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Topics - Midnite

1516
Current Talk '03 I / Born to Diva
« on: May 01, 2003, 07:26:08 PM »
I don't know what came over me.

If you'd previously told me I'd one day attend a Donna McKechnie performance I would've called you crazy.  But she brought her show, which has garnered rave reviews elsewhere, to the new Colony Theatre in Burbank (quite possibly the most elegant small theatre in L.A.) and it was, after all, a chance to get together with Bette, so I figured why not?  What follows is my review of Sunday's performance.  If that doesn't interest you, you can skip to the bottom of this post to witness "I don't know what came over me, Part II". :D

"Inside the Music" is a one-woman autobiographical show that follows (through anecdotes and musical numbers, though sometimes confusingly) McKechnie's career as a dancer from its inception while a young girl in a dysfunctional family (her parents "never spoke") who found solace and inspiration in movies and eventually defied a judge and them to run off to realize her dream, and ends with the most exciting number-- a shortened though no less fabulous performance of "The Music and the Mirror" from A Chorus Line complete with huge mirrors that are revealed with a flourish.  It brought back wonderful memories of the first time I'd seen that show (sans McKechnie) at the Music Center some 25 years ago. Yes, I'm saying that Inside the Music's finale gave me a thrill; shhh, please keep that to yourself.


[From the biography section:  "Television audiences remember her from her days on Cheers,
HBO Musical Specials, NBC's Hullaballoo and the cult series Dark Shadows."]

Her singing was wonderful and very effective.  She has lost her slimness, but you'd never know it by her energetic dancing, nor is there any sign of the crippling arthritis she later tells us about.  She was accompanied by a trio of musicians, the piano player serving as conductor and also as participant during a handful of scenes requiring outside dialog.  In fact, the stage was empty if not for them and a single ballet bar that later disappears.  I am not fond of "Turkey Lurkey Time" from Promises, Promises, but how the heck she can still do those movements is beyond me.  She also performed "Inside the Music", a beautiful song Marvin Hamlisch wrote for her but which proves so difficult that she feigns a faint at the end of it, and you feel grateful it was dropped in favor of "TMATM".  Other songs from shows she appeared in include "A Secretary is Not a Toy" (Frank Loesser) from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying during which she dances the choreography created for her by Bob Fosse, "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" (Stephen Sondheim) from Company, "If My Friends Could See Me Now" from Sweet Charity, and "Boogie Woogie Blues" from A Class Act.

We've seen the theme before-- through determination you can realize your dream.  Yet while we all know how the story turns out, you get her message that she was never lucky in love.  When she sang "I Wanna Be Loved By You" early on, who knew it would become a major theme as she continued to tell her life in story and song?  Yet despite this frequent admission, you can't help but think she glossed over some of the negative aspects of her life while focusing on the positive; an example of the latter is a detailed and romantic monologue about meeting Fred Astaire which culminated in a performance of the song "Astaire".  Examples of the former are her all-too-brief mentions of Michael Bennett (whom she married and divorced twice) and Fosse.  Regarding Bennett-- she explains she met him while doing Hullabaloo and even seats herself on the stage steps with a promise to speak frankly, but she never quite lives up to that promise.

The second half is far more entertaining, and she begins it by entering from the rear of the theater.  Unfortunately, the audience for this matinee was positively geriatric, which detracted from my experience because her dialogue, which she delivered flawlessly, occasionally called for our input.  Save for a smattering of male fans, Bette, her friend and I were the young'ns at the performance.  The older crowd seemed most attentive during 2 points in the show--  when she performed numbers from her most popular shows, and when she spoke in great detail about her arthritis treatment, from the 18 Bufferins a day to the miraculous results she got simply from changing her diet and "no fussing".  I stood for her encore appearance, but I'm not sure if the other attendees were less impressed or if they just, well, weren't able.

There are several restaurants within walking distance of the theater, and ProfStokes and victoriawinters graciously drove out to join Bette and me for a fun dinner after the show.

