The Beat Down Goes On

Our young disgruntled client strikes again.  At least he's got fire in his gut.  Love that.
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When Clients Turn the Tables On You (AKA From the Mouth of Babes...)

A young male client of mine has been working as an  intern in my office for the summer. In that brief period, he has witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly side of managing talent for 20+ years.  He summoned up the courage to ask me about keeping him in mind for a role when the casting of "Star Wars:  VIII" starts to come in.  He asked the question and then proceeded to predict what my response would be.  Check this out...

Can a slander lawsuit be far behind?  You be the judge.
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As I Was Saying....A Couple Of Years Ago

So, here we are in this epic weather pattern since before the holidays.  I've held up incredibly well under the snow and ice.  My car is nestled in the garage, hibernating, since I didn't dare shovel her out.  I've held up well under this "house arrest" due to the weather.  But the one thing that I'm losing hair over is the MAIL!  What the what?  He's not making his appointed rounds neither snow nor rain, nor heat or gloom of night?  He doesn't even come in the sunshine!  But in all honesty, if and when he does comes it is in the" gloom of night".  What do you do with a mail delivery at 7pm or 8:30pm?  He also picks up mail at that time since we no longer have mailboxes?  That picked up mail is not going anywhere that time of night.  Additionally, he's not very good in bringing the circulars so that I can at least catch some sales.  I have never experienced such poor postal service.  The poor guy is wearing one of those lights strapped to his head like those brave souls that work in mines.  It's so not righteous.

The never ending snow and arctic air has made me realize how I can move forward through the vast avenues of technology.  You can order groceries on-line and they are delivered.  Prescription medicine can only be delivered on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from my pharmacy.  I can take photographs of checks and they are magically “delicious” and deposited into the bank.  It's like living in a semi-utopia for a recluse, save the bills.  With letters almost 50 cents a pop to mail the decision to start paying on-line must be considered carefully.

Since we last spoke, I got a new boarder in my home...and it's not a puppy.

It's my jaw-dropping aunt.  Since she came, it's been a year that keeps looping the last dramatic scene on the cliffs in "North by Northwest".

She's in the early stages of many things that have already lead to arguments over her disenchantment with my cooking, at first, and then she asked for Nutrisystem to the point of ad naseum and has proclaimed that she will not "eat chemical food" for the rest of her life.  She hasn't lost an ounce because she wants her Nutrisystem with french fries and Chinese takeout.

She also requires lots and lots of Pine-Sol.

 

It's Ms. Producer, To You

As part of the growth of Soiree Fair, Inc., I personally, branched out into producing. As of April 10, 2011 I had my first official film opening with the title of associate producer. The film is called “Nicky Newark” by David LaRosa who remains one of our cherished clients.
This was a truly exciting and fulfilling experience. Just like so many others in the business, you have to make more and more maneuvers to keep yourself engaged in the industry. Solely working with actors had stalled my creative juices. Being a producer is bringing it back. The folks at Feenix Films, I thank for this uplift. I’m working on their next feature, “DEALeR” and I am in the groove again.
Here at Soiree Fair, Inc. we have another project that we have the rights to and are in the process of developing these scripts into a television series...will clue you in later.

Happy Birthday Kay Francis

One of my favorite actresses! Thanks to TCM for the marathon of her movies. It's my snow day every year.

Actorfest NY Report

My experience at Actorfest on October 2nd, 2010 in NYC--
Must toot my own horn—the panel I was on, “Working With Representation: Getting An Agent Or Manager” was sold out.

Thanks to my colleagues, great actors, casting directors and staff at Actorfest. I had an excellent time. It was great to see and meet you all.

A special shout out to Simi Horwitz—Thank you for discovering me!

Shout out to my new pal, Eddie Rabin--the best piano man accompanist in all of NYC.

Dave Clemmons--you are Musical Theatre heaven--what you don't know about it hasn't been written yet.

I met some crazy talented, dedicated and cheery people. It has renewed my faith in what I do.

Thanks, gang!

