Standing Next to Greatness

In my artistic pursuits, especially during the seven year run I had in LA, I've ocassionally run into a celebrity or two.  Sometimes, I've consciously sought these experiences out through book signings and the like, as, let's face it, I love me some celebrities (which is how I "met" Phyllis Diller, Lorna Luft, Pat Conroy, Esther Williams, and Mary Tyler Moore). 

A lot of times, I spotted these celebs because I was serving them, in one capacity or another.    Examples?   

I served Shirley Maclaine fish at a banquet (which she later claimed was rather dry to a group of ladies including Olivia Newton-John, Jane Seymour and Ruta Lee)   Tell is like it T-I- is Shirley!!

I've sold books to Martha Plimpton, Alanis Morissette, Gloria Allred, and Mary Kay Place.  I've served hors d'oeuvres to Chloe Sevigny, Mira Sorvino, and Quentin Tarantino.

A couple of them were really brief encounters...

Sometime in the late nineties I was in the LA Airport with an equally celebrity enamored friend who suddenly turned and pointed to a slight, dark haired young woman who had covered herself with a baseball cap, sunglasses and an oversized smock.  She obviously did not want to be recognized.  "THAT'S WINONA RYDER!!" he shouted.  She of course, quickly looked around and ducked her head.  Lucky for her it was a very crowded airport and people were far too busy to pay any attention to one nut job shouting, so Winona, expert in evasion, quickly faded into the crowd.  I'm sure that for her it was just another Tuesday. 

I momentarily saw Gary Coleman at the Westside Pavillion mall, standing in the game store, inspecting (not buying) a furbee.  This was around the time he appeared in the Simpsons episode "Grift of the Magi", which featured Mr. Funzo, a satirical version of the Furbee, so I like to imagine that Mr. Coleman was doing his actorly research.

A few of the stories need a little more attention to detail to convey the truth of the experience, so those I'll be covering in later posts.  First up???  Barbra Streisand.  Stay Tuned.

Cathy Dresden Returns!!! (Part One)

I'm committing to baby steps.  In life and in art.  I have a theatrical project I'm working on for Christmas of 2015 which will bring back Cathy Dresden after a small absence from the Austin scene.  Who's Cathy Dresden?  Glad you asked.

She's a plucky chanteuse/homemaker from 1958 who got her big break on "Steve Polanko's Amateur Hour of Power".  She placed third in the televised competition, and it was enough for her to throw off her apron, put down her dish gloves and  start singing full-time.  She bid adieu to the South, and her refrigerator repairman husband, and trucked on out to Los Angeles. 

I introduced her story in my one-man show "Overwhelming Underdogs", produced in 2007, which charted the ups and downs of her Butter Churn Tour of the Midwest. Since that show I've brought her out for appearances at benefits and fund raisers, including one for the Rude Mechanicals.  I've since gotten a lot of requests to bring her back and some offers of assistance should I ever decide to do so.  I always knew I wasn't finished with her, but I had a few ideas fighting it out for which one would be first to be produced.  The winner?

A show with the working title "Cathy Dresden's Christmas Spectacular". It's a parody/tribute of Holiday specials from the early sixties.  I'm approximately halfway through.  I've got an outline I'm pretty pleased with, and the first thirty pages has gotten to a pretty polished state.  Of course, depending on how it goes with the actual execution of the outline, things will have to change, be rearranged, etc.

I will say I think I've learned an important lesson.  Never send your child out into the world half dressed.  I had someone who was interested in looking at the piece for a possible production, and I rushed a draft and sent it.  The response, while perfectly positive, was not the overwhelming rave and clamor that everyone hopes for, and when I looked over what I'd sent out, I analyzed (over analyzed?) why.  The pacing was off, it was a bit repetitive, certain scenes came too early, characters weren't clearly motivated, etc.  In short, on second glance I found my unformed baby to be ugly, ugly, UGLY!!!  And threw a proverbial sheet over it to hide the disgrace from the cruel world.  And yet... I went back and made some cuts, polished some dialogue, re-worked a character, altered one of the songs, and then hit a snag which has kept me stymied.

Up until yesterday I hadn't worked on the piece in a month.  And for those of you thinking there is no rush?  Finding a performance space in Austin can be brutal so the sooner you look the better, and it helps to have a working script to present and sell to possible producers.  I am determined to go through with the piece, as I think it is one with promise.  I've come to realize that there are many, many artists who ran into obstacles on the way to having something produced and the one thing the successful ones have in common?  They blazed through them. 

My current assignments in bringing Cathy's show to completion?

1.  Finish the script.
2.  Send it to trusted colleagues for feedback and re-writes.
3.  Re-submit it to the producer.
4.  Continue to introduce Cathy to the Austin area (hosting of events, improv, etc.)
5.  Look into the possibility of self-producing and discuss the idea with artists in the area who have done the same.
6.  Organize an informal reading of the piece so I can make another pass at the script.

So, back to the baby steps.  I've been reading Anne LaMotte's "Bird By Bird", and she stresses the importance of small projects.  Because, add up twenty small assignments in support of a project and you have a pretty big chunk of the job completed.  So right now, I am committing to 15 minutes a day on the script until it's completed.  This commitment may change, but at the moment it's enough to keep me coming back to the desk every day.  Because the muse will not show up out of the blue.  I've discovered the only way to get her there is to make an appointment with her, and assume that she will be late.  Just keep plugging along til she arrives, and she almost always will.

One challenge I'm facing in the script writing process-  Cathy's on again off again fiancé Jerome Tolliver.  He's her charming, sexually ambiguous accompanist and up until this point he's been performed beautifully by Dustin Struhall who is, as of this moment heading off to Edinburgh.  I am really excited for him, but not sure what to do about Jerome.  Have someone else play him?  Seems weird.  Trust that I'll find another great pianist who is comfortable acting?  Or...should I write another character?  And if so, should his active role in the piece be toned down to accommodate someone who is not comfortable speaking dialogue onstage?    At this point I am leaving the character as is, being open to the idea that Cathy may have a string of revolving fiancés who's names change as the accompanist does.  And yet, this is not a fully resolved question.  Stay tuned.

Lauren Bacall on "What's My Line"

If you want a real peek at a celebrity's impish side, the way they might have appeared at a cocktail party, AND you're interested in stars of Hollywood's golden age, there is no better way in than through the celebrity guest spots on What's My Line, the game show that aired from 1950-1967 and featured a very erudite and witty panel of columnists and media celebrities who tried to figure out what a person's "line" was through a series of "yes or no" questions.

