Topic: SOPHISTICATED ME (Read 68512 times)

Danise · « **Reply #30 on:** September 05, 2005, 07:43:21 AM »

Oh, and I meant to tell DR Jose. I like the squirrels. They're cute and funny.

As for the labor question. Never had a child so I can't claim that kind of labor. I quess the hardest work I did was when I spent seven years working for horrible, horrible family busness. I cried every day going to work and driving home. Towards the end I even went to my car and cried at lunch time.

Because I had never worked in an office, I worked in a sea food plant (less money but I would have stayed there forever vs that place), I bought into him telling me how stupid I was and that no one would hire me. It was a very bad time.

I must say that temping for a few years after that was the best thing I could have done for myself. I learned that far from what HE said, I could walk into ANY office and do a good job. I had many job offers but I was to scared to take them.

Anyway, it all worked out in the end. I'm very happy with my current job. I have times when I mumble and grumble but for the most part, I wouldn't trade it.

Matt H. · « **Reply #31 on:** September 05, 2005, 07:44:29 AM »

Speaking of the Jerry Lewis Telethon, I won't watch any of it though of course it's a noble cause. I am not a Jerry Lewis fan at all, but I've often wondered why the Academy hasn't honored him with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. I know he alienated many in the business when he was a star with his ego and demands, but he has been doing this telethon for decades and has raised millions for this charity. Isn't that worthy of some recognition from his peers?

Danise · « **Reply #32 on:** September 05, 2005, 07:45:58 AM »

Wow, that was Weird! I tried to post the above post and it said my session had timed out. I thought I lost the post.

Matt H. · « **Reply #33 on:** September 05, 2005, 07:48:19 AM »

Yes, Ginger's sterling dramatic moment in BARKLEYS is god-awful.

What's funny is that though she's supposed to have scored this great triumph in a straight play, we next see her doing the "Manhattan Downbeat" reunited with Fred. Not much loyalty to her other show. No, they don't say how long it was between her dramatic show and this new musical, but one could think that she left her other show cold to go back with her husband.

Again, not nice people.

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #34 on:** September 05, 2005, 08:16:48 AM »

Quote from: Charles Pogue on September 05, 2005, 07:40:24 AM

Is there nothing more embarrassing than Ginger Rogers' French "dramatic" scene at the end of The Barkleys of Broadway?

Oddly enough, I can never think of anything more embarrassing when it comes to this scene...but there must be something somewhere as painful to watch.

I keep wanting to believe they were going for a laugh but no matter how much I want to consider the possibility, the ugly truth that they weren't always stops the idea from fully forming.

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #35 on:** September 05, 2005, 08:20:06 AM »

DR Matt: I'm one who believes Josh finished out the show "he" was doing and that Dinah finished out the show "she" was doing before they reunited in another musical show.

Cillaliz · « **Reply #36 on:** September 05, 2005, 08:23:03 AM »

Hi all! I slept late which is wonderful considering I couldn't get to sleep last night.

Jobs. I have cases from time to time that keep me going non-stop. One was a murder trial that I worked on for about a year. Even when I wasn't actually working on it, it never left me, I thought about it non-stop.

The summer I turned 14. (There were no kids living around us, so I begged to be able to work) I worked as the only employee for an elderly lady who owned a corner grocery store. She couldn't lift so I had to do everything, stocking, moving, lifting and waiting on customers. It was a lot of long days and a lot of work.

On the other hand the most boring job I had was as a bank teller. The bank had too many tellers and I would sit for hours with nothing to do and we weren't allowed to read or do anything but sit and wait for people to come in.

Cillaliz · « **Reply #37 on:** September 05, 2005, 08:28:59 AM »

When I am in trial, I get up early to prepare for the day, get to court before the jury gets there to deal with issues they can't hear, then you try the case all morning, then lunch is more dealing with issues, occasionally trying to contact other clients who have left messages, then try the case in the afternoon, then spend the night preparing for the next day, dealing with other client's emergencies, researching things for the issues that popped up etc.

It's insane but is like an adreneline rush for days. I love it.

Oh another job, I was a law clerk for a trial court judge. His secretary just walked out and quit one day. I had to fill in and had absolutely no idea what she did with setting hearings, deadlines etc. I had nightmares about being buried in paper

Cillaliz · « **Reply #38 on:** September 05, 2005, 08:30:27 AM »

Well, I need coffee, breakfast and to get this house cleaned up. I'll be back.....Thank you SOOOO much for being here :-)

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #39 on:** September 05, 2005, 08:58:58 AM »

Good Morning!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #40 on:** September 05, 2005, 09:02:35 AM »

And now, according to my clock...

Good Afternoon!

I'm up! I'm up!

