This interview with Frank Rich is worth a few minutes of your time, especially where he quotes this paragraph from his new book, The Greatest Story Ever Sold, which quotes someone else...
Ron Suskind, writing in the New York Times Magazine two weeks before the 2004 election, recounted a conversation with a presidential aide who spoke sarcastically of journalists and their "reality-based community." The aide, who sounded uncannily like Karl Rove, informed Suskind with great condescension that a "judicious study of discernible reality" is "not the way the world really works anymore." The aide explained: "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality — judiciously as you will — we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
I don't know why the Democrats don't just run an ad blitz for the next few days showing Bush's recent statement that he'll keep us in Iraq even if his only support comes from his wife and his dog, followed by the clip of him saying he'll never dump Rumsfeld. At the end, just have an announcer come on and say, "Somebody's got to stop him...vote for the Democrat."
Jacob Weisberg itemizes some of the dishonest political smear ads currently running around the country. He believes the Republicans are stooping a lot lower than the Democrats.
A production of The Producers is opening in Las Vegas...at the Paris Hotel on January 31, 2007. This is the one that was originally announced for "late summer of 2006" but it's a little late for that now.
My pal Brad Oscar, who played Max Bialystock on Broadway longer than anyone, will return to that role. There's no word on who'll be Leo but the casting of the gay director, Roger DeBris, has been announced and it sounds like a joke: David Hasselhoff. He's going to shave his legs and put on the dress and the Nazi regalia. Say it with me: "Hasselhoff...is...Hitler!"
I'm still curious what they're going to cut. At last report, the plan was to trim the show from 2 hours and 25 minutes, which is how long it is on Broadway if you don't count the intermission, to ninety minutes. There is no way to do this and not destroy whatever is good about that show. Ticket prices will range from $75.50 to $143.50, which is even higher than what they're now getting in New York. Back there, seats run $31.25-$111.25 and many/most of them are sold at the TKTS booth for half price. This may be the first time in history that a Broadway show has ever been cheaper to see on Broadway than somewhere else.
Here's a clip from the Tony Awards of 1992. It's the big number from that year's revival of Guys and Dolls, "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," followed by a brief snippet of the title song. Walter Bobbie, who is now primarily directing, has the Stubby Kaye role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson. (That is to say Mr. Kaye originated it on Broadway and re-created it in the movie. He made such an impression in the part that it became quite standard — Bobbie was an exception — to cast Nicely-Nicely with a fat actor or to pad a skinny one with pillows...this, even though there's absolutely no reason the character has to be heavy.)
Also in the number, you'll see Nathan Lane as Nathan Detroit, the role from which Lane got his first name. This was the first time I saw Nathan Lane perform...the first time most people saw — or at least took note of — him. It's interesting that it made his reputation because he's such a fine singer and the role of Nathan Detroit doesn't call for one. It was originated on Broadway by an actor named Sam Levene who was a terrific comic performer but no vocalist. In fact, Levene was so bad that during the "Oldest Established..." number, when he was among a whole group of actors singing, they asked him to just mouth the words.
During rehearsals, they kept taking musical numbers away from his character until finally, all he was left with was the "Sue Me" duet, which is simple enough for a non-singer. Since then, many a singing actor has been cast as Nathan Detroit (including F. Albert Sinatra in the movie) and has wondered how come he only has the one song. Sam Levene's rotten singing is how come. It is not uncommon for a production to add Mr. Detroit to the "Guys and Dolls" number (as was done with Sinatra) even though it's way out of character for Nathan D. to be singing those lyrics. There have also been famous instances when a Big Star who was cast as Detroit would demand that the "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" number be taken from Nicely-Nicely and given to his character. I've never heard of the change actually being made but I'd guess it has happened somewhere.
So you'll see Nathan Lane not singing much in this clip, and Ernie Sabella (who co-starred with him in many things, including the movie of The Lion King) is also in there. You may also catch a fast glimpse of Faith Prince in a wedding gown...and wearing a magenta suit is J.K. Simmons, who's been playing J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies. Have a look...
I know this is hardly the place you'd go seeking a recommendation for a good moisturizer but I happen to have one. For quite some time, there was a patch of skin on my leg that was so dry and scaly, you could have grated cheese on it. In fact, I was afraid to go into any low-class Italian restaurants for fear they would. I tried Neutrogena and a couple of other over-the-counter creams and noticed no difference. On a doctor's recommendation, I tried Eucerin and it did a little better. Then I tried a prescription drug which, since my health insurance didn't cover it, cost me eighty bucks...and it was less effective than the Eucerin, which cost a tenth of the price.
Recently, on another doctor's recommendation, I tried a non-prescription liquid called AmLactin XL Moisturizing Lotion, which is a little pricey...though not intolerably so if you buy it at Costco, which often carries it. (It's available on the Costco website.) It was also a lot cheaper than the prescription stuff and it had the added benefit of actually working. The rough skin went smooth on me in about five days and has stayed that way with only occasional reapplication.
I am not a doctor and I don't play one on TV...and of course it's possible that what works on me will do nothing for you or even have ill effects. So don't blame me if you apply this goo and it makes your elbows bend the wrong way. But I was so pleased to find a product that did what it was supposed to do that I had to share the info here with you.
November 3, 2006
