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Author Topic: THE FRIST SENTENCE  (Read 59106 times)

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bk

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THE FRIST SENTENCE
« on: April 18, 2004, 12:00:38 AM »

Well, you've read the notes, you've played the notes, the notes have made a tune, and we're all humming like daffodils on a cloudy day in Connecticut.  Now, don't dawdle, Amaryllis, let's have posts galore, shall we?
« Last Edit: April 19, 2004, 12:01:30 AM by bk »
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Jed

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2004, 12:13:52 AM »

Had a lovely and sparkling evening celebrating my dear friend Briar's 30th birthday.  A bunch of us dined on yummilicious Mexican cuisine, went bowling (something she hadn't done in about 5 years and just felt like doing), and then we all retired to another friend's house for some sparkling conversation.  A good time was had by all (even if most of us are horrendous bowlers).

On my way to meet up with the group, I stopped by one of the local car dealerships to browse used car stickers.  Well, this particular lot doesn't show prices for any of their cars.  Guess you have to deal with one of their salespeople to even really consider a car.  Most unseemly if you ask me.  More car lots tomorrow.
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Panni

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2004, 12:14:15 AM »

I get the frist post!
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Panni

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2004, 12:16:31 AM »

Jed! You stole the frist post from me! Vengeance must be had! Get out your samurai sword and meet me at Hollywood and Vine at dawn.
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Jed

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2004, 12:16:39 AM »

That's what you think, Panni!!! :D
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Jed

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2004, 12:20:36 AM »

Hmmm... don't think I can make it to Hollywood & Vine by dawn.  About a 20-hour drive from here.  How about dawn Monday?  Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn't rain?
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Panni

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2004, 12:26:52 AM »

Time is irrelevant to the true warrior. Dawn - today -  or it's off.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2004, 12:29:44 AM by Panni »
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Panni

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2004, 12:27:58 AM »

...And you will forever have to live with the shame. :'(
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bk

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2004, 12:59:11 AM »

Just had a lovely and long chat with our very own Juliana A. Hansen, who will be back in LA very soon with Thoroughly Modern Millie.  We'll have new journal entries up sometime this week (I just have to be told how to post them - Craig won't be doing anything else for our website as far as I can tell - we'll have more about that in a few days when it's all sorted through).  Juliana is leaving the show two weeks into the LA run, so we'll have a final special wrap-up entry at that time.
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S. Woody White

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2004, 01:32:07 AM »

Back to the plays of Noel Coward.

I was in a production of Hay Fever, back at Fresno State.  I played Simon, the artist son.  No, I don't think I can remember even a line of dialogue.  The young woman who played my sister, Sorel, was a charmer, however.  Every night, we would run through our first scene together before the curtain went up, at breakneck speed, just to get our energy going.

I remember that we used henna to redden my hair.  Our Sorel was a blonde, and the parents were both natural redheads, so it made sense.  My mother was terrified that they would bleach my hair so that it would redden better.  Looking back, we should have done it.

It was my one and only attempt to get on stage.  The world is a better place because of that total.
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Robin

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2004, 05:56:46 AM »

Time is irrelevant to the true warrior. Dawn - today -  or it's off.

I'm betting Panni watched Kill Bill, Volume 2 quite recently.
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Jrand73

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2004, 06:06:34 AM »

MR BK you have given us a tough assignment today...after some looking, I cannot come up with any other GRIND HOUSE names.  Perhaps DRJMK can get some ads using NewspaperArchive, but I can't seem to come up with any!  :P

My "review" of Private Lives is in the notes yesterday....  Someone mentioned PRESENT LAUGHTER...I hereby enclose a photo of Miss Frances Farmer and Mr Reginald Gardner in said Coward play at the Avondale Tent Theatre in the early 1960's.

If any DR's have photos of plays they were in, or plays featuring unexpected actors....please post them today.  I love to see photos of "out of town" or "stock" productions!  ;D

« Last Edit: April 21, 2004, 04:01:57 PM by bk »
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td

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2004, 06:34:34 AM »

For 42nd Street Grinhouses, I know that author John Rechy names quite a few in his early novels, such as CITY OF NIGHT.  Not sure if James Leo Herlihy mentions them in MIDNIGHT COWBOY by name, or not.  Possibly, looking at some feature films shot in New York, you could get a few names you hadn't thought about via second unit photography.
As for STAR!, I find the joys of the picture far outweigh the negatives.  The script merely serves the purpose of getting from one song to the next, and Michael Kidd's production numbers are divoon.  It's extremely odd to have an actress/singer of Julie's range portraying an actress whose singing voice was extremely limited, was not a great dancer, yet like Evita, had "stasr quality."  Even with the script's limitations, there are still a few stand-out scenes; the reading of the script in front of the British censor board, "The quality of mercy" set-up and the confrontation with Aldrich work quite well.
I've never seen a murky, brownish STAR!, only the 70mm uncut version and the loverly laserdisc; I'm a bit annoyed that FOX chose not to include the intermission and the entr'acte, considering that they spent a few extra months getting this one together!  (STAR! was originally to come out in August of last year).
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Jennifer

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2004, 06:35:41 AM »

Good morning everyone!