I had another weird night of sleep. Not really restless, but I just found myself awake a couple of times during the night. I guess it's a bit too quiet for me here at my parents' house - I need the noise from the street and subway rumbling under my room to get to sleep now.

In any case, I'm up, and I'll be heading down to Richmond in about an hour. Steve invited me to his family's Labor Day cookout, and I'll also be dropping in on some other friends over the course of the nest 24-30 hours. Flit, Flit, Flitting Away!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #41 on:** September 05, 2005, 09:12:57 AM »

As for hardest/worst job - The few weeks I spent temping doing data entry. Not only was the work just mind-numbing - and finger and arm-numbing - the supervisor required everyone to wear standard business dress... And since I really own one suit and one suit jacket... And we worked in one of those typical old government buildings in an interior office with no windows... And we had NO contact with the public. Who were we dressing up for? I think I lasted only two or three weeks before I landed another gig. Whew!

In another mode....

Otherwise, I'd have to say the first two and a half weeks of What If? rehearsals were truly non-stop - good, but non-stop. Just finding and putting together all that music - and praying that the FedEx, Priority Mail and faxes came through on time - it got a little tense every now and then. But considering how the project came into being in the first place, it was bound to be a little crazy in the beginning. And, heck, it was theatre - that's always crazy!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #42 on:** September 05, 2005, 09:19:54 AM »

And I'd have to say the most tedious theatrical experience was the tech for Sunday In the Park with George at Arena Stage - although it really was not that tedious, just lots of waiting around. Due to the technical demands of the show, they scheduled three 10 out 12 days - the norm is usually two. They had set aside one whole day to tech "Putting It Together" - which basically ended up taking about one and a half days since they found out the original concept/idea they had in mind was not going to work on stage (vs. paper). So the whole "concept" got rethought, new props were built, sections of the number were restaged, etc. But I got a lot reading done, I ended up chatting with some of the NPR folks since they were doing a story on the production at the time, and I made a nice chunk of change that week to boot! Again, not truly tedious, just long.

Matthew · « **Reply #43 on:** September 05, 2005, 09:40:09 AM »

Most tedious show... Maltby and Shire's "Baby".... it was the only show that my best pal, conductor/mentor, Mark almost fired me from. Lots of notes, lots of accidentals and a VERY "close" pit, not a lot of room and I was under the stage extension which I had to sit very still as if I moved, I would knock my head. All those conditions and the score made not so great work.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #44 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:01:50 AM »

Good Afternoon!

Time for me to hit the road down to Richmond. I'll be sure to have a Cookout report later tonight, and maybe some pics too.

Laters...

bk · « **Reply #45 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:09:36 AM »

I'm up, I'm up. Had a nice sleep, and even watched some of the telethon before hitting the road to dreamland. No Jerry in sight, though - and lots of the worst singers and bands I've ever seen in my life - hip hop, Latin, girl singers who shouldn't be singing - if this is what the telethon has become then I shan't be watching any more of it. I did see Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and thought it laughable. He's got two kids he's trying to put to sleep. They are, in fact, finally sleeping. And then he starts belting as if he were Ethel Merman. If I were those kids, I would have said, "Shut up already!"

I didn't know what to make of that "scene" in Barkleys where she's doing the dramatic bit. What on earth were they thinking? That voice, those lines. I was agog, simply agog. And Levant in this film was insufferable, from his two long piano bits to his quips.

FJL · « **Reply #46 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:18:13 AM »

Question for BK or Jose, or anyone who has an ear to the ground on New York theater - what's causing the very strong advance negative vibe to the show IN MY LIFE? I've been following theater for a long long time, but I can't remember any show where the vibes have been so negative even before a show started performances and even going back to its press preview. Is it that the writer/director is financing it? The subject matter of Tourette's and OCD? I'm finding it unusual.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #47 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:30:01 AM »

TomOvOZ thanks for the picture of OZDEREK!

Jrand74 · « **Reply #48 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:32:35 AM »

I liked Oscar Levant's book, Memoir of an Amnesiac, I think it's called.

He tells the story of filming a scene for HUMORESQUE in which he sat at a dummy piano while a woman played an actual piano behind the camera and two men stood behind John Garfield, one with an arm through his jacket fingering the violin the other with an arm through his jacket doing the bow.

At the end of the master shot, Levant stood up and said: "Christ - we're great! The five of us should go on tour!"

bk · « **Reply #49 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:39:41 AM »

FJL, it could be any number of things. It's the Internet - there could be agendas at work (all too possible, and happens all the time - I certainly have been a victim of it in the old days), or someone might have seen a reading or a workshop and hated it - it's one of the reasons I cannot stomach these theater boards in certain ways. This never happened pre-Internet - shows tried out, people saw them, and they were hit or misses, they got fixed and didn't get fixed and it was all very simple. Now, we've got nothing but armchair critics and pundits who all turn out to be fourteen year olds (I discuss this in my book Writer's Block) or bitter old show queens, or people with an ax to grind.

