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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes (and that includes you, new registered users), you know the story of the days, you know what Urinetown is not, and you know the topic of the day, so I do believe it's time to post until the cows come home.

[Tomovoz]

Favourite Weill songs:
Mack the Knife
My Ship
September Song
Lost In The Stars

Rain Songs:
Come In From the Rain
What Have they Done To The Rain
Rain
It's Raining
It's Raining Men
I Love A Rainy Night
Raining In My Heart
Don't Rain On My Parade

There is a great collection of Rain Songs on Varese.

[bk]

I love I Am a Stranger Here Myself and Lost in the Stars.

Favorite rain song ever: Here's That Rainy Day.  Runner up: Soon It's Gonna Rain.

[Panni]

Darn - I waited too long to post - now I'll look like a copy dog (I'm not a cat person)...

Kurt Weill:
SEPTEMBER SONG
SPEAK LOW
MACK THE KNIFE
PIRATE JENNY

Rain:

bk already mentioned two of my faves...  SOON IT'S GONNA RAIN and HERE'S THAT RAINY DAY... plus
SINGING IN THE RAIN
EARLY MORNIN' RAIN
A HARD RAIN'S GONNA FALL
RAINY DAY MONDAYS
FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT (that's a stretch. but I like it)

[JoseSPiano]

Good Eveni..

Well...

Good Morning!!

-I missed yesterday evening due to various reasons - which, if I may, I shall recount for you now...

I got back into Richmond around 7:45 - made great time back from DC even after having to deal with a major backup caused by a semi-major accident - however, it looked liked everyone was all right when I passed by the scene.

I had called my friend, Mark, to see if he wanted to grab dinner and/or a drink once I got back into town.  Well, he called me back to tell me that he was already having a few cocktails at a bar.. and that the bar had some special "entertainers" there tonight... So... After a beer, and some not so special entertainment, I headed back out to get some dinner.

Dinner: Fried Chicken Livers and Fried Rice!! Love 'em.  -I know, I know, some of you are going, "eeewwwwwww" right now... Ah, well...

-And after eating my dinner, I did pop into chat for a few precious minutes...

And then I tended to the leak in the kitchen.  The water situation is not bad, but I have a feeling the wall and ceiling situation could be very bad.  This is the second type of leak like this in the past three years.  They were working on the A/C unit for the upstairs unit, and, apparently - again(!) - they did not adjust the condensation collector properly... So, the run off is running down to our kitchen.  There are some "stalactites" in the ceiling drip, drip, dripping away... and the walls around the stove(!!!) are all wavy from having water behind the latex paint.  We'll see what the contractor says in the morning...  actually, in a few hours...

Well, since it was the end of my work week, I still felt like going out...  So, after another phone call to and from Mark, we went over to another bar.  And at this bar, Sunday night is karaoke night - or "scare-aoke" as the locals call it.  Unfortunately, it was truly scary tonight.  I almost wanted to get up and sing just to hear a few in tune notes tonight, but I didn't have that many beers - even though Mark kept pushing the song listing binder in front of me.  -Maybe next time.. yeah, right...

So, I got back to the apartment around 12:30AM...  Why, oh why did I stay that long?  I kept hoping to hear one good singer, but...  ah, well... It got me out of the house for a while, and it was nice to be social.

For the past few hours, I've been chatting with friends, going through my mail, watching some things via On Demand (caught up on "Queer As Folk" - very interesting developments the past two episodes), et.c, etc, etc...

And now...

-If you can't tell, I'm surprisingly wired right now -  Maybe it's time for a good ole-fashioned all-nighter - I haven't done one in a few months.

DR Danise - Have a great time in the Big Apple!  I wish I could be there tomorrow too to meet you and dine with you.  -And who was at Joe's Pub tonight?

*Oh, but I did find out tonight that it looks like I'll be going to the Tonys!!!  -Keep your proverbial fingers and toes crossed for me.

DR SWW - I really like Kitchen Collection stores.  -And, yes, their customer service could use some improvement, but I think that's just the nature of the retail business no matter what the stores sell.  *I just wish they would carry the cheaper - and better - ice cream/cookie dough/etc. scoops - the generic ones you can find at a restaurant supply stores.  I can't always get to a restaurant supply store when I'm in need - and I've actually been in need of a scoop one or two more times than I'd like to admit to - but $12.00-20.00 is a bit high for a small scooper.  -And most of the time, they're only labeled "small, medium or large", rather than by the ounce size or the serving size (which is based on how many portions you can get out of a gallon, quart??? I forget).  But you can't beat the deals you can get on Pyrex there!

