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Nov. 25th, 2023 10:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatGot quite a bit done today, considering. I managed to finally clean out and straighten the top portion of my closet - and utilized the organizers I'd purchased, which sort of work just not as well as I'd hoped. It is neater at any rate, and nothing is falling from the shelf like before. I may actually be able to find things.
Also, received the three new blouses that I'd purchased on Thursday night. Two are button down work blouses, the third is an exercise, around the apartment long-sleeved t-shirt. I was surprised I got them today - considering I purchased them online on Thursday.
After organizing the closet, I decided I definitely did not need more shirts or sweaters or pants, at the moment. I don't have much space for what I have. Also, there's a lot I have to get rid of. A couple of things I'm hoping to donate to the Church's Unifair, considering I've never worn them.
Making headway with the Barbara Streisand Memoir - which is well done. In it, she focuses heavily on her process, how she sings her songs, puts them together, gets her arrangements, and how the musical Funny Girl was put together. There's a lot of false information floating around regarding it - I know I read some of it online, and listened to it on Youtube.
According to Streisand, there were only four auditions, not twenty. Her manager says there were seven, she only remembers four. And feels seven is an exaggeration. Also only ten curtain calls, not twenty, which she also feels is a gross exaggeration.
The story behind the departure of Sydney Chaplin, her leading man (also the son of Charlie Chaplin) - is complicated, and not at all what some folks on Youtube think or various others. Apparently Streisand, who was married to Elliot Gould at the time, and Sydney (who was married to a pretty French actress) got involved in an ill-advised flirtation. It stopped just short of a full-flung affair, and was more of a flirtation, with some making out, and ended with Sydney giving Streisand emerald sapphire earrings - which she couldn't wear, and freaked out over. Streisand and Gould were having troubles at the time, due in part to Gould's issues with gamboling. Also they were very young - she was twenty years of age, and he wasn't much older. Anyhow, she still loved Gould, and Chaplin was also married. So, Streisand confessed everything to Gould, and asked for his help in extricating herself from this difficult relationship with her Funny Girl co-star. She managed, with Gould's assistance, to break things off with Sydney. (Honestly it shouldn't have been that hard.) Sydney didn't take it at all well, and began to harass her in odd ways. He'd mutter things beneath his breath during their scenes together on stage. She'd be singing or saying her lovey dovey lines as Brice, and he'd well be cursing her out under his breath, and calling her bitch, etc. It got so bad, that she was having panic attacks, and throwing up before each performance, and often racing off stage during performances to throw up. She was terrified of stumbling over a line or screwing up on stage or messing up - because of Chaplin's on-stage harassment and sabotage. Chaplin was playing Nick Arnstein, Fanny Brice's love interest. So imagine? Singing People who Love People, while your co-star is muttering, "you are horrible and a rancid bitch". She dreaded going to the theater, dreaded performances with him, and didn't know what to do about it. (This was the early 1960s, she couldn't just claim sexual harassment, and most likely didn't know such a thing existed. )
She finally got the Stage Manager, who was watching it happen, help her. They confronted Sydney, and got nowhere. Apparently he was upset that his character was watered down, and various songs of his had been cut. (It wasn't Streisand's idea to cut them but Robbins, who felt that his songs didn't work, and Stark agreed. Every time the attention was taken off Fanny and was switched to Nick, the audience got restless or twitchy. Having seen the movie - I'd agree with this assessment. Nick had been watered down a bit, and wasn't all that interesting. Also, a major theme of the show as that Fanny overshadowed him. And ironically that was Sydney's complaint - however that didn't excuse the fact that he was sexually harassing his co-star.) Her panic attacks got increasingly worse. She got sent to therapy and into analysis because of it. And also states that it was most likely the origin of her stage fright.
This went on for MONTHS. Possibly most of a year, before Jerome Robbins and Stark got wind of it - and confronted Chaplin. Chaplin launched into a twenty-minute rant about how he didn't need any of them and with $500,000 and being the son of Charlie Chaplin - he could do whatever he wanted. (Note: $500,000 in the 1960s was the equivalent of $5M now.) So they finally got rid of him - and cast Johnny Desmond. [And Desmond wasn't as good in the role - he played it more like a low rent loser, not a slick gambler, and also to Streisand's horror, liked to clap when she finished singing People to him each night.