The "mystery guest" spot required the panel to cover their eyes with face masks (Arlene Francis' is particularly reflective of her personal brand of kooky glamour) and the celebrity would employ tricks to disguise their voices, or if the celebrity's voice was instantly recognizable, as in the case of Judy Garland, the guest would have a bell to ring for "yes" and clicker for "no". 

In watching this particular clip featuring Lauren Bacall just after she finished filming How To Marry A Millionaire, I was surprised by how flirty and coquettish and almost...demure she was.  I've always known and loved Bacall as the sophisticated, confident, and salty lady she was onscreen, and that she relaxed into as she aged.  So to see her in this context was loads of fun.  Hope you enjoy.

 

And if this clip has piqued your interest, there are plenty more What's My Line celebrity spots available on Youtube, including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Kim Novak, Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland and Eleanore Roosevelt!  I personally recommend the clip with Rosalind Russell.

Uncertainty...

It's been a somewhat tenuous time as of late, as I've been trying to figure out what the future holds.  My job situation is somewhat unstable, my romantic life is undeveloped, and close friends of mine are off on exciting new adventures of one kind or another.

Me???  I'm beginning to realize that if I plan on staying in the Austin area, any hopes of making a larger income based on creativity is...limited.  That's not to say that some people haven't been able to make a go of it, but in my areas of expertise??  Let's just say Chicago has been calling, and has been calling ever since I my exploratory visit about five years ago.  Now I realize I'm not getting any younger, and that it might take some time to establish myself in a new town, and that it's a lot of hard work.  I hear you.  But, it would be exciting as well, and feel like really living, rather than just...coasting. And if the effort is motivated by desire, then it doesn't really feel as much like work, does it?  As far as here?  Austin?  At this moment I don't see the next four or five years as very different from what they have been, and I just don't want to accept a future of drifiing from  one job to another that has very little to do with my passions, true talents, and desires.   

That said, I am currently in a lease which goes to June, so until then, I am here.  In the mean time I am open to finding the perfect position, preferably in an industry focused on creativity and communications.  I can dream, right? 

Obsession: Once Upon A Brothers Grimm

I've loved fairy tales for as long as I can remember.  In kindergarten I had a huge book of them that I checked out from the library multiple times.  And I coveted the illustrated version of Disney's Snow White that my cousins owned, and whenever I visited them always found a time to break away from them and pore over its pages for a few moments.  My Aunt would always tell them to me when she put me to sleep, and the only way my mother could get me to sit still while she cleaned my ears out was to mention a long list of fairy tale and Disney characters that she was pulling out of there.  Disgusting, but true.   

So it stands to reason that a television special entitled Once Upon A Brothers Grimm was little kid eye candy.  So colorful, and exciting, and suspenseful.   When you're a kid you have this magical power to suspend all disbelief, and so I was truly and utterly engrossed.  It's a power I really miss in  my slightly snarky years.  It's available at Amazon, so I can't wait to order it and re watch it...

 

Yes it's campy as shit and unintentionally funny.  Yes, it's got Paul Sand (ugh) and yes Terri Garr is blatantly lip synching and yes Ruth Buzzi is an inappropriate cast as the Miller's daughter in Rumplestilsken, but it's fucking Ruth Buzzi!  In a 1970's fairy tale extravaganza!! 

Others in the cast include Dean Jones, Chita Rivera, Arte Lang, and many more...

Blast From The Past

 

 
Here's a fun little peek at the past that proves the fashion world has been pushing the boundaries in male fashion long before the "makeup for men" and "lingerie for men" trends in the nineties. 
I love that the youtube poster titled the clip "Outrageous Male Fashion Show", ie "GAY AS FUCK"!  And the wienie dog licking his lips?  Hilarious.

I am curious if the designer expected straight males to get into this trend, or if was designed for the "effete" male from the get-go?  Thoughts?

 

NPR Delights

NPR  has become my go to place for news and information, and no that's not me being a shitty pseudo-intellectual liberal (well, maybe it is, you decide).  I legitimately love the features, and how diverse, in-depth and affecting they are.  They often have me sobbing one solitary tear, a bit like Barbra Streisand in "The Way We Were" when she thinks she's about to make sweet sweaty 1940's love to a drunken Robert Redford. 



First Example: 

 This little story about what happens to military dogs when they've finished their service.  Hearing about the people in the military who are fighting to make sure these animals don't get left behind will make you feel great about being a human, but then you might just get mad as hell to think there are people who think it's ok to use them and then just dump them.  And then, like me, you might cry the aforementioned single tear when you hear a veteran who was a handler say that once he got back to the US, all he wanted was his dog back with him.



The Second Example:

This next feature probably won't bring you to tears, but if you're a writer, it might get you thinking, and feeling a little inspired.  I know self publishing seems lame, but if self publishing an e-book can put some of the control in your hands and make your dream seem one step closer, and if there's money to be made...why discount it?

James Grissom on Elaine Stritch

 

 

I've been reading a lot of the tributes to Elaine Stritch over the past few days, and while I've enjoyed a great deal of them, this passage by James Grissom from his blog Follies Of God, is the last word. 

 





Rare Footage of Garland, Bacall, and Sinatra at a Noel Coward Performance in Vegas

Discovered some fascinating footage of a Noel Coward performance at the Desert Inn in Vegas, thanks to The Judy Garland Experience.  This must have been around the time Sinatra was doggedly pursuing Lauren to be his next wife, and it's interesting to see them being so chummy.  Garland looks great here, as the early to mid-fifties are my favorite period for her, both vocally and looks wise.  And, bonus points if someone can tell me who the sophisticated blonde is with Coward.  I'm guessing it's his wife.  Color me obsessed.

Small Books, Big Ideas

If you fancy yourself an artist, or creator of any kind, these two books need to be on your shelf, and Austin Kleon is someone you should be paying close attention to.

The first, Steal Like An Artist is all about the idea that the art you love can and should fuel the art you make. It clears away the obstacles in your mind that say "this has already been" said, done, written about, etc. Of course it has, but it will never be done in the same way that you will. 

The second, Show Your Work, discusses the importance of sharing your creative process with others.  It's about building and marketing your brand, in a non-mercenary or schmoozy way.  It's also completely current and loaded with techniques about using todays internet savvy world.

