Sunday, May 2, 2010

High Marx

My pal comic book artist-historian Jim Amash gives an independent endorsement of the wonders of Frank "Groucho" Ferrante...and also of the value of reading this blog.

• Posted at 11:07 PM · LINK

H2$

We interrupt this hiatus from the blog to bring you a quick commercial. As you no doubt know, the Reprise! organization in Los Angeles puts on wonderful productions of classic musicals for extremely limited runs. May 11 through 23, they're doing one of our faves, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The big star name is probably John O'Hurley, who's playing Biggley (the Rudy Vallee part) but the whole cast looks terrific. Josh Gristetti is playing the lead, Finch. Nicole Parker is Rosemary.

There are two 2 PM Saturday matinees — one on the 15th, one on the 22nd. Each will be preceded at Noon by a free hour-or-so lecture on the history of the show by that noted theatrical authority, me. And I hope to have a member of the original cast at one or both to discuss what it was like to be part of that Broadway history. ("Free," by the way, means you don't have to stay for the show or buy a ticket.)

Speaking of buying tickets: You should probably do that soon since the theater ain't that big and the show ain't there for long. Seats are $60 apiece but newsfromme.com visitors are smart enough to never pay full price for anything. There are four performances where you can get in for 50% off if you enter the discount code, HOWTO. One of them is the 5/15 matinee so you can come early and hear me. Use this link for those four performances.

For all other performances, use this link and if you enter the code BOSS, you should be able to get 10% off.

And I'll give you one other money-saving tip: When you pick up your tickets at the box office, take a good look at the envelope. A lot of them have a coupon for $5.00 off at any Gelson's Market. Boy, we're helpful.

Hope you enjoy the show as much as I think you will. Come to think of it, I hope I enjoy the show as much as I think I will.

• Posted at 6:39 PM · LINK

Soup's On!

Lotsa scripts due. Back soon.

• Posted at 2:56 PM · LINK

Go Read It!

So...what happens at Disneyland after the last guest leaves for the night? Click here to find out.

• Posted at 2:42 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Here we have the last ten minutes of Game 1 of the 1988 World Series — Dodgers against the Oakland Athletics. It's the bottom of the ninth. Two outs. The Athletics have a one-run lead, 4-3.

Dennis Eckersley is pitching...one out away from victory. Dodger Mike Davis is at the plate as this clip starts and as you'll see, he gets a walk. But that's no big deal to Eckersley and there may even have been something slightly intentional about it...because in the on-deck circle, obviously there to pinch-hit for the pitcher, he sees Dave Anderson...not a powerhouse hitter. After Davis walks though, it isn't Anderson who comes to the plate.

Kirk Gibson, who was a powerhouse hitter, wasn't going to play that night. He'd been in the clubhouse undergoing physical therapy for some recent leg injuries as he watched the game on TV. When he heard sportscaster Vin Scully note his absence from the dugout, he called that dugout and told manager Tommy Lasorda that he was ready to play if needed. Lasorda had him suit up and take some batting practice. And then after Davis took first, Eckersley and the crowd were stunned to see Gibson limping (literally) up to bat.

Let's go to the videotape and our man Vin Scully in the booth with, I think, Joe Garagiola...

• Posted at 12:52 AM · LINK

Jay Watching

I didn't think Jay Leno did so well at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night. Granted, it's a tough room. Granted, the audio-video limitations of the place make it awkward to show a lot of clips of prepared comedy bits...which is why one probably shouldn't. And granted, President Obama, who spoke before him, had already touched on many of the same topics. But Leno seemed unprepared with his own material, reading it slavishly off cards, and most of it wasn't that strong to begin with. No comedian really does well with that crowd but Jay's performance wasn't up to the standard of a guy with his credentials.

I wish someone would tell him he could, you know, maybe slow down and say no to some things. He did The Tonight Show on Friday, then flew to Washington to appear at that dinner last night. Tomorrow night, he's at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach out here and then Monday, there's a new Tonight Show. He maintained that kind of pace when he was younger and basically doing the same act wherever he went. Now, he's older and playing more important venues and there's new, untested material almost every day and...well, it's really getting sloppy around the edges. When he was at his best, he was terrific.

You can view Leno's routine — it runs about 21 minutes — over here on the C-Span website. He comes across a little better in the web version than he did on my TiVo where the audience seemed more muted. You might also want to catch President Obama's speech (about 18 minutes) over on this page. He got a lot of the laughs that Leno didn't.

Tonight, Conan O'Brien is on 60 Minutes to give "his side" of what went on with all that late night mess. I don't believe him when he says that he wouldn't have done what Leno did, taking The Tonight Show back. Or at least I don't believe NBC would have let O'Brien keep it much longer if Jay had said he wasn't returning to it.

• Posted at 12:25 AM · LINK

May 1, 2010 • Current • May 3, 2010