COURAGE NEEDED AND WISDOM GAINED

I am told that this remarkable fellow is known in literature as "Father Courage". Courage is an interesting word. Here's what great minds have said about it:

Helen Keller:
We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.
Henry David Thoreau:
When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.
James Freeman Clarke:
Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.
John Quincy Adams:
Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

Of course I love Thoreau's and John Quincy Adams the best. It took a lot of it to put on "A Little Bit of Broadway" I invested a lot, gained a lot of courage and wisdom, but I also lost a big one. In all the effort to invest in the show, including refreshment funds, tickets, nice programs, props etc. etc, I neglected to make the payment on my second car and on Tuesday, they came to re-possess it. In all of my life, I have NEVER had a car or anything else for that matter re-possessed. Now true, it was an older car, a 2003 Ford Focus-- yes, that same Ford Focus that was in that accident back in October of 2006 , hit by a lady without a license and insurance and the one that I invested so much repair money into, but it was a big, big devastating blow. I've barely left the house since. My credit is now shot. Now, it's true, by walking away I will save $257.00 a month in car payments and $49 a month in insurance, but it's still a big blow for me. Blame the show? Well, I almost did-- but it was ME-- not that show. I managed to pay for the playhouse rental, but let too many other expenses do me in. Well, lesson learned the hard way. I am trying to motivate myself into continuing, but its very hard. Guess, I'll be stuck in this apartment a long time unless I win the lottery. I can't even motivate myself to go to church today. But, maybe this is just another way to show me that "God Draws Straight With Crooked Lines". I need for Him to show me that just about now. A little sign from Him would sure help. I guess it will take some time and I really need to find a job, but I can't even get an interview and all applications are handled on line these days! Maybe an answer will come along. I sure the hell hope so.

LITTLE BIT AFTERWARDS

This was the logo that we used for our extended production of "A Little Bit of Broadway at the Promenade Playhouse in Santa Monica. There were many lessons learned here. One of the biggest we learned is that Santa Monica, California-- at least the folks walking up and down the Third Street Promenade are not theatre folk. One guy actually walked up to me and asked me what a musical was! Another wanted to know what "Broadway" was. People are there to shop, eat, go to a movie and talk incessantly on their cell phone. I am beginning to realize that the economy will be able to recover only because of the cell phone which (maybe some law I don't know about was passed) they can actually go outside and not be without one minute without talking incessantly to some one. Men, women, kids, grandmothers-- dear God, the regular telephone company will be going out of business because of the cell phone. But there is no one there or damn few at best that will or can be enticed to see any kind of play in a playhouse-- be it musical, be it drama, be it anything but a stand up comics show. And the comic show gets an audience of about seventeen or eighteen out of sixty-three seats. Only okay because these guys pay no rent to the theatre because early on they did lots of labor at the playhouse, itself when it first opened to make it all a reality in the first place. We did better in Hollywood-- with all of its congestion, traffic, street closures because of a Jimmy Kimmel special or a movie premiere or Even a Hollywood Blvd street fair. Santa Monica parking is an absolute breeze if you park in the PARKING GARAGES and not the PARKING LOTS. If you enter at 6pm, you can literally park all night (yes, the garages are open twenty-four hours) for a flat rate of $3. Al day is only $7.00 and there are LOTS of parking garages. As far as the production itself, we were proud of our efforts, the show got even better than before and we know how to rewrite it now. There were lots of people involved with the show who quit, broke their word and didn't keep commitments and promises. But for the most part we had a sterling cast. Amazing performers who gave their all. Good people like Brice Oates, Megan Cordero, Nick Sweet, Robert Wiener, Sarah Jane Marsh and especially dear Walt Hochbrucker. There were many expenses that just about did me in, but I'm happy I at least tried to get this mounted. I was simply amazed at the people who make a commitment and then quit when they can't have their own way. The human ego is simply amazing.In the play, I have a line that goes "Ego is for getting out of bed and performing IN bed --and everything else is bullshit!" Other lessons learned? Never let a con man into your life. Don't allow people to give you an ultimatum and you go folding like an accordion. And when some one makes a promise to you-- get it in writing. But okay-- maybe find a better venue or find a great way to market and promote it better. And a great big thank you to Adam Sowers who literally came in at the last minute and made the show so refreshing and wonderful. So there it is and I thank all of those who did attend. My family didn't for the most part and the one sister who did come left at half time because of a babysitter-- oh well-- guess you just can't rely on family for support anymore. That was very hurtful. My sisters simply want me to change to their way of thinking or they are going to simply walk away emotionally claiming they are far too busy with their own lives. How sad is that! Maybe when I'm gone they will regret this decision. What they don't realize is that if I were famous, rich, well-off, etc and "perfect", why the hell would I need them? I wouldn't call except maybe at Christmas-- and they would say "My brother is famous!" What would that get them?

MOVING ON UP

Our difficulties were great at the Hollywood Fight Club. We will exit here with the joy that we got through it despite censorship that threatened to close us down after Friday night to moving on up... to the Third Street Promenade and playing three additional performances at the really beautiful Promenade Playhouse at 1404 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It's well lit and very cozy and three times the size of the Fight Club Theatre. It actually has two full bathrooms available to ether cast or crew or public. At the Fight Club, there was no public restrooms except way upstairs and down a dark hall. There really wasn't an actor's bathroom because that bathroom was loaded with props-- YES PROPS-- you had to literally crawl around furniture and stools and drops etc to somehow squeeze your poor butt on a toilet seat. But now we are moving on up to the Promenade Theatre which is two blocks from the Santa Monica pier. I came up with the idea of renting a theatre and dividing the cost equally among our ten cast members-- then we gave them tickets at $20- 22 each for them to sell or give away at a discount and keep the money. Immediate return on your $100.00 investment. And so, now, "A Little Bit of Broadway" will play in a very swanky place where hundreds of tourists will be enjoying the Memorial Day Weekend. I was really amused by the fact that the owner of the Fight Club Theatre who had threatened to close us down on last Friday night--if we did not cut our show to be less than two hours. Well we cut three scenes, three songs and a finale and made it.

Now with our move, we can add the stuff back in that we cut and we control the box office and the Refreshment Counter/ We will go down on Friday and put out banners and posters and try to attract the tourist public. We will not return to the Fight Club Theatre--it held a few blessings-- like our amazing cast but it also held more problems than you could ever imagine. Thank God for our lead Brice Oates--he's absolutely amazing. So id you're in the area we will play at "The Promenade" on Friday, May 22, 23rd (8pm) and Sunday, May 24th 7pm) Come on down! WE will restore some of our cuts!

