Our long national nightmare is over! The mostly typo-free edition of The Wild Roses is now published in both paperback and Kindle. ("Mostly" because I believe in truth in advertising. I'm sure I might have missed some. Just not 60.) O huzzah!
You can now feel safe that when you're reading the book, a random asterisk won't just happen * to pop up in the middle of a sentence. Or in a chapter about Charlotte Le Renaud, she won't be referred to in one sentence as Gabrielle Parnasse. This all reminds me of a great Bob & Ray sketch, where Ray is being interviewed after having written a history of the United States, and the book turns out to be riddled with glaring errors. (I forget what they were specifically, but they were massive. Like calling Lincoln our third president.) Bob finally asks Ray how he can justify charging $75 for a book with so many mistakes. "Well," Ray finally says, "It's beautifully bound." I'll have little tale about my communication with the proofreader about this upcoming. All I'll say for now is that the book is once again safe for purchasing here. For those entering this process late in the game, The Wild Roses is a story in the spirit of The Three Musketeers
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I've mentioned the little known musical, Snoopy!!!, quite a few times here and posted a few of its wonderful songs. It struck me that I should return to the mothership. So, here's a number from the musical that started it all, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The show had a terrific score by Clark Gesner -- who also largely wrote the book, taking much of the text from Peanuts strips, but remarkably he chose to use a pseudonym for that, "John Gordon." He apparently felt that since so much of it was Charles Schultz's words, and there were some others who had input, he didn't want to take credit. Which is halfway between admirable and unbelievable. The show was originally an off-Broadway production, where it had a huge run for 1,597 performances, almost four years. It later transferred to Broadway, though it didn't last all that long there. The revival in 1999 added a few news songs by a different composer Andrew Lippa, which I didn't find had quite the same charm, though "My Philosophy," was very good, and the song introduced Kristin Chenoweth who won a Tony Award as Best Supporting Actress. It only ran for 149 performances. The original production had a terrific cast, the best known of who was Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown, later best known for playing Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H. Other notables in the cast were Bob Balaban as Linus, and Reva Rose as Lucy. Rather than play a song from the original cast album, though -- most notable for the closing number, "Happiness," I thought I'd embed the opening title number from the wonderful animated TV production they did of the show, since it includes a bit of the dialogue and sketches. Though in retrospect it's an obvious thing to do, it was a stroke of genius to have done You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (and later, Snoopy!!!) with animated Peanuts gang as one of their specials, extended. A lot of the charm of the stage musical is seeing the roles played by adults -- but I think seeing the actual Peanuts characters performing the show is a special treat. And there's another nice bonus. In the opening credits, you'll see that Clark Gesner finally got full credit for writing the book. How can we miss you if you won't go away?
In an interview with the Dan Balz of the Washington Post, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was actually still trying to figure out a way to rewrite what he said about 47% of Americans, apparently in an effort to pick up votes from late returns and turn the election around to him. He explains that what he was merely talking about was swing voters. "[I]t was saying, 'Look, the Democrats have 47 percent, we've got 45 percent, my job is to get the people in the middle, and I've got to get the people in the middle,'" he said. "They’ve got a bloc of voters, we've got a bloc of voters, I've got to get the ones in the middle. And I thought that that would be how it would be perceived -- as a candidate talking about the process of focusing on the people in the middle who can either vote Republican or Democrat." To a certain degree, Mr. Romney is