Joe McGinness, the famous crime writer, acted in my home made movie aboard a cruise ship.

Joe appears in a scene of one-liners at a round table right about 5:00.

THE STORY:
8 years ago, we got our first digital video consumer grade camera and, because Jim Brochu, the most famous actor in the world, had a gig on one of the legs of a world cruise -- Sydney to Hong Kong -- we knew we wanted to document the trip, but find that most vacation movies are really boring. Here we are at Bla Bla. And here we are standing in front of the Bla Bla.

I mean we have all this location! That would cost a zillion dollars if you were doing a Hollywood film.

So, a friend suggested we think up a premise.

We thought glamorous Famous Actress from the 30s is on board and is hiding out.

It started with the flight attendants in their suite overlooking Sydney harbor. Then we start involving friends, then other passengers, and members of the crew. All in on the joke from the start.

But as we made it to the various ports, we ran into the most unexpected guest stars. For instance, touring a hotel in Brunei, we run into a public appearance by the Crown Prince of Brunei just as he was breaking off from a photo op.

The other entertainers and speakers on board were targets. Broadway star Tommy Tune makes an appearance. Alvin Shuster, former New York Times London Bureau Chief and longtime LA Times Executive Editor. He and his wife join in.

And Joe McGinniss, who passed away yesterday at 71. He was famous for having written about a famous crime, Fatal Vision. It was made into a movie. We were at lunch with him, former Ambassador to Iraq, Edward Peck and Robert Verdi, and the old famous Hollywood make-up artist.

We told them the premise, that we were looking for this famous actress, and they improvised their lines, building up the image and character of this movie star. No matter what anyone said about her, it became part of her mythology.

The whole thing may only be only funny to us, because it's a vacation video with a lot of friends, but when I heard he died, it made me very sad.

We tried making a follow-up movie, but it got bogged down in special effects.

The old British couple at the top of the film, we gave them that line to say and they were so adorable, it became the title slate of the film. He died on board several years later. They loved the sea, and they stayed together till the end. She even finished the cruise.

Discount tickets for Character Man for Wednesday night, March 12

CHARACTER MAN ALERT! ONE NIGHT ONLY DISCOUNT PRICE OF $20 FOR WED. MARCH 12!!!!

Due to a temporary SMARTTIX GLITCH, it was not possible to buy tickets for the 3/12 performance. The problem has been fixed, so PLEASE try again. And because this show has a great TALKBACK scheduled afterwards with Lee Roy Reams, Sondra Lee and Peter Filichia joining Jim Brochu to discuss the late, great character man David Burns, Urban Stages is offering a ONE NIGHT ONLY DISCOUNT PRICE OF $20!!! That's more than 40% off! The code is CM20 and is good for WED., MARCH 12 7PM only. If you are a fan of classic Broadway musicals, here's your chance to hear living legends share their memories. Plus see a great show that the NY Times calls "solidly satisfying"'. Hope to see some old and new friends there! For tickets: http://www.smarttix.com/show.a

spx?showcode=JIM17

Opening Night in New York.

Joan Copeland, Arthur Miller's sister.
She got to knew Marilyn very well.

It is fun to be a part of an opening night in New York. It's also a lot of work.

My job was to greet people in the lobby and take photos. (I like having a task during things like this.)

So different from The Last Session opening in London, where The Big Party is not done. (In fact, what I do remember was the rather dignified -- but fun! -- gathering in the small bar area, just cast and crew members and their families. Oh, but how excited we all were! Then Rob Harris and Darren Day said some very nice things about me. I said nice things about him (and the rest of the cast) and that was it. Quiet, Lovely. Dignified. Like a church service. It was memorable and meaningful.)

But there is also something to be said for a star-studded gala at Sardi's, where the music is playing and everyone is celebrating in party fashion. A perfect venue for a true Broadway "Character Man."