WE MADE IT-- BUT OH WHAT A JOURNEY

Upon this little stage on Friday, May 8th arrived the premiere of our original musical "A Little Bit of Broadway". By its second performance the following day, it was finally good, but that opening night was a bit disastrous. Not exactly a train wreck, you understand, but "technical difficulties" over the sound made it pretty bad. We had recorded all the tracks from SONIC files and some were WAV files. Warning: you simply can not mix the two on one CD--it will not play. What seemed like a sure cancellation of the show was averted only by God Himself. Now to set this up properly, this theatre simply will NOT spend any money on itself except at its once a year improvement drive. We had two huge old speakers in which we were getting monaural sound out of at best. It crackled and hissed and spat if you raised the volume and from certain parts of the theatre, you simply could not hear the actors on stage and when you lowered it, the actors couldn't hear the music to sing with. So I knew that I had to take matters in my own hands. This theatre charges each actor $285.00 to be in show unless you "earn a membership" by being a stage manager once a year and an audition monitor six times in one year and a "house manager" six times in one year and attend a weekend cleanup, twice a year. After that you qualify to be in any play for free. Well that winds up (when you add up all the hours in those projects) being about 4 months of hard work in one calendar year. A big investment. However you are allowed to bring in as many industry comps as you want for free (instead of the usual two to three comps per actor) . This theatre makes big bucks whether or not an audience shows up at the door. Well, I knew by the morning of "opening night" that the sound was going to be a VERY big problem. I went out with a guy whom I had cast in the show, but ended up not being able to attend rehearsals. Now, here is a lesson to be learned by all. Because God indeed "draws straight with crooked lines"-- if I had simply fired this man because I got tired of hearing "I have to attend this gig, because I need the money!", the show would have simply been the entire train wreck that seemed coming. But something (the Dear Lord whispering in my ears) "Don't judge a man's inability to help you NOW, when he might be able to help you a LOT more later." Everyone in the cast was laughing at this man who wants to act and perform more than anything else in the world, had committed to a part, didn't have to pay the fee because he was replacing another actor who had (no money back if you quit a show) and yet was not able to show up for an entire nine days of rehearsals to earn some income. So I wrote him a nice note when anyone else would have sent a Dear John letter to and ladies and gentlemen reading this blog, Joey Vitale saved the day. First he tried to get the theatre owner to buy something to replace the sound with-- absolutely no go. When a guy is CHEAP-- dear God-- get out of the way! So I could close the show and have zero credibility for the future or do something. So Joey and I went shopping -- I knew I couldn't buy anything new. But again, the Good Lord came through and planted a word in my brain-- that word was "Pawn Shop". I can not even begin to remember the last time that I bought ANYTHING in a pawn shop. The first one on La Cienga had NOTHING. The second on Santa Monica Blvd had a great receiver for $160.00 plus tax. Now what I know about electronic gear you could not fill a thimble with. But then again, there was God-send Joey Vitale. He examined this device from top to bottom and sideways-- and when it would connect up to a woofer, but was okay for our purposes, we got it reduced to to $120.00 plus tax. Then dear Joey brought his own speakers from home and made a surround sound set up in that theatre that you simply had to hear to believe. Then he fixed the non operative DVD player in the sound booth. Another hidden blessing on its way. Okay, I thought, we are ALL SET. But be careful please of over confidence, because these actors save TWO and three quarters of another were simply not ready line wise. Then the CDS would not play on the CD player. The only solution was to play them on the DVD player-- (which you will recall Joey fixed as well) which was okay for what we recorded, but not for commercial tracks-- and of course a DVD player will skip over any track that has an interference path in it of any kind. So the sound was a true disaster with the wrong tracks playing at the wrong time. That really spooked the actors. Who says horses are the only creatures who spook easily? And then the show was too long-- a problem that has visited me before. Okay -- opening night was pretty bad-- the show with sound delays went three hours with intermission and of course since this theatre books rehearsals and auditions around the clock we ran into a scheduled rehearsal for a director who had won three Emmys-- OMG-- We thought it was over. But again with God's help, we transferred everything over to an I POD and we cut the show significantly by at least three scenes and one song and we did much better on the second night. By not having anyone move things off stage during breaks , we shaved off twenty minutes. Then the song was three minutes and the scenes were a total of eleven minutes-- big difference. We still need to cut one song and perhaps the opening which features an EMCEE. But at least the CAST was happy and we had a great cast party last night at Micelli's- who gave us 25% off all our food. Micellis' is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and in honor of that every Monday and Tuesday in May and June, they are offering one entree at regular price and a second at equal or lesser value at sixty cents. Not too bad. So today we have performance number three at 7PM and all fingers are crossed. Today is also the birthday of Fred Astaire and auspiciously enough the birthday of John Wilkes Booth. Did you know the last role that Booth played before he assassinated Lincoln in April of 1865 was to play Marc Anthony In the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar in November of 1864 with his other world famous brother Edwin. Fascinating. The lesson-- choose a cast more carefully and TRUST GOD-- He will ALWAYS come through eventually. He might need to teach you a lesson, first, but He is always there before you CRASH. More later. God Bless us TONIGHT.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE FANTASTIKS

Today is the 50th anniversary of one of the best musicals of all time. Yes, "The Fantastiks" premiered today at the Sullivan playhouse, Off Broadway, New York City. Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones proved you could take a giant story and play it in an Off-Broadway house to great success. It is also the birthday of Betty Comden. Together with Adolph Green they made Broadway history.Their stage work of the 1950s included the revue Two on the Aisle, starring Bert Lahr and Dolores Gray, with music by Jule Styne; Wonderful Town, a musical adaptation of the play My Sister Eileen with music by Bernstein; and Bells Are Ringing, which reunited them with Judy Holliday and Jule Styne. The score, including the standards "Just in Time", "Long Before I Knew You", and "The Party's Over", proved to be one of their richest. Comden and Green contributed additional lyrics to the 1954 musical Peter Pan, translated and streamlined Die Fledermaus for the Metropolitan Opera and collaborated with Styne on songs for the play-with-music Say, Darling.
In 1958, they appeared on Broadway in A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a revue that included some of their early sketches. It was a critical and commercial success, and they brought an updated version back to Broadway in 1977.Comden and Green's Broadway work in the 1960s included four collaborations with Jule Styne. They wrote the lyrics for Do Re Mi, and the book and lyrics for Subways Are For Sleeping, Fade Out - Fade In, and Hallelujah, Baby! Their Hallelujah, Baby! score won a Tony Award.Comden and Green wrote the libretto for the 1970 musical Applause, an adaptation of the film All About Eve, and wrote the book and lyrics for 1978's On the Twentieth Century, with music by Cy Coleman. Comden also played the role of Letitia Primrose in that musical when original star Imogene Coca left the show. Comden and Green's final musical hit was 1991's The Will Rogers Follies, providing lyrics to Cy Coleman's music. Our rehearsal for "Little Bit Of Broadway" yesterday at the Fashion Square Mall's Community Room was very very good and very promising. All fingers and toes are crossed for the grand opening on Friday, May 8th at 8pm.

