Robbie La Fosse was there as Isadora Duncan.
So were Ragu Mountain Woman and Brenda Bergman. The picture is fuzzy, but that's because the photo was taken by The "Lady" Bunny!"
Saturday, February 28, 2009
February 28, 2009
Last night I participated in the show FOLLY at the Henry Street Settlement Playhouse at Abrons Arts Center, to raise funds for God's Love We Deliver and TWEED Theatre works. I also promoted "Legends!"
Robbie La Fosse was there as Isadora Duncan.
So were Ragu Mountain Woman and Brenda Bergman. The picture is fuzzy, but that's because the photo was taken by The "Lady" Bunny!"
Robbie La Fosse was there as Isadora Duncan.
So were Ragu Mountain Woman and Brenda Bergman. The picture is fuzzy, but that's because the photo was taken by The "Lady" Bunny!"
Thursday, February 26, 2009
February 26, 2009
Yesterday there was a behind-the-scenes drama swirling around "Legends!" And I wasn't in the middle of it for a change! It almost felt good.
Last night I went to see Pal Joey with some friends and we quite enjoyed it.
Today I went to the Henry Street Settlement Playhouse at Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side to rehearse for the FOLLY benefit tomorrow night. I saw Robbie La Fosse at Pal Joey last night, and then there he was rehearsing his Isadora Duncan dance onstage. We shared a few laughs. We've known one another for over 30 years.
After my rehearsal (1:00 to 2:00 pm) I walked west on Grand Street to Eric Marciano's office to drop off a CD for him. He might be using it on a promotional tool for "Legends!" More about that later. Eric was late so I bought some fish at a Chinatown fish market and poked around some of the Italian food stores in Little Italy. I finally gave up on Eric and scotch-taped the CD to his office door, thanks to the nice young woman who works in the office next to his.
Around that time the news about Fran Lebowitz started hittting the internet. Here it is.
Last night I went to see Pal Joey with some friends and we quite enjoyed it.
Today I went to the Henry Street Settlement Playhouse at Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side to rehearse for the FOLLY benefit tomorrow night. I saw Robbie La Fosse at Pal Joey last night, and then there he was rehearsing his Isadora Duncan dance onstage. We shared a few laughs. We've known one another for over 30 years.
After my rehearsal (1:00 to 2:00 pm) I walked west on Grand Street to Eric Marciano's office to drop off a CD for him. He might be using it on a promotional tool for "Legends!" More about that later. Eric was late so I bought some fish at a Chinatown fish market and poked around some of the Italian food stores in Little Italy. I finally gave up on Eric and scotch-taped the CD to his office door, thanks to the nice young woman who works in the office next to his.
Around that time the news about Fran Lebowitz started hittting the internet. Here it is.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
February 24, 2009
There's probably plenty of things to say about "Legends!" but Obama is about to speak and I'm distracted.
I'll say this much, however: Sam Staggs' new book about "Imitation of Life" called "Born To Be Hurt" is recently out. Click here. There's a chapter called "Gentlemen Prefer Lypsinka!"
Also click here.
I'll say this much, however: Sam Staggs' new book about "Imitation of Life" called "Born To Be Hurt" is recently out. Click here. There's a chapter called "Gentlemen Prefer Lypsinka!"
Also click here.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
February 22, 2009
The Oscar telecast is the usual bloated mess, so I'll post here while waiting for something interesting to happen (like Penelope Cruz' win).
Today I met with Eric Marciano - finally - to look at the footage taken back in December. We may have something to work with. Eric made a rough cut. It was nice visiting with him, but I've been so wired with this project I had to make myself calm down and have a real conversation with him.
The script has to be blown up so Charles and I and the rest of the cast don't have to wear reading glasses onstage. We'll try it at a font of 18 instead of the usual 12. It may have to be even bigger!
We lost the arranger for the original music. But it seems we've found another.
Here are some images to remind us when movies were really great.
Today I met with Eric Marciano - finally - to look at the footage taken back in December. We may have something to work with. Eric made a rough cut. It was nice visiting with him, but I've been so wired with this project I had to make myself calm down and have a real conversation with him.
The script has to be blown up so Charles and I and the rest of the cast don't have to wear reading glasses onstage. We'll try it at a font of 18 instead of the usual 12. It may have to be even bigger!
We lost the arranger for the original music. But it seems we've found another.
Here are some images to remind us when movies were really great.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
February 19, 2009
Here is the Playbill article by Robert Simonson, now spelled correctly. The article is what it is.