In other words, This shit is crucial, and will keep you inspired as you blaze your creative trail. 

The "Ideas Issue" of The Atlantic is Out

I'm always looking for new articles and bits of inspiration about the creative mind.  I'm kind of a self help junkie for creativity as a way to overcome writer's block. 

It's funny, the way I used to understand it, writer's block was what happened when you casually and freely sat down to create your next work, and...nothing came.  For whatever reason, the corner you'd written yourself into seemed impossible to escape. 

But, for me, and I think for most people, writer's block is what happens before you even sit down at the desk.  It's the fear that if you take that chance and sit down at the computer, nothing will come, or what will come will not be worth the time spent.  If that's the case, why not spend the time wading through episodes of "Breaking Bad" or chomping on popcorn at a mediocre movie, or playing Farm Hero's Saga?

The way I combat it is to keep creativity on my brain in tiny segments, to consume ideas as much as I can, and the most recent issue of The Atlantic is full of terrific bits of inspiration and techniques.  It's the "Idea Issue", and features articles on the power of a creative partnership, insights on where creativity comes from in the mind, and 6 creative solutions to "thorny" problems. 

There's also an interesting article on the trend of killing off mother's in children's media.  Sure this topic has been discussed ad nauseum, but the writer's thoughts on  the recent addition of the "fun" father figure in films like Despicable Me, and Wreck It Ralph are worth reading.

Podcast I Love: "You Must Remember This"

I'm an avid reader of Entertainment Weekly's "Must List".  It's loaded with great recommendations for those who devour media, and it doesn't stop at music and movies, but branches out into crazy shit like...theater!!  And podcasts!!  And BOOKS!!!  Yes, they still print em.   And if you actually seek out some of the little gems, you'll feel real damn proud of yourself afterwards.  Occasionally it feels like they have some kind of weird deal with the distributors, but most of the time it feels legit. 

A couple of weeks ago, this caught my eye...

 



It was my lady, once again, in print.  It happens every once in awhile that I catch her image in a magazine (I mean, she lives on peeps.  Her legend is far fucking reaching) and two things happen. 

Thing #1.  My eyes widen and I shriek on the inside like a child at Christmas time.  I'm so excited that she's still being paid attention to in this modern age!  She is RELEVANT! 

Thing #2.  My eyes dart madly across the page, like a meth addict seeking his next fix (yes, I'm watching "Breaking Bad" now, and it's every bit as putrid and crusty as I thought it would be.  It's also compelling television) I seek out whatever trash they may have printed, so I can gird my rage against the turd who wrote it.  Is the word "tragedy" less than three words to the left or right of her name?  Do they bring up the damned pills, yet again??  "WHY CAN'T THEY LEAVE THAT POOR LADY ALONE!!!!)

In this case?  No tragedy, no slander.  Instead they point to a podcast by the name of  "You Must Remember This" which focuses on the untold or forgotten histories of some of Hollywood's greats.  If done well, this little podcast could be a gold mine, and yet, I had pretty low expectations.  I've heard a lot of media pieces on Judy and a lot of them have been salacious, or cheaply produced, and it was quite possible this could be one or the other...and yet?

I went straight to the episode focusing on Garland's later years hoping to love it and fearing I wouldn't.   Verdict?  The creator, writer and host, Karina Longworth has crafted a really thoughtful, very well written and insightful podcast with her unique perspective.  The Garland episode actually made me think about things I'd never thought before, which I certainly should have.  Possible-  Garland's hold on gay men was anathema to the male dominated straight media?  They used the connection to dismiss her and discount her hold on people?  Yeah.  Yeah they did.  Listen to the podcast, as Longworth illustrates it better than I could. 

 One of the great things about this show is that it doesn't just do a blanket bio on whatever star it's currently focusing on.  It zooms in on a particular moment, and unpacks it for the listener.  And she speaks with a very distinctive voice.  She's best when she's looking at the lives of women, as she does in the Garland, Novak, Frances Farmer, and Isabella Rossellini episodes, because you can feel her passion for the topic.

I'm personally hoping she'll do an episode on the weird pictures of Sammy Davis Jr and Jayne Mansfield at some freaky satanic ritual in the sixties.  I need that shit debunked or I'll never listen to Sammy Davis Jr with a completely untainted ear.

Stacked!

Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in potential, pages of it in fact.  Drowning in books that I haven't opened because my head was turned by something else, or that I've abandoned because what lay within its pages wasn't as instantly addictive as I had hoped.  Below are just a few of the contenders for my next read, concluding with my current read, which I am determined to make it through.

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi-  I am a sucker for Fairy Tales.  They cut through the bullshit and get right to the core of things.  Some people are good, some are evil, some beautiful people are clothed in the mask of beasts, dead people can talk to you through trees, and when you are nice to the world it will be nice to you back when you least expect it and most need it.  It's a brutal, but hopeful world where good triumphs in the end even if a few fingers or heels get cut off, or children are sold into indebted servitude, it will turn out right.  So when I heard that this latest novel by Helen Oyeyemi was a re-telling of the Snow White story which takes place in mid-twentieth century America?  I bit.  It digs deep into our feelings of race and beauty and what it means to be "good"?  Yes please.  One of the protagonists (in the role equivalent to the Evil Queen) is a Hitchcockian blonde?  All right already!!  And yet, in it's first fifteen pages as I lay drowsily in bed, it did not hook me.  And so, on the pile it goes, to sit until I have more resolve.

Not Without You by Harriet Evans-  A young woman in the forties becomes a major film star, and in the present day, a rising star who idolizes her begins to unravel the mysteries she left behind.  It's been likened to the films of Douglas Sirk in book form. 

A Stranger In A Strange Land, 1984, One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Slaughter-house Five, In Cold Blood-  These books I picked up in a surge of desire to read some of the great works that I've always wanted to dip my feet into and understand.  And yet, I haven't yet.  There's always something newer, and shiner, and less stalwart and true that attracts me before I truly give these a shot.  And yet, I own them, they sit in my home, so they are one step closer to being read by me.  Sometimes I wish you could soak books up like sunlight, just hold them close and absorb their wisdom.

