Well, dear readers, I’m back from seeing the marvelously marvelous Mr. Jason Graae do his fourteenth anniversary revival of An Evening of Self Indulgence, although it wasn’t quite the show we recorded back in the day at the Cinegrill. I first met Jason Graae in 1993 when he sang on Unsung Sondheim. Like most people who meet Jason, it was instant love, a fellow traveler as it were. In the ensuing years he has appeared on a rather large number of my albums, including his three solo albums and our studio cast recording of Drat! The Cat! where he stars opposite Susan Egan. He is one of only two male singers I like (the other is Guy Haines), and the reason is simple – his singing, whether funny or heartfelt, is honest and pure. No showing off, no riffing, and someone who knows when to let the song do its job. He is also genuinely hilarious and that, too, is effortless. He also knows how to take the stage, make the audience instantly comfortable and hold them in the palm of his hand.
One of my favorite memories is Jason calling me just hours before his show at Rainbow and Stars (I was in New York doing some albums). He was trying a new opening number and it wasn’t quite working and he asked if I could come right over and take a look at it. I did, and watched him run it. It began to click about a third of the way in, but the opening of it didn’t have a clear point. So, we talked about it, and I said I thought since he’s singing “I feel twitchy and bitchy and manic” he should be really nervous. I thought that he needed to let the audience know instantly that this was supposed to be funny. So, after nervously singing the opening lines, I suggested he get a drink of water and while drinking it have some of it spill on his shirt. Then out of that we came up with that after that bit he’d call for “line” and then come in on the wrong note. That’s it – three tiny comedic bits and the audience knew exactly what they were in for. I came back that night for the show and watching him take those little things and make them fall out of your seat funny, and hearing the audience roar with laughter, well, it was an amazing thing to see.
And that’s the way he opened last night’s show and those bits all got huge laughs just as they always have. Most of the show was what we recorded at the Cinegrill, but there were a few things that were from other past shows – it was just one highlight after another. And he had the uncanny ability to go from having you screaming with laughter to having your heart touched by a ballad. He is unique and he has built up an incredible following over the years – there’s just no one, try as they may, who does it better. His MD was Gerald Sternbach, who played the original version of the act, and Jason’s director was the talented Heather Lee.
The room was pretty much jam-packed. I was at a table with our very own Adryan Russ, ASCAP’s Michael Kerker and Michael’s ever-lovin’ Gene. At a nearby table were Carole Cook and her ever-lovin’ Tom Troupe. I adore the two of them. Also in attendance, the choreographer of the Tony Award-winning The Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Peggy Hickey (we had a lovely chat), Maddy Claire Parks’ parents Garrett Parks and Karen Culliver, Susanne Blakeslee, Jason’s ever-lovin’ Glen Fretwell (they’re about to be wed), and others I’m not remembering.
This was my first visit to what is now called Rockwell Table and Stage. It’s had many names, and while I’ve been to two of its restaurant incarnations, I’ve never been since it’s been converted to a cabaret space. It’s not my favorite room, I must say. The stage backs onto what is the front window of the restaurant, so in the early evening it’s light out there (there is only a flimsy see-through curtain in front of the window), and when it’s dark you see people walking and car headlights aplenty. Also, there’s a front door there so people were walking in during the show, which was very distracting. I cannot speak to the food as I did not eat – I did not eat because there was not a single thing on the menu that looked interesting to me. But the evening wasn’t about any of that, it was about Jason and he was simply superb.
I, in fact, have a long history with Rockwell Table and Stage – in its original form as Sarno’s, which was there all through the 1970s and early 80s. I came to be a regular there around 1974. I would, in those days, still occasionally do shows at LACC and we’d go to Sarno’s after because several of the female students waitressed there – Sarno’s always had the most beautiful waitresses in LA. I met the owner, Alberto, who gave me the soundtrack to some movie he’d done (I still have it) – he became a huge fan of The First Nudie Musical and at some point he asked me to look at the film he starred in to see if I could “save” it somehow. I watched it, but other than turning it into a comedy by adding some voiceovers and recutting, there was nothing to really be done – it was what it was. But Alberto was always very sweet to me. He and others sang opera every night there, and it was always a great party, and there were always interesting celebrities there. I even dated one of the waitresses there. I wrote about the scandal I was involved in at Sarno’s in There’s Mel, There’s Woody and There’s You – when MacKenzie Phillips and I had become friendly (we shared the same manager), and I took her there one night. Apparently that wasn’t a good thing to do, even though it was just fun and completely innocent. Decades later when I ran into MacKenzie, she smiled at me and said, “We really created a scandal, didn’t we?” It was really funny and I’m all about that. She was about to enter a very bad phase and I was a grounded and happy adult who treated her like the smart kid she was, and she liked that. No one, including my then-wife had a problem with it, just the manager. It was weird, but boy did we laugh about it. Sarno loved having MacKenzie there and treated her royally.
Sadly and shockingly, in 1987 Sarno was gunned down in front of his house in a follow home robbery attempt. The suspect was tried twice but there was a hung jury both times. Other family members managed to keep the restaurant open until 1991, but it wasn’t the same without Alberto. The bakery hung on until 2000. Nothing that’s been there since – Vermont, Barre, whatever – has even come close to the joy that was Sarno’s. The food was superb (the best pasta dishes EVER), and their bakery goods were just amazing. Interestingly, the original Sarno’s rooftop sign is still there above the wall that now says Rockwell Table and Stage.
Prior to seeing Jason’s show, I’d gotten around eight hours of sleep, had a visit from a local CD dealer, did some work on the computer, then went and had a cup of chicken corn chowder and some sausage and eggs. Then I came home, did more work on the computer, after which I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched one of the new Twilight Time releases, entitled Brannigan, starring John Wayne, Richard Attenborough and Judy Geeson, along with the ubiquitous John Vernon. The Duke had famously turned down Dirty Harry, or so the legend goes, so I suppose this and McQ were his attempts to do something in that genre. Brannigan, while certainly no Dirty Harry, is a decent film with the Duke doing his thing in London – there are some good sequences throughout and it all moves along quickly. Miss Geeson is thoroughly winning and there’s a good music score by Dominic Frontiere. The transfer, while not from a new master, gets the job done and looks quite like a film from 1975, with accurate color and the typical sharpness from films of that era – it’s very much like a release print would have looked.
After that, I did some banking, came home, had a few telephonic conversations, and then moseyed on over to the club to see Jason. After the show, I had nice chats with any number of people, including a couple of Kritzerland regulars and our very own Amy and Mark.
Today, I’m lunching with Kay Cole, then hopefully will pick up some packages, watch a motion picture and then finish liner notes for the soundtrack of said motion picture. Not at all certain what’s happening tomorrow or the weekend, but I must spend some quality time listening to And the World Goes Round and making notes about any nitpicky stuff I want to adjust.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog of some sort, lunch, hopefully pick up some packages, watch a motion picture, finish liner notes, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are the best Eyetalian meals you’ve ever eaten at restaurants? Where, what did you have, and why was it your favorite? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall hope to get in my dream Time Machine and go back to Sarno’s.