So here I am in San Diego. I wasn't able to get a ticket to see Memphis at the La Jolla Playhouse. Sold old, rush only for seniors and students, and by the time I got my rental car it was almost 7:30 (curtain time) - so even if there had been tickets available I never would've made it to La Jolla in time.

But... BUT... the trip isn't all disappointments, quite the contrary. I was surprised at Hertz with a Chrysler Sebring convertible, with Sirius satellite radio. So at least for a little while, I was driving around beautiful, warm San Diego with the top down, the radio turned to channel 77, singing show tunes at the top of my lungs (including the song quoted in the subject line).

More often than not it's the simple things that remind us that life is good, right?

I've been thinking that I've been paying too much for my DSL service. Today, I finally decided to investigate and see if I could get a better deal. I discovered that without switching vendors I could get service that's literally twice as fast as what I currently get for one penny more a month. It's an introductory price, but one that's valid for two years and doesn't require any contract or commitment longer than month-to-month.

So, yeah... there doesn't appear to be any downside. They'll flip a switch and I'll have faster internet at home.

I very much look forward to being able to watch video clips of spaghetti-eating cats without the need for re-buffering.

Another show has closed. I'm always a little depressed when a show closes (thank God I haven't had one yet that I couldn't wait to be done with). The Pajama Game was a great experience. We had a wonderful time doing the show, and audiences (although on the small side) had a wonderful time seeing it.

And now I have five full weeks until I start rehearsals for the next one. Whatever shall I do with all that time?

Sorry, Matthew...

First, here's the Talkin' Broadway review of The Pajama Game (scroll down).

And then finally, the AisleSay.com review.

Three more performances!

I've made some critical comments about Keith Kreitman before, but I gotta say, this is one of his better reviews. :-)

In all seriousness, it's the first review of his I can remember reading that isn't just a plot summary. It's not a great example of theatrical criticism, but at least he had something to say. And of course I'm happy that it's a rave.

Too bad there are still reviews coming in when we only have four performances left. I'm still waiting on the Talkin' Broadway review (which often gets posted after shows close) and the AisleSay.com review (which has been written for weeks but the site hasn't been updated since before we opened).

One of today's intermission discussions in the men's dressing room was a musical version of Top Gun. Some of the obvious song titles: "The Need for Speed", "I Am Dangerous", "Take me to Bed or Lose Me Forever", and the finale, "You Can Be My Wingman Any Time".

It'd be brilliant. Or awful. One of those two.

From London's Independent: "Bill Clinton made a plea yesterday for a new emphasis on monogamy as a key element in the battle against Aids [sic]."

Seriously, I can't stop laughing.

In related news, Fred Phelps has called for a new emphasis on meaningful dialogue as a key element in the battle against hate crimes.

I haven't posted anything in a while. I'm still waiting for a few Pajama Game reviews, even though I know nobody really cares about them.

The show is going really well, although tickets sales have been disappointing. Sunday matinees have been well sold, but the other evening shows... not so much. But the audience reaction has been uniformly excellent. People are really enjoying the show. I'm hoping that we'll start seeing the result of good word of mouth with weekend number three (which starts tonight). If you're reading this and you're in the area and haven't seen it... well... get a ticket! Or two or three or more!

Last weekend I had almost my entire family in town to see the show (the only person missing was my brother-in-law). They were only here two days, but we made the most of them. On Saturday we went to the Ano Nuevo State Reserve to commune with nature and view the elephant seals (proof that God has a sense of humor). They weren't doing much of anything - it's their molting season, so they lie around on the beach all day. Sounds kinda nice, actually. It was a beautiful day. I posted some pictures on Facebook, but I'll put a few of them here as well.

( Click through to see them. )

Palo Alto Weekly. Hey! This one mentions me! Oh... it's a criticism. Nevermind, nothing to see here...

First, the Silicon Valley Metro. Mixed.

And a couple of blog reviews from For All Events (a website I'd never heard of). Both pretty good.

I've seen the text of the review from AisleSay.com (and it's a good one), but it hasn't been posted yet so I'll wait on that one.

Well, I now have a theater project lined up after Pajama Game and all is right with the world. It was my fall-back position, and I have fallen back upon it. I'll be in the chorus of The Elixir of Love with Opera San Jose.

I don't know the opera at all - I hope it has a decent chorus part. But it's always good to work at OSJ, so it'll be nice to be back - even if it wasn't my first (or even second) choice of Fall projects.

Our first review is out, and, well... does anyone else think it sounds incomplete? Like they literally didn't post the entire thing? She mentions what she likes, and alludes to not liking other aspects of the show, but never gets more specific than that. Anyway, it's just weird.

Here's a preview to whet the appetite of those who can come to see The Pajama Game, and to perhaps satisfy the curiosity of those who can't (if such curiosity exists).

( Click to see 'em. )

For a moment last night, I thought we were doing Les Misérables.*

Toward the end of Act 1, the factory workers in The Pajama Game stage a slow-down. It's short-lived, as everyone snaps back to full speed after being scolded by the superintendent. That moment is chaotic, and I'm supposed to run on stage in the midst of the chaos.