Dorothy Must Die by some chick I'll probably end up resenting-  How much easier it is to cannabilize on a masterpiece than to write one from scratch.  I say "cannibalize" because this writer literally takes the heroes of the story and turns them into villains.  Dorothy, the Tinman, The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion?  They turned out to be real assholes and are enslaving all of Oz.  Glinda?  Grade-A bitch.  Who's the true heroine?  The character this chick dreamt up using as a template the very heroine she shits upon in print.  And still, I have to give it a shot even though this has already been done to death and I wasn't too pleased with the results of previous efforts.

You Must Remember This by Robert Wagner and some ghost writer-  An appreciation of the Hollywood way of life back in its golden age.  I checked it out from the library as part of research for a current project I'm working on, or projects I'm hoping to work on.  As fascinated as I am with Hollywood in its hey-day, it helps to know what the day to day life was like, even if it is a rose tinted semblance of it.

The Trip To Echo Spring by Olivia Lang-  The relationship between writers and alcohol is one that hasn't really been written about in depth, and it's something I've always been intrigued by.  In part, because I had fantasies that a couple shots would release my genius, and set me on a course of  typing that Kerouac would envy and that would lead to sleepless nights and pages full of heartbreaking wonder.  This is also the reason I've sometimes wanted to get my hands on Benzedrine.  Yes I know it's a terrible drug, and led to a life of sometimes Hell for one of my heroines, and yet, those writers in the the thirties and forties got A LOT of shit done!!!  Anyway, this book focuses on a couple of my favorites (Tennessee Williams and F.Scott Fitzgerald) one that I'm curious to know more about (Hemingway) and a few I really know nothing more than the superficial (Raymond Carver, John Cheever).  It's part group bio and part travelogue and it's not been cohesive enough, so far, to keep my attention.  I recently abandoned it to read my latest book...

10% Happier by Dan Harris-  My current book.  I'm nearly a hundred pages in and I'm hooked.  I don't recall ever having seen Harris on television, but his story of neuroses tamed through meditation, and his search for productivity without the hair pulling is readable and relatable.  Hopefully the answers he finds will prove applicable.

Roadside Humor

There's a gas station on Brodie Lane, appropriately named "Brodie Mart", that I must rarely drive by at night, as it's only recently that I've noticed the neon sign...

As nice as it is to imagine that the other letters died out purely by coincidence, and that this is proof of a Divine sense of humor, a glance at the liquor store next door thoroughly convinced me otherwise...

 

 

Well played, business owners, well played.



The Beauty and Courage of Marian Anderson

Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of Marian Anderson's historic concern at The Lincoln Monument.  The story itself is truly moving, and a terrific example of courageous people coming together to do the right thing.   It's always been one of my favorite historical events, and every time I see footage of Marian standing in front of that bank of microphones before thousands of people, I'm struck by how regal, how graceful, and how brave she is and feel what I imagine to be a fraction of what it was like to witness that moment.

 

 

And yet, as important as this moment is, I feel like individual attention should be paid to Marian and her voice, because they stand on their own as worthy of awe.   The spiritual "Deep River" is one of many stirring performances...

 

 

 





Tell Your Story

"You own everything that happened to you.  Tell your stories.  If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better."--  Anne Lamott

This quote really resonates with me, and probably does with most writers.  Of course I keep things to myself for fear of hurting the feelings of those I love, and if I'm honest with myself I keep just as much to myself for fear of the repercussions of the ones I...don't love.  I mean, society demands that we keep quiet about those feelings, and we certainly wouldn't want them to leak out and bite us in the ass later.  But if we are writers?  If we want to be story tellers?  Aren't those the very stories we should tell?  Stories with meat, heat, and emotion?

Be A Huge Part of the Creative Process in Austin

 

   Hi Every one!  I'm reaching out to you to connect with you about Amplify Austin, the 24 Hour Festival of Giving to the Austin Community.  Specifically I want to deeply encourage you to give to Zilker Productions, and to tell you what it has meant to me, and why I it will make you feel good in your heart to give to this organization. 

Click here to give now

     My family and I moved to Austin when I was eight, and pretty much since then, the Zilker Summer Musical has been a part of my life.  As an audience member?  It was something we could do as a family, that was free, outside at an Austin Institution, Zilker Park.  We could join together with the literally thousands of people who saw this show each night.  And for two to three hours I got to be with my family and take a moment to dream.  I would save the programs, and pour over them later, draw my own versions of the illustrations on the front...basically just bliss out on everything Zilker.  It was my Broadway and one of my first dreams as a performer was to be up there someday.   

     The Zilker Summer Musical has been here for over fifty years encouraging people (kids, artists, and dreamers of all kinds) to escape into something pretty special.  I know how important these donations are.  I've seen what the money does.  It gives a small stipend to the actors who contribute up to three months of their time.  It pays for the sets, the costumes, the publicity...

     And just think, if you click here and give even $10 before 6PM today (BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THE WHOLE MATCHING FUNDS SHEBANG IS OVER) you can watch the heartfelt community show that is The Zilker Summer Musical and know that you were a big part of what was up there.  If you can afford to give a little bit of a dream to that kid sitting ten people over and creating a previously unthought of future, you really should.

For those out of town who want to know more about this theatrical event, go to the zilker website

Click here to give before the time runs out

 

Failure Face?

So...if all had gone perfectly according to plan I would have blogged about The Judy Garland Show, one episode per day, and nearly be finished, if not completely finished at this point.  So what happened?  Am I lazy?  Maybe.  Was it difficult?  Yes.  Did it turn something I enjoyed into a chore?  A touch.  Here's the truth.

1.  It was turning into a chore, and I was beginning to drive myself crazy.  I LOVE The Judy Garland Show, but truth be told, I love it in small doses.  One a week.  So, maybe that's something I can commit to.  Maybe this was all too much from the get-go.  I was no longer looking forward to the show, and having a "critical eye" on something, preparing to write about it, can take away a lot of the pure joy.  It's like you've got one eye on the fun, and another on the door.  Plus, with the watching, the research and the writing?  It consumed a lot of time in any already time restricted life.

2.  I think I was beginning to drive my roommate crazy.  We share a tv, and night after night I was watching the show, and we were going to our separate rooms doing our own thing.  Not that we don't do this often, we are individuals pursuing our own lives, and yet... I was beginning to feel like I was dominating the tv and I hated how much time we were spending in the same apartment, as if we were completely alone.  He's certainly got an appreciation for Judy, but he's not a fan by any means, and I didn't want to bombard him.