Wow, I am sleepy today.  Hopefully we will get some sunshine.  I like sunshine (tired of rain and gloomy days).

Last night DR TomFromOz was asking if people from France think migraines and headaches are the same.  Not sure why he mentioned France (did you mean Quebec?).

Anyhow I actually think that some people use the term migraine to mean severe headache.  While some use the term to mean the horrible headache where you cannot function (where the pain is so severe that you throw up and cannot move). When I talk about migraine, I refer to the latter definition (I've only had 2 of these in my life).  Hope that helps.

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td

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2004, 06:37:22 AM »

Quote
For grindhouses, our favorite was the Liberty.  Best Eurosleaze, comfortable; we went on our first date there to see Mountainside Motel Massacre and Women for Sale.  The Cinerama, which was off the Deuce on 47th and Broadway had been twinned, but if you went into the Cinerama II it was back to the glory days--a huge screen and a coliseum shape for the seating.  Among grindhouses, the Anco was the worst and most dangerous, right opposite the Port Authority bus terminal.  The Roxy, when it turned into a miniplex, had great exploitation movies but still retained its patina of menace--it was a 24 hour place, the plastic seats didn't entirely discourage crashers, and it was formerly a live show theater that had on premise hooking.  Avon's Doll Theater was fun, a quiet metronome that you wouldn't know was a floating sex party with the right crowd there.  Bill used to be day manager at the Doll and wrote some of the early Sleazoids he mailed me as he was sitting in the cashbox there.  The Doll had a great choice of double bills, say a relatively new Avon movie like Prisoner of Pleasure would be double billed with a tried and true favorite like Johnny Wadd.  Out of all the adult theaters, the 24-hour all-male Night Shift, a.k.a. the Omega, a.k.a. the Moulin Rouge, was a health hazard and a magnet for all manner of tenderloin crime.  The worst of the lot.

http://www.sleazegrinder.com/garb_sleazoidexpress.htm
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td

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #15 on: April 18, 2004, 06:38:36 AM »

Quote
Dom Deluise turned up late at night around the Venus.  He was a known quantity at the Venus and Eros.  He was complaining that the male dancers were too nelly for his taste at the Eros.  But Bill asked him for an autograph and he was gregarious enough to give one and was friendly to the staff.  Neil Sedaka turned up at the Eros but when the lights came on, he got embarrassed and quietly left.  And when he was on Broadway, Mr. Death in Venice himself, Dirk Bogarde, used to glide through the Night Shift.  And lots of local porn stars, of course, like Jamie Gillis checking out his marquees or bringing a girl with him into the Doll so he could use the girl as sharkbait to have a threesome with a minority guy there.  One night he and a girlfriend blew the whole staff.  Fortunately, I missed this impromptu performance, as I was day manager and this occurred at night.  There were rumors that Rod Stewart and Robert De Niro turned up at the "dime a dance" place above the Doll at the Satin Ballroom--but that De Niro just wanted to engage in conversation with one of the girls for quite some time and didn't approach her sexually.  A couple of times Al Goldstein wandered into the Night Shift.  You didn't know if it was a "spot check" to rate the place or a personal thing with him. Also, good ol' Ken Anger, tripping his brains out at the Night Shift Theater.  He was on so much acid that he didn't even recognize me until he ambled over to the "cashbox" and I blared out, "HI KEN, HOWYA DOIN'!" About a week after the Danceteria incident, too (see Landis' bio, Anger).  "Research for the Kinsey Institute," my ass.

http://www.sleazegrinder.com/garb_sleazoidexpress.htm
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Jennifer

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #16 on: April 18, 2004, 06:41:58 AM »

Gotta run.  Hope everyone has a good Sunday.
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td

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #17 on: April 18, 2004, 06:47:07 AM »

Esteemed BK, it would seem that Authors Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford 's book SLEAZOID EXPRESS has all of the information that you need, at least according to its online reviews.   8)
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Jrand73

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #18 on: April 18, 2004, 06:56:50 AM »

As Velma Kelly said:  "And then some!"
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td

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #19 on: April 18, 2004, 07:04:11 AM »

But, I can't do it alone!
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PennyO

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #20 on: April 18, 2004, 07:21:39 AM »

Hiya, DR's - I've been asked by a Northwest actor HHW denizen to give details about the reading I'm trying to put together of one of my plays.

