Okay, one last scene from the Chicago world premiere tryout of Mel Brooks' The Producers. It's the "Keep It Gay" song. This isn't among my favorite in the show, I find it too much a repetitious one-joke number, but it's lively and works fine in the musical. (Honestly, if they wanted to cut the movie for time, they could have cut this -- it doesn't advance the plot an inch, nor does it even remotely develop the character of anyone. But I'm sure it tested well. It's so over-the-top that it adds a vibrancy.) In the scene, Max and Leo have just secured the rights to the show from Franz Liebken and go to see director Roger DeBris and his "common law assistant" Carmen Ghia to convince the hack director to work on their show. Both Gary Beach (who I posted here the other day singing "Springtime for Hitler") and Roger Bart as the assistant each subsequently got Tony nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Beach won. The reason I decided to include it here though is because it's the best footage of a full scene from the show and also, happily, has a lot of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick together, even if it's not them in song. And besides, the scene itself is great fun -- and seeing it with the laughing audience is all the better and that's what the whole evening was like.
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Who'd have thought that there would be a guy named Bundy more pathetic and hapless than Al? Or even -- almost -- Ted. But you have to give it to Cliven Bundy, the ignorant racist (sorry, that's not pejorative, but descriptive) from Nevada whose 15 minutes of Conservative Hero Worship disappeared faster than the Wicked Witch of the West having water thrown on her.
If any humor can be taken from having this fellow imposed on our psyche, it's seeing all the conservative voices in Congress and the media and press running away from Mr. Bundy so fast and hard that they can't see where they were going and almost became moderates. Employees of "Fox News," which had been promoting Cliven Bundy so much they nearly added him to their logo, were running so far away that many knocked themselves out on the walls of their office building and nearly tipped the structure over. And all because the rancher showed himself to be as gut-wrenching an ignorant racist as conservatives have heroically promoted since George Zimmerman. Who could have seen it coming? Who could have seen that a man who suggested on a live "Fox News" interview that the U.S. government might have conspired to create a "blood moon" in order to make it easier to pull off a night raid was insanely ignorant? Who? Who could have seen that a good ol' boy who said on "Fox News" that "I don't believe in the United States government as even existing" would actually turn out to be seditious and intolerant? Who, oh but who??!! (Yes, you'd think that "Fox News" would listen to their own broadcast, but you have to also believe that if they did they'd be so aghast at what they heard that even they would turn it off.) Honestly, how in the world could anyone not have seen it? And if you didn't, and you're purportedly a responsible member of the media or Congress or the Republican Party, how could you not have at least looked into who this supposedly near God-like man you were promoting was??? Used the Google, maybe? Every computer has it, I'm told. Are you that irresponsibly trusting? Pretty bad for leaders, wouldn't you say? Or are you that disingenuous? Which is pretty bad for leaders, too. I mean, seriously, the conservative National Review printed an article comparing Cliven Bundy to Mahatma Gandhi. Do they not do fact-checking? Do they not have due diligence? (Okay, yes, those were trick questions.) Mahatma Gandhi??? Cliven Bundy couldn't clean the shoes of Ben Kingsley. He couldn't clean the toes of Ben the rat. The thing about all the running away from Cliven Bundy, though, that makes these far right conservatives so small and hypocritical and pathetic is that what they're running away from is his outlandish, over-the-top racism, not the treasonous anti-American statements he'd been making before. No one I've heard has walked back from the message. And ultimately, that is the far-bigger story. After all, you'd think that people who were raising Cliven Bundy to pedestal heights weren't doing so because they thought that he was a great guy -- clearly, they didn't have a clue who he was, or least if they did, didn't let on and kept quiet about it to stir up dissent. No, they seemingly thought his message was swell. But instead of damning the messenger while saying his message that they had so-loved was still glorious, they...well, they decided Cliven Bundy was toxic, even that message that they supposedly had loved just the 24 hours before. Apparently, it wasn't until after Cliven Bundy showed himself to be the ignorant racist he