And this is the towleroad story. You can see in the towleroad comments that someone complained about the fur in the promotional photo. But you can read about the fur further down in my blog.
I had my muslin fitting today. It took over 2 hours! Not since I was fitted by Thierry Mugler in Paris in 1991 have I found a fitting so exhausting. But, it's done now, and the subsequent fittings will not be so intense.
After the fitting I returned the wig used in the promotional photos to Gerard Kelly who is doing my wig and Whoopi's. I asked him to make it more filled with blond highlights. I don't know if he will.
Just for fun, here are 2 photos of the Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson who died recently. Right after he died I saw one of his appearances on the rerun of "What's My Line?".
And this is the towleroad story. You can see in the towleroad comments that someone complained about the fur in the promotional photo. But you can read about the fur further down in my blog.
I had my muslin fitting today. It took over 2 hours! Not since I was fitted by Thierry Mugler in Paris in 1991 have I found a fitting so exhausting. But, it's done now, and the subsequent fittings will not be so intense.
After the fitting I returned the wig used in the promotional photos to Gerard Kelly who is doing my wig and Whoopi's. I asked him to make it more filled with blond highlights. I don't know if he will.
Just for fun, here are 2 photos of the Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson who died recently. Right after he died I saw one of his appearances on the rerun of "What's My Line?".
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
February 17, 2009
I get such a kick out of knowing people are actually reading this blog! I haven't posted anything recently because my "LEGENDS! life" has been a little quiet. I did spend all day Sunday finishing the reformatting of the script. Along the way I made some notes for Mark Waldrop regarding the continuing tweaking of the text.
Yesterday I did a Q&A with Robert Simonsen (spelled correctly?) of Playbill. The focus of the interview, for me, was that the text we will be performing is not the original published version of the play. I will link the interview when it appears on playbill.com.
Tonight, the "famous writer" has agreed to be the reader of the stage directions for the event. We had another delightful, funny phone chat. I'm not going to print that person's name here, because Michael Borowski, our publicist, may be the one who wants to break the news.
On a personal note, I spent last evening with my old friend Mart Crowley ("Boys in the Band"). He has some good news about his work, but I'm not going to scoop him either. We went to dinner and watched a bad Bette Davis movie called "Storm Center" in which BD appeared as a frumpy librarian. The movie did have some serious social issues, which was kind of interesting. And, of course, I related to the little boy in the movie who was more interested in reading books than playing sports! Mart says the movie and the play "Tea and Sympathy" appeared the same year. I saw links. We also watched some of a TCM documentary about Bette that posits the possibility that Bette contributed to the death of her second husband with her own brand of domestic violence.
Here's a cover of one of the published copies of "Boys in the Band."
And just because I love putting images here, here's a bon-bon.
Yesterday I did a Q&A with Robert Simonsen (spelled correctly?) of Playbill. The focus of the interview, for me, was that the text we will be performing is not the original published version of the play. I will link the interview when it appears on playbill.com.
Tonight, the "famous writer" has agreed to be the reader of the stage directions for the event. We had another delightful, funny phone chat. I'm not going to print that person's name here, because Michael Borowski, our publicist, may be the one who wants to break the news.
On a personal note, I spent last evening with my old friend Mart Crowley ("Boys in the Band"). He has some good news about his work, but I'm not going to scoop him either. We went to dinner and watched a bad Bette Davis movie called "Storm Center" in which BD appeared as a frumpy librarian. The movie did have some serious social issues, which was kind of interesting. And, of course, I related to the little boy in the movie who was more interested in reading books than playing sports! Mart says the movie and the play "Tea and Sympathy" appeared the same year. I saw links. We also watched some of a TCM documentary about Bette that posits the possibility that Bette contributed to the death of her second husband with her own brand of domestic violence.
Here's a cover of one of the published copies of "Boys in the Band."
And just because I love putting images here, here's a bon-bon.
Friday, February 13, 2009
February 13, 2009
Not much "Legends!" news today. Charles asked for the latest version of the script so he can start studying it. I emailed that to him. One of the gay publications mentioned the show. I'm still working on the reformatting of the script while I listen to Stravinsky. It's tedious (the computer work, not Stravinsky). I had lain out the script like Samuel French does, but it needs to be double spaced with the character's name centered, etc., etc. I'll finish it before Monday.
I love that I've figured out how to put images in this blog, so I'll put here an image of the poster for "Wicked Woman" here. It's Lily Tomlin's favorite movie. My friend Josiah sent it to me. Stravinsky and "Wicked Woman." We run the gamut here.
