not much info on him between 1969-2003!

I saw Judy in Cleveland (I think!) in 1967 or so.  She was very very late and we saw too much of some comedian....but when she finally got there she sang and sang and was terrific.  A lot of people left, she didn't take the stage until almost 11 p.m.  But we stayed and were entertained as never before!

And of course I have related the Judy Garland-Frances Farmer concert story previously.  

[Jrand73]

WEL - I think it was Peter and Mark Herron.

[DERBRUCER]

 But then, Los Angeles has the nerve to call its basketball team the Lakers, even though there aren't many lakes there.

LA didn't name the Lakers (or the Giants or the Dodgers) - it came when the team came from Minnesota in 1960 - 2 years after the wacthamacallit Dodgers

der Brucer (wondering when the Mets or the Yankees will move west)

[Jay]

The hardest thing if this was to get made as a film is the casting of Minnie Kritzer.

How about Tovah Feldshuh or Lainie Kazan?

[Jay]

LA didn't name the Lakers (or the Giants or the Dodgers) - it came when the team came from Minnesota in 1960 - 2 years after the wacthamacallit Dodgers

der Brucer (wondering when the Mets or the Yankees will move west)

It's the BROOKLYN Dodgers, buddy, and dontchewfuhgeddit.

der Jay (who grew up on Kings Highway near Flatbush Avenue)

[Panni]

Talk of Judy reminds me....Some years ago - has to be 10 or more - Jack Haley Jr. wanted to produce a TV-movie about Mabel Normand, starring Liza Minelli as Mabel. I was asked to do it, so I had a few meetings with Liza and Jack at her hotel. I'm fairly immune to seeing modern stars - but the "old" stars do get to me. So it was an absolute thrill for me to be sitting with the son of the Tin Man and the daughter of Dorothy. Liza was in good shape in those days (she was with Billy Stritch) and she was extremely sweet, almost childlike. She and Haley were very respectful of each other. I suggested to her that one of the really interesting things about Mabel was her somewhat complex and problematic  relationship with her mother - not unlike her own. She was very open to the idea, not at all guarded.
We couldn't sell the movie idea, unfortunately, so the project was abandoned and I never wrote it.

[Noel]

LA didn't name the Lakers (or the Giants or the Dodgers) - it came when the team came from Minnesota in 1960

Right.  (I was about to post when my time expired.)

This practice of not changing the team name when it moves to another city leads to some silly oxymorons:

New Orleans had a basketball team they named the Jazz, which sounds natural enough.  Then it moved to Salt Lake City and called itself the Utah Jazz.

[Panni]

And of course I have related the Judy Garland-Frances Farmer concert story previously.  

Before my time at HHW. (Or I missed it.) I'd love to hear it.

[Sandra]

My History teacher said "hee-uh" 64 times in fifty minutes. The only reason I'm taking this class is to see if she'll break her record of 100 in 75 minutes. She came awfully close today.

[Emily]

WEL - When we were in NY around New Year's DR Andrea and I saw the GYPSY revival as well.  I agree with about half of your critique of it (but understand where you might be coming from on where we differ):

1) Bernadette - I had the same "she was good for some things, not so good for others" reaction.  Her voice has always bugged me with it's breathless "Betty Boop-i-ness" but I thought she acted the part extremely well.
2) John Dossett - definitely the highlight of the show.  It got to the point where I was looking forward to his next appearance.
3) Tammy - I LOVED her!  What could you not like about someone who is able to keep a straight face (and continue to sing!) when a lamb is sticking its tongue in their ear?
4) Overture - I noticed the same thing about the frustration of doing it with the house at half-lights and the audience still talking.  It's the greatest overture in broadway history... give it the respect it deserves!
5) Sets and Lights - while I can't remember anything particularly special about the lighting the sets I thought fit perfectly with the "feel" of the show.  Minimalist yet realistically gritty.    
 
So there's my quasi-review.  We must force DR Andrea to do the same thing.

