Monday, April 27, 2009
MARLO REVISITED
Got a wonderful email from Marlo Thomas. The song was a big hit. She called me BRILLIANT! What could be better?
OLD EMERGED BUT STILL OUTSTANDING
NEO stands for New Emerging Outstanding...Two years ago David Krane and I were part of that group with the title song from The Road to Qatar sung by Chip Zien and Adam Heller. This year at NEO 5, we were the hosts. I guess that means we have emerged. We still don't get paid but we are now elder statesmen or something. The good news is that we killed. The audience loved us. The songs varied as usual with some good, some mediocre an some downright lousy. The talent was top notch and the show as a whole went very well. We got more compliments as host than when we were song writers, but that's to be expected because we were visable tonight. On stage talent. They reacted and laughed and all that. It was very gratifying and fun. Oh what a couple of hams we are.
Fun.
Fun.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
MARNI IN THE MORNING
This Sunday morning was spent brunching at the Film Forum where special guest Marni Nixon returned to the scene of our triumph of a few weeks ago. Fun was had by all and then the rest of the day was spent biking in the hot sun. Not literary but still.
Marlo Loved It and Movie News
Good news on Friday when I delivered the final version of Together lyric for Marlo Thomas. She loved it. Sang it to her other writer from her car and he loved it. The Piano Play loved it. She sang it at the George Street tonight and I can only hope she was a big hit and the audience loved it and gave lots of money (maybe they can do one of MY shows there one day). Today's good news is that I was selected to be one of six writers to be part of this years RIPFest...here's what it is. I am thrilled and excited and get to write a short musical film (collaborating with David Krane!)Nothing like having something to look forward to!
Since 2002, the event known as RIPFEST has provided an outlet for some of New York
City’s brightest filmmaking and theatrical talents, allowing both established and up-andcoming artists to collaborate on professional-quality short films over a 16-day process.RIPFEST is a unique collaborative filmmaking project that allows filmmakers the freedom to do what they do best – just make films.
Teams of professionals who have never before worked together undergo a sixteen-day,
tightly scheduled process, creating original ten-minute films entirely from scratch.
Each core team consists of a Producer, a Writer, a Director, a Choreographer, a DP, an Editor, a Composer and a handful of Actors – all working professionals. From the very first day, this core creative team is given an assignment – to create an original short film under 10 minutes long, using only the actors on their team as principals, and only the two locations secured in advance by the Producer – one interior and one exterior.
The writer begins writing, and 48 hours after their initial meeting, the teams read their screenplays aloud. After another 48 hours of re-writes, they have a few days of preproduction,each team tapping whatever resources they have in order to make the best possible film. And over the next weekend – just seven days after the core team initially met, they are shooting their films. By the end of the 2-day shoot, their film may involve dozens of extras and crew.
In post-production, the Editor and Composer go to work, stitching together the finished film and scoring it over the following week. The entire process culminates in a gala screening of ALL the films downtown – just 16 days after everyone first met.
RIPFEST has a history of attracting top talent looking for a creative challenge, from
Tony-, Emmy- and even Oscar-winning artists to future award-winning filmmakers. Plus
we encourage across other creative disciplines to explore the world of short filmmaking.
Since 2002, the event known as RIPFEST has provided an outlet for some of New York
City’s brightest filmmaking and theatrical talents, allowing both established and up-andcoming artists to collaborate on professional-quality short films over a 16-day process.RIPFEST is a unique collaborative filmmaking project that allows filmmakers the freedom to do what they do best – just make films.
Teams of professionals who have never before worked together undergo a sixteen-day,
tightly scheduled process, creating original ten-minute films entirely from scratch.
Each core team consists of a Producer, a Writer, a Director, a Choreographer, a DP, an Editor, a Composer and a handful of Actors – all working professionals. From the very first day, this core creative team is given an assignment – to create an original short film under 10 minutes long, using only the actors on their team as principals, and only the two locations secured in advance by the Producer – one interior and one exterior.
The writer begins writing, and 48 hours after their initial meeting, the teams read their screenplays aloud. After another 48 hours of re-writes, they have a few days of preproduction,each team tapping whatever resources they have in order to make the best possible film. And over the next weekend – just seven days after the core team initially met, they are shooting their films. By the end of the 2-day shoot, their film may involve dozens of extras and crew.
In post-production, the Editor and Composer go to work, stitching together the finished film and scoring it over the following week. The entire process culminates in a gala screening of ALL the films downtown – just 16 days after everyone first met.