Chaplin talked about what happened. "Sydney Chaplin Replaced by Johnny Desmond. In August 1964, five months into the Funny Girl run, Sydney Chaplin gave an interview to the New York Post in which he expressed his frustration playing Nick Arnstein. "I'm sort of a nobody – a straight man for Barbra Streisand."
Streisand kept quiet about it until now. Mainly because she was humiliated and embarrassed by the harassment, and couldn't handle constantly being in the press. (Remember this was the early 1960s, and it was kind of prevalent back then, and you did not accuse your male co-stars of sexually harassing you - not if you wanted to work.) The sudden fame that came with both her singing career and Funny Girl overwhelmed her, and she ended up hiring a publicist to keep her out of the press.
Streisand states in her book - that she didn't understand why Sydney had reacted the way he had. He had a pretty wife. Nor did she understand the jealousy and envy people had towards her - "don't be envious of me, I threw up every night. I was having panic attacks. Being famous was not fun."
And she relates her meeting with Judy Garland - how famously they got along, and actually adored each other. Which makes sense - their acting and singing styles are very similar. They were also huge fans of each other's work. Both act their songs, and both are belters, with the ability to draw in an audience, and move an audience to tears. I actually cried during this segment of the audio book - because Garland died not long after they met and became best friends. They'd talk frequently. Then a mere year or so later, Garland died. It was devastating. When she sang with Garland on her show, Garland grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go. Garland also came up with the number. Garland drank this sweet wine, which she offered to Streisand, but Streisand didn't drink. The lines on that episode of the Garland Show weren't theirs but actually written by Mel Torme. Streisand states people think we didn't get along or were jealous of each other - and nothing could be further from the truth. They loved each other. And were fast friends, and supporters of each other's work. She said the thing about meeting famous people - is all they are is human beings like you. With the same foibles and issues.
This audiobook is really good. It has selections of her songs as well. She gives them as examples. So you hear the song People or snippet of it, and the song "Cry Me a River" showing how it works, or "Happy Days are Hear Again". Possibly the best Memoir I've listened to (or read) for that matter, and I've still 40 some hours to go.
***
Television Shows
1. The Gilded Age Season 2 - this is boring. I kept going to sleep during it. It makes Downton Abbey relatively action packed by comparison.
I've decided to give up.
2. Great British Baking Show - the Early Seasons (It's on Roku, not Netflix), and I was watching the very first season, when they traveled about the country side. And only had ten contestants and let two people go each round, due to the fact that they were traveling around the countryside with their tents. It's also a lot rougher in regards to camera work inside the tent. And there's more focus on the history of cakes, cookies, etc in Britain and who invented them. (Which is fascinating. Did you know that cakes were basically created by women, when men stopped being the sole chefs in the kitchen? Also the biscuit (cookie in the US) was created when more people traveled, as a travel ready snack. And, apparently cakes were outlawed by the Puritans due to the view that sugar raised the blood and made people do nasty things. (I think they were afraid of diabetes?). And Queen Victoria created the multi-tiered wedding cake.)
I like the early seasons better than the later ones. And I'd not seen or found this one. Doesn't have that many commercials either - so quite watchable.
3. Fall of the House of Usher
The later episodes are better than the early ones. They are actually kind of scary. And kind of gruesome. Roderick Usher is being haunted by his children. Each killed in a different manner by the demon he and his sister made their devil's bargain with ages ago. A lot of Poe's work is threaded through the series.
I'm not sure the series completely works though. It's not quite clear what bargain Madeline and Roderick made with Verna, or why Verna is now collecting her lump of flesh. I'm hoping it will be revealed in the last episode. I've one to go.
Will state that Bruce Greenwood, Mary McConnell, and Mark Hamill are quite good in their roles, as is Carl Lumbly.
Ah, two days left. This six day break is flying by. Damn it. I wish work would fly by. It does when I'm busy and in the zone, not when I'm waiting for people to send me stuff and make up their minds.
Also, received the three new blouses that I'd purchased on Thursday night. Two are button down work blouses, the third is an exercise, around the apartment long-sleeved t-shirt. I was surprised I got them today - considering I purchased them online on Thursday.
