Friday during the day there were emails to answer regarding "Legends!" and at 4:15 I went to what may be my last costume fitting. Eric Winterling said they will have to tweak the first costume a lot more and will be taking it apart and putting it back together. So I may have to go back for another fitting of that dress. The second costume fits really well. Beautifully made. I was very impressed, although I shouldn't be since they do excellent work.
I came back home (Eric's atelier is just around the corner) and went over the first act of my script.
The actor who dropped out (after Monday, May 23rd, I'll put here who it was) was replaced by someone I don't know, but that's okay. Mark Waldrop knows him.
At 7:30 I met Lily Tomlin, Denny Dillon, Vivian Schneider and her partner Ruth at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre on 49th St. Vivian is Lily's attorney and also her stage manager when they travel around to do her one-woman show. As soon as Lily walked into the theatre several women almost pounced on her and engaged her in an intense conversation. Lily wanted me to take charge so I got Vivian, Denny and Ruth to their seats and then went back to the area behind the orchestra to keep an eye on Lily and get her to her seat. She was disappointed she didn't get to have a drink before the show, a tradition she likes. But she and Denny and I had something wet during the intermission. Lily was very moved by a tableau in the play when Jane Fonda leans against the man playing Beethoven.
At the end of the show the security guard named John came to our seats to usher us through the "pass door" backstage. We were taken to Jane Fonda's dressing room (Lily calls her "Fonda," perhaps to differentiate between Jane Wagner) where Jane was wearing a "33 Variations" baseball cap and greeted everyone who came back, including people who somehow got back with no connection. We were hoping she would go to Orso with us, but as it turns out she already had plans to go there with her son and his wife and some other friends. Click here to read her version. The blog post is called "Friends and Family."
At Orso we bumped into Jack O'Brien and Edmund White. They didn't know about "Legends!" and promised they would come.
Jane arrived with her party and sat at the next table. It was fun to yell back and forth to her table. Jane had covered her hair with some kind of snood (it seems both her hairstyles in the play are wigs) and after an hour she put on thick dark sunglasses. That was glamorous if alienating in the dark, back area of Orso that was close to empty. Lily gave her a postcard for "Legends!" and urged her to come. We left the restaurant at 1 am. These gals like to party!
It was great fun to be near Jane in the theatre district if, for no other reason, this clip. A great movie! Check it out! I'm fairly certain "Bree Daniels" lived in Hell's Kitchen near the theatre district.
On Saturday I spent some time going over the script again and answering emails. In the evening I met my friend Stanley at The Shubert to see "Blithe Spirit." Christine Ebersole had kindly arranged out tickets. We bumped into Michael Musto and Brian Belovitch there, and also Jane Klain from the Museum of Television and Radio that apparently has a new name. I also spotted Phyllis Newman in the auditorium but didn't get a chance to say hello. I had already greeted Phyllis at "33 Variations" the first time I saw it. That Phyllis gets around!
"Blithe Spirit" was loads of fun. All the actors fine. Lovely production. Christine was great, of course, and Lansbury is deeply loved and milks every moment she can. Stanley and I went backstage to say hello to Christine (also waiting to see someone was one of the actors who played one of the asylum inmates in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest") and saw her adorable dressing room that she has decorated to make homey. She has a monitor and DVD player and had watched "Milk" between shows that day.
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