Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ben]

Promises, Promises in April of 1971 at the Shubert Theatre with Anthony (now Tony) Roberts and Jenny O'Hara, sister of Jill O'Hara, the original Fran.

[John G.]

Good morning, all.

[John G.]

Great photos from last night.

[John G.]

Has anyone heard from DR Thom since his surgery?

[Jrand74]

Off to work......oh well.

Today is my parents' 62nd Wedding Anniversary, and there is a surprise party at my house tonight....I hope it doesn't go on too late.

[John G.]

Happy anniversary to your parents, JRand. Wow. 62 years.

[John G.]

TOD: First show I saw on Broadway was "42nd Street" with Jerry Orbach, Lee Roy Reams and much of the original cast. I think the Peggy was Mary Cardorette.

I had seen "Side by Side by Sondheim" on tour with Hermione Gingold before that. Fun production. Great songs.

First play I saw on Broadway was "Fences," I think, with Billy Dee Williams.

[Jennifer]

Nice reading about the book signing and dinner!

[Jennifer]

DR Jane, re: ALONE. 

I just finished LIVE TO TELL.  I did like ALONE. But I think I liked HIDE and THE NEIGHBOR better.  Once you get to know the characters it's fun to get read more books about them.

I have the last 3 books in the FBI Profiler series to read. I think you will like these too.  But I have another book to read first.

[Jennifer]

Wow for sure re: the anniversary. Congrats to your parents!

[Jennifer]

For the TOD:

On tour it would have to be either CATS or LES MIS. I remember my parents taking us to those when I was little.

On broadway it would probably have to be either SUNSET BLVD or MISS SAIGON.

[bk]

I'm up after a good night's sleep that could have been one hour longer. 

[vixmom]

My first Broadway show was 1776 - I went to see with with all the lttle old blue haired ladies from the library - I must have been 12 or so


 I ended up with front row center mezzanine and I kept fixing my hair  because I swear Benjamin Franklin spent the entire show looking directly at ME!

[Ben]

The first show I saw after I moved to New York (in August of 1980) was 42nd Street with the entire original cast. It was August 30th, five days after David Merrick had made the announcement on stage at opening night that Gower Champion had died that afternoon. The show was thrilling and I felt part of New York and knew that I would be here for the rest of my life! 30 years later, as Bruce said last night, and Stephen Sondheim said before that, I'm Still Here.

[Cillaliz]

The first show I ever saw on Broadway was The Wiz on...I think it was March 12, 1977

[Cillaliz]

It could have been March 10, 1977

[Cillaliz]

Last night I had a most splendid time at Movie Night.  Some friends show movies outside on a screen on the outside of their garage. The sound isn't very good, but it was still great fun.  Last night's feature was Napolean Dynamite.  It was pretty cold out but they havd a raging fire in the fireplace on the patio and we had movie popcorn, munchies, movie candy, beer, wine and Ouzo.  Ouzo is great with Good and Plenty.... It was a small crowd last night, there were only 9 of us, 10 if you count the guy who came to socialize but left before the movie started.  We laughed and laughed....roasted marshmallows and were very silly. 

[Cillaliz]

I was awakened several times during the night by thunderstorms.  Finally At about 7:30 AM my weather radio said SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING, so I got up and brought the girls downstairs....it just rained.  No wind, no hail and no thunder.  I could have slept a lot longer, but I'm up and can start doing laundry etc...so it's ok

[John G.]

Last night I had a most splendid time at Movie Night.  Some friends show movies outside on a screen on the outside of their garage. The sound isn't very good, but it was still great fun.  Last night's feature was Napolean Dynamite.  It was pretty cold out but they havd a raging fire in the fireplace on the patio and we had movie popcorn, munchies, movie candy, beer, wine and Ouzo.  Ouzo is great with Good and Plenty.... It was a small crowd last night, there were only 9 of us, 10 if you count the guy who came to socialize but left before the movie started.  We laughed and laughed....roasted marshmallows and were very silly. 

Sounds wonderful.

[John G.]

Congrats, Matthew, on the additional job. Vibes for the remainder of the rehearsal period and, of course, the performances.

[Miss Karen]

First professional play, Jesus Christ Super Star on tour in San Antonio early 70s
First play on Broadway, Cats and then Phantom during a NYC trip early 90s

[Michael]

Hello from San Francisco.

I managed to stay up the extra three hours so I could get to sleep at my usually time EST time, but at PST. I did wake up at my usual time this AM so I think I'm back on schedule.

Glad to see that the reading went well

and the Vixter is all grown up.

[Michael]

TOD

Tour: FIddler On The Roof with Paul Lipson at Place Des Arts in Montreal. I must have been five or six.

Broadway 13 years later I saw and (don't remember the order) The Magic Show, Pippin (with Mike Rupert as Pippin) and Chicago (with the original Broadway cast except for Chita Rivera)

[Miss Karen]

Gotta love the NY HHWers -- I know they sure made "The Brain" trip fun a few years back.

[Miss Karen]

LOL -- DR Jose looks like Clark Kent in his avatar!

....Super Enabler!

[JMK]

Here, as promised, is our new Kritzerland announcement, perhaps the most outre title we've done - read on MacDuff - you know the drill - it's $19.98 plus 3.75 shipping via paypal to kritzerland at adelphia dot net.  This one just tickles me large.


“ACTUALLY FILMED IN THE DARK CORNERS OF THIS SICK WORLD!”

