"Sittin' on Top of the World"

Ratchlet had to go to NYC on business on Monday and she was going to come home tonight.  She decided to stay one more night so that she could go an opening night of a limited engagement at  Feinstein's, a Manhattan Supper Club.

When she got back to her hotel, she called me, "Open up your email, Mom."  Okay....  Here is what I found.

You can probably figure out that Ratchlet is on the right.  And she is standing next to Broadway Legend, BARBARA COOK!!!!!  Oh, wow!

My darling daughter, was at Opening Night of Barbara Cook and Michael Feinstein in NYC!   Ratchlet said it was an absolutely  terrific show.

And, completely out of character for her, Ratchlet went to talk with both Cook and Feinstein after the show.  (Really, you don't know how reluctant Ratchlet is about doing such a thing.)  She meets celebrities all the time in her work setting and is usually one of the ones keeping adoring fans at bay!  But not this time!  Ratchlet has loved Cook's voice for years but has never had the chance to see her perform before tonight. 

If you are not familiar with Barbara Cook, check out her website at http://www.barbaracook.com/bio.html  This woman is an icon!  Not only is she still singing, she has no plans to stop singing anytime soon.... even though she is 82 years old!!

Can we say that Ratchlet is "sittin' on top of the world" tonight!

I'm just a bit jealous....darn kid never takes me anywhere!        (Just kidding, sweetiekins!)      :) 

"All the World's a Stage" Story #3

Everything about the theater stories that I have or will tell you is true.  Each story  come from my  own personal theater experience....except this one.  The person who told it to me, said that it was true but I have never been able to confirm that, so it probably isn't true; which is too bad, 'cause it's a great story!

It is possible that the story may only be funny to people who have actually been in a show on stage in front of an audience.  I don't know, if anyone doesn't "get it", I'm not sure I can tell why its so funny!  Let me know and I'll try to explain the joke.  Anyway, here it is:

Supposedly, the first family of the American stage, the Barrymores --  Lionel, Ethel, and John, were starring in a play on Broadway.  And, as happens with even the best actors, the three of them were on stage, when disaster struck!  All three "went up" on the lines in a scene where they were sitting at a table playing cards.  ["Going up" on your lines, means the actors cannot remember what comes next, a truly terrifying situation for an actor.]

So, Lionel, John, and Ethel, continued to play cards in silence while they each tried desperately to come up with the next line so that they could move on.  I'm sure there was some sort of  sotto voce communication going on between them, but for whatever reason, they couldn't fix it because none of them could remember.

I have had this happen to me on stage, it is the most horrible feeling of helplessness in the world....well, at least in the theatre world!  Your mind just goes blank and the harder you try to remember, the worse it gets! 

Well, these fine actors continued with the card game a bit longer until finally, John stood up at his place at the table and began to stretch as someone might do after sitting too long.  The other two remained at the table, looked at each other in confusion, but continued the game.  John walked to the back of the set where a window was located.  He lifted up the window and poked his head out, looking very much as though he was enjoying some fresh air.

Of course, what the audience could not see was that the Stage Manager was crouched below the window with the script in hand.  He was desperately giving the line to Mr. Barrymore.  At that point John drew back into the room, closed the window, stretched a little bit more, then went back to his place.  He sat down, picked us his cards then said very softly for the ears of his siblings only, "It's not my line."

I just love live theater!

Little Oops!

I meant to end the previous post with a Happy Labor Day wish, but I forgot!  So I'll post again....wow, twice in one day....I'm on a roll!

I hope you all are having a wonderful 3-day holiday weekend filled with whatever activities you love!!!  Keep safe on the roads!


Oh, and just one teeny, tiny, little reminder....Tuesday is the time to put away your summer white shoes.....if anybody out there besides me, actually wears white shoes!  :)

"I Whistle a Happy Tune"

Well, I would, if I could whistle!  But I can't whistle worth a toot, so I'll just tell you why I'm feeling good today.  Drum roll, please..... this is my 200th post!  WooHoo!!  Congratulations to me!

I wasn't sure at the beginning if I would stick with this.  But here it is, proof positive that I value all that blogging brings to me, because I keep doing it!  How about that?

