Monday, May 24, 2010

Broadway Beat

As you may recall, actor Sean Hayes has been at the center of a controversy lately. He's starring on Broadway in the revival of Promises, Promises and an openly-gay writer for Newsweek began writing inane (I thought) articles about how Hayes, who is also gay, is therefore unconvincing in a straight role. Or something like that. It's one of those arguments where if there is any legitimate point in there, it's gotten well-buried under the stupid part.

Anyway, I wanted to note here that Mr. Hayes has just been announced as the host of this year's Tony Awards, which air June 13. So that may help Promises, Promises, which did not get swell reviews. The currently-reported box office grosses of the show are good but every bit helps.

Also good are the numbers for The Addams Family, which got even worse notices. Most shows on Broadway are down lately but those two are selling most of their seats. Perhaps we are reaching the stage where reviews, at least through the established channels, are becoming of less importance in the theater. (Grosses for Promises, Promises will probably be down this week because Kristin Chenoweth has been missing performances due to vocal problems. And it's also a sign of evolving times that I only know this because I signed up for her Twitter feed and she's been mentioning it there.)

So, uh, not that Hayes isn't a good choice but why isn't Nathan Lane hosting? He's in a show that could profit from the attention. He's funny. If they want someone who's well-known and gay, he's well-known and gay. He did it before and he was very good at it. Three weeks before the telecast is kinda late to be announcing your host...so I'm just wondering if they dickered with Lane for a while, things didn't work out and they finally went to Hayes. Or maybe they were waiting to see if Promises, Promises would run because they didn't want a host whose show had just closed.

• Posted at 10:08 AM · LINK

Sad Story

Several websites are reporting the apparent murder of comic book and animation writer Steve Perry down in Florida. Local news sources there report there has been a grisly homicide, Perry is missing and his roommates have been arrested. I don't believe authorities have officially said that the body, which is being found a piece at a time, is that of Perry, but folks who knew the writer and who are in touch with the police seem to be taking it as fact.

One of them is his friend Steve Bissette, who has posted what he can post at this time. Most of it's a lovely tribute to the presumably-deceased...and of great importance is that Bissette helps to untangle the mystery of the many Steve Perrys. There's a prominent musician by that name, as well as another Steve Perry who has worked in comics. I think there may even be yet another Steve Perry who dabbled in comics or animation back in the eighties. I had two separate encounters-by-phone, neither of them pleasant, with one or more writers named Steve Perry back then. I'm not certain which Steve Perry was on the other end of the line or even if it was the same Steve Perry both times. I suppose by now it doesn't matter but the potential here for confusion should be noted.

I have almost nothing to add about Steve Perry, the writer of Thundercats and the apparent murder victim but I have much to say about the roller-coaster-ride lives of those who freelance. The sadness of this Perry's story in the last week or so is obvious, but so is what preceded it. This Steve Perry had been a prolific and successful writer for some time...but his career took a downturn and he was in dire financial trouble in recent years. There is, sadly, a lot of that going around these days...

It can occur in any employment/business situation. The commerce is good. It looks like it will go on indefinitely...and then it doesn't. What has happened with our nationwide economy the last few years should make everyone painfully aware of that. Those who freelance should always be braced for the possibility, though in times when the work is flowing and you're even turning things down, it can be hard to believe, hard to remember. I have at least a dozen recent anecdotes I could toss up here — tales of one acquaintance after another who had a gig that looked like it would go on forever and so they were emotionally and financially unprepared to find out otherwise.

Writers and artists are often extremely vulnerable and prone to forget, or to perhaps shove into a corner, the concept that long-term financial security is necessary in this world. We often have an emotional response to opportunities, grabbing at bad (or non-existent) deals because some project looks like it would be fun to do, looks like it will allow us to produce what we think will be our best work. This lust on our part is often exploited — sometimes deliberately but sometimes innocently — by those who control the money end of our business. The unintentional exploitation can be the most damaging because that's the kind you really don't see coming.

Often, too often, we encourage our own exploitation by allowing ourselves to get desperate. There's a vicious cycle in the marketplace: When you're desperate, or at least when you look that way, you get fewer jobs and the ones you do get do not pay as well. And that, of course, only serves to keep you desperate...and we all know where that leads.