Kritzerland is proud to present a world premiere limited edition soundtrack release:

Sadismo
Music Composed and Conducted by Les Baxter

In 1962 a documentary called Mondo Cane was unleashed on the world and became a box-office sensation.  The film was such a huge success that it spawned its own genre – the mondo film, and soon everyone was rushing out their own mondo shock docs – Mondo Cane 2, Malamondo, Women of the World, Africa Addio, Addio Zio Tom, and some really low-budget knockoffs like Mondo Bizarro and Mondo Hollywood.   A latecomer to the game was 1967’s Sadismo (alternate title, of course, was Mondo Sadismo), a shock doc about torture and cruelty and things taboo and exotic practices from around the world.  The film was released by American International, and while it would be fun to write about the film in detail, the fact is that it would be near impossible to do so, since the film has never been available on home video and most likely would not have received any television airings due to its extreme subject matter.  Even the imdb listing has almost virtually no information.  But, a perusal of the film’s pressbook gives a pretty good idea of what audiences were in for.

“HOW MUCH SHOCK CAN YOU STAND?”

That’s what the lurid ads screamed, along with other great bits of hyperbolic tag lines – “Every conceivable, brutal TORTURE known to man civilized or savage…” “A catalog of cruelty” “SEE the rack – thumb screw – iron maiden – torture drugs that make men slaves – bizarre human sacrifices – today!” – well, you get the idea.

As was its practice back then, American International had the US release scored by Les Baxter.  Baxter had rescored any number of AIP pickups from other countries, and for Sadismo he came up with a score that one can only imagine suited the film to a “T” (for Torture, of course).  By the time of Sadismo, Baxter, who was born in 1922, had already achieved some major successes in his career: In 1950 he began arranging and conducting for Capitol Records.  He wrote his first film score in 1953 for the sailing travelogue Tanga Tika, but it was his series of hit recordings with his own orchestra that put him on the map – the song from “Ruby,” “The Poor People of Paris,” and his classic cover of Alex North and Hy Zaret’s “Unchained Melody.”  “The Poor People of Paris” alone sold over a million copies and was Baxter’s first Gold Record.  He then did a series of concept albums featuring his own compositions, with such titles as Ritual of the Savage, The Passions, Tamboo, and Ports of Pleasure – these all did very well and are now considered classics of what has become known as Exotica.   All throughout the 1950s Baxter regularly did film scores, including Untamed Youth, Jungle Heat, The Invisible Boy, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, The Fiend Who Walked the West, Macabre, and many others.  In 1959, Baxter joined up with AIP and began turning out score after score, some for their own productions, and some for the US releases of things they picked up elsewhere – a small sampling includes Goliath and the Barbarians, Master of the World, Reptilicus, Mario Bava’s Black Sunday and Black Sabbath, House of Usher, Pit and the Pendulum, The Comedy of Terrors, Tales of Terror, The Raven, Panic in Year Zero, Beach Party, Pajama Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, The Dunwich Horror, Cry of the Banshee – according to Baxter, he never turned anything down and he was one of the busiest film composers throughout the 1960s.   

Baxter’s score for Sadismo is Baxter in full Exotica mode, and he truly puts the mondo in the music – which means you get Yma Sumac-like wordless vocals, you get xylophones and fluttering flutes, weird and wonderful orchestral colors (no strings), exotic and tantalizing themes, and even some bossa nova, honky-tonk, and blues.  If you want an eclectic soundtrack, look no further.   We feel this is a monumental release if only for the fact that it’s the first CD called Sadismo.  The source material used for this release was the 15ips two-track mono music tapes housed in the MGM vaults.

So, get out your rack, your thumb screw, and your iron maiden and prepare to enter the dark corners of this sick world courtesy of the great Les Baxter.  You’ll be glad you came.   

This release is limited to 1000 copies only.  The price is $19.98 plus shipping. 

CD will ship by the first week of November – however, preorders placed directly through Kritzerland usually ship one to five weeks earlier (we’ve been averaging four weeks early).   To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.

Did I call that one, or what?   

[Miss Karen]

Gotta love the NY HHWers -- I know they sure made "The Brain" trip fun a few years back.

Plus the other "Out of Towner" HHWs that made that trip ... great bunch of folks and a great time.

[JMK]

I saw a lot of Equity stuff at the old Valley Music Hall in SLC (which is now a Mormon "Ward House", believe it or don't).  I know I saw MacDonald (These are the days of our lives. . .) Carey in "South Pacific" when I was probably 7 or so.  But my first "real" professional show was probably the National Tour of "1776" with most of the original cast, in Seattle.  I also saw the National Tour of "Zorba."  My first Broadway show "on Broadway" was the Original Cast of "Pippin," as well as (the very next day) "A Little Night Music," which had *just* opened.  I believe the only reason I got a ticket was because of my Uncle's close personal friendship (to coin a phrase) with Stephen Sondheim.

[Michael]

Today in San Francisco
I'm going to Chinatown and I want to go to one street in particular

Grant Avenue, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
I understand it looks down from Chinatown over a foggy bay.

I'm going to travel there in a trolley, and in a trolley up you climb,
Dong! Dong! You're in Hong Kong, and I'm planning to having myself a time

I'm planning to eat, if I'm are in the mood Shark-fin soup, bean cake fish.
The boy/girl who will serves me all my food I hope is another tasty dish!

Grant Avenue is a western street with eastern manners,
Tall pagodas and golden banners
Throw their shadows through the lantern glow.

You can shop for precious jade
or teakwood tables or silk brocade
Or see a bold and brassy night club show,
On the most exciting thoroughfare I  hope to know.

So dear Hainies

You know you
Can't have a new way of living
Till you're living all the way
On Grant Avenue. -

Paying attention?

Pop Quiz:

-Where is that?--

Answer:
San Francisco, That's where's that!
California U.S.A.

[Ginny]

Saturday morning greetings!  It's a gorgeous fall day here in SW Ohio and soon I will go out for a walk around the neighborhood.  Have to be back in time for the Michigan kick-off at noon - Go, Blue!