[Jennifer]

When I saw the name Mickey on the first line. I thought TomFromOz was asking about Mickey Mouse. Oops

[Noel]

That concrete trench becomes a horrendous roaring torrent come the rains - unsuspecting folks have been caught up and washed away; ungodly tons of debris (Styrofoam cups, wornout tires, rusty lawn chairs, dead rats, and occasional miscellaneous body parts) come cascading down the trench to clog up the entire Long Beach harbor and spread unspeakable amounts of detritus on its beaches. The residents along the lower reaches of the LA River have, until recently, labored under an onerous Flood Insurance Tax imposed by the Feds because the real estate was in danger of total inundation come the 100 year flood. Thanks to the generosity of Federal Tax Payers who forked over many billions of dollars to raise the concrete walls of the concrete trench (which necessitated rebuilding lots of bridge overpasses), the tax was lifted last year. Of course, while this raising of the banks was going on the eco-nuts wanted the river returned to its primeval state - which would ensure most of So Cal being turned into a new Pacific Bay come the rains. The state recently enacted legislation requiring the cities that line the river to clean up their act and prevent all the crap from washing into the "trench" - they are vociferously resisting, claiming that the cost of preventing the ghastly run-off from their neighborhoods would force the closure of schools, etc, etc

I thank DR Der Brucer for the excellent post about The Los Angeles River.  It's a shame that, seemingly, nothing can be done:

Remove the concrete to make it "natural" and you risk massive flooding.

Make it illegal to pollute it, and you drive businesses out of business.

Convert it into a freeway and you've merely given Los Angeles more of the same.

A beautiful river is a feature of so many great cities, and, the Tad Friend article points out, L.A. has the smallest acreage of parks, per capita, of any American metropolis.

So many songs come to mind (what's the one from Say Darling?  But one could make an ironic comment with a segue from Schwartz's L.A. version of "We Can Build a Beautiful City" to his "rivers belong where they can ramble."

[TCB]

WEL - I think it was Peter and Mark Herron.

Maybe it was Mark Herron and Mickey Deans; and Peter Allen only watched?

[Ben]

TCB, I am SHOCKED, do you hear, that you would infer that Judy was involved with a gay man (or men)  

Panni, what a nice story about Liza. She seems to be getting back on track (in spite of the divorce) and I'm glad. When she was at her prime, she was wonderful. I saw her in concert a couple of times in the 70s and she was great. It was sad to see her slide down the slippery slope.

[bk]

I think Lainie is too old, and Tovah isn't a big enough name.  I should think one would need a big name somehow.  I actually thought if Tracy Ullman would put on weight, would be not an uninteresting choice.  

[William E. Lurie]

I think JRand is correct about it being Mark and not Mickey.  

Emily---
Last night the lamb wasn't licking her... it kept trying to escape.  However I have seen other Louises deal with the lamb and still sing the song beautifully.  As hard as it is to pick the best Rose I ever saw, it's easy to pick the best Louise: Debra Gibson in the Papermill Production with Betty Buckley.

Intersting text problem in GYPSY which I had never noticed before.  When Tessie tells Louise that if she ever became a stripper Gypsy would be a good name for her the only person who is in the room with them is Rose.  So when Electra sings "Gypsy girl you've got it made", how does she know this name?

[William E. Lurie]

This just in...
Broadway.Com has answered my question of last week regarding Harvey Fierstein's replacement when he leaves HAIRSPRAY May 2..... Michael McKean.

[S. Woody White]

I, for one, would have no problem with 2 intermissions if that helped break the show into manageable parts.

Not to mention the lack of good facilities in theaters, and the lines to get in and out.  And it's far worse for women that it is for men!

S. Woody - who has another ten years to go before he has these problems.

[George]

Here's even BIGGER NEWS:

According to THIS RELEASE, Sweeney Todd with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury and The Last of Sheila with...everyone, are FINALLY going to be released on DVD!! "The Last of Sheila" will have special features that include commentary by Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon and Raquel Welch and the theatrical trailer.

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