I am not suggesting that you need to make every possible nickel on every job while it lasts. That can be destructive in other, more immediate ways. But there is such a thing as undervaluing what you do and not making what you should or could, and there's also such a thing as having a Plan B in life. Over the years, I've encountered a lot of writers and artists who created something that was wonderful and successful...though not all that lucrative for them. The checks they got at the time seemed like windfalls, and perhaps they were in a way but they were also finite. And at some point ever after, they were like those gamblers in Vegas who build up a big wad of dough, lose it all and then think, "Well, I won it before. I can win it all back again." It's not always like Rocky the Flying Squirrel says — "That trick never works!" — but it sure doesn't work most of the time.

I'm rambling here and I apologize...and in truth, I know very little of what brought Steve Perry to the point where he had to rely on public charity and the often-elusive kindness of strangers. He may well have done everything humanly possible to not get to that point. But at some stage, something went very wrong with his career and everyone oughta keep that in mind. When you touch bottom, it's a lot easier to go down than it is to go up.

• Posted at 9:43 AM · LINK

Testing, Testing...

Several folks sent me a link to this, which is another one of those "Where are you on the political spectrum?" tests. I always find that the choices I'm given — in this case, Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree or Strongly Disagree — are insufficient for some questions. For this one, I could have used Really Don't Care as an option and maybe Haven't Given It Much Thought. But really, the truest answer for some would be Need More Information.

Like, they ask you to agree or disagree with the statement, "Charity is better than social security as a means of helping the genuinely disadvantaged." I'm not sure what they mean by "social security" in this context and suspect they mean something like welfare or government aid. Assuming that's what they mean: Well, yes, I kinda concur if the charity is fairly and adequately distributed...but I think you need the "safety net" of government-furnished help for when the charity isn't there for people. So am I agreeing with their statement? Disagreeing? What?

Or they ask, "Abstract art that doesn't represent anything shouldn't be considered art at all." Agree or disagree? Well, this is kind of about defining art of any kind, forget about the abstract part of it. Or if we presume that a painting must represent something in order to be art, what if it represents a mood or a splash of purple or the artist's bad acid trip? Or if it represents something to others and not to me? I'm not asking anyone to answer these questions; just pointing out that the question could go in a lot of different trajectories.

Here's one: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." I assume to most people, that's like asking if they think revenge is justifiable. But what it really means — and if you read it this way, you might give a different answer — is that punishment should fit the crime and not be excessive.

All that said, I took the test and it put me in pretty much the same place as the Libertarian one to which I linked yesterday: In the Liberal quadrant but darn close to the Libertarian border. Of course, the problem with both tests is that you wind up with an average which oversimplifies your views. I am more Liberal on some issues than others; even rather Conservative on many. I may hold zero positions that would individually place me where I fall on the graph. In fact, I would hope I am all over that graph. If you come down at the exact same place on every issue, you probably aren't doing a whole lot of open-minded thinking on any of them.

• Posted at 1:36 AM · LINK

Zero Gravity

I have not done nearly enough plugging here of my pal Jim Brochu's remarkable play, Zero Hour, which can currently be seen not far from Broadway in the city of New York. Quick plot synopsis: You spend time (more than an hour, less than two) with the outrageous and outraged Zero Mostel, as portrayed by Jim. Mostel talks about his family, his plays, his blacklisting, his movie roles, his painting, his life, his philosophy and his world. Jim knew Zero so this is not fantasy or extrapolation from afar, as so many biographies are. It's a fascinating way to spend an evening.

And what reminded me that I haven't mentioned it here lately is that last night, they gave out the 55th Annual Drama Desk Awards back there — awards that some say are a lot more meaningful than the Tonys. The Drama Desk Award for the Outstanding Solo Performance went to...may I have the envelope, please? Jim Brochu for Zero Hour. So, you see? It's just not me being impressed with what my friend did. Other people, folks who don't even know Jim think it's terrific.

If you get anywhere near New York in the next few weeks, go...and don't put it off because it won't be there forever. Zero Hour is at the DR2 Theatre on E. 15th Street. Order your tickets at this site. We recommend this highly.

• Posted at 12:42 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

You know what I'd like to hear? I'd like to hear "Springtime for Hitler" played on a really old, classic Wurlitzer organ. Wouldn't you? Of course you would...but where would we find such a thing?

Oh, wait. Thanks to a tip from Scott Marinoff, I think we can hear it if we click below...