semi-partially-correct. He wasn't precisely saying that he doesn't care about 47% of Americans, which was the perception, he was talking about voters who simply won't be voting for him. (Mind you, just because he didn't say that doesn't mean he wasn't thinking it. But who can know what's in a man's heart?) The thing is, what the former GOP standard bearer seems to ignore is that he was actually caught on tape saying what what he said, and Americans watched it over and over and over and over. And also over and over. And -- and this is the remarkable part -- the tape actually still exists! This is what Mitt Romney actually said, word-for-word. Fred, go to the tape -- "And so my job is not to worry about those people -- I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not, what it looks like." You see, that was the real problem. Not solely "who" he was talking about. But that in ignoring them he was saying that all these people -- 47% of the country -- don't "take personal responsibility and care for their lives." That the other people, the good folks, they are "thoughtful." That was the huge problem. That he was saying that solid Obama supporters, 47% of the country -- and wink, wink, y'know it's probably those black people, y'know on welfare and unemployment and stuff -- they just don't have any personal responsibility. They're just freeloading on all you good, rich white folks. Mitt Romney can keep trying to twist this every possible way to make it seem like he wasn't arrogant and self-righteous and holier-than-thou, and keep hoping that people will have short memories. But there are two basic realities he's up against -- 1) we have the tape, and 2) he lost. In the meanwhile, we're still waiting to see his tax returns... My friend Treva Silverman is a wonderful writer, among other things a two-time Emmy-winner for The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She's also a terrific honky tonk piano player, which personally I think trumps her many other great skills, but even without that she'd be pretty swell. She just left a long, heartfelt comment about Herschel Bernardi, after having seeing the piece and video posted here about him. Since I suspect that most people don't read comments too often, I wanted to re-post it here. I do so not just because it's so touching about her close friend, but also it relates to another video I wasn't planning on posting, but now will. By the way, when she mentions Lorenzo Music, he was himself a highly admired writer (notably for many of the MTM TV series), but became best known as the voice of 'Carlton the Door Man,' on Rhoda, and then later as the voice of Garfield. Thanks, Bob, for uncovering this gem of a master class of musical performing. The video that I wasn't going to post here was another one of Herschel Bernardi singing "If I Were a Rich Man." I wasn't going to because a) I'd just posted the other, and b) this one cuts off while he's singing, at least a chorus too early. However, when Treva wrote above about how wonderful he was even after his lung operation when he could "only sing softly, but a softly-singing Herschel was more magnificent than most brilliant singers in full strength," I felt the video was too perfect a fit to leave it unseen. I'm not sure what this comes from, but it looks to be an appearance on an Israeli TV show. It's black-and-white and takes place in a small room filled with young people sitting around. Because the room is so small and the "audience" so close (he's virtually on top of them, as he wanders around), he's toned down his performance of "If I Were a Rich Man" to fit the environment, and with only a simple piano accompaniment. (Just like Treva herself once provided.) In many ways, we therefore almost get to see the "softly-singing" that Treva referred to -- for a song that is most known for its boisterousness. (Think of that other, wonderful video the other day here from Ivan Rebroff.) Wonderful too is watching the faces of the young people around him growing growing in admiration and wonderment. As I said, the video cuts off too early. But what a fascinating performance to have preserved -- in many ways similar to his other, but on its own just a nuanced gem. A firearms foundation based in Ohio has raised $12,150.37 which they've sent as a cashier check to George Zimmerman, the man who killed the unarmed Trayvon Martin in Florida, but was acquitted of manslaughter.