After organizing the closet, I decided I definitely did not need more shirts or sweaters or pants, at the moment. I don't have much space for what I have. Also, there's a lot I have to get rid of. A couple of things I'm hoping to donate to the Church's Unifair, considering I've never worn them.
Making headway with the Barbara Streisand Memoir - which is well done. In it, she focuses heavily on her process, how she sings her songs, puts them together, gets her arrangements, and how the musical Funny Girl was put together. There's a lot of false information floating around regarding it - I know I read some of it online, and listened to it on Youtube.
According to Streisand, there were only four auditions, not twenty. Her manager says there were seven, she only remembers four. And feels seven is an exaggeration. Also only ten curtain calls, not twenty, which she also feels is a gross exaggeration.
The story behind the departure of Sydney Chaplin, her leading man (also the son of Charlie Chaplin) - is complicated, and not at all what some folks on Youtube think or various others. Apparently Streisand, who was married to Elliot Gould at the time, and Sydney (who was married to a pretty French actress) got involved in an ill-advised flirtation. It stopped just short of a full-flung affair, and was more of a flirtation, with some making out, and ended with Sydney giving Streisand emerald sapphire earrings - which she couldn't wear, and freaked out over. Streisand and Gould were having troubles at the time, due in part to Gould's issues with gamboling. Also they were very young - she was twenty years of age, and he wasn't much older. Anyhow, she still loved Gould, and Chaplin was also married. So, Streisand confessed everything to Gould, and asked for his help in extricating herself from this difficult relationship with her Funny Girl co-star. She managed, with Gould's assistance, to break things off with Sydney. (Honestly it shouldn't have been that hard.) Sydney didn't take it at all well, and began to harass her in odd ways. He'd mutter things beneath his breath during their scenes together on stage. She'd be singing or saying her lovey dovey lines as Brice, and he'd well be cursing her out under his breath, and calling her bitch, etc. It got so bad, that she was having panic attacks, and throwing up before each performance, and often racing off stage during performances to throw up. She was terrified of stumbling over a line or screwing up on stage or messing up - because of Chaplin's on-stage harassment and sabotage. Chaplin was playing Nick Arnstein, Fanny Brice's love interest. So imagine? Singing People who Love People, while your co-star is muttering, "you are horrible and a rancid bitch". She dreaded going to the theater, dreaded performances with him, and didn't know what to do about it. (This was the early 1960s, she couldn't just claim sexual harassment, and most likely didn't know such a thing existed. )
She finally got the Stage Manager, who was watching it happen, help her. They confronted Sydney, and got nowhere. Apparently he was upset that his character was watered down, and various songs of his had been cut. (It wasn't Streisand's idea to cut them but Robbins, who felt that his songs didn't work, and Stark agreed. Every time the attention was taken off Fanny and was switched to Nick, the audience got restless or twitchy. Having seen the movie - I'd agree with this assessment. Nick had been watered down a bit, and wasn't all that interesting. Also, a major theme of the show as that Fanny overshadowed him. And ironically that was Sydney's complaint - however that didn't excuse the fact that he was sexually harassing his co-star.) Her panic attacks got increasingly worse. She got sent to therapy and into analysis because of it. And also states that it was most likely the origin of her stage fright.
This went on for MONTHS. Possibly most of a year, before Jerome Robbins and Stark got wind of it - and confronted Chaplin. Chaplin launched into a twenty-minute rant about how he didn't need any of them and with $500,000 and being the son of Charlie Chaplin - he could do whatever he wanted. (Note: $500,000 in the 1960s was the equivalent of $5M now.) So they finally got rid of him - and cast Johnny Desmond. [And Desmond wasn't as good in the role - he played it more like a low rent loser, not a slick gambler, and also to Streisand's horror, liked to clap when she finished singing People to him each night.
Chaplin talked about what happened. "Sydney Chaplin Replaced by Johnny Desmond. In August 1964, five months into the Funny Girl run, Sydney Chaplin gave an interview to the New York Post in which he expressed his frustration playing Nick Arnstein. "I'm sort of a nobody – a straight man for Barbra Streisand."
