Good mornig, all! I slept quite late this morning, said to hell with the office today, and I shall putter about here until 12:30 and then go up to Karen Ziemba's. I need some rejuvenation pills.
DR JRand55, I sort of feel the same way about Bode Miller, but he's been made the US poor-boy-makes-good hero for this year's Olympics, whether we wants the constant attention or not. My other feelings are, good for him, run with it, become famous: he's a much more honest celebrity than that celebutramp Paris Hilton who became known for two things: sex and wealth, both of which get too much attention for her to be considered classy.
I'm hearing pros and cons about KISMET: I saw the Lincoln Center revival, which I loved, and so far friends have either liked or loathed the Encores! presentation. It sounds to me that Lonny Price forgot it's basically a burlesque show and that the Bagdad of KISMET is a metaphor for Minsky's; it was a camp then, and it probably needs a director like Charles Ludlam now. The original Knoblock play with Otis Skinner owed a lot to the popularity of the recently-published RUBAIYAT, the Richard Burton stories of his decadent life and his translation of the Arabian Nights, all those exotic Eastern locales that inspired operettas like CHU CHIN CHOW and the Victor Herbert song "Baghdad" with its KISMET references in 1912 at the same time; of course, that's all a hundred years ago, and the piece is an exotic comedy with a glorious score. The Encores! casting looks mediocre to me, although Marin Mazzie seems right to me after loving her as Lili Vanessi, something she has in common with the great Anne Jeffreys.
TOD:
Martin & Lewis: I loved "Scared Stiff" as a kid
Hope and Crosby in "The Road to Utopia"
Abbot and Costello in "Buck Privates" and "A&C Meet Frankenstein"
