Well, dear readers, I don’t know how it happened, but it happened, and one must tell the tale, and the tale involves the tail given that today is somehow the final day of September. How did this happen? Time is a fickle mistress, isn’t it? Time is a fickle pickle – it just moves on and doesn’t care if it’s a fickle mistress or a sour pickle – time marches forward and here we are on the cusp, the cusp, I tell you, of October, and it is my fervent hope and prayer that October will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. Otherwise, I am sitting here at the new computer and monitor like so much fish, still going through all the Burt does Burt albums. We’ve been in the midst of his 1970s “slump” after he and longtime lyricist Hal David broke up. That series of albums, which I bought the day they came out, were, at the time, a bit disappointing – kind of concept albums, with some truly mundane lyrics sung and you can hear Bacharach trying out new directions, even though the sound is still distinctly Burt. Hearing them all these years later one can appreciate him being adventurous, but without a strong lyricist the attempts at songs were clearly never going to be hits. The things on these albums that succeed are the instrumental tracks. But on the horizon was another lyricist (and sometimes multiple lyricists) who would inspire him and get him back on track to being the hitmaker he was. That happened so swiftly that I think it took everyone by surprise. That hit would be the theme from the unexpected smash movie that was Arthur. And what a theme that was – not only as the song, but just as a great tune, instantly hummable in its brilliant hook (“When you get caught between the moon and New York City” – lyricist Peter Allen’s sole contribution to the song, a line he’d previously written for an unreleased song, with Bacharach’s new lyricist and soon to be wife, Carole Bayer Sager). It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed put for three weeks, rather astonishing for someone who hadn’t had anything on the charts for quite some time. Anyway, fun listening. I did kinda sorta watch some of the new Jurassic Park thing, Jurassic World. The stuff I read said it was a real return to form for the series, but it didn’t seem like it to me, but I dozed off ten minutes in and didn’t wake up until almost an hour had passed. But even from what I saw it just doesn’t have interesting characters like the first movie had. I actually didn’t love the first movie, but it was well cast and always interesting. I think I saw a couple of the early follow-ups but didn’t care for them. And then I saw a few years ago the one with Bryce Dallas Howard and I found that one, which some had loved, also not that hot.
I’d forgotten that I had a work session with Richard Allen to routine the act two songs for the play. He arrived at six (I’d awakened from my Jurassic slumber five minutes before that), and we began at the top of act two and worked our way through everything. So, he can now do his thing. There are, I think, three songs in a row late in act two that are holdovers from the very first reading – I haven’t been silent about my thinking they’re not as good as all the new stuff we came up with, but the writer loves them, so for now they stay and my job as a director is to try and make them work with staging and a point of view – lyrically, they don’t really say much that we haven’t already heard. I’ll do my best, and if they’re still not working, I think we should have a backup plan in place.
After we finished, I then watched a “thriller” – just a completely weird movie whose point eluded me pretty much throughout, with characters you don’t ever get to know, some amateurish acting from one actor, and direction that’s just aping other directors’ styles. The ending was, I think, supposed to be some kind of “twist” but it wasn’t. The director’s first couple of films received high praise, but from there on in it’s been downhill. There are interesting aspects to this that I can’t get into right now, but interesting they are. Then I did a few things and started these here notes because she of the Evil Eye is coming and you know that means it’s early to rise.
I did get about six or seven hours of non-consecutive sleep, answered e-mails, decided to make tuna pasta salad and did so, then ate half as the day progressed, taking all the pills that I have to take, including ones I only take on Monday. That was pretty much it.
Today, I’ll be up by eight and out the door by eight-thirty, I’ll breakfast – I have my eye on a jernt I’ve never been to – do some errands and whatnot, stop at the mail place and hopefully pick up two important envelopes, then come home and do whatever needs doing. For food, I’ll probably finish the tuna pasta salad, take pills, and at some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals, I cancelled the eyeglasses exam appointment, and I’ll reschedule for next week at some point, then preparing for our first day of auditions for the play.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eight and out the door by eight-thirty, breakfast, do errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up two important envelopes, then later in the afternoon I’ll finish up the tuna pasta salad, take pills and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion – how did you discover Burt Bacharach, what are your favorite Bacharach and David songs and your favorite Bacharach film scores? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, having noted that time is both a fickle mistress and a fickle pickle.