I love that I've figured out how to put images in this blog, so I'll put here an image of the poster for "Wicked Woman" here. It's Lily Tomlin's favorite movie. My friend Josiah sent it to me. Stravinsky and "Wicked Woman." We run the gamut here.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
February 12, 2009
The question about the original music for the show got resolved today.
I returned to Eric Myers a rare recording we are planning to use for the event.
I spoke on the phone with a famous writer about possibly being the reader of the stage directions.
Liz Smith mentioned the show again today, this time in her print column in The New York Post and Variety. Way to go, Liz!
I put this picture here apropos of nothing, except that Scott Wittman sent it to me via Facebook. He put a funny caption with it, but unless you speak Crawfordese, it would mean nothing to you. (We really have our own language, our group of Crawfordites.) I wrote him back and told him that I've actually had that wig on my head! When "the twins" were selling off some stuff in 1993 Entertainment Weekly asked me to pose wearing some of the items, and that wig was among them!
I suppose Leatrice Monsee likes to knit in her spare time, too.
I returned to Eric Myers a rare recording we are planning to use for the event.
I spoke on the phone with a famous writer about possibly being the reader of the stage directions.
Liz Smith mentioned the show again today, this time in her print column in The New York Post and Variety. Way to go, Liz!
I put this picture here apropos of nothing, except that Scott Wittman sent it to me via Facebook. He put a funny caption with it, but unless you speak Crawfordese, it would mean nothing to you. (We really have our own language, our group of Crawfordites.) I wrote him back and told him that I've actually had that wig on my head! When "the twins" were selling off some stuff in 1993 Entertainment Weekly asked me to pose wearing some of the items, and that wig was among them!
I suppose Leatrice Monsee likes to knit in her spare time, too.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
February 11, 2009
Today I attempted to resolve the original music arrangement question. I resolved it to my satisfaction, but I don't know yet that I resolved it to others' satisfaction.
I also spent some time reformatting the script into what we are calling the "Reader's Version."
Fran Lebowitz has been on my mind. She's mentioned below in my first post. She came to see my first Off Broadway show "I Could Go On Lip-Synching" 20 years ago. She came with my friend Marc Balet and they happened to be there on the same night that the talented and funny dress designer Clovis Ruffin brought Kaye Ballard, Louise Lasser and Virginia Graham! Virginia, of course, marched right backstage and bellowed, "What did you have to eat today?" (I was really skinny then.) I told her and she said, "It was all gas. Did you have any bread?"
After Kay, Virginia and mild-mannered Louise left with Clovis, Fran turned to me and said, "So what's the matter? Peggy Cass wasn't free tonight?"
If I had been quick enough, I would have said, "No, and neither was Pat Carroll!"
On a personal note, I would like to announce that after complaining to my building superintendent for a long time about the so-called water conservation toilet that was installed in my bathroom about 16 years ago, I finally got a new one today! It seems to be much sturdier than that piece of junk I have lived with for so long.
Here's Virginia Graham.
I also spent some time reformatting the script into what we are calling the "Reader's Version."
Fran Lebowitz has been on my mind. She's mentioned below in my first post. She came to see my first Off Broadway show "I Could Go On Lip-Synching" 20 years ago. She came with my friend Marc Balet and they happened to be there on the same night that the talented and funny dress designer Clovis Ruffin brought Kaye Ballard, Louise Lasser and Virginia Graham! Virginia, of course, marched right backstage and bellowed, "What did you have to eat today?" (I was really skinny then.) I told her and she said, "It was all gas. Did you have any bread?"
After Kay, Virginia and mild-mannered Louise left with Clovis, Fran turned to me and said, "So what's the matter? Peggy Cass wasn't free tonight?"
If I had been quick enough, I would have said, "No, and neither was Pat Carroll!"
On a personal note, I would like to announce that after complaining to my building superintendent for a long time about the so-called water conservation toilet that was installed in my bathroom about 16 years ago, I finally got a new one today! It seems to be much sturdier than that piece of junk I have lived with for so long.
Here's Virginia Graham.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
February 10, 2009
Liz Smith mentioned the "Legends!" event today here. Excellent! Thank you, Miz Liz. Whoopi also writes for that blog.
The event was also mentioned here on this black entertainment news page. Their mention, which is positive, says that Whoopi is playing a "servant." I thought, "Surely that word was not in our press release." But I checked the release again, and it's there. It sounds so demeaning out of the context of the release. I'm surprised there hasn't been a complaint about it.