KATE SMITH'S ONE HUNDRETH BIRTHDAY

Today, May 1st would have been Kate Smith's one hundredth birthday. There is not one performer in the world who ever thrilled and influenced me more than dear Kate. If you made it on to her daily variety show on NBC television "you had definitely arrived" in your career. There was not one performer who could hit the last note of "The Impossible Dream" from "The Man Of La Mancha" (as it was written originally by composer Mitch Leigh) as she could. As a little boy, I was so mesmerized by this enchanting and wonderfully warm individual. She thrilled me as no other performer had thrilled me before-- and bar none none of this age except perhaps Josh Groban even comes close. Kathryn Elizabeth Smith was born May 1, 1909, in Greenville, Va., and grew up in Washington, D.C. Her father was a wholesale magazine distributor. As a baby, she failed to talk until she was 4 years old. But a year later she was singing in church socials and by the time she was 8 she was singing for the troops at Army camps in the Washington area during World War I. Alarmed by his daughter's evident penchant for the stage, William Smith made her take up nursing at George Washington University Hospital. She stuck it out a few months, quit and got herself on the bill at Keith's Theater as a singer. Heading the bill there was the actor and producer Eddie Dowling who signed up the young singer for a revue he was preparing. It was called ''Honeymoon Lane,'' and it opened in Atlantic City on Aug. 29, 1926. A month later it moved to Broadway. A review in The New York Times on Oct. 31, 1926, under the heading ''A Sophie Tucker Rival,'' said: ''A 19-year-old girl, weighing in the immediate neighborhood of 200 pounds, is one of the discoveries of the season for those whose interests run to syncopators and singers of what in the varieties and nightclubs are known as 'hot' songs. Kate Smith is the newcomer's not uncommon name.'' She was actually only 17 at the time.From ''Honeymoon Lane,'' dear Kate went into the road company of Vincent Youmans's ''Hit the Deck,'' where she won acclaim singing ''Hallelujah!'' Back in New York she took the company lead in George White's ''Flying High,'' which opened at the Apollo Theater on March 3, 1930, and ran for 122 performances. Portraying a character known as Pansy Sparks, Miss Smith's role was to be the butt of Bert Lahr's (yes, the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard Of Oz) often cruel jibes about her girth. She said later that she often wept with humiliation in her dressing room after the show. One evening, Ted Collins, a representative for Columbia Records, saw the show and heard Kate Smith sing for the first time. He sent a note backstage and asked her to see him in his office. When she appeared a few days later, it marked the beginning of a show-business association that lasted 34 years, ending with Mr. Collins's death in 1964. Kate Smith was baptized as a Roman Catholic in 1965. In 1976, my dear friend Tim Doran played "God Bless America" at a benefit for the last time. He didn't realize what a legend she had become and still was. She have him a note that basically said "why, I have I never met you before" and complimented my dear friend very much. I would have given my eye teeth to have met her. Today, I'm going to offer a little prayer to dear Kate. Maybe she'll send a blessing or two towards our little show that has encountered every little conflict you could imagine. God love you, dear Kate Smith! Happy one hundredth birthday wherever in heaven you may be!

THE STRUGGLE GOES ON AND A LYRICIST'S BIRTHDAY

"A Little Bit of Broadway" continues to be plagued with problems. And we open next Friday night-- May 8th at 8pm. First my dear partner John got struck down with two abscess teeth that has pretty much knocked him out for a few days, Bronchitis has struck my lead actor, two more actors on existing on Top Ramen noodles and one actress misses rehearsals because her job is in a smoke filled bar that renders her hoarse and sick. Another is so broke, he barely gets to the theatre and work. Then our stage manager has had a boss threaten him with termination-- so he has not been there as he should. Will this show go on? Who knows? On a positive note, today is the 85th birthday of lyricist Sheldon Harnick. Sheldon of course is most closely associated with Jerry Bock on such classic musicals as "Fiddler On The Roof", "She Loves Me" and one that he wrote with the late Joe Raposso ("Sing-- Sing A Song) based on the "It's A Wonderful Life" movie. And today dear Eve Arden would have been one hundred and one. I did think of something witty about those who face upside down mortgages: "I may be under water, but I'm still above ground." Well, pray for us. We are going to need all the prayers we can get.

THE END OF A CHORUS LINE

This is the day back in 1990 that that amazing marathon musical "A Chorus Line" closed after 6,137 performances. What an incredible story and original score. It was eventually surpassed by "Cats" and of course "Phantom Of The Opera" but it still ranks as one of the greatest musicals ever produced. The recent revival was a big success as well but of course nothing matches the majesty of the original. Today for all actors is yet another milestone birthday-- the 120th birthday of Lionel Barrymore. A great actor and a great acting family. I read where there will be a new Broadway musical of "Giant" written by Edna Ferber ("Showboat") I am old enough to remember the huge 1960 Warner Brothers movie that starred Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. I remember sitting through it at the movies back when I was thirteen years old. How it will fare as a musical will yet to be seen. The lights of of the marquees on Broadway will be dimmed for one minute tonight in honor of the passing of another Broadway legend- Bea Arthur. Wherever you are at 8pm EDT -- TONIGHT please pause and think a great thought in that one minute to the lady who gave the world so much entertainment and laughter. She was once asked if she thought she was being typecast by doing "The Golden Girls" on TV after she had played the caustic "Maude"-- she said "There's isn't enough time in life to worry about being type-cast, worry more about being typed in living your life-- as if one day simply repeated another!" Our musical "Little Bit Of Broadway progresses nicely though the flu has certainly played havoc on things. But we will succeed with God's help. We've got some wonderful performers at last-- but it really shook my tree at first! I read also that California is having a special election on May 19th on many issues including improving the lottery-- making it easier to win and benefiting schools more evenly. I am in favor of that one! Oh to win that lottery! My!My!

WE WILL MISS YOU, BEA ARTHUR

Dear sweet Bea Arthur-- you, dear heart brought more laughter into my life than a lot of other comedians. I adored "The Golden Girls" and "Maude". The writing was exactly what Danny Simon had taught as truly honest. It was direct, it was on the nose and it was never contrived. But it was also that unique voice of yours--that voice that brought us Vera in "Mame" and those wonderful songs "Bosom Buddies" and "The Man In The Moon". God rest you. Go and make Him laugh-- Lord knows He needs it! The musical is really beginning to take shape, despite a few illnesses in the cast. There is a lot of work to do in the less than two weeks before we go on, but despite the road blocks, it has been a wonderful experience. And working with John has been a pure joy. Not like some collaborators passed whom I had to beg and cajole to get them to finish the score. Oh well, John is a true professional in every aspect of the word. So stay tuned here for more developments. We have a rehearsal today at 6:30 to 10pm at the theatre and work with actor Joey Vitale at noon.

Only on this blog will you find out some of the most interesting information. The picture is REAL portrait of the last of the Tudor Kings, dear old Henry the VIII of England. He was crowned King of All England on this very special day FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO . Now this is the way dear old Henry really looked not as television portrayed him recently. Now here is something I did not know. HENRY VIII was a SONGWRITER. The composition that you see on this page is a copy of the manuscript that he composed all those many years ago. My writing partner, John Nugent reminds me that there were chords or modern Harmonic progression. And yet this little tune called "Past Times With Good Company" was a very popular song back in 1509. It is said it was written for Catherine of Aragon. Speaking of notable events, today is also the birthday of William Shakespeare. And yes, just in acse you are curious the musical goes on. WE have finally filled the cast and we are working for our grand premiere on May 8th at 8pm. All fingers are crossed here. Boy, who would have ever guessed this could have been so hard, but with God's help, all will go well. I trust in Him completely!

