THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
One of the great things about LA is that cultural events regularly feature the big names and professionals that most towns rarely get a chance to host. For example, our first event at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl was a sold-out, star-studded birthday celebration for composer Stephen Sondheim. There were performances by Josh Groban, Carol Burnett, Angela Lansbury, Jason Alexander, Bernadette Peters, Vanessa Williams, Eric McCormack, and Anne Hathaway. Theater buffs will recognize other performers on the bill like Barbara Cook, Marin Mazzie, Stephen Danieley, Len Cariou and Elaine Stritch. As you can see, the lineup wasn’t shabby.
The show--which started with a Simpsons clip of Krusty singing "Send in the Clowns"--included selections from West Side Story, Company, Follies, Merrily We Roll Along, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in The Park with George. There were even three songs from Dick Tracy followed by an unscheduled appearance by director Warren Beatty. He was followed by another film director: Barbra Streisand. The crowd went wild. She didn’t perform--unless you count "Happy Birthday"--but it was still a great moment in a wonderful show that included an appearance by Steven Sondheim himself.
Then following weekend we were back at the Bowl to see the Gershwin Festival with conductor Leonard Slatkin. The evening included a concert version of “Porgy and Bess” with Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald and Wayne Brady. Audra and Brian were top-notch, of course, but Wayne Brady held his own against these Tony winners.
The weekend after that we were back for an evening of Tchaikovsky. Conductor Bramwell Tovey was an excellent host, taking the time to explain the various motifs in Sleeping Beauty, summarizing the plot of Eugene Onegin, and cracking a lot of jokes. Prior to the Violin Concerto in D Major, he explained that most violinists perform an abridged version because the piece is so technically demanding. “But tonight,“ he said, “Jennifer Koh is going to play every note just as it was written.”
She did that and more. As difficult as the concerto was--one of the strands broke on her bow in the middle of one solo--it always sounded like music. Even when Koh went up in the really high notes. She was so good, that the audience broke symphonic etiquette and gave her an ovation after each movement.
The final piece on the program that night was The 1812 Overture. During the 3-minute finale, the brass section of the USC marching band joined the fray, as did fireworks and (recorded) cannon fire. It was BIG and LOUD and it brought the house down. But right in the middle of this huge spectacle was one USC band member frantically clutching his sheet music. And, even though I empathized with him [being a former band geek] it was disappointing that he couldn’t take the time to learn three minutes of music. Especially after Ms. Koh had just performed a 45-minute concerto from memory.
The Hollywood Bowl is the official summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic but it has a wide range of programming. You can find out more at http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/
FILM...SORT OF
We also went to the Hollywood Bowl Sound of Music Sing Along. With 18,000 attendees, this is the largest SOM Sing Along in the world. The event started out with the Von Trapp Children, four talented tykes who are already showbiz veterans. They are barely in junior high and are already touring the world. You can check out their schedule, buy a CD, and see how they are related to Maria and the Captain on the website. http://www.vontrappchildren.com/
After their set, seven more Von Trapp children took the stage, but these were much older and more familiar. These were the actors who appeared in the film 40 years ago as Leisl, Kurt, Louisa, Friedrich, Birgitte and Gretl. They got a round of applause and then stepped off the stage to make way for the costume contest.
It took an hour just to get through all 500 contestants. Although most were dressed as brown paper packages tied up with string or girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, there were a few silver white winters that melt into spring, and one warm woolen mitten standing 6 feet tall. There were lonely goat herds, singing nuns, and lots of curtain-inspired play-clothes. There was also a quartet of buxom/zaftig women in tight-fitting green-sequined tops who simply approached the microphone, did a shimmy and exclaimed, “Our hills are alive!”
But our favorites were Fraulein Schlagel (the third place winner at the Salzburg Music Festival who bows repeatedly) and the carburetor (that the nuns remove from the Nazis’ cars.) The man who dressed as a 7-foot tall carburetor came in first place and won a seven-day cruise to Mexico. The woman dressed as Fraulein Schlagel came in second and won box seats to the Hollywood Bowl Fireworks Finale. Third place was “Big Maria” a man who looked like a cross between the St. Pauli Girl and Harvey Korman’s Mother Markham character.
The communal viewing of the film had some great sequences--booing when the Nazis came on screen; thousands of cell phone swaying to “Climb Every Mountain,” and singing along to Do-Re-Mi. But just like a day at the beach when people are fighting over which radio station to play the loudest, the audience couldn’t agree on whether to ‘get-into’ the film or to mock it at every turn. Somehow it all worked out and I have to thank our friend Linda Kirwin for making sure we got to experience it.
