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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes, the notes weren't, and now it is time for you to post until the three motion picture cows come home.

[bk]

And the word of the day is: RECHERCHE!

[bk]

That's French, you know.

[bk]

Welcome 345 GUESTS.

[bk]

2:00 in the morning - no George. He REALLY must be painting the town red.

[elmore3003]

Good morning, all!

[elmore3003]

BK, I was a subscriber to the American Film Theatere, or whatever it was called, so I saw every one of their productions in the 1970s. The other musical besides Jacques Brel . . . was Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars, which I mostly enjoyed until they rewrote the ending for the film. I agree with you about the Brel and Rhinoceros. I really liked Butley, Luither, The Homecoming, and A Delicate Balance.

[singdaw]

Good morning, friends.

[singdaw]

And others.

[singdaw]

I will be out most of this livelong day.

[singdaw]

.

[singdaw]

Who decides these things?

[singdaw]

Fun.

[elmore3003]

Last night I watched the 1958 film version of the comedy Bell, Book and Candle, which I last saw about ten years ago on DVD.  I have no idea how well John van Druten's play, which is essentially The Little Mermaid, holds up but I think there's a good musical in it. As to the movie, I love it. The cast is full of excellent comic actors - James stewart, Ernie Kovacs, Elsa Lanchester, Jack Lemon, and Hermione Gingold -  and Kim Novak, who is no comedian but beautiful and better than I remembered. I also loved the Siamese cat who plays Pyewacket, the witch's familiar. The color isn't good, though; when Jack Lemon turns the street lamps green, it looks like he's turned them off. It's currently free on Amazon Prime, if anyone is curious to see it. I really enjoyed it.

Annabelle now wants to play Pyewacket in either a revival of the play or a musical version, if she gets a song or production number.

[singdaw]

Anyone Can Whistle, 1964.

That's Tucker Smith, left (West Side Story) and Harvey Evans, right.

[ChasSmith]

Good morning, all.

[ChasSmith]

BK, I was a subscriber to the American Film Theatere, or whatever it was called, so I saw every one of their productions in the 1970s. The other musical besides Jacques Brel . . . was Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars, which I mostly enjoyed until they rewrote the ending for the film. I agree with you about the Brel and Rhinoceros. I really liked Butley, Luither, The Homecoming, and A Delicate Balance.

I tried to watch the Jacques Brel movie on a few occasions over the years, and never succeeded.

What was their deal with so drastically rewriting these musicals for film? Such a botched opportunity. Same with Stop the World. Same with The Fantasticks - but as I recall, that one at least has some enjoyable stuff in it.

[John G.]

Good morning, all.

[John G.]

Had a dream in which I was getting frustrated over losing my Spanish. I was working the polls and could say everything in German and French, but I needed Spanish and it just wasn't coming to me. I was fluent in Spanish when I spent a summer in Barcelona, but I never kept it up.

[ChasSmith]

I love the movie Bell, Book and Candle. I first got to know it as a kid on black-and-white TV, and when I finally got around to seeing it in color, it was a revelation. But I always thought it was absolutely magical. Twilight Time issued it on Blu-ray a decade or more ago and I jumped on it. They're long gone, of course, but it might still be available through a subsequent studio release.

[ChasSmith]

Well, back to rehearsal tonight. This will be a challenging week, with one person out each of the next few nights. The joy of it all.

[John G.]

BK, I was a subscriber to the American Film Theatere, or whatever it was called, so I saw every one of their productions in the 1970s. The other musical besides Jacques Brel . . . was Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars, which I mostly enjoyed until they rewrote the ending for the film. I agree with you about the Brel and Rhinoceros. I really liked Butley, Luither, The Homecoming, and A Delicate Balance.

The revival movie theeder near my home in Louisville played the series. I loathed both Jacques Brel and Lost in the Stars. I liked Butley and Luther. I loved The Iceman Cometh. I saw Rhinoceros and found Mostel good, but also irritating. Don't know if I saw any others. I do recall a lot of people showing up for the screenings.