We were on the second floor of historic Sardi's, overlooking 44th street. Big Windows. Streets filled with people getting out of the other shows. An ocean of humanity out on the street. It's so alive!

But earlier, we were down on 30th street at the tiny theater. I was greeting people in the lobby.

Sondra Lee, a dancer for Jerome Robbins who played Tiger Lily in the original Mary Martin Peter Pan.
Legendary dancer and director Marge Champion.
Broadway star and TV game show celeb, Anita Gillette.

The show is just so beautiful. (People were crying out loud after laughing their butts off. Do you remember the comedienne, Marilyn Michaels? She was sitting down front in a folding chair and was so taken, she would exclaim out loud with laughter or sobs. It was great!)

And Broadway star (and Aussie) Tony Sheldon, legendary dancer and director/choreographer Marge Champion, and Sandra Lee, who has a great life story and was in the original Peter Pan with Mary Martin. 92 and 94, and smarter than you'll ever be in your life.

Tony Sheldon, Jim Brochu, Character Man Director Robert Bartley.

And Brian Stokes Mitchell, the most nicest human being on earth who is also the most talented. We love watching him on the old Pyramids with Dick Clark. He's so good at playing the game. That's one of the disappointments of the current Pyramid, aside from the fact that I thought the contestant on one show was the celebrity.

Jim is in tears listening to Brian Stokes Mitchell's praise.

But it was also a tribute to Robert Bartley, who directed a young team in a small space to Broadway level work and to Don Myers, who stage manages everyone like a family. They all put their whole hearts and soul and time and effort into it to get every moment just right.

Carl Haan, the musical director, was thrilled when he saw "Marian Colby," Jennifer Bassey from "All My Children."

Carl Haan, Jim Brochu, Jennifer Bassey.

Producer Peter Napolitano with members of the
creative crew plus friends. 

Also celebrating was the excellent young team who put their whole hearts into it, and many hours of hard labor, doing whatever needed to be done. No one makes any real money from a gig like this, so we all pitched in and the "Mickey and Judy Putting On A Show" aspect made it that much more joyful and emotionally fulfilling.

It's an honestly beautiful show and the production design is just enough. No one wanted to overwhelm the story or the performer, not that any object (or human) could upstage Jim Brochu.

There are lots more of these photos at Playbill.com, so enjoy!

The Times Review is in.

And it's a smash. In fact, it's downright lovely. Daniel Gold even gives us a quotable, "Solidly satisfying evening. Walks down memory lane are rarely so inclusive and entertaining." Which, for the Times, is like a stadium roaring.

Aside from the personal gratitude one feels for this -- we were on tenterhooks all week waiting for it to come out -- it will give the show a chance to find its audience, which is not easy in a big city, where there are thousands of entertainment options every single night. Where voices in small not-for-profit theaters get drowned out because of the high price of ad dollars.

For Frances Hill and Peter Napolitano, it's also a victory for their artistic vision. It was absolute luck that, just as they were needing a show and had heard of it, Jim and I were booked at the Metropolitan Room together.

It also means I can focus now on my concert, which is only a week away! I'm not even sure if we've sold any tickets. Hey, a week is a lifetime in New York. It's just like election season.

I went to Facebook and put out a call for anyone who'd like to be in the Bonus Round Choir. We have exactly 12 chairs. I suppose some people could sit on the floor, or bring their own folding chair. But that's what we have.

Reader, you can be in the Bonus Round Choir, too, in our continuing "make it up as we go along" series. Just go to this folder. If you can't make this one, do the next! What the choir sings is going to be entirely improvised on the spot, but there are some guides. So, if you know the music, then you can figure out when to sing. It will be different for every show. 

I have used this crowd-sourcing choir idea for New World Waking, so I know it work. 

Meanwhile, buy your tickets now! Every show is a different show.

March 12 in SF, Camarota/Manuel will sing New World Waking songs.

At Martuni's. March 12. 7pm to 8:45pm. 