RIPFEST has a history of attracting top talent looking for a creative challenge, from
Tony-, Emmy- and even Oscar-winning artists to future award-winning filmmakers. Plus
we encourage across other creative disciplines to explore the world of short filmmaking.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
THAT GIRL SINGS
I got an email the other night from Marlo Thomas asking for my help. Over the years I have written several special material songs for her beginning with a tribute to Alan Alda and several ALSAC songs for St. Judes. Now Marlo is starring in the new Arthur Laurents play at the George St. and doing their benefit on Sunday so she wants a funny parody. At first I was under the email impression that it needed to be a tribute to Arthur so I wrote a quick first draft of "Everything's Coming up Arthur"
HE IS FRESH
HE IS NEW
HE'S A YOUNGSTER WHO'LL BE NINETY TWO
YOU MIGHT SAY HE'S NOT SHY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
HE IS KNOWN
FOR HIS GRIT
YOU CAN TRY BUT HE WON'T TAKE YOUR SHIT
HE MAKES GROWN DIVAS CRY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
IF HE SAID IT
YOU CAN BE SURE THAT IT'S TRUE
HE'LL TAKE CREDIT
ASK HIS OPINION?
YOU'LL GET IT!
HE WOULD SAY
"IT'S A FACT
I'M THE GUY WHO TAUGHT STREISAND TO ACT"
AND SHE JUST MIGHT CONCUR
THAT'S THE WAY THAT THEY WERE
DIRECTOR, WRITER, EVERYTHING YOU DO
MEANS
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
FOR ME AND FOR YOU
HERE'S MY SERMON
ARTHURS BEEN THRU 'EM ALL
HAROLD CLURMAN
HELL, HE GOT THRU ETHEL MERMAN!
ETC.
Well, it turned out that the event wasn't about Arthur but to raise money for the George St. Theater. So out goes Arthur and in comes a version of Together begging for money in a funny way...
The end goes something like this
SO DON'T BE A SCHMUCK
JUST GIVE US A BUCK
CAUSE WE'RE TAX DEDUCTIBLE TOO
THIS THEATRE'S BRAVE AND FULL OF PLUCK
WHERE ELSE COULD YOU HEAR THAT GIRL SAY FUCK?
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING
MAKE OUR COUGHERS COUGH
KEEP OUR NUMBERS MOUNTING
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU
Still have lots of polishing to do on this and she only needs to sing it on Sunday! Yikes.
The other news of the day is that DK and I were asked to co-host the NEO concert at the York theatre on Monday. We must be the last resort, but hell, we are thrilled to be asked. Two years ago we were the New Emerging whatever and now we are hosting them. That must be a step up.
HE IS FRESH
HE IS NEW
HE'S A YOUNGSTER WHO'LL BE NINETY TWO
YOU MIGHT SAY HE'S NOT SHY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
HE IS KNOWN
FOR HIS GRIT
YOU CAN TRY BUT HE WON'T TAKE YOUR SHIT
HE MAKES GROWN DIVAS CRY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
IF HE SAID IT
YOU CAN BE SURE THAT IT'S TRUE
HE'LL TAKE CREDIT
ASK HIS OPINION?
YOU'LL GET IT!
HE WOULD SAY
"IT'S A FACT
I'M THE GUY WHO TAUGHT STREISAND TO ACT"
AND SHE JUST MIGHT CONCUR
THAT'S THE WAY THAT THEY WERE
DIRECTOR, WRITER, EVERYTHING YOU DO
MEANS
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
FOR ME AND FOR YOU
HERE'S MY SERMON
ARTHURS BEEN THRU 'EM ALL
HAROLD CLURMAN
HELL, HE GOT THRU ETHEL MERMAN!
ETC.
Well, it turned out that the event wasn't about Arthur but to raise money for the George St. Theater. So out goes Arthur and in comes a version of Together begging for money in a funny way...
The end goes something like this
SO DON'T BE A SCHMUCK
JUST GIVE US A BUCK
CAUSE WE'RE TAX DEDUCTIBLE TOO
THIS THEATRE'S BRAVE AND FULL OF PLUCK
WHERE ELSE COULD YOU HEAR THAT GIRL SAY FUCK?
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING
MAKE OUR COUGHERS COUGH
KEEP OUR NUMBERS MOUNTING
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU
Still have lots of polishing to do on this and she only needs to sing it on Sunday! Yikes.
The other news of the day is that DK and I were asked to co-host the NEO concert at the York theatre on Monday. We must be the last resort, but hell, we are thrilled to be asked. Two years ago we were the New Emerging whatever and now we are hosting them. That must be a step up.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
April Fool
Wow...it's deep into April and I haven't had that much to report. Been on Grand Jury duty and doing the Road to Qatar rewrites. This culminated yesterday in a very private two person performance (no audience) of the fresh new intermission-less version of the show complete with a great new musical number (Good Things Come in Threes) and many pertinent cuts. The good news is that it timed out great...95 minutes of fun. That's not too long for anyone to sit and enjoy without having to get up and pee. It also seemed to flow really well. It still needs some smoothing and polishing and a few better jokes, but all in all DK and i feel really good about it.
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