EAST SIDE / WEST SIDE

Am back in New York City after a month in California in beautiful Palm Springs and in hectic Los Angeles.
SO EAST SIDE / WEST SIDE -- COAST SIDE.

While in Los Angeles I saw a wonderful Gay take on the famous Arthur Schnitzler play
LA RONDE called F*CKING MEN.
Calvin Remsberg artfully and tastefully directed this piece at the Celebration Theatre. It is the American Premier seen lastly in a record breaking run on London's West End.
Joe DiPietro, whose MEMPHIS & TOXIC AVENGER are enjoying a run on and Off Broadway, wrote it and gave Calvin the rights.
Bravo Calvin!! Calvin was in the SWEENEY TODD national tour with Angela Lansbury & George Hearn and on that DVD as the Beadle.
ALso saw a wonderful version of GREATER TUNA in a small theatre in Palm Springs co directed by pal Mark Esposito and produced by Mark Nichols. It was easily as fun and entertaining and well acted as the terrific original which is somewhat preserved on DVD.
I had a lot on my plate but managed to mix business with pleasure and it was a fulfilling month for sure.
Was once again in the inspiring and spirited company of the completely unique Kaye Ballard. What a great lady. She just completed a Disc of her book "HOW I LOST 10 POUNDS IN 53 YEARS" It is available and worth any price.
I also was invited to see a screening of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE at the gorgeous RANCHO MIRAGE Library. Clark Bason, who is producing a musical version of this wonderful piece with Margo Lion, was there and acknowledged by the owner of the Camelot Theatre who sponsored the event.
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE is in Workshop in Florida at the SUNDANCE festival there.
Keep an eye out for future mountings and an eventual Broadway production. Cross Fingers as Clark is a good friend since SWEENEY TODD days and has had this project on the burner for TEN years!
Our friends Oscar and Jeff are now permanent Palm Springs residents. They are thrilled to finally be settled and have the joy of the weather, the mountains and a gorgeous pool right in their backyard. Something their beautiful 7th Ave apartment in NY lacked. =0-)
I hear from them daily about what progress they are making. Jeff's E-Bay business is up and running from there and they are starting to live the life they designed.
It can be done!
I urge anyone who hasn't visited Palm Springs to go if they can. It is a very special and lively place. But watch out for the SPA CASINO!! =0-)
I spent a great deal of time setting up our new house but of course it is not a permanent residence ..Yet!
I am reaching a landmark birthday and had to have something start the ball rolling toward a retirement or rather semi retirement life.
Like ME it is a Work In Progress!!
It was a shock coming form Sunny and temperate Palm Springs into NY during a wet and cold spell. Brrrr
But it has turned around and was Spring-like here if not Palmy.
We saw MEMPHIS last night and really enjoyed it. Terrific entertainment and extraordinary performances by the leads Chad Kimball and Montego Glover . I had the delight of seeing Chad Kimball, among others, sing at the ACE Cabaret in Palm SPrings not too long ago. He sang the MEMPHIS song he sings in the second Act and blew us all away as he did last night.
Tonight I am seeing pals and colleagues, Sean McDermott and Ron Abel perform at the TRIAD on 72nd Street. They are there again this Saturday night Oct 24th around 9PM..go if you can as they are two Top notch talents.
We are seeing TOXIC AVENGERS on Friday and Ironically the same writers wrote MEMPHIS. Nancy Opel, an ole pal from EVITA on Broadway days, is knocking 'em out with her performance and I can't wait to see and hear her do her stuff.
Speaking of EVITA they are mounting a new Broadway production. I may be nuts but I can't imagine a better mounting and concept than what Hal Prince so artfully created in 1979...and earlier in London. What incredible talents came from that show...LuPone, Patinkin, Bob Gunton,Nancy Opel, Loni Ackerman, Valerie Perri. Terri Klausner among others. WOW!!
Pat Gorman who was in the original EVITA ensemble in 79 recently had a 30 year reunion which I couldn't attend as I was in California. She sent pictures and emails and it looked like a great gathering of great people. I am so sorry I missed it.
Anyway.. I am glad to be back in the NY swing of things and had drinks with SUNSET
BLVD pals Harvey Evans and Rich Hebert last week. We sat a Joe Allen's and schmoozed over the OLD DAYS. Harvey is retired and happy as a clam and totally active in
DANCERS OVER 40 which has done some wonderful presentations.
Rich is teaching in Boston but auditioning. he was just seen for BILLY ELLIOT.
Two terrific people and wonderfully talented. Rich and I did CATS with Calvin Remsberg and Mark Esposito in 1983-84..SMALL WORLD ISN'T IT!!