"The Department of Justice refused to return him his gun, and he's in need of protection," said Ken Hanson, the organization's legal chairman. That would seem to be an awfully nice gun that Mr. Zimmerman can buy for $12,150.37. Perhaps he'll get one with pearl handles. Or maybe a howitzer. In fairness, the foundation says that he can use the money for anything to do with his security -- a home system perhaps, body armor or to help pay his court costs, Mr. Hanson adds. I certainly understand all the support that George Zimmerman has received from racists and non-racists alike, people who believe that they admire what he did or just feel that the fellow deserves assistance. It would be nice if they felt the same about the family of the young, unarmed teenager who had been killed. Then again, as long as they want to pay for George Zimmerman to buy a gun to replace the one he lost, perhaps they might want to consider raising money for the Martin family to purchase a gun for protection, since they never had one in the first place. But to each their own. What I always like to ask such people in similar situations is a pretty basic question: how would you feel about George Zimmerman if it had been your son or brother who he'd killed? Usually that kind of question gets a lot of mumbling and er's and a look of shock. Usually left unsaid, but spoken loudly in their expression is, "I'd like him hung by his thumbs and then beaten to a pulp." To be clear, I don't think people's reaction after a personal tragedy is THE ultimate response. That's why we have dispassionate laws to deal with these kinds of things. But it's good to be able to at least look at such events from a wider perspective than the myopia we usually get. Standing tall for George Zimmerman who you believe stood his ground may sound swell if you don't think too hard and long about it, but at a certain point it's good to...well, think about it. Life isn't generally black and white -- as much as George Zimmerman and his supporters might want to look at it that way. What I'd also like to know is what person donated an amount of money that ended with 37 cents? But I acknowledge that that's not of major interest to most people here. Last night I spent the evening with Mark Evanier and Groucho. Well, not exactly, of course, though I'm pretty sure it was Mark Evanier. The other part was his good pal Frank Ferrante who made a very (incredibly) rare appearance in Los Angeles in his one-man show, An Evening with Groucho. (How rare? The last time was at the same Pasadena Playhouse 24 years ago. And that doesn't really count exactly as Los Angeles.) He's played nearby a few times, like in Riverside, but not in the city proper. Given that the 686-seat theater was sold out, it doesn't seem unlikely that he'll be back sooner the next time. (It's a logistical though, to be clear, not that he wasn't wanted...) It's a wonderful performance, really capturing a Groucho sensibility. What helps is that he just doesn't do simply a good "impression," but a thorough acting job -- but far more than that, the performance includes improvisation which cuts at the heart of what we tend to think of Groucho Marx. Probably a third of the show is going into the audience and talking with people, or bringing them up on stage. The end result is that you don't come away with watch an actor do Groucho, but you've been taken back to -- as the title says -- an evening with the fellow. It helps that Frank Ferrante has been performing as Grouch a very long time, before even the 25 years he's been doing this show. Right before he began doing An Evening with Groucho a quarter of a century ago, Ferrante starred in the play, Groucho: A Life in Revue, written by Groucho's son Arthur Marx, as well as Robert Fisher. That play is largely just Groucho, though includes a few other characters, and takes him from a young man starting out, all the way through his life to the weakened old man who still made appearances on TV and did some touring. I actually saw that show at the same Pasadena Playhouse, and it (and Ferrante) were terrific and memorable. What made the evening especially memorable for me, though, had nothing to do with the play -- seated in the row in front of me was George Fenneman, Groucho's sidekick/announcer from the old You Bet Your Life TV show. I admit to watch Fenneman for his reaction throughout the play. He loved it and, when it got to the enfeebled old Groucho, he was in tears. In fact, in Ferrante's end-of-show speech last night, he discussed the night that George Fenneman came backstage in tears and how Fenneman told him a story about his last time being with Groucho. (After the play, when Mark went back to talk with Ferrante, I came along and mentioned that about sitting behind Fenneman. He was amazed, and added, "See you again in 24 years.") Also nice last night was that several members of the Marx family were in attendance, including one of his daughters, and granddaughter. Because the play, Groucho: A Life in Revue, is quite a bit more complicated to do than this one-man show (well...two, counting the piano player), Ferrante years ago asked Arthur Mark for permission to do a one-man show in smaller venues. He got the permission, and An Evening with Groucho was born. Eventually, Arthur and the whole family simply gave Ferrante full permission to do the show with no restrictions. And so, here we are. Hopefully the show will return to Los Angeles far sooner, though it might be playing near you wherever "you" may be in the country. (You can check the touring schedule here.) But in lieu of that, here's a little 7-minute documentary on the show with a great deal of footage giving you an idea of An Evening with Groucho. (Side note, though you can seen him alone clearly a bit earlier, at the 5:14 mark you can see Sean Penn along with his then-wife Robin Wright-Penn in the audience, enjoying a bit when Ferrante clowns with a man in front of them.) |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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