Each month, Stephen Camarota and Dustin Manuel, two impossibly good looking and talented men, sing a program called "Songbook." This month the theme is Heroes and they intend to include selections from New World Waking.

Thanks, guys! Make a video!

Jim on TV's NY1 show, OnStage.

Snapshots After Character Man.

Donna McKechnie, Jim Brochu, Rick Stockwell, Pamela Myers.
Ira Denmark, Character Man Director Robert Bartley, Rick Stockwell, Richard Bell.

When Jim called Donna McKechnie, legendary Broadway performer, to come to the tiny Urban Stages to see the dress rehearsal of "Character Man" last night -- the first time we'd see the show up on its feet -- it reminded me that she had once invited him to a tiny little stage to see an experimental musical she was working on called "A Chorus Line." He hadn't even heard of it before going through that door. He just remembered crying for a hour afterward.

"Character Man" is not designed to be that intense a show, but it does have a poignant moment that brings most people to tears and, like "A Chorus Line," it's a true story of the theater.  

Also present, because she was in town from her home in Cincinnati, was Pam Myers, who Jim did a show with -- was it Oklahoma? -- back "in the stone age." Theatrical families are nomadic. Long times apart after intense personal interactions. When you see each other after a long time, all the love comes back, even if it's people you hated. Who cares. Life is short. 

She forever memorialized New York life when she debuted "Another Hundred People" from Company.

Because our production schedule was limited -- there were still little glitches here and there, but it was finally up on its feet and it felt really good. Jim was very alive and present. To which he would reply, "If you can fake that, you got it made."

At this point, you just want everything working right, establishing a rhythm. All the new production elements seemed to add dimensions to the storytelling, using the deliciously large stage to dramatic effect, if it's called for.

Everyone was so happy afterwards, I asked them, along with a few other friends, to pose on the stage for some pics.

All actors! Ira Denmark, Donna McKechnie, Jim Brochu, Rick Stockwell, Pamela Myers,
Richard Bell & Uncle Johny Pool, an old pal who is
now a big morning radio personality on the Elvis Duran Show.

Donna McKechnie, Jim Brochu, Pamela Myers.

Tickets.

Character Man Rehearsal Pics

Yesterday was the first day of tech rehearsals for Character Man. We were also visited by the talented and beauteous theater reporter, Frank DiLella, came by to interview Jim for "On Stage," the theater show on NY1, here in New York.

Jim Brochu performing while his mentor, David Burns, looks on.

Jim Brochu interviewed by Frank DiLella.

Jim Brochu with NY1 reporter, Frank DiLella.

Jim and Frank. I love this picture.

Here is a picture of Jim and me with Francis Hill, the artistic director:

Steve Schalchlin, Francis Hill, Jim Brochu.

Behind the Scenes Photos from Character Man.

Important phone call!

I'm lookin' at the man in the window.

Artistic Director Francis Hill, Jim Brochu, Producer Peter Napolitano.

Director Robert Bartley.

Music Director and Conductor Carl Haan.

Set and Video Designer Patrick Brennan.

Technical Director Sean Hagerty

Production Stage Manager Don Myers.

The production meeting went really smoothly. Meanwhile, in the theater...

Lighting Designer Meghan Santelli was overseeing the hanging and focusing of lights.

Then, on our way home, we run into a statue of one of the "stars" of Character Man, Jackie Gleason.

Getting a little blessing from Ralph Cramden.

But where's the artistic consultant??

Theater Fun!

Yesterday, we went down to Urban Stages to do a preliminary walk-through for the lighting designer of Jim Brochu's "Character Man," Meghan Santelli. I purposely did not bring a camera because it can be a distraction when someone is concentrating.  It needed to be just a private creative session. (I'm, officially, the Artistic Consultant, which mean I don't have to do anything, but they ask my my opinion, anyway.)