Topics of the Day:

Weill Songs:
"September Song" - I remember playing this one over and over again from an issue of Sheet Music Magazine!
"My Ship"
"The Saga of Jenny" - Especially Dawn Upshaw's rendition

Rain Songs:
Well, The "Rain Song" from 110 in the Shade
"Soon It's Gonna Rain" - Mainly because there's an actor I've played this for countless times at various auditions... he has a great bit he does... and I actually get to be a part of it!
"Here's That Rainy Day" - Wasn't/isn't this Johnny Carson's favorite song?
"Stranger To The Rain" - Well, I am playing Children of Eden right now, so...
"Rainy Days and Mondays" - Gotta love The Carpenters
Anything from the Umbrellas of Cherbourg ;-)
"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" - This song was played a lot when I was growing up - either on the record player, or me picking it out from the Reader's Digest Songbook.
"MacArthur Park" - Yes, that's a s-t-r-e-t-c-h....
"Rain" from Once On This Island

I'll probably have a few more later today in both categories...

In the meantime, I think I'm gonna go lay down in my bed and see if I fall asleep...  Hmmm...

[JoseSPiano]

WOW!  That was a long post!!!

Esteemed BK - I'm sorry Urinetown was not your cup of pee, but at least you got to see Ms. Noll and catch up with her.  It is one of those shows that either really gets to someone, or leaves them totally cold.  For myself, I actually liked the experience in the theatre, but I don't find myself reaching for the OCR all that often.  *And I can't imagine the show playing in some of the "barns" it's been booked into on the road.  The whole fantasy of it being an epic of sorts can literally get lost in a large space.  It's too bad Spencer Kayden didn't go on the road too after the Broadway production shuttered.  Truly a wonderful and unique performance.

Oohhhh.. I just realized that since I'm up so early right now, I can go over to this great little diner nearby which has incredible breakfasts!  They're the "cafeteria" for the dairy processing plant it's attached too.  Great biscuits!  And because it's part of a dairy, they also have great milkshakes and ice cream too!  oohh....

Well, time to attempt to do something or other....

[JoseSPiano]

So sad to be all alone in the world...

[elmore3003]

Good morning, all!  I'm still feeling the effects of too-much wine and the pressure of finishing up deadlines before Goodsped is settling in.  However, I'm never too tired or stressed to discuss Kurt Weill songs, which I'll divide into two categories European and American, since those were the two musically different periods of his career:

EUROPEAN
THREEPENNY OPERA:  Barbara Song, Mack the Knife, Pirate Jenny
HAPPY END:  Surabaya Johnny, Mandalay Song, Bilbao Song
MAHAGONNY:  Havanna-Lied,  As You Make Your Bed
MARIE GALANTE:  I Wait for a Ship
SILBERSEE:  Fennimore's Song

AMERICAN
JOHNNY JOHNSON:  O Heart of Love
KNICKERBOCKER HOLIDAY:  September Song, It Never Was You
LADY IN THE DARK:  One Life to Live, Saga of Jenny, Tchaikovsky
ONE TOUCH OF VENUS:  I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Speak Low
STREET SCENE:  Wouldn't You Like to Be On Broadway?, Remember That I Care
LOVE LIFE:  Here I'll Stay, Economics, Greenup Time
LOST IN THE STARS:  Stay Well, Lost in the Stars

There's a new complete BBC recording of THE FIREBRAND OF FLORENCE, of which all I really know is "Sing Me Not a Ballad," but I look forward to hearing the rest of the score.

My favorite Weill song, since hardly anyone will know this, is a bit of political commentary from Act Two of KNICKERBOCKER HOLIDAY, "The Ballad of the Robbers," a fable about how the first honest men devised a system to keep bad guys out of society, until one day the robbers realized they were more plentiful, and now it's the honest men who sit in jail.  In the show, it's about the "hero" incarcerated by the fascist governor.  Still works for me.

RAIN SONGS:  Baby, the Rain Must Fall, Soon it's Gonna Rain, Here's That Rainy Day, If the Rain's gonna Fall, Isn't This a Lovely Day to be Caught in the Rain?

[Noel]

BK's reaction to Urinetown was exactly as I'd predicted.

I saw it in a small theatre and you could hear a pin drop after most of the jokes.  An SNL sketch expanded to gargantuan length.

Jason - never said you'd said anything bad about your friend.  We agree, and I wanted to add my note of admiration for all who toil on new musicals.

There's so much Weill I love...

Instead-Of Song, Tango-Ballad, Pirate Jenny, Call From the Grave, Barbara Song, Ballad of Sexual Dependancy, Jealousy Duet, and a tune that has thrilled audience for the past umteen years on Broadway: Ballad of the Easy Life (with a new lyric by the soulless Charles Hart, and a disco beat, for some reason).