Very funny cartoon today about the economy, but I think that even with the abuses, we will somehow get out of this mess that we have dug ourselves into. Today in history was the beginning of Paul Revere's ride in 1975. He was an amazingly handsome gentlemen and I still say my friend Tony Westbrook resembles him. Today also would have been the birthday of the great Leopold Stokowski of "Fantasia" fame. He died way back in 1977. What an amazing presence this amazing man commanded in the professional classical musical world. Also today Grace Kelly married Prince Rainer way back in 1956. I actually rode a tour bus on that infamously notorious road that she was killed on way back in 1977. What a bumpy ride that miserable road was-- especially at night. And today is the twentieth anniversary of the students riot for democracy in China. I can still see that student standing in proud defiance in front of that approaching Chinese tank. And today is also the anniversary of the first baseball game played in Yankee Stadium in 1923. The Yankees won against the Boston Red Sox in an almost shut out game of 4-1. And hurray, "Little Bit of Broadway replaced its missing cast member and we had a great rehearsal yesterday. It was really nice to see that happen. Oh yes, today also would have been the birthday of Lucrezia Borgia (she lived only to the age of thirty-nine) Dear old Lucrezia you know murdered a lot of men as the legend goes. John and I became interested in writing a musical about her when we discovered in research that she was actually the illegitimate daughter of a reigning pope! Good Lord! John and I have this idea that maybe dear old Lucrezia murdered all the men she did out of revenge for being the illegitimate daughter of this same pope-- maybe a female "Sweeney Todd". And today was significant in yet another way-- the great San Fransisco earthquake struck early this day in 1906, killing three thousand innocent people and took the city down by fire. Another fact few people know. Enrico Caruso performed in San Francisco the night before and was actually stuck at the city's dock in a bold escape from his burning hotel. Caruso blamed himself for the quake-- because, now get this-- he actually thought that the quake was God's punishment for what he sang ("La Boheme") the night before. So distressed was the great artist, that he vowed never to perform in San Fransisco again-- and he never did. Wow, talk about a guilt trip! John and I would like to write a musical about his night on the docks. What might he have imagined in this disturbed and panicked state of mind? We shall see what happens with this subject.

A DREAM COMES TRUE AND HOPE FOR ANOTHER

The dreams of Susan Boyle are indeed coming true-- and wait until you hear this: The performance by the 47-year-old on the show "Britain's Got Talent" which aired April 11 was watched by an average of 10.3 million viewers, and now has been viewed over four million times on YouTube already. The song has now entered the mid-week single Billboard charts at number 60. The original cast recording of the song, featuring Tony and Olivier winner Patti LuPone, is now number one in the I tunes vocal download chart. Cameron Mackintosh has echoed the comments of judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, saying, "Just like the judges and audience I was gob-smacked by the emotional powerhouse performance of Susan Boyle's show stopping rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream.' Vocally it is one of the best versions of the song I've ever heard. Touching, thrilling and uplifting. I do hope she gets to sing it for the Queen." God love you, Susan Boyle-- God indeed makes dreams come true. How much does he love us? I think He really enjoys surprising and delighting us each and every day. And now, John and I go to try and have the first day of rehearsal without soap opera drama. I sure wish Tony Westbrook was here-- I simply would have built in sanity in the chaos. I'm hoping this show is a pure smash-- then john and I can work on making this theatre wonderful. I read a story today about a man who was thrown out of Yankee Stadium last August 26th because he went to the bathroom during the singing of "God Bless America" . The Yankees have an official policy that everyone has to be in their seats or standing in front of them while the song is paid. Now the guy is suing the city of New York and the Yankees for nineteen million dollars for being "mortally embarrassed". I wonder just how you get to being "mortally embarrassed?" And I also wonder how anyone can require anyone to stand and be reverent towards a commercial song. Now, don't get me wrong, I love "God Bless America" and I love Irving Berlin. And this song's royalty income was willed by Berlin to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America (it makes up 34% of their budget together) but I would think that no one can impose rules about the behavior of an individual while a song is playing. And after all, even if belief in God has nothing to do with this (because that's what America is about), what if the guy really had to go to the bathroom? I would think it would have to be printed on the ticket as a condition of admission-- then if you didn't observe the rule, there would be cause for that ejection. Oh well, another lawsuit and more back log for the courts-- what can I say? Wish us luck today!

This entire "Little Bit Of Broadway" experience has been "Quite A Road" Filled with more drama than most soap operas. While we finally got everything cast, we almost lost another actor! The time for rehearsal had come today and our lead didn't show up at the proper time. Something told me to delay rehearsal even though it was now 12:11 pm and we were at that point eleven minutes late. I called the actor's phone number. Poor Kyle Caldwell was graduating from The Actor's Academy in Hollywood this weekend. He was set to stay at a friend's house for the summer until he found a job and his proud parents were coming out to see him graduate. He was not going to call because he was so overwhelmed with grief because one day after his audition with me, Kyle's good friend and fellow graduate (age twenty-three) went through a complete nervous breakdown and now his housing was gone, because now a nurse was going to move into the house that KYLE was going to move in. Now right after graduation, he was going to fly back with his parents, stay home and save money for a couple of years and then come out and try his dream again. Oh No! So I took the bull by the horns and announced to the cast Kyle's dilemma. Within five minutes, he had four offers of a place to stay for at least thru the opening of the play. Hollywood is indeed a "strange Little town" It's very ego driven sometimes, but sometimes it really does surprise you. So it looks like Kyle is still in and we still have a whole cast and we open May 8th at 8pm. Oh yes, the actor who was going to be Kyle never showed--AGAIN. Poor Josh, better go home and tell mom you aren't going to become an actor after all. Spaghetti Dinner tonight was a highlight and kinda soothed the rough edges of today's four hour rehearsals. We did manage a new read-through of the play with the virtually brand new cast. Wow-- there's a play in this!

More News later!

SIGNS OF HOPE-- MORE ACTORS FOUND= DRAMA CONTINUES

Well now it's only a matter of time. We auditioned two men today at the final audition for "A Little Bit Of Broadway. One young man named Kyle and was wonderful in audition! He had called in to make an audition appointment at the last moment and came to read. He was wonderful! Oh he's low on money and has to make payments for the pro-production fee, but that's okay! and one gentleman named Walter tried out for the role of John Kotter and was absolutely wonderful! He sang "Marian, the Librarian" from "Music Man" and blew me away! He wrote a check for the pro production fee directly. And one who read the part of Bruce last week is actually scheduled to pay his fee today! So that's three down and one to go. We have one young man who wants the role of Peter (the last we must fill) but is not so committed as the others (playing a gay character on stage is really tough on him) The surprise is a gentleman by the name of Danny Epstein who had first turned us down flat. I decided to write him a letter of persuasion. Well we went from "NO, absolutely" to Okay, I can come up with $50.00. That won't cut it. I wrote him another letter and I used a very persuasive statement. "Wouldn't you just die, if this show skyrocketed and went to Broadway and you were in line two years later, Equity card in hand- Eighty-two guys are ahead of you in line. You happen to mention to the guy in front of you that you could have had this part two years ago with a very simple audition, but you turned it down for a little fee. Imagine how fast that little fact would spread to the top of the line and what the reaction to that little revelation would be? Especially if you had a copy of the email that i had sent to you? That persuaded him. Make payments--okay-- but we at "absolutely no" before. We will see what tomorrow brings when the first rehearsal since "the rebellion" of Good Friday last week. Stay tuned! More drama to come!

WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED IT WOULD BE THIS HARD?

This little stage if God permits will be the premiere stage of our new musical "A Little Bit Of Broadway" but the difficulties and the heartbreaks of getting this little show off the ground has been astronomical. My two leads quit after three rehearsals (including a simple read-through) because they didn't like John and mine's directing style --which is very loose and collaborative with actor's choices. They said that they needed strict "chess piece" directing with an actor required to move to a certain spot on a certain word or line. Casting actors because they can move to a certain spot or display a certain emotion on a certain key word or line to me is very boring. It's stilted and mechanical at best. One casts actors because they can actually bring something to a role and can bring out the other performances in a fellow actor. They called our style of directing "very scary for an actor". Well, they should have prepared their character. If an actor had really delved into his character than free association with it would not be scary at all. These guys are far too community theatre minded. And to quit without saying a word at the rehearsal --except to display moody behavior is dishonest in my opinion. Now I know why this theatre has a pro production fee. It not only pays expenses, but it keeps actors honest and makes them think twice before they quit. Of course, when you're used to community (Glendale Centre Theatre) standards and you are rich, you may complain like hell that you paid the fee, it may make you feel that paying that fee gives you special rights and privileges and you may expect that the dressing rooms should be Broadway star quality and that there needs to be a lot of room backstage for actors "to breathe" (which Kenneth and James did) you don't even care that you've just lost $285.00. They also complained that they had to provide their own personal props and costumes. Gee, isn't that what great theatre is? But we also lost an old friend in the cast because she decided to put $1100 into an old car and bow out of our show. We had another who declared the indignity of paying a fee. Well who pays the bills without contributions? Do you think selling out fifty-three seats each night for six performances pays $5900.00 a month rent? Or mandatory liability insurance? Or Programs, tickets, stage managers and publicity? The Theatre fairy is not anywhere around, I'm afraid. John and I actually found a theatre in Sherman Oaks on Ventura that rents out for $250.00 a night without a stage manager or programs and tickets provided and without liability insurance. It has less seats than ours (46) Ours is 53. It has a smaller stage than what you see in the picture and guess who's starring on it's "very small stage" right at this moment? It's LaVar Burton, the one time star of "Roots" and Star Trek TNG. Well it has smaller dressing areas and a much smaller lobby and the parking is horrendous to non-existent-- surrounded by streets in which permits are required to park there. We've lost another cast member because he refuses to pay to act. Well, hell what does he save by NOT having to have on hand two hundred and fifty copies of his picture and resume' once required when i was an agent, but thanks to the Internet, no longer. Actors have had family tragedies and the like and we are needing four actors just to open this opus. John and I are not giving up, however. We are calling in actors from every list we can find. We've had an offer to video tape digitally for FREE thanks to a friends of a cast member. We have offered the actors the chance to go into a recording studio at our expense and record their songs. The fee pays the rent and the liability insurance. Things you would need to pay for if you simply rented a theatre on Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood. This theatre is in the center of Hollywood, itself, two and a half blocks from where they hand out the Oscars. In real estate, they call that "location, location, and location!" I wish actors would realize that one hundred percent of nothing is always absolutely everlasting nothing. Do you pay to prepare for an audition-- YES. Do you pay to research a role before you go to an audition? YES AGAIN. If you got a ticket because you parked wrong at an audition would you yell the same argument? Of course not! I love my country, but I would rather pay $285.00 (which by the way You get back with free comp tickets for your agents and managers and other industry professionals) than pay it in taxes to the Federal government. I've personally seen the hammer that the federal government paid ten grand for and the toilet seat that our dear federal government paid twenty thousand dollars for! I think actors need to realize that sometimes you "gotta pay your dues".

Hell, what does it cost you to drive these days? Do you complain about that too? The actor has to realize that without sacrifice there is no gain. If something comes too easily, it goes away even faster. Like the three pigs story-- build your career out of free sticks and free straw and your "acting house" gets blown down by the very first "big bad wolf of show business." We will go on! We will succeed. And God may draw straight with crooked lines, but that's okay, because with faith in Him, we are going to have one hell of a great show.

FIRST REHEARSAL LITTLE BIT OF BROADWAY

It's been a long time since I actually put on a musical of mine, but I never dreamed how difficult all of this would be. We have had more roadblocks than any other production. It is taking the purest form of tenacity on my part to stay in this whole thing. Actors count lines and quit if they feel the part isn't large enough. Actors balk at putting on ageing makeup because current casting directors who attend their performances won't "see them" as they really are and won't cast them in current commercials because they don't. There are actors who commit to a part, are truly excited about a part and then they never show up for a rehearsal. And they don't respond to cell phone calls or e mails. I call it "the great silence of the Internet generation" No actor today wants to give their address or city on an information form (how would I send them a check if I were a paying producer or if I wanted to reward them later on down the road because I had done well with a later production and wanted to share the wealth with the original cast?) The Hollywood Fight Club has much potential here, but it lacks a very important word. And that word, dear friends is communication. And now the Artistic Director that John and I were hired under was fired by the owner. All because she didn't communicate and couldn't handle the stress. How can a Harvard graduate and a former captain in in the Air Force not able to handle stress? But our show goes on--for now. We need to cast a few more actors and with God's help we will, but wow! The ego of actors today is mind blowing! And the excuses they give are absolutely amazing. I've heard it said that an actor can justify "anything" in his head". I know that now to be so true. But this is going to be an amazing show. The cast loves the script and they love the songs and every time I think of wanting to quit I say a little prayer and I remember the sheer tenacity of my friend Tony Westbrook in New York City. God I wish he were here! Tony has had some of these same problems directing shows out here.And so the first blocking rehearsal is today at noon until four pm. Think good thoughts for us. And maybe just maybe, we can really pull this off. Now trust me, many years ago "Skylark" had a lot of the same problems of ego, but it was a totally different kind. And we were also dealing with a school of the arts who were pretty clueless when it came to theatre business. Back in those days, "Equity Wavier" didn't cost a producer anything except for a promise that if the show went on to Broadway, the original cast had to be offered the Broadway role or two weeks Equity scale pay. Today the producer of the show must pay Actor's Equity a fee of $500.00 and guarantee each actor a stipend of $25 or more each per performance based ion the number of seats you have in your theatre. When we were having great difficulties with some members of that particular cast, the director of the School of the Arts putting on the show (who held a PHD in theatre no less) thought the answer to his problems would be solved by dumping the "Equity Wavier" status, firing the equity cast who were working for free and going "Non-Equity"-- no difference in those days except for the "Broadway commitment' if the show went on to bigger and better. I'm still laughing over that one! Twenty-five years later! So I'll keep you posted here on our progress.

AUDITION FOUR-- SO MUCH NETTER THAN THREE

Audition # 3 was a big waste of time, but what a difference two days make at audition # 4. John and I were able to cast most of "A Little Bit of Broadway" on that one date.