We are blessed with a nice big stage, tall ceiling and a full lighting package. For a theater person, if you can get these things, it's like having a mountain of gold. It even has balcony railing on the back wall and big steam pipes. Fabulous!

Also, since "Character Man" is a kind of memory play (memory musical?), and utilizes a lot of personal photographs, we have video and set designer, Patrick Brennan to create a three-screen projection. Previously, Jim had just edited them together himself. And they worked, but also felt a bit homemade. He always wanted an actual designer with more professional equipment. Patrick was involved in Mark Nadler's brilliant production at The York.

 

Robert Bartley, our very creative (and handsome) and well prepared director, was there. Also Don Myers, our beloved stage manager, who had, this past weekend, overseen a complete ceiling to floor cleaning of the whole space, including the back stage, dressing room, lighting booth and audience areas -- it smells so good in there! He also inserted our little show secrets and traditions, which I'll show you after it's all up and ready.

"STORAGE!"

Jim stood and walked around the stage and moved from area to area, while everyone made (or took) notes.

The group is really friendly and professional. For a small budget off-Broadway show in a house that seats 70 or so, with the planned production values, I think the $35 ticket price is the best price in town, especially considering most Broadway shows go for $200, unless you know how to sneak around and find deals. Or find rich friends who will take you. 

It's all very exciting. I'll write more as we go along. Get tickets here!

A Thought From Last Night.

Last night, the "Boys from the Book" (The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival Resilience) and I, along with the author Dr. Perry Halkitis, sat in front of some very interesting people and talked about our lives as HIV Positive older gay men at a very gay bookstore called Bureau of General Services -- Queer Division, which was upstairs on a very dark street in Chinatown, or near it.

It was our second or third time to do this, so we never know what we're going to talk about.

For instance, one of the guys felt a little angry and "left behind" by gay culture. One talked of depression. All talked about how we feel like survivors of a war. The PTSD stays in the background and never goes away. And that goes, as everyone agreed, for those who were not HIV positive.

An entire generation of really bright and handsome and meaningful men all died, and we stand battling on against the side effects of the medications. 

One man from the audience said he worried about getting older, that his parents went through -- or are going through -- hell. He said, "At 54, I wonder if I should decide when and where to end it. I don't want to die like them." 

One of our guys said he totally understood the feeling, but that it almost angers him to hear someone who is healthy talk about ending their perfectly healthy life when he fights every single day to stay alive.

The smile of "I get it" was amazing. Yes. Sometimes the best way out of your own head is to get out of your own head. 

As I recounted the time in 1995 when I "knew" I was going to die -- and how it energized me so much to run for the tape, finish the songs, put a show on a stage -- I said I realize how often, now, I try to put my head back into the space. Even though I was there, I don't think I live my life now as if it's the last one I'm going to get to have. 

But when I do, when I remember that energy and see that curtain coming down, feeling the approach of the end of something, it makes me very happy. It means I have accomplished something and that something bigger is on the horizon.

I met a young man afterward who asked me about all this positiveness, etc. He asked me, as a young musician, what should he do next? Since I don't know what to do next, I have no idea what to tell anyone else what to do except to realize that you're alone in this process, meaning it's not like school, where you know where to go and what to do, you have to figure it out for yourself, which begins with realizing that you have to figure it out for yourself.

I told him I was the University of Steve at New York. I had to find my faculty. But to get my faculty, I had to be of service. Happily, the service is to a music program. 

It was fun seeing the Boys from the Book again. That's not an official title, by the way. But it's kinda catchy.

How amazing it is to be alive. 

Reminder: AIDS Panel Tonight in New York.

Information here.


Join us at the Bureau of General Service -- Queer Division for a presentation by Perry Halkitis of his new book The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience. Halkitis will be joined by five of the men he interviewed for this book: Jim Alba, Erik Bartley, Sean McKenna, Lee Raines, and Steve Schalchlin. After the presentation, the author and the five interviewees will engage the audience in discussion.

