Well, dear readers, this month is flying by, like a gazelle eating Turkish taffy, Swedish fish, and Ukrainian malt balls. We had our first rehearsal for Sunday’s Kritzerland rehearsal and it was ever so much fun. I think it will be a fun show, at least that’s always the hope. First to arrive was Sami Staitman. We ran her two solo songs – first the great Irving Berlin cut song that I unearthed, Take It in Your Stride, cut from Annie Get Your Gun. Then she did my song, When You’re Waiting for Love, which is really fun to hear a young person to do. Then it was Elle Parker recreating the song she did in L.A. Now and Then, The Black Dahlia, for which I wrote the music and Adryan Russ the lyrics.
Then Jenna Lea Rosen showed up and we ran the trio The Helms Man, also from L.A. Now and Then – Sami, Elle, and Jenna – it’s super cute and we were finally able to do the three-part harmonies in the song that we just couldn’t make work at LACC – so that’s really fun to hear. Then Elle and Sami went on their merry way while we ran Jenna’s two solos – the Promises, Promises cut song, What Am I Doing Here? and The Lights and the Smiles from The First Nudie Musical. If you’re trying to figure out the common theme that runs throughout the show, it seems to be a combo platter of just plain fun stuff, along with things that are having a May anniversary (L.A. Now and Then and Nudie Musical both began in May), and a few cut songs from shows thrown in.
After Jenna left we had the delightfully delightful Bill Hayes – he’s doing a put-together of No Other Love from Me and Juliet and Some Other Time from On the Town. He starred in the former on Broadway, and appeared in the latter at a theater in the round in the mid-1950s. It’s always a treat to have him with us.
Then it was Robert Yacko. He’s doing two songs from L.A. Now and Then – my C.C. Brown’s and Richard Sherman’s The Whimsey Works, and then he’s doing a brand new What If. And finally we had Misty Cotton, who’s first Kritzerland show this is. She began with When There’s No One from Carrie – she played the mother out here when they did the show two years ago. Then she did There Won’t Be Trumpets, cut from Anyone Can Whistle, another show she did in L.A. And finally, from L.A. Now and Then, she’s doing my song, Sunset Strip 1965 and best of all in the key I wrote it in – it really does sound better in that key so that’s fun for me to hear. Jean Louisa Kelly comes today at four-thirty.
Prior to that I’d gotten a bit over eight hours of sleep, then did some banking, then went and had a cup of chicken soup and an omelet, after which I came home. I did some work on the computer, mostly creating a script template for the Sherman Brothers musical, one I can work with and the one that we’ll ultimately use as the show book. The writer uses Final Draft and their theater/script template sucks and isn’t like any show script template ever used. That took a good deal of the day and then we had our rehearsal. After that was through, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on the Flix of Net entitled In the Shadow of Iris, a French thriller that thinks it’s a lot clever than it is. I kind of enjoyed it up until the halfway, even though I’d already guessed where it was going – it throws in a lot of other surprises along the way, but what starts out fun gets progressively weirder and more unpleasant – there are no characters to like and therefore the film seems longer that its ninety-one minutes. I read up on it afterwards – not much about it anywhere, and literally no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. But in something I read they said it was a loose remake of a Korean film called Chaos from 2000. So I read up on that and it’s a HELL of a lot more than a “loose” remake – it sounds like they basically just stole most of it, since Chaos is credited nowhere in Iris.
After that, I relaxed, listened to music, had a telephonic call and that was that.
Today, I have more work to do on the computer, I’ll eat, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then Jean Louisa Kelly comes to rehearse and then I’ll probably relax.
Tomorrow are our callbacks for Dial ‘M’ for Murder and hopefully by the end of them we’ll have our cast. Thursday is our second Kritzerland rehearsal, Friday I have lots to do, Saturday is our stumble-through, and Sunday is sound check and then show.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the Swim, for today it the birthday of our very own beloved dear reader FJL. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own beloved dear reader FJL. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN BELOVED DEAR READER FJL!!!
And I’m told I missed dear reader Jennifer’s birthday a few days ago – I simply sometimes forget to look, so a happy belated birthday to dear reader Jennifer, who’s been around these here parts for many, many years.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, eat, hopefully pick up packages, rehearse, work on the computer, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your favorite board games when you were growing up – and which board games bored you? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a fun first Kritzerland rehearsal on the fun first day of May.