Isn't It Good, Isn't It Grand, Isn't It Great, Isn't It Swell, Isn't It Fun, Isn't It... Nowadays. Born On This Day- Bebe Neuwirth!

When I lived in NYC in the mid-1970s,  & I was studying at HB Studios, I was living with my sorta boyfriend- WCK3 ( who was studying at Julliard) & I working at ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers). This was a fabulous job as a “music monitor”. I had a small cubicle in the ASCAP building, with a huge window that looked out at Lincoln Center & a smack on view of the Chagall tapestries at the Metropolitan Opera House. It remains one of my favorite jobs of all time, & one of the perks was frequent house seats for Broadway musicals.


The big musical of the moment was a little thing called- A Chorus Line, but my own favorite was the somewhat less popular- Chicago. I loved this show, directed & choreographed by Bob Fosse & I saw it when ever I got a chance. It starred Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach & Gwen Verdon. At some point,Gwen Verdon fell ill, the victim of swallowing a feather from her costume & she was replaced for 1 month by someone named Liza Minnelli. I was so excited to see Liza up close & personal. ASCAP secured, for me, 2 tickets for her 1st night in the role. WCK3 could not attend, but he suggested that I bring his friend & classmate at Julliard- Bebe.

I felt bad that I had been taunting Bebe, because she shared a name with the Seattle Zoo’s famous gorilla. Beebee & BoBo were a very famous gorilla couple at the Seattle Zoo, & WCK3’s friend had to suffer through my gorilla jokes. I was glad to have a date for Liza’s Chicago debut, & Bebe seemed to have forgiven my ribbing. We had a great date at the theatre, with drinks at Joe Allen’s after the show. I wish that I had been portentous at the time, about my date was Bebe Neuwirth. I would loved to have told her that she would someday go on to win a Tony Award as Velma Kelly, in the most successful revival in Broadway history- Chicago (She would also be the 2nd Sheila in that other show- A Chorus Line): “Hey Bebe… someday, you will win a Tony award for this show & you will go on to be a big Broadway & TV star (winning 2 Emmy awards for her take on Dr. Lilith Sternin on Cheers), how about a kiss? She was a swell date. I regret not trying to make out with her at the end of our evening.

Things turned out pretty well for Bebe. For the last year she has been starring with Nathan Lane in The Aadams Family on Broadway. Bebe never thanks me in her award speeches, although I was the perfect date, footing the cost of the tickets & the drinks, & every bit the gentleman. Today is Bebe Neuwirth’s birthday. I will never forget our date.

Born On This Day, New Year's Eve... Songwriter Jule Styne

He wasn’t gay, but he sure gave gay people something to sing about. Many of his tunes are connected to gay sensibities & gay culture in the 20th century. As a young Musical Theatre Queen, Jule Styne played a significant role in my early love of theatre music. Styne the versatile, prolific songwriter whose tunes became standards for 3 generations & the composer of such classic Broadway musicals as Gypsy, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes & Funny Girl, was born on this day- December 31st, in 1905.

Among Styne's enduring songs are: the Oscar-winning 3 Coins in the Fountain, I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, Everything's Coming Up Roses, & Don’t Rain On My Parade.

His name was always less familiar than his music. This was probably because of his very flexibility. Styne: "You write as well as who you write with," & he usually let the lyricist & the star set the tone for the score.


Styne: "If you can't be a collaborator, you don't belong in the theater, & I am the greatest collaborator there is."


Styne estimated that he had written 2,000 songs, had published 1,500 and had 200 hits. Styne: "I'm talking about hit hits. The others were popular, but there were 200 hit hits: It's Been a Long, Long Time, It's Magic, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Time After Time, People, Five Minutes More.


In Hollywood, he teamed up with Sammy Cahn for the romantic: I've Heard That Song Before, I'll Walk Alone & 3 Coins in the Fountain. On Broadway, he shifted from satire: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Leo Robin, to drama- Gypsy with Stephen Sondheim, to glitter- Funny Girl with Bob Merrill, & also working with Comden & Green on shows including 2 On The Aisle & Bells Are Ringing.

His songs often bore the stamp of the singers who introduced them: Carol Channing, Judy Holliday, Doris Day, Mary Martin, Barbra Streisand & Ethel Merman. How gay is that?

He once told an interviewer that he preferred to write the music before the lyrics, as he had done on Gypsy, his collaboration with Sondheim. Styne: "When the music is written first, the lyricist will do his best job because he is not writing to his own preconceived rhythmic notions."


Don't Rain on My Parade

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Everything's Coming Up Roses


Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry


I Fall In Love Too Easily


I Still Get Jealous


Just In Time


Let Me Entertain You


Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!


Long Before I Knew You


Make Someone Happy  


The Party's Over


People


Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)


Time After Time

My favorite Styne song is Neverland:

Take A Walk On The Wild Side With Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro

He currently manages a hotel in the heart of Hollywood, where he lives with his cat Booky. Joe Dellesandro: "I've lived such a full life. I've had such great things. There were some hardships, but overall everything has been great."

