Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, after a very, very, VERY sleepy day during which I was VERY sleepy. I am listening to some film music by Francis Lai, which is very soothing. Of course, when one who’s had a day and evening of being sleepy, maybe some Shostakovich would have been a better choice – shake the damn rafters, if you get my meaning and I know you do. So, what about yesterday. I got about seven hours of sleep, arising at eleven-thirty. I’d pre-ordered orange chicken and that arrived a little after noon o’clock and was good. Meanwhile, as expected, we got a negative review from the reviewer who I knew would do exactly what he did and did it he dood. Dismissive of just about everything, including the set and lighting, but especially the play. I’ve only seen him do this a handful of times and it belies his usual raves for just about everything, even stuff he doesn’t seem to like – always kind to the actors and others. Not here. But I’ve said from the start, this isn’t for everyone – some will think it’s satire and irreverence is not appropriate and some will simply misinterpret what’s going on in the show. It doesn’t really matter in L.A. – there are no reviewers here who get butts in seats – people either come or they don’t – it’s word of mouth. And our word of mouth, thus far, has been pretty great. So, while I’m disappointed it was the KIND of pan it was, everyone can feel the way they feel and that’s what makes horse racing and we always have to accept the bad with the good. On the other hand, we got an advance quote from a review that hits on Wednesday. Here it is.
“A brilliant new musical from NoHo’s very own Group Rep. Funny, heartbreaking, innovative and absolutely delightful! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!”
That review won’t get butts in seats either, but it’s nice to have anyway. Nothing is going to change my being very proud of my cast, designers, crew, the theater itself, the author, and – me. Meanwhile, this music is very soothing. I am soothed. What else? Oh, right. I went back to the start of the book to adjust two or three things that needed adjusting, did a little more futzing and finessing, then the first batch of pages went to Muse Margaret. I knew she had a long day, so I told her it was okay to get to them today. And indeed, she did. But she called me at six-fifteen to say she’d read the first six pages and really liked them, but her eyeballs were too tired, and she wanted to be fresh for the rest. She also loved the title. So, that was good.
At around three, I sat on my couch like so much fish, trying to watch something but dozed off until Muse Margaret called. Then I sat back down and tried to watch a movie, A New Kind of Love, starring Paul Newman and wife Joanne Woodward. I’d never seen a frame of it. I made it through the first twenty minutes, which were terrible, and then went out and stayed out for an hour, then went back to the Tube of You but fell asleep again and woke up in the middle of something called The Brady Bunch Movie. This thing was a HIT. It looked pretty bad to me. Then I had a nice telephonic call, and here we are.
Today, I’ll be up by eight and out the door by eight-thirty, when she of the Evil Eye arrives, I’ll breakfast, go to the mail place, where I haven’t been for over a week, then do a few small errands and whatnot, return home, write some new pages whilst waiting for Muse Margaret’s call, then at some point I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow will be a big writing day, with maybe a meeting thrown in somewhere. Thursday will be the same. Friday, the Pearls and I will be celebrating Cindy Pearl’s birthday with a nice birthday luncheon. Then we resume performances.
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, go to the mail place, do some errands and whatnot, return home, write new pages, wait for Muse Margaret’s call, then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What things that got bad reviews have you liked? And why do you think it GOT the bad reviews? And what has gotten raves that you thought was terrible? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a very, very very sleepy day.