They came from out of the woodwork and we actually had people walk away because the waiting time was so long. I'd love to see the theatre implement a better system. Perhaps when Google Search is fully implemented we can do this. For the role of Peter we found Ken Martinez. He will platy the part of Peter Greer. To demonstrate what a very small world this, Ken was a teenage kid actor at the Gallery Theatre back in the early 1980's -- the very theatre where I got my start with the Wizard of Oz in Ontario, Ca. He knew all of the people that I knew including Mark Shipley and his brood and Duane Thomas, Pam and Howard Wilson, Goody Goodel, the late Mike Tosha and Larry Newman (who played my Cowardly Lion and Tin Man respectfully. A really wonderful actor by the name of Chris Stolz will play Kirby Craig. Michelle Fox will play Helen King, Megan Cordero will play Janet Hardy. Sarah Marsh will play Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert Jones will play Billy Moore. We're hoping to confirm casting on all the other roles and cast the roles of John Kotter and Sam potter on auditions that take place on March 31st. We were even approached of doing a second run in June at the same theatre and we're attempting to double cast the show with a proposal to let Chris and Ken exchange roles a(that are so closely entwined emotionally) for the second run. We added a song for Eleanor Roosevelt (did anyone know how many times she was cheated on by FDR and how many times that she cheated on him-- even had a lesbian relationship, but had an arrangement to "stay together" for the children's sake. A scandal like that today would have sunk any presidential candidate today. Can you imagine how scary the world would have been without FDR as president? We also added a song for the character of Peter called "Old Flames"-- it's been in the trunk for years as Irving Berlin used to say. "You just never throw a great song away." More developments later that I'll report here. John and I are now very excited about the prospects for this one. I see where Llyoyd Weber's new incarnation of the Phantom "Love Never Dies" will actually start rehearsing three different companies at once in London at one time. The London Production, The Shanghai show and the show for Toranto which eventually will become the Broadway Cast that will occupy the Neil Simon Theatre. The London production will open in late October or early November of this year. John and i may rehearse two companies at once too if we get our second tier (run) of the show in June. The first production opens May 8th and runs for six performances on May 8th at 8pm, May 9th at 3pm and May 10th at 8pm. Followed by three more shows on May 15th, 16th, and 17th with the same times as above. So far with God's help, so good!

AUDITION DAY NUMBER TWO

Well, the second audition for the production of our musical was held yesterday (Monday) and it looks like we may have found some great people by pure God-send. They had actually come in for other non-musical shows that the Hollywood Fight Club Theatre is doing, and ended up reading for us. We have found actors Brandon Matthews for the role of Peter, Chris Stoltz for the role of Kirby, Meagan Cordero for the role of Janet and Michelle Fox for the role of Helen. That's four roles down and six to go. The theatre is a little "black box" theatre with seventy-one seats which is not bad. It's certainly one of the most adult stories that I've written and the music and lyrics I am very pleased with. The next audition is tomorrow (Wednesday) at the theatre between the hours of 1 and 3:30 pm. So keep good thoughts for us. John and I are directing the show. The musical tracks really sound amazing! Thanks to Smooth Sound Studios and John's incredible talents using Finale 2009. More news soon!

AN HISTORIC ACT THAT DIDN'T GET APPROVED

Well this was the day that way back in 1972 that the United States Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment thus completing Congressional action on the on the far reaching amendment, act of law that would have prohibited discrimination based on sex by any law or action of any government -- in other words, Proposition Eight last election could not have been put on the ballot at all. had this historic act passed. The 43-year struggle of feminists to get the amendment through Congress ended at 4:38 P.M. when the 84-to-8 vote was announced. Now here's one thing that I didn't know: Just Thirty-two minutes later, Hawaii became the first state to ratify the amendment when the state Senate and House of Representatives registered its approval at 12:10 P.M. Hawaiian standard time (5:10 P.M. Eastern standard time.)The Senate galleries, which were filled with women of all ages and more than a few men, mostly young, applauded, cheered and let out a few cowboy yells despite having been warned in advance by Senator William V. Roth, Jr., Republican of Delaware, who was presiding, that such demonstrations were not permitted.The next and final step before the amendment could become law. Unfortunately as we all know seven years came and went and it failed to have ratification by all thirty-eight states as required by the Constitution. Sad. On this same historic day, way way back in 1765, the British passed the historic tax known in the "Stamp Act"-- and soon the battle cry "No taxation without representation was born. Prohibition was amended on this very historic day when FDR declared that beer and wine with an Alcohol content of less than 3.2 was now legal. FDR had only been president eighteen days. Funny thing, Chief Executives don't have to sign constitutional amendments approved by the states, but presidents have the power to change a constitutional amendment--without approval of the states! How strange is that? Also funny is this cartoon about AIG executives getting their BIG BONUSES-- absolutely outrageous. Jay Leno said it best The AIG folks are really trying to save money by selling their big corporate headquarters in New York City. It has sixty-six stories-- and not one of them is true-- that's EARL, BROTHER! And tomorrow with alkl fingers crossed will be audition day #2-- let us pray!

FIRST AUDITION DAY TOMORROW

Tomorrow is the first audition for "A Little Bit of Broadway" at 9 AM. Who gets up that early-- well, I guess actors do. John and I have audition appointments for nine actors between 9AM and Twelve noon. So we shall see what we will see about it all. We really need some young guys and we're hoping that more people will show up. The next auditions are Monday Morning March 23rd at 10:00 am-- so maybe we will see more souls then. John and I have added a scene in the show that has lots of historical significance. Whether we actually need to use it to strengthen the dramatic structure, we are simply not sure of right at this moment. So wish us luck as we journey to our very first audition as directors together. We've already mapped out all of the rehearsals and the blocking map is completed. We'll let you know how it goes here very soon!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

Today is indeed Saint Patrick's Day and as tradition dictates I will call my boyhood friend Andy Allum to wish him a happy feast as I have done for the last forty-five years since we went to high school together in San Gabriel. I am so tempted to go to a local Irish pub this afternoon and get some traditional Irish Stew. I love that stuff! The picture is from today's big Saint Patrick's Day celebration in New York City-- the biggest in the world. As for the great saint, himself here are a few interesting facts about him. Pious legend credits Patrick with banishing snakes from the island, though all evidence suggests that post-glacial Ireland never had snakes;one suggestion is that snakes referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids of that time and place, as shown for instance on coins minted in Gaul (see Carnutes), or that it could have referred to beliefs such as Pelagianism, symbolized as “serpents". Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of 'three divine persons in the one God' (as opposed to the Arian belief that was popular in Patrick's time). Some Irish legends involve the Oilliphéist, the Caoránach, and the Copóg Phádraig. During his evangelising journey back to Ireland from his parent's home at Birdoswald, he is understood to have carried with him an ash wood walking stick or staff. He thrust this stick into the ground wherever he was evangelising and at the place now known as Aspatria (ash of Patrick) the message of the dogma took so long to get through to the people there that the stick had taken root by the time he was ready to move on. The 12th century work Acallam na Senórach tells of Patrick being met by two ancient warriors, Caílte mac Rónáin and Oisín, during his evangelical travels. Saint Patrick was not born on March 17th -- he actually died on this day. This is his FEAST DAY not his birthday! Well Happy Saint Patty's Day To all!