Joe Dallesandro, a.k.a. “Little Joe,” was the greatest of the Warhol Superstars, the only one to really break out of the film underground & have a career in cinema. I would have credited his success to his looks, but what I really went for was his cool attitude. Dallesandro could also, he just acted like he couldn’t. He identifies himself as bisexual.

Dellesandro did his first bit in Warhol’s The Loves of Ondine (1968), after accidentally walking onto the set & getting cast on the spot. He appeared in other Warhol films, including Lonesome Cowboys (1968). When Paul Morrissey began to direct Warhol’s films, Joe starred in almost every one: Flesh (1968), Trash (1970), Heat (1972), Flesh for Frankenstein (1973), & Andy Warhol’s Dracula (1974).

Dellesandro later moved to Italy, where he starred in European art films, working with directors like Louis Malle, & Serge Gainsbourg. He also led a rather wild life there. Then, after the death of his brother Bobby, who had worked for Andy Warhol as a chauffeur, Joe moved back to the U.S. in the 1980s & worked on a variety of Hollywood films &TV series: Steven Soderbergh's The Limey, Sunset with Bruce Willis & James Garner, Critical Condition with Richard Pryor, Gun Crazy with Drew Barrymore, Wiseguy, Miami Vice & Matlock.

He was definitely mysterious, & he had obviously been around. In Flesh, he played a male hustler. Lou Reed was talking about Joe in his lyrics for Walk On The Wild Side: “Little Joe never once gave it away/Everybody had to pay & pay.” He hustled well enough to make it as a movie star. John Waters: "Joe Dellesandro forever changed male sexuality in cinema.”

I always felt a connection to Joe. I wanted to work with Andy at the Factory & star in his underground films. A photograph of his crotch bulge encased in a tight fitting pair of jeans is featured on the cover of the Rolling Stones 1971 album, Sticky Fingers. It was taken by Andy Warhol. He filled the jeans very nicely & a 17 year old Stephen got a lot of use from that album cover.

KEEPING THE WALTON CLAN SOLVENT

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Last night of 2010...

Tonight is the last night of 2010 and the plan is to celebrate BIG TIME. Lately I might have celebrated a bit too much already (just counted that I was out three times last week! :o), but New Years is New Years so can’t exactly say no. Hehe.

The plans for the moment are that me and some other friends meet up at Karro’s place for a fancy dinner á la New Year’s style and that we close to 12 head downtown to watch the fireworks. After that, there is no other plan - which means more room for adventures I guess. ;)

Cosmopolitan

This morning I thought it was about time to start reading January’s issue of Cosmopolitan since…well, January starts tomorrow and I want to know how my year will look like…^^

Oké, laugh at me for reading my astro of 2011 like it’s actually going to matter in THAT way, but I really don’t care what you think. I love to read horoscopes and that is not because I fully believe in everything they say, but because it’s funny - especially when certain things actually do happen…;p

Feliz 2011

O ano de 2010 foi muito bom, trabalhoso em excesso, mas já vejo que vou começar a colher os frutos em 2011, o que me enche de alegria e esperança.
Muitas vezes não consegui ser tão presente quanto eu queria, mas nesse segundo ano na blogosfera tive a real certeza de que é possível fazer grandes amizades virtuais e até sentir saudades de quem nunca vi pessoalmente. Conheci pessoas maravilhosas, aprendi muito e agradeço a todas vocês cada visita, cada recado, e principalmente o apoio que recebi em todos os momentos que precisei.
E, sem medo de errar, vou repetir exatamente a postagem que fiz um ano atrás:

Desejo a vocês:


SAÚDE:


DINHEIRO:


SENSIBILIDADE: Para não ficar indiferente diante das belezas da vida.


CORAGEM: Para colocar a timidez de lado e poder realizar o que se tem vontade.


SOLIDARIEDADE: Para não ficar neutro diante do sofrimento da humanidade.


BONDADE: Para não desviar os olhos de quem te pede ajuda.


TRANQUILIDADE: Para quando chegar ao fim do dia poder deitar e dormir o sono dos anjos.


ALEGRIA: Para você distribuí-la colocando um sorriso no rosto de alguém.

HUMILDADE: Pra você reconhecer aquilo o que você não é.

AMOR PRÓPRIO: Para você perceber suas qualidades e gostar do que vê por dentro.

FÉ: Para te guiar, te sustentar e te manter em pé.

SINCERIDADE: Pra você ser verdadeiro, gostar de você mesmo e viver melhor.


FELICIDADE: Para você descobrí-la dentro de você e doá-la a quem precisar.

ESPERANÇA: Para fazer você acreditar na vida e se sentir uma eterna criança.

SABEDORIA: Para lidar com todas as circunstâncias da vida



"Eu aprendi que não adianta a gente querer consertar o mundo. É melhor a gente consertar a gente mesmo. Ajuda pra caramba." - Renato Russo
A todas vocês, eu desejo que 2011 seja o melhor ano da vida de cada uma! Um ano de realizações e que daqui a um ano você possa olhar para trás e dizer que 2011 valeu à pena cada segundo!