3.  I lost my readers.  A lot of them.  Not that this is a hugely trafficked blog, but I do enjoy getting read, and my readership was way down, and thus the motivation to write for an audience that possibly wasn't there?  Low. 

4.  It's been done.  Beautifully.  So many people have written about this show, and the fans seem to have dredged up every single detail amongst themselves at one point or another.  So, what's the urgency???  Is anyone clamoring?

So there you have it.  I am going on a hiatus for an indeterminate amount of time.  Not on the blog, but on The Judy Garland Show blogging.  It may come back, but I ain't making any promises.  Yes, I feel like a bit of a failure face, but I will pick up the little pieces and continue blogging.  I ain't finished, yet.  Nuff' said.

You Can't Eat Glamour For Breakfast

It's become cliché.  You're in your car listening to the radio or lounging around watching television and someone  who works in a job that just about anyone else would die to have is sitting in a cushiony chair by a conspiratorily nodding talk show host, or sitting in front of mike in a radio studio, and they say something to the effect of "believe me folks, this job that I have that seems so awesome?  It's not as glamorous as it looks". 

Why do they say this?  What's the point?  Is it to say, "I may look like I'm having a blast wearing beautiful clothes and getting my picture taken for a living, but my life it still really hard and I'm to be pitied"?  Because that's what anyone who says this sounds like.  A big fat cry baby.

And I know, their motives may be kind of sweet.  It may all be in the vein of "don't be jealous of me guys, life is hard for me, too" but honestly?  I don't want to hear it.  Really?  There are downsides to your job?  People judge you more harshly?  You don't eat?  You have to work out a lot?  That's the price of glamour.  And even if you don't feel it, can't appreciate it, doesn't mean it isn't there.  It's just not there for you.

Glamour, most of the time,  is not something seen from the inside out, but from the outside in.  That's the point of it.  Nothing is truly as glamorous as it appears.  If you look closely, almost everything has it's dark sides, it's "shadow side".  But truth be told, none of us consuming the glamour wants to look closely.  Somewhere deep down, we "know", we just don't want to know. 

Glamour is an aspirational concept  it's for those who don't get to dress up every day and go to movie premieres.  They look at those who do and think... "that could be me someday, if..."  We don't want to hear that it sucks to be you, because to a small or large degree we want to be you, and if your life really is no better than ours?  If we have to sit down take a look at our lives and start fixing it from the inside to be someone's idea of happy?  How daunting.

That points to another aspect of glamour.  Not only is it ethereal, and mostly for the benefit of others, it's also relative.  So while it may seem like I was tearing all those nameless movie stars and makeup artists and chefs new ones, I was really tearing all of us a new one.  Our life?  The ones we live?  To someone else, it's a pretty luxurious lifestyle.  And while I don't want to boil everything down to a facile "let's all just be happy for what we have" lesson, we've all seen these people, these "glamorous" people who should by all preconceived notions, be happy, and yet are not. 

It's easy to look at those who have more than us and say "you should enjoy your own glamour.  You should, for one moment allow yourself to be the kid who has been pressing his nose up to the glass and looking at the Christmas display, and let yourself into the shop."  If you think of it, we are all that person, that glamorous person.  In a way,  we are all the kid inside the toy shop or the movie star at the premiere.  We just have to decide if, when we play, we are going to play "full out"  and appreciate the glamour the glamour surrounding us and within in us.  It won't last, that's the nature of glamour.  But it can be enjoyed for what it is, some fleeting glimpse of fancy that makes us feel the specialness that's always there.

"Coming Soon"

While I used to look forward to birthdays for all the material bounty that would shower down on me and make me feel worthy (and I admit that a Wonder Woman flash drive can still bring me to the heights of giddiness) lately I've come to look forward to them for a different reason, namely, the change they inevitably bring. 

It could be that I'm getting older and nature is whispering ever more urgently into my ear that time is growing short and I'd better make days count, but each birthday these past few years has brought about a major life change.  It was right around my birthday that I decided to quit my job at Keller Williams, that I decided to move back home to Austin, Texas after six years in LA, that I let go of a friendship or two, decided to really grab onto a dream, like writing a performance piece...  Birthdays mean change.

I can never quite be certain what that change will be, but I can already feel the restlessness building.  I can hear the questions, the wondering.  Of course, like many people do when the questions start to pop up ("What the hell am I doing with my life?"  "Did I waste to much time pursuing an artistic career?"  "Should I get out of that halfway world that I seem to be living in and fall one way or the other?" "When am I going to feel settled?"  "Am I already 'settled' and I just haven't realized it?"  times seem uncertain) I've started praying again, looking for signs.  Good old God, the parachute we go back to when we need him.  I've always been great at beginnings.  Always been great at leaping into something and giving 100%, but staying the course?  This I have yet to master...

Regardless, and please forgive the cringe worthy analogy, change is a brewing, and when that lil' cup of Life Coffee is ready, I'll let you know what it tastes like.

TJGS Episode 13: With Special Guest Peggy Lee

While the thirteenth episode was pretty routine in some ways, there are a few things that set it apart. 

First, there is Jack Carter, who is essentially taking Jerry Van Dyke's place for this show and who somehow manages to make the slightly insulting banter with Judy work.  He just throws it out there, lobs it out and is able to make Judy look Judy completely normal while he comes off as some kind of schmoozy, boozy nut.  And yet, he's still charming in this old school comedian way that no one could carry off today.  I can't quite put my finger on it, and I'm not saying I love the material, but he makes it work better than anyone I've seen so far.  He also has a number in which he complains about the youth of America, and while the material is a bit stale, again, he is so comfortable and confident in his delivery, spitting out "babes" and "honeys" left and right.  How can I not hate him?  And yet, I don't.  Of course we have The Judy Garland dancers to spread the corn around in an already corny number.  Thank God for them. 

 

Jack and Judy also share a routine in which they play different musical comedy teams throughout history, finishing with a tribute to "Mr. Wonderful" in which Jack Carter had appeared with Sammy Davis Jr.  For my money they could have done away with the rest of the routine and focused on the last material, as the earlier parts seem a bit gimmicky and forced, even if Judy does do a wonderful Ethel Merman impersonation.

