Well, dear readers, I have breaking bombshell news of the third kind and you’re not going to believe it because I could not believe it and yet you and I must believe it because it is true – it is December. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is December, the last month of 2025. It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since the last time I wrote that in December of 2024 but here we are in December of 2025. Well, it’s not that hard to believe when I look back at what has happened in my life in 2025, but we’ll do our usual multi-day look back at the year that was over the next week or so. Of course, it is my fervent hope and prayer that December will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to close out 2025? I pray it is so. But let’s close out November, shall we, by saying we had us a really fun Zoom yesterday. We had about fifteen people, not as many as I was hoping for, but I really didn’t put the word out until the last minute, although even if I had put it out before, we still would have had the same number of lovely folks – and lovely folks is all one can ask for, although I’m told two and three have also asked for lovely folks. As I’ve often said, I have friends I’ve known for heaven knows how long who have never read any of my twenty-seven books, who have never attended a single one of the about to be 133 Kritzerland shows we’ve done, and quite a few who have never come out to see a show I’ve either written or directed. What can one say about THAT? I’ll choose to say nothing and just let it speak for itself. But I had a wonderful time – we had Jrand, we had MichaelG, we had Singdaw, ChasSmith, the lovely Ginny, elmore and Annabelle and Thatch, we had Robert Yacko, we had Bill Fitzhugh, Rodzinski in bed, George, and several Partridge Family fans. I hope I’m not forgetting anyone. I did invite occasional dear readers Amy and Mark and several others but alas and alack, they were no-shows. In any case, a few surprises were revealed that I shall not reveal here until later in the month, Bill talked about his play, Annabelle and Thatch took a bow, lots of fun questions were asked, we talked about the five books I’ve done since the last time we did an Author Zoom event, and we even went over the ninety minutes I’d allotted because we were having so much fun. It lasted an hour and forty-five minutes, all told. When I went back to Facebook there were two other Partridge Family fans who’d messaged me after we’d begun, but I didn’t see those.
Prior to that, I got about six and a half hours of sleep, answered e-mails, moseyed on over to the mail place and thankfully picked up two important envelopes and one small package that could result in an upcoming Kritzerland release, then I came right back home, did some good organizing, shaved and showered, relaxed, had a Togo’s pastrami sandwich of the small kind, took pills, and then it was time for the Zoom. After that, I had a pulled pork sandwich that was not up to par from a restaurant that usually is. The pulled pork itself and the slaw and the sauce were fine. The bun? Bottom bun was soggy beyond repair, making it impossible to even pick it up and transfer it to a plate. It was also burnt – I mean black and bitter burnt. The top half of the bun was not soggy – just burnt – I mean black and bitter burnt. The baked beans were good, but there was no excuse for the bun to be like that. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish and watched a few irritating YouTube videos, culminating in yet another YouTube social media-loving amateur giving his forty-five-minute critique of three Broadway shows that he’d just seen and hated. I would probably agree with him on all three and for all the reasons he didn’t like them, but he’s too repetitious, has a kind of obnoxious persona, and he could have done it all in twenty minutes and without all the “F” bombs. The first show he hated was Rob Lake Magic with the Muppets. This show postponed its opening repeatedly, opened and closed after four performances. The reviews were not good and from the clips shown, this guy, whoever he is, loves to pat himself on the back in a really smug way, has no personality, and the Muppets were apparently in the show for about ten minutes and weren’t used well.
Next was Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, a show that has been in the works for many years, probably fifteen years if you count the writing of it, many readings and workshops and labs and readings and workshops and labs, a failed production in Seattle that promised pre-Broadway. But in this apparently never-say-die idiotic theatre world we now live in, they brought it to off-Broadway. Again, from the clips shown, it’s exactly what you’d expect and I’m guessing with all those readings and workshops and labs and the production that they did no substantial work on it. It looks half-assed and amateur and the couple of songs featured were the WORST – just amateur beyond belief with melodies a four-year-old might have written and lyrics that are neither funny nor smart. I believe it, too, is closing. Yes, it closed yesterday. Of course, this social media critic lumps it in with Broadway, but it was off-Broadway.
Finally, we had the much-maligned The Queen of Versailles, which closes on January 4. Again, the clips he shows are just awful – the few songs I’ve heard from it are bottom of the barrel for a composer/lyricist who has written some wonderful songs, but here seems to be in some mode that just doesn’t work at all. The show itself seems very wrong-headed in every way, the golden boy director apparently could not save it and may have even made it worse, and while some in the cast have come through unscathed, it just sounds awful, especially the songs I’ve heard, like the much-trumpeted Caviar Dreams, which I found terrible. Among the above the title producers are Jackie Siegel, on whom the musical is based, and Miss Kristen Chenoweth. Something is seriously wrong somewhere. Mr. Schwartz lucked out with the timing, because the second half of Wicked came out and that’s what he’s talking about and doing publicity for, and there is a production of The Baker’s Wife off-B’way that people seem to like and think it solves the problems of the show, even though this revised version has been around for over a decade or more – and I’d say it cannot surmount the problems no matter what they’ve done to it, for many reasons, most of them having to do with the titular character.
And here we are approaching the midnight hour and December.
Today, I’ll try to be up by ten-thirty, I’ll go do my banking, ship a package, then get ready for our 1:30 rehearsal for the Kritzerland show. It’s only three people today, so we’ll be done by three and I can do other stuff that needs doing, and then watch, listen, and relax. Because of the weirdness with the den couch, I really am seriously thinking of making the switch with the living room couch.
Tomorrow, we’re back rehearsing the play, and the plan is to start at the top and begin assembling it and adding the scene shifts in. I’m hoping we can get act one done. That will continue on Wednesday with act two, and prior to that we have our second Kritzerland rehearsal, I’m kind of hoping we can then run the show in its entirety on Thursday, although we may be missing an actress – can’t remember. We’re off on Friday, then back Saturday morning for three hours with Cheryl Baxter choreographing the last half of a number and cleaning up any of my stuff. Sunday is a quick Kritzerland rehearsal for those who missed the first two, Monday we’re off and it’s my birthday, although no one has booked me for anything – I am being taken out on other days – then Tuesday is our stumble-through and Wednesday is sound check and show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try to be up by ten-thirty, do banking, ship a package, have a rehearsal, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your highlights and lowlights of 2025? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we welcome in December, a month of holiday cheer and good will, and of course, it is my fervent hope and prayer that December will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.