I hope you all are enjoying the weather we have had in NY these last few days..if not keep warm.

We are all concerned about the Public Option and the Healthcare restructuring. And hope that no one else dies or suffers such hideous hardships that the present system inspires.

as Angela Lansbury..soon to inhabit Hermione Gingold's role in A LITTEL NIGHT MUSIC on Broadway..says .."ONWARD!"

XXX
Keybored

FALL

HELLO TO ALL
Another Summer is gone and we are into a new Season.
For me the year always starts with September as that was the School Year!
Hope all you had a great Summer.
We had a very diverse Summer. I spent it working and trying to fit visits to friends in as well.
Made a whole lot of new pals while working and hope to God we all can work together again. GUYS & DOLLS was so much fun with a supreme group of actors. Ogunquit is a must for anyone who wants a gorgeous place to spend a Summer holiday. WOW!
And it is a user friendly place with that wonderful historical 77 year old Ogunquit Playhouse. GO if you can!
In July we closed on a house in Palm Springs and throughout August we were trying to set that up enough to make it usable and livable. What an adventure. As we are New Yorkers and have to be here for work we will be in a transitional phase for many years. Bi-Coastal is what we are now I guess.
I can't say enough about how beautiful Palm Springs is! Even in the 100+ temperatures we endured. Anything less HUMID than NY at 80 degrees is pleasant to me.
Ironically it reminds me of the time we spent in Florence,( Firenze) Italy. It was HOT but Dry. One has to moisturize and your nose is constantly closing up! =0-)
The evenings however are pleasant and ultra starry.
We had a few social moments with good pals Clark Bason & Mark Esposito and our wonderful Kaye Ballard and Myvanwy Jenns at RUBYS in Rancho Mirage. We spent an amazing evening with Bob Greenbaum at his palatial solar ultra Moderne home in Palm Springs with a view to die for. WOWOWOWOW..I take very good photos but nothing can compare with the real deal!
Since we returned to NY we have packed many boxes of stuff to send to Palm Springs.
It is amazing, but not uncommon for those who live in NY , to have acquired so much that you don't realize it.
Our sweet apartment in Chelsea is finally gonna Breathe after so many years of constricted living.
We managed to have a really good brunch at VINYL on 15th St and 8th Ave and treated our pal Kel who helped us get stuff from Storage the day before. Ken Roberson our CAROLINE OR CHANGE at Baltimore Center Stage was there and we played catch up. he looked great and so happy. So Good to see his smiling face and uplifting spirit!
Incidentally, the next day after an audition I was on the corner of 8th Ave & 23rd and bumped into David Scweitzer who directed CAROLINE. Small world!
I was away from NY for about 2 months and on Sunday we went to Bloomingdale's and walked through Chelsea. The amount of CLOSED businesses was astounding. In many places the local businesses are being replaced by corporate concerns. Most of NY is getting to look like a Mall with common stores that offer nothing new or indigenous or interesting. And expensive!
It is a shame really.
I came to NYC in 1967 and through the years the place has of course changed a great deal. But nothing like what has happened in the last decade.
So many great local businesses and small shops and galleries have gone under and folded into the corporate scheme.
There is no real Greenwich Village..which was a bastion of intellectual and progressive thought and energy. It is now a cosmetically beautiful place but has little vibrancy.
So many neighborhoods have lost texture and substance.
On the other hand I am in love with the new Highline Park. But again it is more of a Tourist haven than a neighborhood perk.
The weather here has been so great since this weekend and today is sunny and cool and perfect. If I had the time I would bike ride.
Must go and do more chores and warm up for an audition ...for tomorrow!!
Oh our pals Wayne Scherzer (an Artist's Rep) and Steve Bluestein had a Premiere of Steve's play REST IN PIECES in Glen Falls NY and it got Raves. BRAVO boys!!
Steve is a wonderful writer with a Neil Simon at his best edge!
Look for REST IN PIECES first in Regional theatre, which is their next step..then BROADWAY.
You heard it here first!
And keep an ear and eye out for a musical version of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE!!
=0-)