 

 

Peggy Lee is the Special Guest of the episode.  Beautiful, bountiful Peggy Lee.  She's so meaty and sensual, poured into her dress, all topped with hair like cotton candy, her voice so smoky and rich.  I just love her.  And yet... part of the magic of Judy is that you don't even realize how wonderful she is until you see other people attempt the same thing.  Peggy never quite seems comfortable with the camera, and is a bit of a deer in the headlights; a gorgeous, busty deer in the headlights.

 

 

The "Trunk" spot of the show is wonderful, as Judy sings two terrific numbers.  She starts with Irving Berlin's "How About You" and sounds lovely (even if she doesn't quite give herself over to the sorrowfulness of the song) and closes with "When Your Smiling" and the finish is stellar, with Judy selling it in typical fashion.

 



TJGS Episode 12: The One Where Judy Gets Touched...A Lot

By episode 12 the edict was out.  Judy was not to touch her guests.  People who saw her being so affectionate thought it made her look nervous and didn't like Judy kissing her female guests on the cheek in greeting.  Of course, this is ridiculous, and I for one never thought that the affection Judy displayed indicated that she was nervous, but that she was attempting to calm the nerves of others.  At any rate, Judy later commented how funny it was that on the episode where she worked so hard not to touch the guest stars, they were reaching out to touch her. 

Garland had gotten very close to Zina over the week's time and was thrilled to have Vic Damone as a guest star as she was a great admirer of his talent.  He would appear on the show twice more, and each time they would perform a wonderful medley of Broadway hits.  They started of with a medley from Porgy and Bess that is really pretty wonderful.  They look so comfortable and the notes!  The notes are so passionate and full and vibrant.

The highlight of the show, to my mind, was not actually filmed in the same week.  It was taped much earlier and inserted into this week.  It's the "Tea For Two" segment with George Jessel.  Jessel had been a gigantic name in show business back in the thirties, and Judy makes sure he has the chance to have all the focus again.  She's so obviously delighted to have him with her, so gracious to him.  And for his part, he's still very quick witted and funny.  He does most of the talking, which I frankly think is nice.  I know Judy's a great story teller, and yet, these segments could have done a lot more to highlight and lift up the guest star than they do.  This is the best "Tea" segment ever (just ignore Goerge's story of how he named Judy.  Yes, he gave her the last name Garland, but Judy had named herself).  And Judy sings an amazing snippet of "Bill" that I wish she'd sung as a complete number.  Still, tossed off like this makes it seem so natural and conversational.  It packed a lot of power.

 

 

This is definitely not a notable episode, but it is pleasant, and quite funny to hear Vic Damone sing "And oh the towering feeling!" as he stands high on fork lift, which is then lowered to the ground by a little blonde pigtailed girl.  Talk about literal... 

Second Looks

Tonight's the night I am watching and blogging about episode 12, in my usually brilliant fashion.  But I have to admit, I'm really saddened by the death of Zina Bethune and the tragic way her life ended.  Learning about it has made me want to dig deeper into who she was in her time here.  Is that weird?  Death does that sometimes, though.  It can endow someone with more "depth", more poetry than what we might have initially given them in our passing thoughts.  But once you know something like that, the thought of how their life ended sticks around, altering the way you think of them.  At least until we can see beyond it and focus on the truth of who they were as a person.  But unless you take those extra looks at a person's life it can be so easy to judge them by the way their life ended.

Is it fair?  Is it fair to judge the whole of a person's life by the way it ends?  Or should we judge it based on the highs it reaches, by the moments when it reached its potential and impacted lives through the understanding of and fulfillment of its life purpose.  I think that's the way it should be.  Because in so many ways, for so many people, the end is so random, just an odd act of God, or nature, or whatever you want to call it. 

Working with the elderly has also made me think and rethink the many ways life ends.  For example,  I met this wonderful little owl like woman who lived in a room, very comfortably at a pretty exclusive home for the elderly.  She spent a lot of her time tucked in a little lazy boy, watching televison, ocassionally getting out to play bingo... She had these two beautiful paintings on the wall of her room, one of herself from when she was a young woman in the fifties, and next to it a young man, presumably her husband.  And there was something so beautiful and poignant about the way they were cherished and still displayed with such pride.

Do we judge her life by its end?  This very peaceful slowing down, which is relatively solitary compared to much of her early days, cared for by people who begin as strangers, but grow to love and respect her, because of her dear personality and spark of life?  Well...why not?  It certainly doesn't tell the whole story, but a lovely soul like that, her life slowly winding down, but still affecting people in many small ways, it's pretty telling of the kind of life she lived up to that point.

And Zina?  She died protecting an injured creature, and you can't say that doesn't speak to something.  You can't say that doesn't tell you what a caring soul she was to stop and pay attention to a little wounded soul.  Look a little deeper and you discover that when she left acting she went back to her passion for ballet and up until the end of her life was teaching disabled children how to find joy in dancing. 

It's funny, because all you have to do, with anyone really, is stop and pay attention.  Look at them from a slightly different angle.  You don't even have to force it, make yourself find a new way of looking at them.  You really just have to be open to other possible explanations of that person and not "why they are the way they are" (that's so pious and patronizing) but who they are.  I guarantee that they are more than you have been allowing them to be.  And if you are open to it, life will present you with not just one, but a handful of ways to them in a new way.  You just have to be prepared to be wrong. 

 

A Brief Hiatus

Well, I fucked up.  I didn't blog last night.  And do you want to know who did it to me?  Zina.  Zina Bethune, formerly of the CBS series "Nurses".  She was one of the guest stars of episode 12, and friends...I just couldn't do it.  She was dear, very sweet, adorable even to some, I'm sure.  But she was such a wildly inappropriate guest, such an obvious ploy for ratings, and she tries SO HARD!!  You can see the nerves bubbling up out of her skin like little pimples. It would have been fine if she were on a daytime talk show, or a night time chat show, but on a variety show that you would hope requires a little experience and talent?  She doesn't cut it, and I couldn't make it through.  I tried, but then someone texted, and my modern mind wandered and before you knew it, I was asleep. 

So why not tonight?  Why couldn't I post tonight?  I hung out with a  good friend of mine, had a couple of drinks, and...

But tomorrow I will do it.  Tomorrow I will finish the episode, although, as you can already guess, it won't be a particularly fun post that results from it.  ZINA BETHUNE???
_________________________

Ok.  Cue the raging guilt. Zina Bethune has passed on.  I got curious and looked her up on-line, and found the following on Wikipedia: "On February 12, 2012, Bethune was killed in an apparent hit-and-run accident while she was trying to help an injured opossum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. She was five days shy of her 67th birthday."