Are people called "servants" still? Maybe they are called "service personnel" or something more politically correct.
Pondering all this made me think I should post here some information about how the text for the upcoming event has evolved. During the original production of the play, there were complaints that the role of Aretha the housekeeper was treated poorly. And when we did the reading in Sag Harbor (see below) I got the feeling that Brenda Denmark and Sean Watters, the actors who played Aretha and Boom-Boom, were not completely happy with the race issue in the text.
Rather than ignore this issue in my adaptation, I have made it more outrageous and, hopefully, have made it more of a statement. Also, it was and is my belief, that if the role is bigger and made more of a "star" part, and a star is hired for the part, then the taint of racial discrimination disappears. Especially when the African-American star's persona is familiar to everyone, and therefore the audience is comfortable knowing that she can, AND WILL, give as good as she gets! And that is why I sent the play to Whoopi, who is a star and has in the past enjoyed poking fun at racial stereotypes.
I don't want to give too much away, but I made some other significant changes to the text with all this in mind. You'll just have to come see the show to find out what I'm talking about. And the truly conscientious will want to compare my adaptation with the original published version you can get here .
The event was also mentioned here on this black entertainment news page. Their mention, which is positive, says that Whoopi is playing a "servant." I thought, "Surely that word was not in our press release." But I checked the release again, and it's there. It sounds so demeaning out of the context of the release. I'm surprised there hasn't been a complaint about it.
Are people called "servants" still? Maybe they are called "service personnel" or something more politically correct.
Pondering all this made me think I should post here some information about how the text for the upcoming event has evolved. During the original production of the play, there were complaints that the role of Aretha the housekeeper was treated poorly. And when we did the reading in Sag Harbor (see below) I got the feeling that Brenda Denmark and Sean Watters, the actors who played Aretha and Boom-Boom, were not completely happy with the race issue in the text.
Rather than ignore this issue in my adaptation, I have made it more outrageous and, hopefully, have made it more of a statement. Also, it was and is my belief, that if the role is bigger and made more of a "star" part, and a star is hired for the part, then the taint of racial discrimination disappears. Especially when the African-American star's persona is familiar to everyone, and therefore the audience is comfortable knowing that she can, AND WILL, give as good as she gets! And that is why I sent the play to Whoopi, who is a star and has in the past enjoyed poking fun at racial stereotypes.
I don't want to give too much away, but I made some other significant changes to the text with all this in mind. You'll just have to come see the show to find out what I'm talking about. And the truly conscientious will want to compare my adaptation with the original published version you can get here .
Sunday, February 8, 2009
February 8, 2009
At 6 p.m. I started editing the music cues for "Legends!" as planned with Alex Noyes, my preferred audio engineer, at Splash Studios on West 23rd Street. We finished about 8:30. I have done what I promised to do with sound cues. Okay, that's done.
The Text and The Fur
One of the AllThatChatters on www.talkingbroaday.com mentioned something about the the play "Legends!" being "awful." I want to point out that the text we are doing on March 23, 2009 is not the version of the play that was published, and not the version that was performed by Carol Channing and Mary Martin, or Joan Collins and Linda Evans.
The agent for the Kirkwood estate and the literary executor are (so far) allowing my adaptation of the play to be performed for only this one night. Whether or not I have improved the play will be a decision voiced by many. I hope I have, and at the same time preserved Mr. Kirkwood's sensibility while injecting some of my own. The arc of the play is exactly the same as the published version.
On the surface, the play is a romp, a frolic. I do believe there are some universal, submerged themes in the play, but I'm not going to say what I think they are. In Uta Hagen's book "Respect For Acting" she says that the actor should keep his subtext to himself, adding to the mystery of the performance. So, as an actor and a writer, I would rather not say what I think the play is really about. Also, you might think be thoroughly pretentious if I told you!
It has occurred to me that some people might complain about the fact that in our marketing image for this event Whoopi, Charles and I are wearing real fur. We wanted the image to be a parody of the Blackglama mink print ads and we were having a hard time finding a wardrobe stylist for the photo shoot. And people were telling me that it would be difficult to find fake fur pieces that were glamorous enough. We finally did find a stylist and Whoopi is wearing the stylist's own fur coat.
A few days after the shoot I bumped in my friend Dan Mathews, publicist for People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA). I told him, "Dan, you're going to hate me. I've just been wearing fur in a photo shoot." I explained to him what we were trying to do with the image and that fur is a rather important part of the text of the play. He suggested that PETA donate fake fur for the actors to wear in the actual performance. So that's what we're going to do. The fake fur for the fur pieces in the show will be donated by PETA and a fake fur company called www.fabulousfurs.com.