is did the far right go back to look at the tape and see that when he said he didn't believe in the United States government as even existing that that might actually not be a good thing to stand behind in an election year. Y'know, when people would be voting for the government of the United States. Besides, it's not like conservative leadership in politics and the media have shown themselves to be outraged by racism in the past. Instead, it's sort of like when New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was suspended yesterday for doctoring a baseball with a foreign substance. Pitchers do that all the time, but tend to get away with it. Pineda, however, smeared so much pine tar on his neck that it looked like he had fallen into a swamp. You could see the goo from the upper deck, without binoculars. That's what Cliven Bundy is to the Republican Party right now -- Michael Pineda. It's okay to be an ignorant racist, as long as you don't smear it all over your neck. I would say that I'd love to hear conservatives explain this away. But in truth...no, I don't want to hear it. Disingenuousness is wearying. Lying is wearying. Racism is wearying. Emptiness is wearying. Enough. Just go away and leave your party to people who do accept the legitimacy of the United States government -- and of Black people and Hispanics and minorities and gays and the poor, needy and destitute, and all humans. And womenfolk. If that means your party will be small for a while, so be it. When you have a foundation, at least you can grow from it. Besides, far better to be small than small-minded. Over the weekend, I watched the premier episode of a new series, Sign, Sealed and Delivered, on the Hallmark Channel. I had seen the pilot movie and, though it was a little cloying and more than a bit arched in some of its acting, it's a fun premise and was generally well-done. (The premise is the Dead Letter Department of a large post office, and the bunch of misfits there resolve problems that might be caused by the missing correspondence.) It's from writer-producer Martha Williamson, who did Touched by an Angel, so it's reasonably smart and thoughtful. The pilot got a bit more spiritual than I cared for, but not too much, and happily the first episode toned that down. How the series will handle it remains to be seen. In the first episode they replaced Valerie Bertenelli as the tough, over-bearing supervisor -- the victim, alas, of direction that told her, "Don't worry, you can't be too over the top -- and instead have a more nurturing Valerie Harper. (I guess they had cast & crew shirts already made up with "Valerie"on them...) She's clearly beyond her best days, but it was wonderful to see her, and she brought a good spirit. The rest of the cast borders between perfectly fine and "yeah, we get it, you're a charming misfit." Apparently, they've signed Dick Van Dyke for a few episodes as a semi-regular. I'll keep watching for the time being because -- a) it's okay and I like the premise, and b) I can't wait to see Dick Van Dyke. At the end of the pilot, there was a little talent show at the old age home where the plot was focused, and Valerie Harper jumps in to help out. What she does is sing a trimmed down version of the great song, "No Time at All," from Pippin, by Stephen Schwartz (who wrote Godspell and Wicked, among others). It was a treat to see -- especially Valerie Harper gamely doing her best. But it was much too trimmed down and had some the edge taken out (an edge which ultimately is what helps makes the song so joyously life-affirming). So, especially if you happened to see the episode, I wanted to play the original here, so you can hear what it's supposed to be. It's a tremendous song. And with an even more tremendous performance -- with a back story that makes it even more powerful. The song is performed by Pippin's grandmother, as her way of telling her young grandson why he shouldn't feel as lost and aimless in his life as he does. In the original production, the role was performed by Irene Ryan -- who you will recall most-famously played 'Granny' on The Beverly Hillbillies. As I said, the number is utterly joyful and life-affirming, about getting the most of life, whatever your age. And it gets the audience roaring. In a simple word,this, folks, is a showstopper. All the more reason why this number becomes all the more powerful when you know that six months into the Broadway run, Irene Ryan suffered a stroke on stage while performing the song. She passed away six months later. And when you hear one of the particular lyrics -- a great line under any circumstance -- it takes the song and performance to another level. It certainly adds a level of sadness to hear, but if you';re a lifelong trouper on the stage, I suspect that there are a lot who would say that that's how they want to go out. And especially in a number like this.
