Loesser Is More

Until a couple of weeks ago, I took the great American songwriter Frank Loesser for granted. I knew the name, and if I pressed my own brain might have remembered that he wrote the words and music to Guys and Dolls and How To Success in Business Without Really Trying, but would not have known that he was the author of "Slow Boat To China" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside." I would not have known that he was responsible for the 1940's novelty hit "Murder, He Says," which I have on my iPod in the Gene Krupa-Anita O'Day version, and play occasionally for a smile and trip down to bobby-soxer memory lane. (No, I wasn't a bobby-soxer; I was a little kid who thought bobby-soxers were fascinating in a hilarious way.)

Clever lyrics and a seamless way of integrating song with the action of a story were hallmarks of Loesser's genius. If you don't think "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is witty, listen to it once more. If you miss the significance of a song like "I Believe in You," listen to the cast album (or rent the movie--this one does capture the show). It's sung by the young hustler (Robert Morse played the role to perfection), as he looks at his own image in the corporate men's room mirror--surrounded by his competition, all taking an extra shave with their kazoo electric razors as they chant in desperate counterpoint, "Gotta stop that man, cold, or he'll stop me...")

Last week was a banner one for Frank Loesser and me. To begin with, the excellent production of Guys and Dolls at Hoboken High, just around the corner from my apartment, transported me to that odd corner of Damon Runyon's New York through the music and words of Loesser at his best. The production offered a fresh approach to the show, too long occupied in memory by the lackluster film dragged down by a lost-looking Marlon Brando. An unquestionably great actor, Brando showed no connection with music or with the milieu of Times Square crapshooters. At Hoboken High, the students worked their tails off dancing and singing, and approached their characters innocently with both the great courage and gusto of teenagers. I was brought back to the original intent of the material and the clever juxtaposition of romance with gritty street-smarts. Who but Frank Loesser could have captured the color of Runyan's Broadway? Who else could have written, "Da Biltmore garage wants a grand/But we ain't got a grand on hand/And dey now got a lock on the da door/Of da gym at P.S. 84"? And conclude with the delicious syntax of "If we only had a lousy little grand we could be a millionaire!" to say nothing of the beautiful love songs and hilarious novelty numbers I described in the review you'll find if you scroll down to the post before last.

I was lucky enough also to attend a Loesser evening at the New-York Historical Society Museum a week ago, moderated by journalist Pete Hamill, who was clearly relishing every song, particularly those from Guys and Dolls. There were interpolations of "Adelaide, Adelaide, Ever-Lovin' Adelaide," and "A Woman in Love," both of which were in the lamentable film but not in the stage play.

Loesser's widow, the extraordinary Jo Sullivan, who played the original Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella, graced the evening with her favorite of his songs, "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year," which, as she noted, was introduced by Deanna Durbin in the 1944 movie Christmas Holiday. Sullivan still sings like an angel; she also performed a duet with her beautiful daughter Emily Loesser which was wonderful to hear.

The benefit gala was staged as a fund-raiser for the Museum's American Musicals Project, which uses the study of American musicals to provide a context for teaching social studies to New York City schools, and a worthy project it is. The gala itself introduced us to excerpts from some of Loesser's letters to friends including Bob Fosse. It left me wanting to know more about Frank Loesser. If you want to do the same, there is a wonderful website that will get you started.

Curious in Jersey City

I received an intriguing invitation to an art exhibition entitled "Poison" to be held in a little gallery called Curious Matter in Jersey City. I say intriguing because the flyer described the theme of the exhibit thusly:

Poison has captured the imagination for millennia. It appears in folk tales, fairy tales, opera and murder mysteries. Poisoning has been the clean, classic way evil characters subdue and eliminate a rival without the use of brute force. But poison is not just a substance used to remove inconvenient competition. It is more than our romantic notion of hemlock and horror, and the artists of Curious Matter's POISON exhibition have sensitively distilled the tincture to its purest forms.

Well put, don't you think? I was reminded of the drugged possets in Macbeth, and the apple in Snow White. I knew nothing of the gallery Curious Matter, and less of the neighborhood, but with directions, I found my way to the vernissage on Sunday afternoon. (I'm allowed to call it that because of my six years in Geneva, where an art opening is known as a vernissage.)