And that's just 3Penny Opera.

Other Weill: Surabaya Johnny, a really fast one from Happy End I can't recall the name of, Eating (2 calves never made a man fatter...), The Soldier's Wife, Buddy on the Night Shift, It Never Was You, One Life To Live, The Saga of Jenny, My Ship, A Little Gray House, Stay Well, Lonely House, Wouldn't You Like To Be on Broadway?, Somehow I Never Could Believe, Lullaby (about the murder in the neighborhood), The Nina the Pinta the Santa Maria, The Trouble with Women, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, That's How I Love You

and I'm probably leaving out some!

[Noel]

What can you do on a rainy afternoon?
What can we two do on a rainy afternoon?
Give me a raincheck on that walk through the park:
There'd be mud and puddles on the courts.
But still I must see you;
I won't give that up come hell or high water
I'll be with you on this rainy afternoon.
I see such beauty on a rainy afternoon.
Does it put you in the mind of Noah's ark
Where each pair of animals - all different sorts
Nuzzled together to keep warm
Through forty afternoons of storm
Cuddle with me on a rainy afternoon.
Though the skies
May be dark
There's a light
In your eyes
and that light seems to say
There are indoor sports we could play.
As the rain beats a pattern on the win-
Dow pane my fingers will dance upon your skin.
We're staying in.
That's what we'll do on a rainy afternoon.

[Jrand73]

Oh my...Kurt Weill....probably those already mentioned that include "My Ship", "Saga of Jenny", "Bilbao", "September Song", and a song that I really learned to love when I did THE THREEPENNY OPERA, "Pirate Jenny"....that'll learn ya, that'll learn ya!

[elmore3003]

I was just sent an article about the FDA cracking down on gay men as sperm donors, which bent me out of joint.  I don't know the range of limitations, but the justification for the decision is to prevent the spread of diseases, but I suspect it's more to do with keeping Dubya's voters voting via another bit of homosexual panic propaganda.

I wish they'd make a ruling on doing the same for members of the religious right  and the other ultraconservative factions to which this current administration caters, just to prevent the spread of idiocy.

[Ben]

DR Elmore, I can't join you and Danise on Tuesday. Thanks for the offer, though. Hope to get together with you and DR Jane when she's in the City in October (I believe it's October).

Oh, so many songs already mentioned but I'll mention them again.

I love Surabaya Johnny, Mandalay Song (although when we did a production of Happy End at university someone started calling it Sort of Boring Johnny and now I have trouble hearing it without thinking of those lyrics). Others that I love include

It Never Was You, The Saga of Jenny,  I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Stay Well (done by the sublime Miss Dawn Upshaw on her Sondheim, Bernstein and Weill album), and Lost in the Stars (that song can make me tear up).

Many of my rain songs have been mentioned as well, and it's only 8:30 am.

Here's that Rainy Day
Come in From the Rain
Soon It's Gonna Rain

I shall now move over to the Radio portion of this here site and listen to Donald's sparkling new show.

[Dan (the Man)]

Fav Kurt Weill songs: "Speak Low", "Lost in the Stars", and just about the entire score of Happy End (I wish I had seen the '76 B'way version--would have loved to have seen that cast!)

Rain song (not yet mentioned):  "Here Comes the Rain Again" by The Eurythmics.  

[Stuart]

On Weill:  Thank you DR Elmore....I couldn't come up with the aria from MAHAGONNY, but you nailed it:  "As You Make Your Bed."  (Saw MAHAGONNY years ago at the Met, and that particular aria has always haunted me.  Not enough to go out and buy a CD (or even a TV), but it has always haunted me.  And either "Speak Low" or "That's Him."

On rain:  Most of my faves already mentioned:  "Here's that Rainy Day," "Don't Rain on My Parade," "It's Raining Men," "Soon it's Gonna Rain," (especially with the brief monologue that precedes it on the OCR).

On Dasher. On Dancer.....

[Stuart]

Oh yes, and "September Song."

[singerdreamer]

Good morning all! Don't have time to really post right now... school awaits me ((blech)) and I woke up late so I'm rushing around... fun. So just decided to say good morning!!

~Whitney

[Jason]

Another not yet mentioned song: I Made It Through The Rain by Mr. Barry Manilow.

I won't contribute to the Weill discussion today because the only Weill songs I know have all been mentioned already. I'm sure I'll be lynched for saying this, but I'm not a big fan of Mr. Weill's stuff...doesn't do it for me for some reason. I love Marc Blitzstein, but Kurt Weill--not so much. Don't know why, but that's what makes horse racing.