Dates are not set in stone, but rehearsals would begin mid-July, with two or three performances mid-August. It is a semi-staged, minimally-costumed non-production of my Mozart decomposition, Washington's Wedding, based on Marriage of Figaro. Takes place on a plantation near Atlanta toward the end of the Civil War.

Check the SeattleStage.com board for more details - I posted the casting notice about 2 weeks ago. I especially need an African-American leading man, solid legit baritone for some of the greatest music ever written. Also need African-American mezzo or full lyric soprano for the Marcellina part; Caucasian bass for the Bartolo part; Caucasian light baritone or tenor who plays guitar or banjo to play 17 years old - I've rewritten the Cherubino part to be played by an actual man. As I said, check the casting notice for more info. I'll be scheduling auditions for mid-to-late May in Seattle.

Sorry for what may have appeared to be the slighting of our talented HHW colleagues up Nawth - but TIP: check Seattlestage.com every couple of days. Most of the Northwest jobs being cast are listed there before they're listed anywhere else!
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Matt H.

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #21 on: April 18, 2004, 07:50:27 AM »

I'll cast my vote with DR td in favor of STAR! In addition to the things he said, I want to mention that it was very, very brave in 1968 to do a film about a woman who was a maddening mix of conflicting personality traits but most of which were UNFLATTERING. Gertie is shown to be vain, self-involved, petulant, headstrong, and in most cases completely UNLOVABLE. FOr the public who found her enchanting on stage, they only saw the glitzy, glamorous Gertie (given to us in those dazzling production numbers). The film shows us both sides of her and is fairly uncompromising with her marriages and love affairs and drunkenness and spendthrift ways. (Contrast to FUNNY GIRL which handily skipped over Fannie Brice's first marriage making it appear she was a virgin seduced by Nick.)

I'm sure Wise thought immediately of Julie Andrews as she had such a love affair going with the public at that time that he figured she could take a basically unlikable person and make her palatable. For me, she did. I left admiring her as an artist and understanding that as a person, she was greatly flawed. Few musicals up to that time portrayed stars as anything but likable, and when they were involved with shady characters, as in LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME or FUNNY GIRL, they were shown as pitiful victims of some scheming man. Gertie was no victim.
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DearReaderLaura

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #22 on: April 18, 2004, 07:56:05 AM »

Lucky me. Another mind-numbing board meeting today.
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Jane

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #23 on: April 18, 2004, 08:05:03 AM »

I have very demanding children, Echo wants a walk and Bogie wants to play pool.
« Last Edit: April 21, 2004, 04:02:31 PM by bk »
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Jrand73

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #24 on: April 18, 2004, 08:18:45 AM »

Bogie has eyes the color of Lucy's eyeSHADOW, DRJANE.
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Jane

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #25 on: April 18, 2004, 08:19:41 AM »

Only in this photo.  They are really greeen.
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Jane

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #26 on: April 18, 2004, 08:23:51 AM »

Oh, and to be fair to Libby, we haven't seen any plays yet this season.  This might be a good year for her.

And to be fair to the Shakespeare festival.  They do perform some wonderful plays.  So far this year there are several on my list to see.
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td

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #27 on: April 18, 2004, 08:29:02 AM »

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous cat!
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Jane

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #28 on: April 18, 2004, 08:38:06 AM »

Thanks td.  He is like this big cuddly stuffed toy.  Sometimes I just throw him over my shoulder and walk around with him.
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William E. Lurie

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Re:THE FRIST SENTENCE
« Reply #29 on: April 18, 2004, 09:25:01 AM »

V-LOG (Village Light Opera Guild although they are no longer in the Village) has been doing musicals in New York for 63 years.  At first they only did Gilbert & Sullivan but now they also do classic musicals.  Last night I saw their MOST HAPPY FELLA and loved it.  There were only four signs that it was an amateur show.  The program which featured those good luck ads from cast members' families, a few chorus members (though not nearly as many as in the past) who stuck out like sore thumbs as not belonging on a stage, a lot of feedback in the sound system, and poorly designed and executed lighting relying way too much on followspots.  Otherwise, the production was much better than the revival at the Booth about ten years ago.   First of all there was an orchestra much larger than most pit orchestras conducted by Christian Noll's father.  And the cast --- particularly the six leads --- was wonderful.  I know that Rosabella is in Equity (she played the title and similar role in Mufti's FANNY last month) and I would not be surprised if a couple of the rest of them were too.  The dancers did the simple choreography with ease and the choral singing --- particularly on the difficult "Song of a Summer Night" --- was excellent.  I love GUYS AND DOLLS and HOW TO SUCCEED, but to me MOST HAPPY FELLA is definitely Loesser's Masterpiece.  And did you know that Barbara Cook was turned down for Rosabella in the original production?  That left her free to do CANDIDE.  Can you imagine the history of musical comedy in the 50s if Cook had done Rosabella?
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