Curious Matter is on the parlor floor of a brownstone on Fifth Street. It is a tiny space, made smaller by the crowd, but very pleasant, and its curators, also artists, are eager to make new guests feel at home. I had a nice chat with Raymond E. Mingst, gallery owner and artist, and I enjoyed the artworks on display. It is not a dark and poisonous show, but rather an inspiration based on the many ways we deal with the poisons that surround us. Andrew Graham's bold oil paintings of toxic maxims from a local church caught my eye. Roaming around the room I was drawn to the tiny goose-stepping geese on Kara Smith's Green As Goslings, little ones whose minds were clearly being poisoned by their adult leaders. Whimsy came forth in Mingst's own You're Not Out of the Woods Yet, Dearie, a clear resin sculpture of a hand the size of a teaspoon sticking out of the wall, offering the possibility of any number of possible life-threatening substances.

The show is small, but full of food for thought. It will run until May 17 on Sundays from noon to 3 P.M. or by appointment.

I found the visit so pleasant I became curious myself about living in Jersey City. Not that my bags are packed, but with the better weather, I'm going to explore.

Guys and Dolls, Hoboken Style

I was as excited as if I were going to a Broadway show last night when I walked two blocks to Hoboken High School to take in opening night of their excellent drama department's production of Guys and Dolls. I've seen one show there and knew to expect a lot of talent and enthusiasm on the stage and a noisy, excited audience.

I wasn't disappointed for a minute. Behind me in line were kids talking about "Big Jule," the big, tough Chicago gangster character in the show, and I could tell we were all anticipating a great evening. As I got to my seat and saw in the program that the one bit of truly non-traditional casting was that Big Jule was to be played by a girl, I worried for my friends who might not be prepared for such a choice.

The program notes made my heart sing. Director Jared Ramos wrote, "It was 13 years ago when, as a junior in high school, I received my first lead role in a musical, that of Nathan Detroit in a production of G & D staged at A.J. Demarest High School." He wisely cast the up-and-coming star Saquan Williams in the role, who, also a high school junior, is apparently serious about a career in the theatre and obviously has a shot at the big time.

I had not quite realized that, familiar as I am with Guys and Dolls, I had never seen the show on stage before. My parents, on a trip to New York in the 1950's, saw it on Broadway, and we owned a 33-RPM recording of the cast album. I knew all the songs by heart, and as the production went forward, I found myself mouthing the words of every ballad and comic number. I enjoyed the life the young actors put into their roles--it was as if they were creating the characters, not basing them on stereotypes or previous performances.

Don't forget, I grew up in Alabama, where the denizens of Runyonland were as exotic as martians. To these kids, the accents were natural and the situations were fresh and fun. Nobody had to listen to a cast album--or God forbid, watch the movie version--to grasp the scene. What emerged was a full-blown, innocent version of an American classic, in the hands of a very competent and engaging cast. Many of the boys had no stage experience, but they were cool and coordinated and had no trouble with the dance or with playing their roles.

Miss Adelaide (Kristin Santiago) had me totally convinced of her upper-respiratory problems, and in her duet with Nathan, her line "I could honestly die," she held that last note every time, bringing a poignancy to the song that Vivian Blaine completely missed. The Hot Box Girls, her back-up chorus line, were beautiful and delicious, almost overshadowing their star in their sheer joy of being where they were. They were convincing as 1950's chorus girls, dancing and singing and looking for their big break, and they were cute as kittens all the while.

Sky Masterson, as played by the smooth athlete Joshua Delgado, was sincere and cocky at the same time, and handled the love songs (and kisses) with the kind of poise rare in a 17-year-old, making us root for him from the first line of "I'll Know."

I loved Bianca Jade Alvarez as Sarah Brown, especially in "If I Were a Bell," although on opening night the song was marred by a microphone malfunction. Ricardo Cruz was a very sympathetic Arvide, delicately handling one of the prettiest songs in the show, "More I Cannot Wish You." Daniel Velez was a fine Benny Southstreet, leading a thrilling "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"--a song I had never appreciated before. And Shannon Jones did the role of Big Jule proud, remaking it into her own.



The orchestra was full of verve and added excitement to every minute. The dance numbers created perfect stage pictures reflecting a frenetic Times-Square energy. My dark snapshot doesn't do the show justice. In addition to the professional-level choreography, the inventive sets and all the backstage functions were executed smoothly and all together contributed to a wonderful night in the theatre.

There will be matinee performances today and tomorrow at 2 and one more evening performance at 8 tonight. If you're anywhere near Hoboken, you'd be crazy to miss it.

Intravenous Movies

When she was a young teenager my daughter did a drawing she called "Intravenous TV" which was a figure of a man lying on his back with a television set on the wall. He was covered with wires and tubes connecting him to the set, just passively receiving by the hour. It was a stunning picture. I still have it, tried to upload it to the blog, but it didn't come clear. So I'll have to use this little cartoon which doesn't quite say the same thing, but goes to the point of all humanity, young and old alike, glued to the tv, drinking in the messages, whether we like it or not.