BK: Sorry URINETOWN didn't do it for you. I'm glad you didn't totally hate it, but I'm sorry it didn't click with you. I was fortunate enough to see it in the teeny tiny Henry Miller's on Broadway and the night I saw it, the audience was howling with laughter and merriment and mirth. When I heard the show was going out on tour, I feared that they'd book it in the same houses that shows like PHANTOM and LES MIZ have played. It's entirely too small for those gargantuan houses. I saw THE WORLD GOES ROUND in a 2,500-seat house. NOT A GOOD IDEA! The show is great, but it felt way out of place, as I'm sure URINETOWN did yesterday.

[William E. Lurie]

I love the whole score to LADY IN THE DARK except "Princess of Pure Delight"; I like everything I've heard from ONE TOUCH OF VENUS and wonder how much longer it will take John Yap to release his recording of the complete score (with Melissa Errico and Brent Barrett) recorded several years ago.  That said, I find most other American Weill scores consist of one or two good songs surrounded by less interesting material (with "It Never Was You" my favorite song from all his shows) and I find all Weill German scores sounding alike and interchangable.

I enjoyed URINETOWN both times I saw it though I wouldn't classify it as one of my all-time favorites.  The problem with "the road" is that most shows from Broadway play in theatres two or three times larger than where they played on Broadway and are usually lost in these large houses.  And off-Broadway shows are not exempt.  The first time I ever saw THE FANTASTICKS (back in the early 60s) it was in a theatre that sat about 1000 (10 times larger than NY's Sullivan Street Theatre where it played 40 years).  I wondered what all the fuss was about.  When I eventually saw it in NY in its original "home" I finally knew.  And in the opposite direction, I really enjoyed CITY OF ANGELS in New York, but when I later saw a touring company in Chicago in a 3000 seat theatre originally built for Grand Opera it was grossly over amplified to reach the back of the top balcony and even from the tenth row of the main floor was lost on the giant stage.  My friend who had not seen it in NY wondered why I had liked it so much in the first place, not realizing that it was like a completely different show.

[Ben]

DR George, thanks for the update. I am working on the Sondheim concert discs and hope to have them in the mail by the end of the week (or a bit later).

[Panni]

Good Morning... Forgot in my Weill list - "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" as sung by the divine Miss Teresa Stratas.
And forgot in the Rain list... "Isn't This a Lovely Day to be Caught in the..."

[Panni]

It's a dog's life....

[mrkdl73]

Thanks to all for their welcomes.  

As far as Weill is concerned, I enjoy his "Tchaikovsky" (sp?).  As far as rain songs are concerned, "Singin' in the Rain" is a fav.  And who doesn't enjoy belting out "The Rain in Spain" once in a while?

Yesterday I learned never to go to the gym, swim for thirty minutes and then try to perform the "Waiter's Gallop" a few hours later.  

Today I'm (and a few cast mates) off to Chicago to catch a performance on ANYONE CAN WHISTLE.  I think it's a final preview and it officially opens tomorrow,... again, I think.  I've never seen it, and since it's done so rarely, I thought I should seize the opportunity.  I'm sure the seven of us going will all have different opinions.  I will he happy to share mine with you dear readers upon my return.

Enjoy your day!

[Jason]

I would venture to say you shouldn't do ANYTHING and then try to do the "Waiter's Gallop." There again, I'm no dancer, so I wouldn't be doing the Gallop in any case.

[Emily]

Happy Victoria Day/Dollard-des-Ormeaux Day/Fête des Patriotes!!!

Why call a holiday only one name when you can add a title based on the current government's political leanings? Whatever... if I have to celebrate/memorialize Queen Victoria's Birthday or the massacre of French settlers by native Canadians or the burning of rebels in a church in 1837 for a day off of work and school, so be it

Vibe Request:

Last night my grandmother, who lives with us, had to be taken to the emergency department of our local hospital because she was having some difficulty breathing.  The diagnosis so far is that it is just the result of over-exertion (she's 87 years old and is out of the house, walking or taking public transport, just about every day).  So, please send vibes to her to make a quick recovery and that it is just her doing too much after a long winter.  

[MBarnum]

best of vibes to Emily's granny!


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[MBarnum]

Rain songs that I like:

Come Rain or Come Shine

It's Raining Men

Singing in the Rain

Little April Showers

[Sandra]

Vibes for Emily's grandma. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I talked to my mom on the phone last night. She says hello to everyone. She'll be coming home today. Yay!!

[Jason]

Speaking of URINETOWN, I just found out that today our execs are having lunch with the creative and legal teams of URINETOWN to finalize royalty agreements...

[Jrand73]

Here is a wonderful recipe for Chinese Stir Fry Oysters and Shrimp!

http://www.scrumptious.com/DannyKaye.htm