It works the same for positive buzz, too. The company sends shills onto every board, whose sole job it is is to create buzz and say how great the show is - it's so blatant and patently obvious, since their usernames are brand new. And they ALL use the same line - "I've been a lurker here for years, but now I just HAVE to make my first post about this brilliant show I've just seen."

S. Woody White · « **Reply #50 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:44:01 AM »

Quote from: Danise on September 05, 2005, 07:43:21 AM

...Because I had never worked in an office, I worked in a sea food plant (less money but I would have stayed there forever vs that place), I bought into him telling me how stupid I was and that no one would hire me. It was a very bad time.

Change that into "no one else would love" and you've got a very standard line used in abusive relationships. Which, given the difference of a work environment, is what you were in.

Quote

I must say that temping for a few years after that was the best thing I could have done for myself. I learned that far from what HE said, I could walk into ANY office and do a good job. I had many job offers but I was to scared to take them.

Anyway, it all worked out in the end. I'm very happy with my current job. I have times when I mumble and grumble but for the most part, I wouldn't trade it.

GOOD FOR YOU! Now, any lurkers out there who recognize themselves in what Danise has posted, PAY ATTENTION!

S. Woody White · « **Reply #51 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:50:32 AM »

Worst job? I was temping for Kelly, and was assigned to a photocopy job, a major lawsuit where countless boxes of papers had to be copied. Nothing like standing there, waiting for each page to run through the machine. The autofeeder wasn't much help, since most of the paper being copied was tissue-thin, the kind that jams up in a flash.

I was so relieved when one day, on my way to the job, I was rearended. (Yes, this is back in the days when I was driving.) Got me off that assignment fast, I'll tell ya!

FJL · « **Reply #52 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:55:39 AM »

Thanks for the insights, BK.

I shudder to think of the concept of the negative-shill, spreading negative word about a competitor's work, but I guess that can happen sometimes.

S. Woody White · « **Reply #53 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:57:12 AM »

Had a bit of a laugh a couple of days ago at the market.

I was running the groceries of a customer over the scanner, and she was grumbling about the two kids she had with her, and how she was going to split them up. I couldn't resist, and suggested that they might split like in mitosis, and then she'd have four kids to deal with.

She stared at me for a second, and I inwardly said "oops," thinking I'd gone over her head.

Nope, her reaction instead was "How do you know what mitosis is?"

Oops in the other direction. She clearly thought that, if I was working in a supermarket as a checker, then I couldn't have much education.

I refrained from telling her that I gradutated from college back in '75. Or that I'd taken early retirement, and that this was a job to a) supplement my income and b) get me out of the house and involved in something. I didn't think she'd understand any of that, since it didn't match her preconceptions.

I just told her that I watch a lot of television.

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #54 on:** September 05, 2005, 10:59:06 AM »

The advance word on James Cameron's movie "Titanic" was extremely negative. Everyone (i.e., the know-nothings and perpetual naysayers) predicted it would be the ruin of all involved.

Of course, both critics and audiences decided to think differently.

bk · « **Reply #55 on:** September 05, 2005, 11:11:30 AM »

Let me tell you an interesting story. Years ago, over at rec.arts.theatre.musicals, someone came on and started lambasting my albums, rather viciously. Everyone was very supportive of both myself and the albums. Then, someone else showed up who also agreed with the initial poster about me and the albums. It went on and on. And then, one of the regulars looked at the headers of the posts and realized that the second poster who was doing the lambasting was posting from the same computer as the first poster, i.e. it was the same person. It all blew over eventually. Years later, I found out who the poster was - someone I'd been dating and had stopped dating. So, there you are. That's the Internet.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #56 on:** September 05, 2005, 11:31:23 AM »

Working on my lines and everybody else's for what promises to be a long and painful rehearsal tonight.

When it comes to sophistication, us'ens hyer in Indiana is the first hogs to the trough!

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #57 on:** September 05, 2005, 12:21:44 PM »

It's been 50 minutes since the last post.

What in all that is good and beautiful is going on?

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #58 on:** September 05, 2005, 12:22:28 PM »

We'uns hain't even offen the sikunt paige yit!

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #59 on:** September 05, 2005, 12:22:54 PM »

Where is JoseSPiano when a frenzy is needed?

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Author Topic: SOPHISTICATED ME (Read 68512 times)

Cillaliz

Cillaliz

Cillaliz

FJL

FJL