Someone has posted on my Facebook page that after reading this blog he realized I deserve a medal for fortitude. I'm sorry I haven't kept a record of everything involving this production. You just can't imagine!
The agent for the Kirkwood estate and the literary executor are (so far) allowing my adaptation of the play to be performed for only this one night. Whether or not I have improved the play will be a decision voiced by many. I hope I have, and at the same time preserved Mr. Kirkwood's sensibility while injecting some of my own. The arc of the play is exactly the same as the published version.
On the surface, the play is a romp, a frolic. I do believe there are some universal, submerged themes in the play, but I'm not going to say what I think they are. In Uta Hagen's book "Respect For Acting" she says that the actor should keep his subtext to himself, adding to the mystery of the performance. So, as an actor and a writer, I would rather not say what I think the play is really about. Also, you might think be thoroughly pretentious if I told you!
It has occurred to me that some people might complain about the fact that in our marketing image for this event Whoopi, Charles and I are wearing real fur. We wanted the image to be a parody of the Blackglama mink print ads and we were having a hard time finding a wardrobe stylist for the photo shoot. And people were telling me that it would be difficult to find fake fur pieces that were glamorous enough. We finally did find a stylist and Whoopi is wearing the stylist's own fur coat.
A few days after the shoot I bumped in my friend Dan Mathews, publicist for People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA). I told him, "Dan, you're going to hate me. I've just been wearing fur in a photo shoot." I explained to him what we were trying to do with the image and that fur is a rather important part of the text of the play. He suggested that PETA donate fake fur for the actors to wear in the actual performance. So that's what we're going to do. The fake fur for the fur pieces in the show will be donated by PETA and a fake fur company called www.fabulousfurs.com.
Someone has posted on my Facebook page that after reading this blog he realized I deserve a medal for fortitude. I'm sorry I haven't kept a record of everything involving this production. You just can't imagine!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
February 7, 2009
Other than emailing a certain TV star to find out if he is going to be the reader of the stage directions, I took the day off from "Legends!" (He responded, and he's not sure he's available at this time.)
I went to see "Music in the Air," part of the Encore series at City Center tonight. The book is terribly dated, of course, but the cast did what they could with it and the two leads - Douglas Sills and Kristen Chenoweth - were fun. I had never seen her onstage. And although I have met delightful Douglas in professional situations, I had never seen him onstage either. The two of them should star in "On The Twentieth Century" with Andrea Martin as Mrs. Primrose.
Tomorrow I will try and take time to write here about 2 subjects regarding "Legends!"
I went to see "Music in the Air," part of the Encore series at City Center tonight. The book is terribly dated, of course, but the cast did what they could with it and the two leads - Douglas Sills and Kristen Chenoweth - were fun. I had never seen her onstage. And although I have met delightful Douglas in professional situations, I had never seen him onstage either. The two of them should star in "On The Twentieth Century" with Andrea Martin as Mrs. Primrose.
Tomorrow I will try and take time to write here about 2 subjects regarding "Legends!"
Friday, February 6, 2009
February 6, 2009
LEGENDS! was in The New York Times today as well as playbill.com and plenty of other dot coms, and it was on the cover of Variety with a photo of Whoopi.
I met briefly with Fabio Toblini, the costume designer, to look at swatches, before he goes off to see his sister in England for 10 days. Charles has seen his swatches and okayed them. We each have muslin fittings scheduled in a couple of weeks. I'm at Eric Winterling, Inc. and Charles is at EuroCo, Inc., the same company that built the costumes for "The Third Story."
I dropped some recordings off for Alex Noyes at Splash Studios on West 23rd Street. He will load them into the computer and we will edit Sunday night. These are for music cues in the show.
After crabbing about it for weeks, the Ticketmaster link is up and running for the show. Whew!
I hope to sleep tonight.
I met briefly with Fabio Toblini, the costume designer, to look at swatches, before he goes off to see his sister in England for 10 days. Charles has seen his swatches and okayed them. We each have muslin fittings scheduled in a couple of weeks. I'm at Eric Winterling, Inc. and Charles is at EuroCo, Inc., the same company that built the costumes for "The Third Story."
I dropped some recordings off for Alex Noyes at Splash Studios on West 23rd Street. He will load them into the computer and we will edit Sunday night. These are for music cues in the show.
After crabbing about it for weeks, the Ticketmaster link is up and running for the show. Whew!
I hope to sleep tonight.
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