what is there left to say An "ordinary" day---took a walk north to 106th street and bought a much needed towel and pillow case. Also, got some reading done on The Expecctations, the novel written by Alex, husband of my good friend Sarah Also did a lot of napping, at least twice during the day. This is hard for me to explain--the tiredness seems to simply come upon me, with very little warning. When I got up from the last nap, around 7:10, I felt very weak, yet I was able to go to the nearby drug store for some food and cold drinks. Since then, my strength seems to have returned: no fatigue at this point---it is around 10:05. My sleep patterns have been crazy---what can I say--I am a slave to my sleep patterns. Now that I have got my strength back, I will probably stay up as long as it continues.
Browsing on youtube, I came across some short videos of scenes from the Encore production of
Anyone Can Whistle. That musical has memories for me, I saw a preview of it during my spring vacation from Hopkins in 1964. It is a strange piece---very inconsistent, yet it has some brilliant moments. There is a love story in it, between an uptight nurse and a visitor to the town she works in, which I find very moving. The original producton had two non singing actors, Harry Guardino and Lee Remick, in those roles. They brought a tremendous honesty and a very strong erotic quality to their relationship. The other lead was Angela Lansbury, playing a corrupt Mayoress---her role stood outside the other story, yet she had plenty of stage time. The two stories never jelled.
The musical was in three acts; I remember during the second intermission trying to put my thoughts together about what I had seen, and trying to make some prediction of the musical's fate. I knew this would not be "a hit!" it was far too wild and wacky, not to mention disorganized, but I hoped that the critics would isolate some of the brilliant stuff, praise those moments a great deal, and admit, that even if the overall musical was a mess, there were some great numbers in it worth seeing. If that had happened, I thought maybe the musical could run for about two months. But it did not---the critics, and certainly the Times critic Howard Taubman, simply ridiculed it. It closed in about a week.
For me, the song, We've So Little to be Sure Of, sung by the two lovers as they realize they have to split, is an amazing song, much deeper, and far more complex then, say Being Alive, from the more
popular Company. At Sondheim's 90th birthday party, and actor named Brandon Uranowitz did a
brilliant job singing it, catching its sadness and pain. Also, the concerted ten minute number that ends Act 1, I feel is a work of sheer genius. A total protest song, bathed in satire, far ahead of its time, it is basically forgotten now. Other moments in the show are really telling as well, but in the end, its plot
just does not hold.
That is my Anyone Can Whistle memory---sleep seems to be coming upon me, perhaps this blog took the energy from me that will be needed to let me have a nice sleep. Well, we will see, will report soon.
sheer genius.
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