And as promised¢â‚¬¦



Beware the lashes. ;)

1517
Calendar Events / Announcements '03 I / For Michael T. Weiss fans
« on: April 27, 2003, 05:24:24 PM »
You know who you are!

Michael T. Weiss returns to Crossing Jordan Monday nite at 10 on NBC.

A bit of background:  MTW's character was introduced earlier in the season when Jordan found out she has a brother, namely James Horton (no relation to his character on DOOL, hee hee) who isn't playing with a full deck and was the last person to see their mother alive... uh, except for her killer.

Oh, and Weiss played Joe Haskell and Peter Bradford in the '91 DS.

1518
Current Talk '23 I / Copying of forum messages - PLEASE READ
« on: April 26, 2003, 05:49:32 AM »
From the DS Forums guidelines:

9.  Distributing articles, photos, personal information or opinions that have been posted on this forum without the poster's permission may result in loss of posting privileges. Please don't assume that because a writer has chosen to express his/her opinion on any of these internet forums that they would allow it to appear elsewhere. If a post consists of an article or photo, linking to it from another location is preferable and would be much appreciated.


Agreeing to the above was a condition of registration.

No one may copy a personal statement on this forum for the purpose of posting it elsewhere without first obtaining the writer's permission, preferably in writing.  If you don't get the author's permission before using his/her comment, you seriously jeopardize your forum privileges.


I apologize if anyone was misled by my statement in the 2003 Fest Info thread in which I said that a Festival committee member was interested in reading the comments, but if you reread that message you'll see that each participant in that discussion would receive an IM explaining what would be done with the comments if permission was given, and NO comments, including those quoted, were sent to the Fest address without it. 

1519
Calendar Events / Announcements '03 I / 2003 Fest info
« on: April 23, 2003, 05:46:47 PM »
From: pansyfaye@darkshadowsfestival.com
Re: Dark Shadows Festival 2003 Details Now Available
To: Dark Shadows Fans

"Details on the Dark Shadows 20th Anniversary Festival & Farewell are now available online at www.darkshadowsfestival.com The Festival will be held on Labor Day weekend at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel. Among several new activities and for the first time ever, the DS actors will reunite to portray their original characters on stage in an exciting new dramatic presentation, 'Return to Collinwood.' You'll discover what happened to Quentin, Angelique and others since DS ended!

Flyers will be sent soon to those on the Dark Shadows Festival mailing list. To be added to the mailing list, email your name and postal mailing address to: pansyfaye@darkshadowsfestival.com

After two decades of annual fan gatherings, this year marks the final full-fledged Festival celebration. It has been a joyous twenty years of welcoming dozens of Dark Shadows alumni along with thousands of fans from all across the United States and beyond. Although interest in DS remains strong - thanks to the video/DVD releases and reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel - the decision has been made to finish the traditional Festival event on this special anniversary occasion with the exciting, first-ever reunion of the original DS actors performing a sequel on stage.

The Dark Shadows Offical Fan Club/Festival will continue to explore the presentation of other DS activities in the future, but we hope you'll be able to join us for this memorable three-day finale in August.

Don't forget to check the Daily Trivia every day on the website to read about what's happening on the episodes shown each weekday on the Sci-Fi Channel.

For up-to-date news on everything concerning Dark Shadows, fans should subscribe to the Official Dark Shadows Online Newsletter, ShadowGram. Send an email to: ShadowGram@aol.com asking to be added to the subscription list."

1520
Current Talk '03 I / Test your powers of observation
« on: April 12, 2003, 07:24:04 AM »
What's wrong with this picture of Julia and the portrait from Friday's eps?  Anyone can take a guess (except MB, cuz this would be too easy for him ;)).


