Here's an old commercial for Post Crispy Critters with the great character actor (and TV producer) Sheldon Leonard voicing the spokescharacter, Linus the Lionhearted...
...except that if you listen carefully, you may note that there are a couple of words in there dubbed by someone else imitating Mr. Leonard...an oddity I actually noticed when I saw this commercial back in the mid-sixties. I didn't know why then and I don't know why now so your guess is as good as mine. Most likely, something had to be done over and Sheldon was off doing I Spy or something.
A lot of us are still interested in the story that will never go away, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. If you're in this group, there is much to study over at this website where a Dallas TV station has set up an online archive of video from that day and relating to that day.
I must admit that I find my fascination with the story to be ebbing with each passing year. A decade or two ago, I came, almost reluctantly, to the conclusion that there was no conspiracy; that Lee Harvey Oswald was exactly what he appeared to be — a lone nut who single-handedly killed the President of the United States. I also came to the conclusion that some folks saw the facts otherwise and that there was little to be gained by debating with them since it meant going over and over well-trampled ground. But every now and then, I like to revisit an old semi-obsession so sites like that are nice to have around.
I find myself this morning in receipt of many an e-mail telling me, in terms only slightly more polite, that I'm a lunkhead and that the Disney TV series on which Texas John Slaughter appeared was called The Wonderful World of Color and not, as I asserted, Disneyland. No, I'm right about this. When it was in black-and-white on ABC, it was called Disneyland and when it switched in 1962 to NBC and was broadcast in color, then and only then was it called The Wonderful World of Color. It would not have been called The Wonderful World of Color when it was on ABC, back when I had Scarlet Fever. At the time, ABC was not in color. I, however, was a delightful shade of crimson.
I finally got around to watching the new production of Company that debuted recently on PBS. It's a record of the recent Broadway revival that was much-praised for its unique staging which most notably had all the actors carry instruments and occasionally play them. I was curious as to how this served the material...and I think I get it. Everyone on stage is making music from the start...everyone except Bobby, the guy who can't commit to a relationship. He only makes music twice in the show: Once, at a point where he still isn't ready to open himself up to another, he hauls out a kazoo and fakes a tune, only to find himself playing an awkward, unfinished solo. All his friends who are then on stage with him are couples and therefore able to perform in satisfying duets. Then at the end, when he comes to his moment of realization that this is not how he chooses to live, he instantly learns how to play the piano and sings "Being Alive." Because we all know you can't play a real musical instrument if you aren't in a relationship.
It's a cute, probably effective idea then and there, especially because Raúl Esparza really does sing the hell out of "Being Alive." That tune alone is worth, as they say, the price of admission and probably was on Broadway when tix were a hundred per. The actors-as-orchestra concept seems counter-productive in other moments, especially when others in Bobby's world seem to be hiding behind their instruments. One of the problems I've always had with Company, and why I like parts of it a lot but not the whole, is that the couples he knows seem so utterly dysfunctional. I don't like any of those people and don't see why Bobby has any reason to covet their lifestyles, other than the questionable premise that if you're going to be a neurotic, maybe it's better to pair off with another neurotic and share the experience. There is, of course, a solid case that can be made for the show's premise that you have to love somebody, not some body, but I don't think the show makes it. Matter of fact, I think on some levels, it argues the opposite.
The capper, "Being Alive," is a great song. I just don't see how Bobby gets to it...or why he gets to it. All of his male friends envy Bobby his freedom. All his female friends strike me as the "wrong" woman for him, especially the one he claims to want to marry. One friend of each gender wants to have recreational sex with him. How does any of this lead him where it leads him?
Still, the music was quite good, and Company was probably in dire need of a true staging rethink, getting away from the "seventies" look and feel that most productions seem to have. I always find this show fascinating and usually worth watching, though every time I see a version of it, I find myself looking past the great moments and regretting that they never seem to add up for me.
March 9, 2008