A BIT OF MAGICAL MIRACLE

And the reason I say that is that quite unexpectedly, I have become a great uncle for the seventh time! My niece Jacqueline is the mother with a guy she has been seeing for the last ten years called Matt. Well, I understand that he's in construction and that seems to be a great paying job-- even in this bad economy. Speaking of that, I read this morning that they have laid off the actor who portrays "Big Bird" on Sesame Street. No more "Big Bird?" Is nothing sacred? Thank you, George Bush! Work continues on our musical that we are directing at the Flight Club Theatre in Hollywood. The first audition is this Thursday, March 19th at nine o' clock in the morning. Now I'm not terribly sure about that one. What actor gets up that early to go to a musical audition? In downtown Hollywood? But hey, they tell me they do this all the time! We shall see what we shall see. John and are rushing to get the final songs to the score and we've decided to import one song from an existing show just to make things a bit easier. And so "Crazy As It Seems" will be used in the nightclub scene with one tiny lyric change. I think it will work out wonderfully. We are also preparing our director's bibles and prop and sound effect and wardrobe logs-- directing is a lot of hard work! John and I replanted a new garden for spring and added solar lighting to the landscaping-- those solar lights are absolutely charming. Tomorrow work begins on bringing back Mr. Lincoln to the Disneyland Opera House. Imagine that: Steve Martin (the host of the 50th anniversary show) is being upstaged by Abraham Lincoln. They relegate Steve to the small screen in the exhibit area as he has a contract with Disney that the film play in SOME public media (garnering residuals of course) for a minimum of ten years. Pretty smart! An ex-Disneyland employee who worked at the above pictured Magic Store at the park guaranteed himself a ten year gig that pays daily residuals. Can you imagine how much income that little negotiation has earned him. Good thing because he sure can't play Inspector Closseau very well. But who could except the original Peter Sellers. Gray day here today, but hoping that the sun will come out later today!

The countdown is on for the first new production of one of my musicals on a regular stage in a regular theatrical engagement in twenty-five years. The last time was December 1985 when I produced a version of "A Moment With Mister "C" in December of 1985 at the Celebrity Centre Theatre (yes the Scientology place) Boy, that was a rough go. I think we managed to squeak by with a modest profit. It was also just before I took comedy writing classes with Danny Simon in 1986. And now, John and i are going to direct ourselves a production of our "Little Bit Of Broadway". We've got the show down to 115 pages and that should be just about right running time wise. Our auditions begin next Wednesday, March 19th on Saint Joseph's feast day at nine o'clock in the morning at THE FIGHT CLUB THEATRE which is at 6767 Sunset Blvd in Hollywood near the intersections of Sunset and Highland. We have ten roles to cast plus an extended walk on (he has about 30 lines) and everybody except the walk on guy SINGS. So we will have some piano midis with us that day and see just how well these actors can sing. This theatre has never staged a musical before, so its going to be interesting to see how all of this turns out! John and I are very excited about the possibilities. So with God's good grace, hopefully all will go well. It's a definite first step towards Broadway. So keep good thoughts for us on that day! I only wish Tony Westbrook were still out here. I would cast him in a New York minute! Today is also Friday, the 13th-- funny, I was never superstitious , but I guess there are a lot of people who are. And I received some interesting news. It looks like I am a great-uncle again for the seventh time. My sweet niece Jacqueline had a "surprise"-- a baby girl named Katlyn Patricia. Jacqueline was always one of my favorite nieces. We are still close to this very day! I wish her all the best!

AN AMAZING RECORDING SESSION

What an absolutely amazing two day recording session that John Nugent and I completed yesterday The results were absolutely incredible as we recorded twenty-five new songs and three older songs that we wanted a much better sound on. WE recorded songs from "Broadway Angels", "The Revenge of Ichabod Crane", "Young MacDonald", "The Wild Swans" "The Ghost Who Saved Broadway", "Sevenly" , "A Moment With Mister "C" and "The Traveling Companion." Perhaps the most amazing singers were Jessica Brusilow, who helped make the nun songs in "Broadway Angels come alive. Nicole Winter, Amelia Meena, Aaron Jacobs, Drew Tablak ( now a Dapper Dan at Disneyland) Aaron Jacobs, Isaac Jones, Paige Powell, Sean Reynolds, Andrea Becker, Joe Fillippone, Veronica Scheyving who was the first female to record the non pop version of "Crazy As It Seems" on Monday afternoon. Dear Tony Westbrook recorded this tune just before he left for New York. On Monday afternoon, the crowd listened to Tony's version of this song played loud and full dimensioned in the studio and everybody applauded. It was a great moment and proof what a great singer dear Tony is. On Sunday Terry Snyder came in to record two songs "You Look So Familiar"and one of the rebellious little monks who decide to kick the monk habit for good in "No More Monk Life for Me" Nicole Winter and drew Tablack re-recorded "Champions of the Heart" from "The Traveling Companion" It sounds so much better. Aaron's renditions of "After All" from the "Revenge of Ichabod was simply mind blowing. In the show, John and i have written, we posed the question: whatever might have become of Ichabod Crane that fateful Halloween night. It turns out that Ichabod (who had always been a great defender of ghost and ghoulies and faithfully defended them and told their stories) was rescued by the REAL "Headless Horseman" whose presence has frightened away impostor Brom Bones. And the reason all of Sleepy Hollow only found Ichabod's hat and a smashed pumpkin? Why that was because the Horseman rescued him and took him to his haunted realm. Realizing that Ichabod was never going to be appreciated in the age in which he lived, the Horseman has kept him in a luxury, book filled, food supplied cage (we now how much he loved both books and food) for twenty-one years. After never knowing freedom for all this time, the cage of luxury in which he has resided opens suddenly. The song is about Ichabod's reaction to his sudden freedom-- what a theatrical moment! Sean Reynolds sang another Ichabod song called "An Ordinary Man" and Issac Moore sang a song for the Headless Horseman called "Isn't it Divine" The whole orchestration was done on Finale 2009 and scored for up to twenty-six instruments-- the sound was incredible. Robert Roth was very helpful and dear Tim Doran was so very helpful on Sunday, helping even to conduct one song. There were a few negative things: mostly with singers who quit with damn little or no notice and those who decided it was their right to change lyrics to their liking or they simply couldn't go on. Oh well-- their loss. We have an amazing collection of new songs! I have encouraged Terry Snyder in a letter today that he must NEVER stop singing. That is a God Given talent and singing is praising God twice. I was amazed to find out that his young son is now seven years old. Wow, how time flies. Our production of "A Little Bit of Broadway" goes on at the Flight Club Theatre 6767 Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. The auditions began on March 19th-- Saint Joseph's feast day! Bless our labors, dear Saint Joseph!