1521
Happy Birthday to
Carol



Have a blast, luv!
[/color]

1522
Calendar Events / Announcements '03 I / Jim Fyfe on "All My Children"
« on: March 31, 2003, 10:19:40 PM »
It was a nice surprise to see Jim Fyfe on today's All My Children.  He played the father of young boy treated by "David" for a pacemaker-related problem, and the continuous worried look on his face was reminiscent of his Willie Loomis.  It's hard to tell if he'll be on the soap again, but it appears his character already served its purpose.

I know fans are divided on his casting for the '91 series.  I didn't care for him at first because he was so different from John Karlen (and what an act to follow!), but his portrayal grew on me with each viewing.

1523
Bette sent along today's very favorable L.A. Times Review of Donna McKechnie's cabaret act "My Musical Comedy Life" playing this week at the Orange County Performing Arts:

http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-wk-nichols27mar27,0,1275780.story



Check out these 3 words from the 2nd to the last paragraph:  "McKechnie can act".  :D

1524
From MPI:

In celebration of the DVD release of WAR AND REMEMBRANCE - THE FINAL CHAPTER, you can submit questions and have them answered by Dan Curtis (Producer/Director) or Hart Bochner (Byron Henry) during the week of March 24th. Simply visit the MPI Home Video website anytime before March 24th and submit your question. Answers to your questions will be posted on the MPI Home Video Website from March 26-28.

1525
Calendar Events / Announcements '03 I / DS mention on "Angel"
« on: March 13, 2003, 07:39:59 PM »
Angel and BtVS fans are accustomed to the infusion of pop culture references, but DS fans got a special treat on last nite's Angel.  In referring to the apocalyptic rain of fire and blotting out of the sun meant to plunge the Earth into eternal darkness and brought about by a pact between a demon (The Beast) and Angelus (vampire Angel) [are you still with me? ;)], Gunn fretted that the latter would be "pulling a Dark Shadows again".



OT - Willow is L.A. bound, yay!!!

1526

Happy Birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, Bob the Bartender

Happy birthday tooooo yooooou!!!


1527
Testing. 1, 2, 3... / Updated profiles - EMAIL ADDRESSES
« on: February 23, 2003, 09:09:44 PM »
While many of us are taking the time to update our profiles, while birthdates, avatars, or secret questions are completely optional, I hope everyone can verify that their profile lists a current email address.  I can't speak for MB or dom, but I'm being inundated with password requests following the conversion.  Now please understand that if someone is having a login problem I do want them to let one of us know, but the vast majority of the forum-related emails I'm receiving have to do with a problem that can easily be solved by using the Forgot password? link on the login page, which of course requires a current email addy.

Please don't forget that if you decide to change your email address, a new password will be generated by the system, and you'll be required from then on to log in with the new one in order to regain access to your account.  Oh, and I should mention that MB and I haven't had a chance to test to see if Compuserve, AOL, Netscape, and Road Runner servers accept email at our new location and with this version, sorry.

Thanks!

1528
Current Talk '03 I / Practical magic
« on: February 21, 2003, 01:27:12 AM »
Now that we've seen the Count's magickal cabinet (snort), I thought I'd throw a question out.  We've seen lots of items on DS that are imbued with special powers-- for divination, spying, travel, and otherworldly communication, also for gaining power, control, immortality, protection, knowledge, etc... and pretty much everything but a magic carpet.  So, what one magical item from DS would you most like to possess, and why?


SPOILER...
I'd choose the linen closet that at times is a nursery.  I'd turn it into a guest room that's only there when friends are visiting. :)

1529
Calendar Events / Announcements '03 I / CHAT Sunday nite
« on: February 16, 2003, 04:13:38 AM »
Woo hoo!, a members' chat [okb] will get underway tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 16) at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific.

The entrance to the chat will appear shortly before the start time.  Just look for the link in the Info Center on the DS Forums Home page.  Hope to see you there!

1530
Calendar Events / Announcements '03 I / Today's Birthday
« on: February 05, 2003, 02:25:25 AM »

Happy Birthday
Bette!