Well, it's gotten a bit too chaotic, as people are running around like wild men, including a couple of guys with a rolling fabric rack.** A rolling fabric rack that rolled right over my foot. It hurt like a... well, you fill in the blank with the epithet of your choice. Thankfully today there's only some very light bruising, so I'm fine. But man, it hurt.


*It's a M. Fauchelevent reference! Get it?

**OK, if it had been Les Mis, it would've been a cart, not a rack of fabric. And it would've been moving very slowly. And I would've been trapped underneath it. WORK WITH ME, PEOPLE.

The interwebs are amazing.

I got an email yesterday from a guy I was friends with in 4th and 5th grade. After 5th grade he moved and transferred to another school. Although he was in the same school district, I didn't really control my social calendar at 11 years old, so we lost touch and I never saw him again.

It seems that some time after high school he did some shows at SCP, the theater where I did Into the Woods and Hollywood/Ukraine. And he was googling it, for whatever reason, and found a clip of me as the Baker on YouTube. And out of nowhere, I get this message delivered via YouTube asking if I'm the guy who went to Loyola Elementary School.

The whole thing is kinda surreal. I haven't seen this guy (or even thought of him) in more than 25 years. Now all of a sudden I'm flooded with elementary school memories - and pleasant ones, for a change.

The Pajama Game sitzprobe was last night. Due to budget and space issues (we don't have a very large pit), we've had to do some reorchestration. Our band (it's the best word to use, I think) doesn't have any strings except for an upright bass. I was a little worried when I heard that, as the regular orchestrations call for 2 violins, viola, and cello. But our band swings! They sounded fantastic. For the record, it's 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, flute/piccolo, clarinet, various combinations of alto, tenor and baritone sax (two players), bass, percussion (drum kit, timpani, chimes, and various small percussion instruments) and piano. And they were hot.

For the record, I didn't hear them on any of the ballads (we do the show out of order at the sitzprobe to minimize sitting around for the ensemble... sometimes I wish OSJ did that too, although there's a lot to be said for hearing the whole thing with orchestra for the first time). So I don't know how well that combination of instruments sounded on "Hey There", for example. But what I did hear was great, and I'm really looking forward to rehearsing with them again.

The show's good, y'all. Come see it!

At the risk of having everybody who reads this beat my score:

Mensa Fun Test (See? Tests are fun!)

I scored 25 out of 30 in 27 minutes.

So it's been a week since I posted anything. I guess I haven't had that much to say.

Funny, once again it's Sunday and I'm exhausted. I napped a lot today, and I'm coming off a three day weekend, but I'm still tired. It's just that time of year, I suppose. Work is moderately busy, but rehearsals have definitely stepped up a notch as we get closer to opening.

Yesterday we ran the whole show for the first time, for the designer run-through. I was kind of expecting a disaster, because there are scenes we've blocked and haven't come back to, and the scene shifts haven't been set (and we were working with a crew of two people). But it went pretty darn well for the first time. Yes, we came to a grinding halt every time we had to do a shift, but we knew that going in. The show itself is really coming together, and there were a lot of good moments on stage. It was great to see the show as a whole. And even with the added time for shifts, we came in right at three hours, so I think once we get the show on its feet we'll have a very nicely paced show. That three hours was just part of a seven hour rehearsal, though, which certainly contributes to my exhaustion.

Also contributing was a great evening last night catching up with four old friends. We had a little reunion of some of my buddies dating back to high school (one of whom I still see all the time, but the others rarely if ever). You know that you're dealing with old (and lasting) friends when you pick right up like you were never apart. It was a pretty low key evening - dinner and Rock Band (the most excellent video game ever - at least from the perspective of someone who loves music but is not, nor ever has been, a gamer). Tons of fun.

We all did think it was pretty comical, though, when five guys in their mid-to-late thirties pulled up to a restaurant in a minivan. That's how we roll, people. That's how we roll.

Why am I tired? It's 5:30ish on a Sunday afternoon and really, I'm kinda exhausted. I did have a fairly busy weekend, especially given my usual sedentary schedule. In addition to a rehearsal on Saturday (in which we ran Act II for the first time, which went as well as could be expected - which is not really all that well), I saw three shows. Friday night was Snapshots at TheatreWorks, Saturday night was Perfect Wedding at Palo Alto Players, and this afternoon was The Pirates of Penzance at Lyric Theatre.

So maybe that's why I'm tired. And poorer than I was on Friday afternoon. But here's my little secret, y'all: I go see my friends in shows on the assumption that they are now obligated to see me in mine. So the folks in the above shows are forewarned: Pajama Game opens July 25. :-)

Next weekend I lay the guilt on the cast of Grease at West Valley Light Opera! Several friends in that one... woohoo!

This morning, the Starbucks cashier wrote my name on my coffee cup thusly:



I feel compelled to have an extra peppy day. I'm not sure I'll be able to oblige, but I shall try.