How awful.  She really is sweet on the show, and I'm sure if I'd met her in person I would have loved her.  She obviously cared for animals, even really unattractive ones. 

TJGS Episode 11: The Best One Yet

This has always been my favorite episode of the series as it has more amazing, varied, beautifully conceived numbers packed into forty-five minutes than any other episode in the series and if you only catch one installment in the series, it should be episode eleven. 

The show begins in a Wintery Wonderland, with a chorus dancing in to introduce Judy before she glides in on a sleigh, seated next to a very handsome young dancer.  It's so glamorous and festive, and Judy so vibrant and sounding wonderful. 

 

 

As for the "Be My Guest" segment, this is one of the rare episodes in which it works, with guests Steve Allen and Mel Torme (the second of his contracted appearances) singing their "school song" and Judy responding with her "school song", that school being the little red schoolhouse at MGM.  It's clever, self deprecating, and sung with such mischief.  It's a joy.

 

Judy later sings "Here's That Rainy Day" in a number which is beautifully designed.  Judy in a raincoat crooning mournfully , as people stroll by, their umbrellas glistening from the rain above.  I really feel the show could have benefited from the more immersive "set-pieces" that highlight this show rather than the bizzare obstacle courses of random furniture that sometimes deck the stage and serve as set.  To be fair, this abstract kind of set was very popular in its day, and I could just be a matter of personal preference.

 

Mel Torme's solo spot is horrible in a really delightful way.  He sees himself as some kind of brooding ladies man, and was really into motorcycles at the time of the taping so he suggested doing the number in the midst of all these high powered machines.  Pair them up with these ultra-serious, "working way to hard to be sexy" dancers, and Mel schmoozing it up ala the "Rat Pack" and you have a treat.  Truthfully the recording of the song is wonderful, and no one can fault Torme's singing (although I will say he hit a couple of clunky notes in the show that I wish they would have let him do again).  He redeems himself in a marvelous duet with Judy in which the two of them sing "The Party's Over". 

 

 

Judy and Steve Allen also perform a medley of songs from the unsuccessful musical "Sophie" based on the life of Sophie Tucker, with music and lyrics by Allen.  It was Judy's idea to showcase the songs in the hopes that one of them might become a hit in spite of the failure of the show itself.  The first number in the medley "I Love You Today" is very sweet, while the second song is a touch on the trite side, and the third...the third is a dynamite song,and one of my three favorite performances on the series., and it comes in at 4:35 in the clip. 

 

 

It's lovely to see Steve Allen just beaming as she sings his work.  His great admiration is very apparent, and the two of them are so warm and comfortable together.

 

In the tea segment, Judy sits with Jayne Meadows (Steve's wife and Judy's new best friend).  She is so sophisticated, so erudite, and at ease with Judy.  She's like a showbiz version of one of Truman Capote's swans.  Now the wig she's wearing?  That  helmet with the curly cue on the side?  That's another matter altogether. 

 

Yet another number that just takes the house down is a gorgeous interlocking puzzle of an arrangement which combines several songs as sung by Garland, Allen and Torme.  The conceit of the number is that each of them wants to sing a different song, so they sing every one of them.  Often times one sings lead while one or two of the others sing in counterpoint.  When you watch the clip, feel free to skip the unneccesary comic bit and go right to the good stuff at 3:40.

 

 

 

Finally, there's the "Trunk Spot".  The first number is a throw away that is only noticeable for how much Judy seems to be enjoying herself, but the second is a breathtaking piece, almost operatic in its breadth and tone, and Judy's voice just soars.  It's kind of distillation of all the things that make her one of the most magnetic performers who ever lived.

 

 

(Note:  the show was taped in mid-October, but must have planned as a New Years episode from the get-go- it aired on January 5th, 1964- as there are at least three mentions of the new year peppered throughout the episode.

 

 

 

   

 

 





TJGS Episode 10: Ray Bolger Talks to the Instruments (and They Don't Listen to Him)

Episode 10 is a cobbled together, cut and paste mess.  Having guest stars Jane Powell and Ray Bolger should have made for a great show, but instead it's amongst the worst of the series. 

One of the things I wish they would have dropped from the show completely the "Be My Guest" segment.  Once again, a guest star comes out and ribs Judy about some mistake she'd made in her past, and once again it doesn't play well.  Plus, there's this odd mixture of ad-libbing and scripted material that throws off the rhythms and makes everyone, especially Judy as the driver of the segment, look like they don't know quite what they are doing.  The sketch didn't quite know if it wanted to be loose and casual or tight and quickly paced.  As a result it isn't much of anything.  And the transitions!  They're so awkward, and having to make them look natural and organic is a near impossibility, which Judy doesn't achieve, and yet, who could?

Another reason I'm not so fond of the show is that Judy looks the least prepared that she has on any of the episodes show so far.  There's lots of manic energy and hand wringing galore as she looks every minute like she's about to go up on a line, and pulls through about a half a second late.  It's an obviously "unsettled" Garland on episode 10. 

There's this strange phenomena amongst Garland fans.  There's an urge to protect her that's stronger than with most.  We don't want anyone to think ill of her, and are so tired of the same old untruths about her that we, or I guess I should speak only for myself, I cringe every time I see her looking unprepared because it's just more fodder for the ignorant, who will of course jump to the conclusion that she's drunk.  Well, 95% of the time she's not.  But that 5% has a real impact on some, and the myths and legends surrounding it have an even greater impact.

Jerry Van Dyke had just been fired, and this would be his last episode on the show.  Garland was pretty upset by it (incidentally, at the same time she was campaigning to get Schlatter reinstated as Producer of the show) and in her few moments with him you can see even more affection than usual, as the two of them know this will be it.  Bill Hobin would soon leave the show as director, citing creative differences with Hunt Stromberg, Jr and Norman Jewison.  The production team was dividing up into sides, tensions were high, and it all had quite an impact on Garland, who started showing up late to rehearsals more often than not.  Garland was the type who soaked up the emotions of her environment, and the emotions now on the set were filled with tension.

Adding to the lack of cohesion is what seems like a mini-concert plunked down in the middle of the show, and appears to have been filmed weeks apart from the rest of the show due to the very different hairstyles and costuming.  After Judy sings a few numbers there's an abrupt cut and Judy returns in the same hairstyle and dress she'd been wearing before.