[ChasSmith]

I really liked The Man in the Glass Booth and I think I still have it on a Warner Archives DVD - if I'm remembering right.

[elmore3003]

BK, I was a subscriber to the American Film Theatere, or whatever it was called, so I saw every one of their productions in the 1970s. The other musical besides Jacques Brel . . . was Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars, which I mostly enjoyed until they rewrote the ending for the film. I agree with you about the Brel and Rhinoceros. I really liked Butley, Luither, The Homecoming, and A Delicate Balance.

I tried to watch the Jacques Brel movie on a few occasions over the years, and never succeeded.

What was their deal with so drastically rewriting these musicals for film? Such a botched opportunity. Same with Stop the World. Same with The Fantasticks - but as I recall, that one at least has some enjoyable stuff in it.

Sadly, Elly Stone's husband and co-creator/translator of the original revue, Eric Blau, was responsible for the Brel screenplay and concept, which is essentially that a group of people are killed in a theatre disaster and the songs reflect their lives. Elly Stone's "Marieke" may be the best, and it's as heartbreaking as the song itself. The only other positive things are the two new songs in the film - The Taxicab and The Last Supper - but I prefer to listen to the soundtrack to ever watching the film again.

Alice Whitfield, the other woman in the original revue, was a friend. I once asked her why she had so few solo moments, and she said, "Because Elly Stone is a BITCH!" To be fair, I met Miss Stone several times, and I adored her.

[elmore3003]

I also watched Gosford Park yesterday. I hadn't seen it since I saw it in Albany on its first release. It's still wonderful.

[elmore3003]

DR John G, I'm happy you enjoyed King Lear. It was nice to see they followed the original production's doubling The Fool and Cordelia. I was shocked to see that Branagh had allied himself with one of my least favorite directors, Rob Ashford, but I guess I'd rather see him direct a play than screw up another musical.

[singdaw]

I also watched Gosford Park yesterday.

Love those Novello songs.

[Freddie]

.

On National Forget-Me-Not Day, let's not forget BK's performance in the play "Forget-Me-Not Lane" by Peter Nichols, which was preserved for Great Performances.

[Freddie]

Alice Whitfield, the other woman in the original revue, was a friend. I once asked her why she had so few solo moments, and she said, "Because Elly Stone is a BITCH!" To be fair, I met Miss Stone several times, and I adored her.

Being a b*tch at times and being adored at other times happens often - weren't Bette Davis and Lauren Bacall in particular known for that?


 

[ChasSmith]

BK, I was a subscriber to the American Film Theatere, or whatever it was called, so I saw every one of their productions in the 1970s. The other musical besides Jacques Brel . . . was Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars, which I mostly enjoyed until they rewrote the ending for the film. I agree with you about the Brel and Rhinoceros. I really liked Butley, Luither, The Homecoming, and A Delicate Balance.

I tried to watch the Jacques Brel movie on a few occasions over the years, and never succeeded.

What was their deal with so drastically rewriting these musicals for film? Such a botched opportunity. Same with Stop the World. Same with The Fantasticks - but as I recall, that one at least has some enjoyable stuff in it.

Sadly, Elly Stone's husband and co-creator/translator of the original revue, Eric Blau, was responsible for the Brel screenplay and concept, which is essentially that a group of people are killed in a theatre disaster and the songs reflect their lives. Elly Stone's "Marieke" may be the best, and it's as heartbreaking as the song itself. The only other positive things are the two new songs in the film - The Taxicab and The Last Supper - but I prefer to listen to the soundtrack to ever watching the film again.

Alice Whitfield, the other woman in the original revue, was a friend. I once asked her why she had so few solo moments, and she said, "Because Elly Stone is a BITCH!" To be fair, I met Miss Stone several times, and I adored her.

Wasn't she involved in making the early 90s revival at the Village Gate happen? I forget the history, but that's the production I saw.

At that time I was very familiar with the 2-LP cast album and, if I have my own timeline right, I was even helping a community theeder here (my very first involvement) rehearse their own at the time -- which was not very good, but at least they did it and the populace liked it.