The Lost Blog From Mother's Day

This crazy entry took a walk on the wild side and blew away. Here it is again from May 11, 2010.
The semi-disappointment of my Mother's Day was the "Turkey Lurkey" number in "Promises, Promises" on Broadway. I took my lovely Mom to see the show. (…and, yes, you meanies out there, I do have a mother who is kind, leads by example and for short, I call her "Google" because all I have to do is ask her anything and she knows. There's just no substitute for experience and impeccable intuition. She's a living genius. She's that rare quality of book sense AND common sense—a remarkable person. But just like you out there, at times she finds me boorish, silly and crazy but that unconditional love thing keeps her from putting me away, I suspect. Now, she saw the original production back in 1968. Her and my Dad used to go to the theatre so much until they used to have to wait for new shows to open on Broadway. They saw them all. I just had the cast album of "Promises, Promises" in my youth (no jokes from you, CM). It's always kinda fun to go into the show knowing the lyrics to the bulk of the songs. This production touted additional Bacharach and David pop tunes of "Say A Little Prayer" and "A House is Not A Home" which weren't in the original production. I had read the review in the NY Post by Elisabeth Vincentilli in which she said, "… Ashford underwhelms as choreographer, which is odd considering the bang-up dances he created for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Cry-Baby." The biggest letdown is "Turkey Lurkey Time," an ensemble number with a single purpose: to kill. Here, it delivers only a flesh wound." I wished with all my fiber that this wouldn't be true. I was so looking forward to it. But alas, I must agree, clutching my pearls that Elisabeth was right. The "She Loves Basketball" number was the better of the Rob Ashford choreography in the show numbers. People, check out the original Michael Bennett choreography with that darling, Donna McKechnie (as Gwen Verdon was to Bob Fosse) to "Turkey Lurkey Time" on YouTube—it's dynamite!~ This revival is comme ci, comme ça. The Jonathan Tunick arrangements are smokin' and that's what will guarantee a sale from me of the original cast album.
Sean Hayes was yummy and nothing like “Just Jack”.
But here's the real jewel in the crown if you're a big Bacharach and David fan like I am and want to hear songs from the show like "Wanting Things," "Whoever You Are" and of course, "Promises, Promises" do yourself a favor and check out Dionne Warwick's (Whitney Houston's cousin) "Promises, Promises" album released in 1969 on Scepter Records. It's one of my favorite albums (yes, album, as it was called then—not CD) of all time.
Bacharach and David songs with that trademark Flugelhorn line –just like an analgesic balm on your sore and aching heart.
I once had a musical theatre audition session for representation a few years back and I gave anyone who wanted to come in and sing a choice of two songs to prepare. One was "Promises, Promises" and the other was "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (another Bacharach and David) song. Well, low and behold, I got this screwball accompanist who played the piano like Ed Norton and would play this ridiculous intro much like "Swanee River" just in different keys before going into the songs. It was just ridiculous. These were tough songs to sing for most and I knew that to be the challenge. I didn't acquire any new musical theatre talent from that day.
Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield are the quintessential singers of the interpretation and phrasing of Bacharach and David songs as Barbara Cook is to Sondheim.
Kristin Chenoweth is a phenomenal talent and singer. This show is not Chenoweth's singing lane. What happened to that Dusty Springfield project in which she was going to play the title role? Was it scrapped? After this, I may know why.
I'll be seeing "Sondheim On Sondheim" before the Tonys and I'll let you know what's up with that…Love me some Sondheim!
I aspire to be a Tony Voter one day after this chapter of my life is closed.
..And here are some of my favorite Broadway tunes (popular and obscure) that are the perfect marriage of song and singer—meaning I haven't heard anyone sing a better rendition of the following:
Barbra ("hello gorgeous") Streisand—"My Man" from "Funny Girl"
Nancy Wilson singing "Fireworks" from "Miss Liberty"
Julie Andrews singing "Crazy World" from "Victor/Victoria"
Liza Minnelli singing "I Had A Dream" from "Gypsy"
Chita Rivera singing "All That Jazz" from "Chicago"
Stephanie Mills singing "Home" from "The Wiz"
Sammy Davis, Jr. singing "There's A Party Going On" from "Golden Boy"
Len Cariou singing "Pretty Women" from "Sweeney Todd"
Robert Goulet singing "If Every I Would Leave You" from "Camelot"
Larry Kert singing "Something's Comin'" from "West Side Story"
Sarah Vaughn singin "Maria" from "West Side Story"
John Raitt singing "Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'" from "Oklahoma"
Yvonne (Lily Munster) DeCarlo singing “I’m Still Here” from “Follies”

…and I'll keep sharing these renditions as the blogs go on and on and on…

--Posted By Karen Gunn @ Soiree Fair to Karen Gunn's Gabfest @ Soiree Fair at 5/11/2010 01:38:00 AM