FINALLY

I can not believe that it has been over two weeks since I have written here, but John Nugent and I have been so busy preparing for our upcoming recording session that starts this Sunday, March 8th and goes for another day, the following day at Smooth Sounds Studios. It's going to be a marathon and god willing by the time we are through we will have some significant progress on our quest to have great CDs for our pool of investors. This is the way that Jesus Christ Super Star and Evita started-- by recording their songs on record and then selling them to investors. John and I have also landed a production of "A Little Bit Of Broadway" at the Flight Club Theatre in Hollywood for a six performance run starting May 2nd. So now we are trying very hard to finish the scoring of that musical as well. It's a great big challenge, but I am hoping that with God's help (and He always does) we will really come out on top. We have a lot of talented and incredible people singing for free and the response to the ad has been simply amazing. Praise God! A few folks have dropped out at the last minute, but we will manage. The orchestrations that John Nugent has created are absolutely amazing. What an incredible talent and what a wonderful gift from Heaven that he has been. God is so good to me! Today would have been Rex Harrisons's 101st birthday-- so Happy Birthday to Mr. Rain In Spain. Best wishes also for Robin Williams who I understand is in intensive care at a Miami hospital. God be with him! And yes, the world continues to make me laugh-- like the story of the woman who called 911 three times because the McDonald's she frequented was out of Chicken McNugets and the Ohio strange mother who was stopped for breastfeeding her baby and talking on her cell phone while she was driving. Mark Twain was so right when he said "I think God created Man because he was disappointed in the monkey!" Ha! A monkey wouldn't have done that! And may I show respect for the recent passing of dear Paul Harvey. I have been listening to that dear sweet man's broadcasts for decades and my mother loved him too. He was famous for giving us "the rest of the story". Amazingly enough he invented and coined the words "guesstimate", "skyjacked", and oh yes "Reaganomics" among many others on his many broadcasts.

Today would have been Harold Arlen's birthday. Mr. "Stormy Weather" himself wrote over four hundred songs including the immortal "Over The Rainbow" which has been voted as the very best song of all time. The second picture on the page shows Harold playing the piano with such notables as a grown up Judy Garland.

In 1929 Harold Arlen composed his first well-known song: "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). I love that song. Judy garland made it her own. Throughout the early and mid-1930s, Arlen and Koehler wrote shows for the Cotton Club, a popular Harlem night club, as well as for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Arlen and Koehler's partnership resulted in a number of hit songs, including the familiar standards "Let's Fall in Love" and "Stormy Weather." Who hasn't sung that tune by a grand piano.? One of the great old standards! Harold continued to perform as a pianist and vocalist with some success, most notably on records with Leo Reisman's society dance orchestra. His compositions have always been popular with jazz musicians because of his facility at incorporating a blues feeling into the idiom of the conventional American popular song. In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasing time in California, writing for movie musicals. It was at this time that he began working with lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. In 1938, the team was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these is the song "Over the Rainbow" for which they won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. They also wrote "Down with Love", a song later featured in the 2003 movie Down with Love. Now a fact that I never knew and was just told about was the fact that Harold Arlen was a longtime friend and former roommate of actor Ray Bolger who would star in The Wizard of Oz, the film for which "Over the Rainbow" was written. In the 1940s, he teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer, and continued to write hit songs like "Blues in the Night", "That Old Black Magic," "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," (which was thought of while they were driving together in traffic one day-- Arlen complaining about all the bad drivers on the road and Mercer, the ever optimist saying "look on the bright side" which ultimately became "accentuate the positive" Together these two also wrote "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and the Frank Sinatra standard bearer "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" .Frank sang this time almost as often as he did "My Way" By the way, Harold Arlen was responsible for composing the two defining tunes which bookend Judy Garland's musical persona: as a yearning, innocent girl in "Over the Rainbow" and a world-weary, "chic chanteuse" with "The Man that Got Away". When a songwriter's talents can become the bookends of a singing legend that isn't too bad of an accomplishment. After Harold's wife died in a sanitarium, Arlen stopped writing songs much as Irving Berlin did when his second Broadway musical in a row flopped. How sad! Happy Birthday great song man. We will sing your songs forever!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Today is indeed Valentine's Day--the day for lovers. My John surprised me with a singing plush dog singing a rock tune and a big box of sugar free chocolate (as a diabetic) I can't have the regular stuff. The plush is adorable. It rocks and moves and its ears go up and down in time to the music. I gave John some beautiful Pavarotti long stem roses. This is our ninth Valentine's day together and our ten year anniversary comes yp on April 11th. Today would have been John Barrymore's birthday and it also the day that dear old Jack Benny was born Walkgigan, Illinois. Jack Benny had to be one of the funniest men who ever lived. I still laugh at his old re-runs. Most people don't know that Jack Benny in real life was a very kind and generous man unlike his on screen image of being a world penny pincher. Two of my favorite Benny moments was the time that a robber approaches him with a gun and says "Your money or your life. There is a huge pregnant pause that you could drive a truck through and the robber says in a much louder voice "I said your money or your life!"--to which the tightwad Benny says "I'm thinking it over!" The second episode is when the IRS comes to visit Jack and is escorted down in the crocodile infested basement to see where Jack keeps all of his money. Guarding Benny's huge stash of money is a guard in a Revolutionary War outfit named Ed. Benny says hello and Ed quips: "Is Mr. Washington, still president up there, Mr. Benny?" Funny! Funny! Funny! The honesty of the moment wins again. Speaking of Valentine's Day This day was originally a pagan festival that was renamed after two Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Of course we all know that the day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States.
Amazingly, The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend on average twice as much money as women. There is one more noyable event. On this day in 1995 Terrence Mcnally's Love! Honor! Compassion!" opened on Broadway directed by Jope Mantello-- yes, the same fellow responsible for a little mega hit a few years later called THE WICKED. Lots of letter and promo packages are going out this weekend to about seventeen Broadway producers. We will raise the flag and see who the hell salutes

Today is indeed Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. Abe was bar none the most honest politician this weary old country has ever known. I have always been absolutely fascinated by the life and times extraordinary gentleman from Illinois. We have a current president that used his bible for swearing in to be our current Chief Executive. The pictures you see here are all of statues and attractions that can be found in Lincoln's home town of Springfield. The Disney Company is going to release a DVD of the original "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln" which was presented as the Illinois Pavilion there in 1964- 1965. Too bad, poor "Mr. Lincoln" is still put away in a box at Disneyland. That sure wouldn't have happened if Walt were still alive. John Nugent and I had an idea for a comedy in which a great president is put away in a box at a Disneyland like attraction and is rescued by the ghost of the real president. Somehow the two have a conversation and that could be one very funny premise. Today also marks the day that the first prisoners of war of the Vietnam War were released and it is also the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. Sadly, it is also the tenth anniversary of the conclusion of the impeachment trial of William Jefferson Clinton. Monica Lewinksi is now living and working in London and Linda Hunt her betrayer is running a Christmas gift shop in Virginia after getting a major face lift and getting married. And for those who criticize the mother of those octuplets: allow me to remind you: (1) If those babies were not willed to come into this world by Almighty God-- they wouldn't be here and (2) Judge and you shall not be judged. The same cookie cutter judgement that you pass on another is going to be applied to you in the final judgement -- and you divided into eight sections is not going to be pretty. Give this woman and these children a chance. And to that grandmother-- you had better get on your knees and thank God for those grandchildren instead of making life hell for your only daughter and those children. Who needs eight more people in therapy?