My first 100 posts took me approximately 33 weeks to accomplish.  The second 100 posts only took 27 weeks!  Hey, I'm writing more than I used to.  Even though some days it feels like only drivel spills out of my head, the stats say that 1,794 visits have been made to my blog.  That doesn't mean that 1800 different people have visited; but what it means is that SOMEBODY (or several somebodies) has gone to my page to see if I had posted something lately!  How cool is that?  Nearly 1,800 visits!!  Wow!  Even if it were to turn out that all 1,800 visits were made by only 5 people, that would still be cool!  But it is definitely more than 5 people.

For those of you who check several times everyday (that would include Little Sis and Ratchlet, among others), I wish I wrote as often as you check!!  I'm not an every day kind of writer but I do feel bad that you take the time to visit when I haven't written anything new!   Keep checking though, sometimes I actually manage to post several days in a row.

For those of you who love to see relevant photos accompanying posts, I'm sorry I'm just not very good with pictures!

For those of you who read to the very end of my looooonnnggg  posts, and yet still come back to visit, thanks for your patience and stick-to-it-iveness!!   I try to write short, but it always turns out long!  It's a character fault.....

No matter if you visit here everyday or only occasionally, I am grateful to each of you for contributing to my feeling of accomplishment about blogging.

Thank you all!

200 posts, 22 followers, 1,794 visits!!  Damn, I sure wish I could whistle!

"Oh What a Night"

[Despite have the same title, this post has nothing to do with my previous posting about the Big Guy's ER visit.  It's a much better title for this post!  Sorry if that's confusing!]


Last night I visited heaven.  Or at least one facet of what heaven should be.  In fact, if it were actually what heaven is, I wouldn't be quite so reluctant to get there!

No, I didn't have an out of body experience or anything life threatening.  I'm just fine, thank you.  Nope, the heaven I visited was on the stage at UT-Austin; it was one of their Broadway America (I think) shows.    It was the Broadway touring company of  "Jersey Boys"!!

Some of you may not be familiar with the show, "Jersey Boys", but I'd be willing to bet that if you're over 45 or so, "Oh What a Night" should instantly bring to mind those "Jersey Boys".  If not, how about "Walk Like a Man", "Stay", "Sherry".  "My Eyes Adored You"?  Still no??  "Big Girls Don't Cry"?  That's right, it's Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons!!

Oh. My. God.  Totally and Completely wonderful!!  No wonder it won several Tonys!  It was one of the very best shows I have ever seen, really....and I've seen a LOT of shows.

The four young men playing Frankie Valli, Tommy DiVito, Bob Gaudio, and Nick Massi had the look, had the moves, had the lure of the original Four Seasons.  But most importantly, they had the SOUND!  No one can actually duplicate someone else's voice exactly, but they were so close it was unbelievable.  The show included all of my favorite Four Seasons songs, plus some I'd forgotten were theirs.  The group had a string of Top Ten hits, including many #1 slots on the charts, one after another!  Most of them were in the show.

The show tells the story of how the group came together, found their sound, and got where they were....with all the foibles and problems along the way.  It wasn't an easy ride for those guys every minute.  They encountered some very real obstacles and the show shared those as well as the good stuff.  The show is well-written and moves like a speeding bullet, from great one hit to the next.  I can't tell you what a delight it was.  If you haven't seen it, don't pass up the opportunity if it comes your way. 

The cast of this company was outstanding, whoever did the casting, did a great job.  The actor playing Frankie Valli, Joseph Leo Bwarie, looked a lot like him and sounded a lot like him.  In fact, I thought his voice was a tiny bit better than Valli's.  (Valli has a little bit of a nasal quality, but Bwarie has a more melodious voice.)

The Four Seasons hit the "big time" in 1962 when I was 15 years old.  Frankie Valli has been around ever since.  Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons made music back then that helped define my generation and me.   Last night I wanted to sing.  I wanted to dance.  I wanted to cry.  Most of all I wanted to be 15 again, when life was mostly still ahead and the possibilities were endless.

Hearing those songs again last night was heaven all right!  "Jersey Boys" who made good in the best possible way.  "Oh, What a Night!"