So the Summer is gone but the Fall is certainly an UP!

Hope you all enjoy the new Season.

XXX
Keybored

SCHIZ-O-GUNQUIT

It was a Humid and hot day in Maine's picturesque Ogunquit.
The Sun was gloriously shining and the tourists were scrambling like lemmings to the Sea.
After a dedicated hour at the gym I joined the throng and walked the shore ankle deep in the rather cold water.
It was beautiful even on the crowded beach.
I walked back and was inside by about 6PM in time for the Ed Schultz show on MNSBC.
I hardly had a mouthful of dinner when BAM the Thunderstorms hit like the best CGI in a Speilberg film.
Then in an hour or so it was clear. Then lightning and thunder again.SO I am sure we'll be treated to some more RAIN!
This pattern is bizarre. Hope you all aren't experiencing this pin ball like weather.


xxxx
KEYBORED

PERKINS COVE

Another week of work ends here in Ogunquit. Great audiences with terrific reaction.
The rain came around again and made a pool or small lake behind the theatre.
However Saturday was once again a Stunningly Sunny day and i went on a long walk to the Picturesque Perkins Cove then took the Marginal Way walk back into town.
If anyone of you ever gets up this way that trek is a must.
But wait for a Sunny day!

NOT MUCH MORE

NOT MUCH MORE to report from MAINE.
It is raining again and that is depressing but it sends tourists to the theatre!
We had our first day off in 2 weeks and I went to the beach and then saw HARRPY POTTER. I can't say I enjoyed it as the theatre in town had a lousy sound system and it sounded garbled. I will reserve my opinion once I see it in a NY house.
GUYS & DOLLS here in Ogunquit is doing very well and is a lot of fun.
We run through Aug 8th.
Never having been in Maine before I am anxious to see more of the state as what I am seeing here is stunning. Especially the beautiful coastline.
Hope your Summer is going "swimminlgy."
=0-)

Keybored

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULY PALS OSCAR, CLARK and KEL

GUYS&DOLLS MAINE

MAINE STAY

Have been on Ogunquit for a few weeks and in Tech rehearsals for a terrific production of GUYS &DOLLS at the Ogunquit Playhouse.
TAKE BACK YOUR MINK is stripping right now!!
Ogunquit is a gorgeous resort town on the coast of Maine. Not a cheap place for sure. But the scenery is stunning.
The Theatre is a MAINE-STAY of the town. It is in its 77th Season. The likes of many past icons of the theatre have appeared here including Bette Davis and Basil Rathbone and even Fay Wray!
It is well attended and well run. The setting is lustrously bucolic and when the sun is shinning it is a joy.
It rained for a week when we first got there. In one day four inches fell and made lakes and streams and waterfalls where none existed.
On a Sunny day it is a great place to explore on foot along the Marginal Way which is a footpath along the cliffs of the coastline.
7:59 PM
We are almost at Curtain!!~
=0-)
The company is all jazzed and so am I. It is a good group and avery good show.
We play through August 8th so if any of you are nearby...come on and see the show.