Good morning, all! I slept late, and my last memory of a dream is something about a party and cleaning up after and finding a seat seat on a crowded bus.
I will finish the DEAREST ENEMY vocal score proof this morning, and then begin work on Jerome Kern's ROBERTA: I have several numbers to create from orchestra parts, and stage band music to score, so that will occupy much of my next few weeks.
Last night I watched THE STINGIEST MAN IN TOWN, something I've wanted to see again since I saw it on Dec 23, 1956. It wasn't until Johnny Desmond was singing "The Birthday Party of the King" that I had a real deja vu that I had seen the original broadcast. While I do like much of the score, I find a lot of the lyrics, like "There Is A Santa Claus," geared to a 1950s Americana and completely out of place in Dickensian London. Since I've always had this feeling about the soundtrack recording, it was confirmed by seeing the broadcast, which is a rather cutesy-poo adaptation. I liked Basil Rathbone a lot, and I enjoyed a few of the passing roster of actors and singers, like Robert Weede, Martyn Green, Patrice Munsel and Robert Wright.
I had a good time watching a live broadcast - I think it's live - and marveling at the blocking. Some of the camera work is sloppy, but that's expected in a live broadcast. Unfortunately the level of the material isn't as good as Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, which maintains a much higher level of professionalism and sophistication. In the third act, a horrid ballet of lost souls seems not only pointless but disorganized and unnecessary.
TOD:
DVD: there are some Netflix items sitting here
CD: new recording of THE FORTUNE TELLER, Guy Haines, LizCallaway
VCR: at last, new porn!