I'm something of a television addict myself, but more than tv I like movies on tv; movies without commercial interruption. For years I would browse the local DVD rental stores and come home with a few I wanted to try. Friends urged me to order them online, and finally about two months ago I followed up on one of those ads for Netflix offering one month free service.

It didn't take any time for me to get hooked. I browsed their selection and rated the ones I'd seen, and began ordering. Once I got the hang of the handy little packages (I know, I know, they're easy, but I had to figure out how to dismantle them without destroying the return envelope) and got used to the website recommending the same movies time and again (Why do I seem like a The Treasure of Sierra Madre type? As a matter of fact, I am, and it's been on my to-see list forever, but I'm waiting until I'm in the mood. For 30 years I haven't been in the mood.)

I think my queue is eclectic. It contains not only There Will Be Blood but also Enchanted and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I just viewed Lars and the Real Girl (excellent little dark sweet film), and Babel is on my coffee table waiting to be unloaded tonight. Next to come will be Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. I've seen the first season of Arrested Development (hilarious!) and Mad Men, both of which I'd only heard about.

The options are staggering. I can watch every movie ever made, some I've never heard of. It's like having them in my veins.

Hello Hunger

I wasn't going to tell you this, but this is the month I'm gonna reinvent myself.

I got the idea, I guess, from my blog friend Steve, who started reinventing himself a month ago. He had been writing a spiritual blog for some time, sharing his readings and ruminating on the thoughts of great minds. There was always a slightly depressive tone in Steve's blog, a feeling that he wasn't quite up to the tasks of life, but a unquenchable thirst for truth and a yearning to understand the reasons he was put on this earth. He represented the very spirit of human nature to me, striving to do the right thing and always questioning himself and his own ability to grasp the meaning of things.

Then one day he announced he was going to reinvent himself. He had lost his job, which he never much liked anyway, and he wasn't going to let it get him down. He was going to give himself the job of becoming a more balanced, upbeat person. He was going to pursue his interests in a positive way. Steve is nothing if not a brave soul. Making this announcement, abandoning his old blog and starting a new one for the purpose of reinventing himself seemed admirable and even doable. I commended him for doing this.

Then I watched Dr. Oz on Oprah talking about the people who go on the Calorie Restricted Optimum Nutrition Diet, a diet based on very low calorie, nutritious food. People on this diet expect to lower their risk of many diseases and extend their life span. I had heard of this process before, and it always sounded a bit crackpot to me, but the way it was explained made sense: with the body in survival mode it doesn't make excess fat or excess anything, and every bit of food is utilized to the max. The antibodies and stem cells go to work; the body tends to heal itself.

I thought I should recommend this to Steve for part of his reinvention. I thought if I were reinventing, I'd certainly consider starting there. Come to think of it, the closest I've ever come to reinventing myself was to go on a diet.

The more I thought about it, the more I decided it was time for me to go on a real diet anyway. You've seen the videos--I could stand to lose a little weight. If I really could stick with this one, I'd lose more than a little.

I emailed Steve, and told him I was thinking about the CRON diet, and suggested maybe that could be a part of his reinvention plan. He looked it up, pronounced it interesting and wished me well, but seemed a little dubious about the efficacy of including this in his own makeover. He suggested that if I were to go through with my own reinvention I should share it on the blog as a way to solidify my commitment and benefit from the support of readers. I said something like, "Oh, no, I'm not ready to do that. I'll just casually go on a diet as of April 1 and see how it goes. I'm not ready to share it with the world, in case I don't go through with it. I'll conscientiously stick to the low calorie thing for a month, and then if I feel like it on April 30, I'll just stay on this 'diet' for the rest of my life and consider myself pretty much secretly reinvented."

But I couldn't not tell you. I woke up this morning slightly hungry, and with the refrigerator stocked with high quality, high nutrition foods. Breakfast will be a soft-boiled egg, a kiwi fruit and two slices of Kavli crackers. It felt good to be a little hungry. I said to myself, "Get used to it."

Here's My Home

The Street Where I Live

After fussing with a couple of brief videos I made on the streets of Hoboken two weeks ago, I tried to compress three or four of them into a five-minute video for the blog. Lo and behold, the video is too big to post! So I've broken them back apart, and this, the first, will be part of a series--a series of short shots of my neighborhood. Hope this will work--there's more to come.