The song is slightly trimmed for the recording. In the show, she gets the audience singing along on the chorus. In the picture above, you can just-barely see the bottom of the huge scroll that they lower for the people to follow with the bouncing ball. Here's how it's done. And yes, there's more from that Chicago world premiere tryout of The Producers. I wasn't sure at first if I'd post this new clip, though. It's Nathan Lane singing "The King of Broadway," a number that he performed numerous times on TV shows to promote the musical when it was in New York. So, I figured that a reasonable number of people had seen it. Also, the video of the clip isn't great, partially blocked by someone in the audience, though you can see things fine enough. But I decided to post it here for two reasons. One is that, rather than a guest spot on a talk show, it's a bit different seeing the number fully staged and with a large auditorium audience watching it in context of the show, and hearing their reaction. This comes very early in the show -- maybe five minutes in -- and other than a very short chorus number called "Opening Night" that lasts only about a minute, it's the first real song in the musical. Having just settled in, the audience's anticipation is at its peak, uncertain what the evening will be like. And as Nathan Lane sings this enthusiastic, wonderful number, it's what grabs everyone in the theater. The reaction was palpable, you could feel the atmosphere of the audience change, as the laughter and excitement grew. The other reason is that it gives me a chance to vent. As I've said, I liked the movie version of the show. But I didn't love it -- and I utterly adored the stage production. They made a lot of mistakes with the movie, and this song is the biggest. So big, in fact, that I personally feel it single-handledly sank the film. It's even in the pantheon of "worst mistakes in a Hollywood movie -- ever." What was so wrong with the scene? Nothing. The scene is terrific. The mistake is...they cut it! If you never saw Lane on TV promoting the stage show and only saw the movie, you have never seen this absolutely wonderful song. The thing is, the problem isn't that they cut a wonderful song. Those things have happened, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes not. The problem is that they cut an important song. Other than "Springtime for Hitler," it's the most important song in the show. "The King of Broadway" is the first song in the musical. (I don't count that "Opening Night," which I think might even be shorter in the film, 45 seconds or so, it seems.) It's not just the first song, it's the song that defines Max Bialystock; that tells the audience who he is; it critically creates empathy for a character who is a self-centered, manipulative, lascivious con man; it tells the audience what he wants and wants desperately and why; and it does so in such an enthusiastic, joyous, and wildly funny way (at some points parodying other famous musicals, which in turn gives you a sense of the show to come) that it lets the audience know -- as I mentioned above -- that you're in for a great, vibrant time. Yet there's even another important reason, perhaps even more important that all that, believe it or not. It's that without this song...there isn't song in the film for over 20 minutes!!! Without this song, for close to a half hour, a person can be watching this musical...and not know you're watching a musical! (Again, that brief, opening chorus doesn't count. If you see a song over the opening credits of some movie, you wouldn't inherently think it was a musical. This is close to that...and even shorter than an opening credits song.) Without this song, what you'd think for almost 25 minutes is that you're just watching a straight remake of the original The Producers that's good but not as good and wondering why on earth they made this and why you're there. They cut it. They freaking cut it. Further, this is what's know in musical world as the "I want" song -- the number near the beginning where the main character explains his goal. And...they freaking cut it. And the thing is, it's not like they decided ahead of time that it didn't fit and didn't film it. No, they actually shot the scene and decided (for utterly inexplicable reasons) not to use it. And they filmed it wonderfully. I know this because they included it on the DVD as a bonus. A couple friends of mine had seen the movie, sort of enjoyed it a bit, but weren't crazy about it. I rented the DVD and brought it to their home, and I showed them "The King of Broadway" number. Both of them went wild over it. They each said it was one of the best songs in the show, and it would have made a huge difference to them had they seen it in the film. I said, "I know." But I didn't need their confirmation. I knew. But it was good to hear it anyway. I don't have a clue why they cut it. Maybe at screenings it didn't test well. I find that hard to believe, but it's possible. (Keep in mind, as I said, when they were promoting the stage show, this was the song they did to promote it -- because it's a wonderful crowd-pleasing song) But if so, if for some unearthly reasons test audiences hated it, this is a time filmmakers should have ignored the tests -- that's because the song is needed. Needed for all the reasons above. If audiences didn't like it (which again, I seriously doubt), they'd have liked the movie less without it. Hey, maybe the results showed otherwise about that, too. But I doubt it, as well. Yet even if so, again, they should have ignored the tests. Sometimes you have to accept that you're a professional filmmaker and you know your craft and understand what's structurally essential. It's like removing the set-up to a joke because tests show audiences weren't laughing during the set-up. So, you're left with only the punch line -- but no reason for the line to make sense. But as I said, I don't remotely believe having this song in the show made the movie test badly, and why they cut it. What I suspect is that the movie was running longer than the studio wanted, and so the filmmakers were told they to make cuts. There's even evidence supporting this thought. Another sequence in the film is the amazing production number, "Along Came Bialy," which not only ends the first act on stage (and gets the audience cheering as they go to the lobby at intermission), but it's the number they chose to present at the Tony Awards. It's a truly great number that builds and builds and becomes like a manic 4-ring circus with each ring overlapping on one another, reaching a crescendo that ultimately explodes. And then -- curtain. Yet in the movie...they cut away from it about three-quarters of the way through! The number just sort of abruptly ends and peters out without the huge build-up conclusion. That can only have been done (foolishly) for time. So, I suspect that because of studio demands they had to cut, and cut a lot -- they cut "The King of Broadway." They probably felt it doesn't advance the plot, and as a character song, we learn about Max through the dialogue. What they ignored is that a) this sets up the audience's mood for the whole film, and b) without it, there's no song for over 20 minutes!!!!!!! Just a mind-numbing, idiotic cut, that I think doomed the movie to being just okay. When you lose an audience early, it's hard to get them back. When you grab them early, though, they'll follow you a long time. So, here's the song on stage. The video isn't great because of that distracting body, but as I said, you'll see most everything. And you'll see how the audience reacted when, at the start of the evening, they realized they were in for an amazing, hilarious and joy-filled night. Keep in mind, this was the world-premiere tryout. No one knew what they were in for. But during this song, they figured it out. During this song, the audiences realizes that this evening is going go be wonderful. Something that you can hear from the laughter during and cheers at the end. (As a bonus, here's the song that, as I noted, they included on the DVD. You can watch it here. But this original version on stage with the audience reaction is the best way to start. Among other reasons, you can see that, no, the audience did not "hate" it. In fact, they're laughing throughout -- and end with cheers.) I use Avast! antivirus, which is a free program that's fairly popular. I did an update today, and after my system rebooted, I got an error message from Windows Action Center that said Avast! was turned off -- even though the program was installed and seemingly running fine. Clicking on the option to "trust" Avast! did no good.