The numbers themselves are pretty weak.  Ray Bolger sings a medley of songs in a so-called rehearsal room full of empty chairs with instruments seated upon them, and he spends his entire number talking to these inanimate instruments, much as Clint Eastwood would later do at the Republican convention.  He sings, badly, every possible song with a woman's name in it.  The only enjoyable moments are when he dances. 

Judy sings "One For My Baby" as a throw away number in the middle of a comedic sketch, and I would have loved to hear her do it seriously.  Not just without all the interruptions, but with an approach that treated it as a dramatic monologue, something at which Garland excelled.

Judy, Ray and Jane sing "The Jitterbug", and it's difficult to watch.  Not just because it's overtly "cute", but there's something disconcerting about watching two middle aged women in teenaged bobby-soxer outfits.

 



On the upside?  It's nice to see Judy and Ray together remembering the filming of The Wizard of Oz, even with an awkward moment in which Ray mentions the first edition of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" that he had given her.  He seems pretty proud of it and she seems to have completely forgotten about it. 

There is one segment that is always a joy to watch.  No matter what else happens in the show, good or bad, as the credits roll Judy dances and cavorts, claps for the audience, shakes hands with her fans, and generally makes magic as only she can. It never disappoints. 

TJGS Episode 9: Steamroller Merm Meets the Two Other "Belters"

Episode 9 is notable for many reasons:

• The arrangements are incredible.  The best of the series so far.  There's Barbra's "Down With Love", Judy's "Just In Time" which modulates all over the place (and would be even more improved when reprised in a later episode with an alternate tag ending) Judy and Barbra's marathon "Hooray For Love" Medley, and of course there is the famous duet arrangement of Garland's "Get Happy" and Streisand's "Happy Days Are Here Again".  It's been getting a lot of play lately, was performed on "Glee", and was featured in the most recent Pink Martini album Get Happy, but the first version is the best, and it was all Garland's idea. 

• The Smothers Brothers are the first comedic guests from the series that remain funny to this day.  While the other comedy acts had been pure cornball and could expect, at best to be considered mildly amusing today (I'm talking to you Dick Shawn) the Smothers Brothers are so off-beat and natural.  The sensibility of their humor is still very "current" and their act seems to fly by.

 

 

• The pairing of Garland and Streisand is history in the making.  Judy had brought family and friends to catch Barbra's act and was so taken with her that she convinced the execs to rearrange the shooting schedule to Barbra so could be a guest.  More than anything, Judy was very generous to talent, and she was exceptionally good to Streisand.  She convinced her agents to take Streisand on as a client (though they may not have needed much coaxing) and throughout the show you can see how much she gives to her when performing.  Streisand on her part is a little less giving, a little more reserved, but I don't think it's selfishness, just youth.  She was only nineteen after all, and still mastering the some of the "finesse" she would have later.  I highly recommend the chapter devoted to this episode in "Rainbow's End" as it perfectly captures the shared spirit of admiration, the perplexed attitudes of many in the old guard of showbiz who didn't get what all the hubbub was about when it came to Streisand, and hints that the Diva in Streisand, when it came to matters like what kind of tea she wanted to drink during breaks and pitching a bit of a fit when her guest spot was slightly shortened, may have been there, even at that early age.

 

• Old "Steamroller Merm", as I like to call her, makes a "surprise" appearance and completely takes over.  The moment she takes the stage she overwhelms everyone with volume and sheer gusto.  She even commands the conversation and takes every opportunity to steer the it back to her.  When the three of them sing together, Ethel's aim is obvious: steal focus.  Garland gives the whole number over to Ethel preferring to be her cheerleader than compete, and when she notices that Barbra's getting a bit bowled over as she somewhat gamely tries to sing along, she pulls Streisand into the group, making her a bigger part of it.   PS:  I suggest watching the number a few times and focusing on a different performer each time.  It's fascinating, and hilarious, as some of Barbra's slightly bemused expressions are priceless.

 

 

 

Jerry Van Dyke is on the show for one of his last episodes, still playing the part of "World's Number One Asshole".  If they'd have just let him continue with his sweet bumbler, and let him have a hand in concocting some of the material himself, he might have made a true contribution.  If only they could have dropped the bullshit about knocking Judy off her so called pedestal.  It continues in this episode and extends to the show itself in a bit in which Jerry claims the show is too expensive and so starts making budget cuts.  The audience doesn't need those little seeds of negativity planted in their head that would make them think the show is doing any less than spectacularly.

 

Incidentally the first reviews for the Garland show came out during this week would target this very aspect of the show as an awful idea, deriding the writers, with one critic threatening to punch the next person who referred to Garland as a "little old lady".   Aside from that they were overwhelmingly positive, if not for the show itself, then for Garland.  She'd always been the critic's darling and this was no exception. Good on you, critics. 





TJGS Episode 8: Judy Garland, A Baseball Coach, A TV Actor and a Pack of Hillbillys

This is the strangest assortment of guests yet, and all ordered by Hunt Stromberg, Jr.  as an attempt to appeal to a wide array of folks.  Judy Garland chatting with Leo Duroscher, coach of the LA Dodgers?  She knows nothing about baseball, freely admits it, and while she's very sweet and convivial, it makes for a bewildering three or four minutes.  And then there's the idea of matching her up with The Dillards, a downhome bluegrass band that had been featured on The Andy Griffith Show.  Round it out with George Maharis of "Route 66" and you have one of the very reasons I said earlier that these Jewison produced shows seem more "daytime".  The guests assembled are of the caliber you might easily find on a chatty daytime talk show, all clumped together with little thought to chemistry or cohesiveness.

One thing the show does have going for it?  Judy's vocals are back in top shape, she sounds and looks at ease, and thank the Lord the guests stopped insulting Judy through song.  The show itself is a very polished production, very streamlined and with little of the stumbles and stammers that marred earlier episodes.  The material is not great, the writing's pretty flat, but it's executed well by the performers.  The cast may be selling shit, but they sell it with panache!

The highlights of this program?  Judy and George Maharis sing a lovely arrangement  of "Side By Side" with beautiful harmonies, and they seem to love being with each other. 

 

 

Highlight number two is this near perfect rendition of "I Wish You Love".  So lush and poignant.