Streisand kept quiet about it until now. Mainly because she was humiliated and embarrassed by the harassment, and couldn't handle constantly being in the press. (Remember this was the early 1960s, and it was kind of prevalent back then, and you did not accuse your male co-stars of sexually harassing you - not if you wanted to work.) The sudden fame that came with both her singing career and Funny Girl overwhelmed her, and she ended up hiring a publicist to keep her out of the press.
Streisand states in her book - that she didn't understand why Sydney had reacted the way he had. He had a pretty wife. Nor did she understand the jealousy and envy people had towards her - "don't be envious of me, I threw up every night. I was having panic attacks. Being famous was not fun."
And she relates her meeting with Judy Garland - how famously they got along, and actually adored each other. Which makes sense - their acting and singing styles are very similar. They were also huge fans of each other's work. Both act their songs, and both are belters, with the ability to draw in an audience, and move an audience to tears. I actually cried during this segment of the audio book - because Garland died not long after they met and became best friends. They'd talk frequently. Then a mere year or so later, Garland died. It was devastating. When she sang with Garland on her show, Garland grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go. Garland also came up with the number. Garland drank this sweet wine, which she offered to Streisand, but Streisand didn't drink. The lines on that episode of the Garland Show weren't theirs but actually written by Mel Torme. Streisand states people think we didn't get along or were jealous of each other - and nothing could be further from the truth. They loved each other. And were fast friends, and supporters of each other's work. She said the thing about meeting famous people - is all they are is human beings like you. With the same foibles and issues.
This audiobook is really good. It has selections of her songs as well. She gives them as examples. So you hear the song People or snippet of it, and the song "Cry Me a River" showing how it works, or "Happy Days are Hear Again". Possibly the best Memoir I've listened to (or read) for that matter, and I've still 40 some hours to go.
***
Television Shows
1. The Gilded Age Season 2 - this is boring. I kept going to sleep during it. It makes Downton Abbey relatively action packed by comparison.
I've decided to give up.
2. Great British Baking Show - the Early Seasons (It's on Roku, not Netflix), and I was watching the very first season, when they traveled about the country side. And only had ten contestants and let two people go each round, due to the fact that they were traveling around the countryside with their tents. It's also a lot rougher in regards to camera work inside the tent. And there's more focus on the history of cakes, cookies, etc in Britain and who invented them. (Which is fascinating. Did you know that cakes were basically created by women, when men stopped being the sole chefs in the kitchen? Also the biscuit (cookie in the US) was created when more people traveled, as a travel ready snack. And, apparently cakes were outlawed by the Puritans due to the view that sugar raised the blood and made people do nasty things. (I think they were afraid of diabetes?). And Queen Victoria created the multi-tiered wedding cake.)
I like the early seasons better than the later ones. And I'd not seen or found this one. Doesn't have that many commercials either - so quite watchable.
3. Fall of the House of Usher
The later episodes are better than the early ones. They are actually kind of scary. And kind of gruesome. Roderick Usher is being haunted by his children. Each killed in a different manner by the demon he and his sister made their devil's bargain with ages ago. A lot of Poe's work is threaded through the series.
I'm not sure the series completely works though. It's not quite clear what bargain Madeline and Roderick made with Verna, or why Verna is now collecting her lump of flesh. I'm hoping it will be revealed in the last episode. I've one to go.
Will state that Bruce Greenwood, Mary McConnell, and Mark Hamill are quite good in their roles, as is Carl Lumbly.
Ah, two days left. This six day break is flying by. Damn it. I wish work would fly by. It does when I'm busy and in the zone, not when I'm waiting for people to send me stuff and make up their minds.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-26 12:03 pm (UTC)Usher: no spoilers but, yeah, there is some explanation, thank goodness.
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Date: 2023-11-26 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-11-27 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-11-26 12:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-11-26 02:02 pm (UTC)Paul Hollywood stayed - because hello $$. And Prue, Noel, and another host (whose name I forget) joined. The second host lasted two-three seasons, before another one joined (who irritated me) for about two-three seasons, and finally Allison in S11.
I like the first four-five seasons the best. It's still good, just not as good. And the educational bits are still there - just not to the same degree.