I did a search and found that this seems to be a somewhat common problem, or at least a problem that is unknown. A few solutions were proposed, one of which seemed to work for most people -- reboot your computer three times -- but I was working and didn't want to take the time at the moment to try that. I kept searching. And I found a solution from a tech website that I tried...and it worked. Since I figure that other people use Avast! anti-virus, they too might come across this same problem -- if not now, then perhaps in the future. Here's the solution. (Will it work each time? Who knows, but it worked here.) It's odd, I don't know why it works, but...it worked.
No, this is not a satirical piece from The Onion. This is for real. A local chapter in Pennsylvania of the Ku Klux Klan has formed a Neighborhood Watch. No, really. Apparently there has been a bunch of break-ins in this particular neighborhood, Fairview Township, and the local Klan just wants to help, as only it can. They have sent out friendly fliers so that the folks around the block would know that everything is well-protected. (I do think they should have gone with a different graphic designer, though. It's not completely clear that the picture is a kindly watcher, and not one of the menacing thugs.) "You can sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake!" Hey, this is better than you think because clearly they're not only patrolling but also providing bedsheets.
And for all of you concerned that Black people in the neighborhood won't be sleeping one wink with the Klan marching by outside -- not to worry! I don't suspect that this is a neighborhood with lots of Black people living there. “It’s just like any neighborhood watch program. It’s not targeting any specific ethnicity. We would report anything we see to law enforcement,” Frank Ancona, the Klan's imperial wizard, told PennLive. “We don’t hate people. We are an organization who looks out for our race. We believe in racial separation. God created each species after its kind and saw that it was good.” Right-o. Certainly they think it was good. After all, I'm sure they thank their God each night that they were born white. And yes, they do indeed believe in racial separation: I suspect they believe White people should live in America, and Black people should ideally live somewhere else. I'm a little confused, though, when they say "God created each species after its kind." I thought God created man in His own image. But then, maybe that explains their line, "We don't hate people." After all, if you don't consider one of those species to be "people," than I guess they figure it's okay to hate them. Happily, they won't be targeting any specific ethnicity, they'll only be targeting general ones. That's why the larger question is what these fine fellows consider "anything" worth reporting? "Hello, Sixth Precinct? I want to report a Black man walk along Benton Avenue. And a car with two Black people in it drove by. It was going a little slower than the speed limit, so they were probably casing homes. And a Black man is going up to all the houses here and seems to be trying to get inside, opening up slots and attempting to get his hand inside. It's probably a Black Power maneuver because he's in a in paramilitary uniform with an eagle on the sleeve, though it may be one of those gay groups because he's got a leather bag strapped over his shoulder, filled with leaflets, I think, or some sort of envelopes, and he's wearing a flouncy power-blue shirt and shorts." According to an article on PennLive.com, Mr. Imperial Wizard Arcane said that a number of people recently called the Traditional American Knights hotline from Fairview Township. He explained that that complained that they didn't have enough protection. For the record, "one" is "a number." For the record, too, Mr. Arcana also told PennLive, “Anyone who is not part of the klan is considered an alien.” I guess that supports his comment above, that this klan-backed neighborhood watch program doesn't target any specific ethnicity. Apparently, it targets all ethnicity. No word yet whether George Zimmerman will be helping patrol. |
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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