VOLUNTEER WORK
The following night, we were across the street volunteering at a tsunami-relief concert held at the historical Ford Amphitheater. Daryl and I assisted with the sponsor check-in and VIP party, then headed over to West Hollywood for a CD-release party to help out with gift bag distribution. [It was surreal to be doing this without my old SEM Team.] There was a red carpet, paparazzi, and an all-girl parking service called “Valet of the Dolls.” We saw Fran Drescher, Stephen Schwartz and Ann Hampton Calloway. All the music played at the concert is on Lee Lessack’s new CD In Good Company. You can hear music samples and find out more about the benefit on the LML Records site.
http://www.lmlmusic.com/igc.php
THEATERS
When we met Stephen Schwartz that night, we were able to tell him how much we enjoyed Wicked since we had seen it the week prior. It’s a great show and the LA production--according to our friend Shephard who has seen both--was very close to the Broadway experience.
As an extra bonus, Wicked was at the Pantages Theater. Getting to see this Art Deco time capsule was almost worth the price of admission. It’s difficult to get the scale of the theater and lobby from pictures, but here is a site with a few photos and lots of history:
http://www.broadwayla.org/pantages/pan_history.asp
After the play, we headed to downtown LA to see a silent movie in another classic theater called The Orpheum. The movie was the first-ever Academy Award-winning Best Picture Wings starring Clara Bow, Buddy Clarke and Gary Cooper. The soundtrack was provided by Bob Mitchell, one of the premier theater organists. Even though he had to be helped onto the bench, Mr. Mitchell played for almost two hours, in the dark, with no sheet music. Here are some pictures and history on The Orpheum and the 1927 organ that is still in use. http://www.laorpheum.com/gallery.html
BOOKS
Only two completed books this month. I re-read Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix finishing it just in time to join the crowd on Friday, July 15th. It‘s amazing to think that 350 people were standing in line at midnight for a book. I finished The Half-Blood Prince the next day and enjoyed it much more than Book 5.
DISNEYLAND’S 50TH
On the 17th, we were up at 4:00am, on the road by 5:00am and parking the car by 6:00am for Disneyland‘s 50th. Before you go calling us crazy, I would like to point out that there were people who began queuing the previous afternoon. The line swelled to an estimated 10,000 people that were corralled into Disney’s California Adventure until 7:00am. It took an hour to get all of them across the Esplanade and into Disneyland. The rest of us were let in just after 8:00am, and believe it or not, it wasn’t that crowded.
Like any Summer day at Disneyland there half-hour waits for the E-tickets, but the longest one was the 140-minute wait for the refurbished Space Mountain Luckily we had FastPasses and the ride was awesome. People were in good spirits the whole day, but that may have been because we all got complimentary mouse ears with the date stitched in the back. It’s the first time I’ve ever worn them…and the first time in years that I didn’t get sunburned on my bald spot.
VACATION
Daryl spent this past week in North Carolina visiting family, spending time at the nursing home with his 91 year-old Grandmother, and attending a wedding. The ceremony and reception were held outside in 104 degree/100% humidity weather. It was almost like being back in Orlando. The trip was a lot of fun and, like most vacations, over too soon.
MORE VOLUNTEER WORK
While Daryl was out of town, I volunteered at the 2nd Annual “Freeze the Disease.” This celebrity hockey match raises funds for and awareness of the fight against Cystic Fibrosis. According to the ladies in the stands, the biggest celebrities there were Michael Vartan and Jason Priestly, but you can judge for yourself--and find out more about CF--by checking out the event website. http://www.freezethedisease.org/the_cause.htm
STAR SIGHTINGS
In addition to the names already mentioned... July 4th, Daryl had a conversation with Leah Remini [Carrie Heffernen on King of Queens] while he was at a Studio Center furniture store. Two weeks ago we saw Kyle Brandt [The Real World: Chicago, Days of Our Lives] and Jack Reilly [Mr. Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show] while we were at The Grove.
VISITORS
Brenda Godfrey, a lawyer friend from college, was in town taking a deposition for a case. As we drove around seeing the sights, she told us that while she was jogging that morning she saw actor James Cromwell [Babe, LA Confidential, All In The Family]. We think he had just finished up a scene for the HBO series Six Feet Under.
The following week, our friend Alyce Diamandis was in town with meetings at Disney and ABC. We had dinner on Olvera Street and met up another day on the Burbank lot.
Our friend Mark Witko was in town for a Disney Cruise Line event and was able to join us at Disneyland for the 50th. He was so much fun! He even waited in line with us to see the Echanted Tiki Birds. Is he a good sport, or what? And he even took the attached picture of us on Main Street. Thank you Mark!
OTHER STUFF
Somehow, we managed to do even more this month, but you will likely hear it about during a slower month. Although looking at the calendar…I’m not sure when that will be!
Until then,
James