The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience examines the strategies for survival and coping employed by these HIV-positive gay men, who together constitute the first generation of long-term survivors of the disease. Through interviews conducted by the author, it narrates the stories of gay men who have survived since the early days of the epidemic; documents and delineates the strategies and behaviors enacted by men of this generation to survive it; and examines the extent to which these approaches to survival inform and are informed by the broad body of literature on resilience and health.

The stories and strategies detailed here, all used to combat the profound physical, emotional, and social challenges faced by those in the crosshairs of the AIDS epidemic, provide a gateway for understanding how individuals cope with chronic and life-threatening diseases. Halkitis takes readers on a journey of first-hand data collection (the interviews themselves), the popular culture representations of these phenomena, and his own experiences as one of the men of the AIDS generation.

This riveting account will be of interest to health practitioners and historians throughout the clinical and social sciences — or to anyone with an interest in this important chapter in social history.

The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience is available at the Bureau.

Bryan Cranston, LBJ and Louann.

I just posted on "All That Chat" this personal review of Bryan Cranston in "All the Way," a new Broadway play about LBJ and the inside process of passing civil rights legislation. I put it here because it refers to Louan Gideon, who I had just written about this past week.

BRYAN CRANSTON AS LBJ IN "ALL THE WAY"

A stunning, masterful performance in an intricate large cast play about the machinations of getting civil rights legislation passed, while simultaneously trying to get nominated and then elected to his first actual term in office after JFK's death. Cranston disappears into the bombastic, profane, warrior persona of LBJ completely and naturally.

It's also a concise and illuminating history lesson by the playwright, Robert Shenkkan. Balancing many simultaneous stories, the writing was crystal clear and easy to follow as it bounced back and forth between Washington and Missisippi.

MLK (Brandon J. Dirdan, calmly convincing) fights to hang on, squeezed between radical young Blacks and the establishment NAACP, getting backstabbed by Johnson and eventually demanding blacks be seated at the Democratic Convention to represent Mississippi. Also, lurking around the edges is J. Edgar Hoover, in a very realistic, non-winking and yet comical without being camp performance by Michael McKean, taping everyone and trying to forward his own power agenda.

People warned me that play was long, but it seemed to fly by, and I felt as energized at the ending as I did when I walked in. It also reminded me of 1776 in that we knew the historical outcome, but were kept hanging in suspense wondering how the election was going to turn out, as he kept losing points the South.(Spoiler: LBJ wins.)

The whole company is richly human and believable, down to the last small part, and Bill Rauch's direction was imaginative and smart in its use of the design elements, sometimes allowing three scenes in three locations to happen at once, without losing any momentum or focus in the narrative.

And also an effective use of onstage actors sitting in what could be a jury or a choir loft or a committee meeting room, with LBJ's big roller chair front and center.

The play also makes a larger point, quoted by LBJ about politics: That politics is not "war by another means. It's just war."

Having personally participated in a non-violent resistance march against the hatemongering of Jerry Falwell, I was especially drawn to the arguments in the MLK camp, as their anger pushed them to rebel against the use of "love and non-violence" and to get into the streets with fists.

LBJ didn't just play. He played to win. Cranston stomps and storms and cuddles and coos and threatens and rails and laughs -- so much bull-bodied laughing in this play from the audience and from the actor.

And if a little bit of Walter White creeped in around the edges in moments, it was only deepened rather than detracted from the character because people addicted to power play by a set rules that the rest of us avoid, and the central one is ruthlessness.

A bit of a personal note: When I looked in the program I was startled, in reading Cranston's bio that he has dedicated his performance to a friend of mine, Louan Gideon, who suddenly and unexpectedly died of cancer, though she had been doing well for a very long time. I had just written a blog entry about her this past week.(Back in the late 70s, I was Louan's musical director for a Vegas style act she was doing with her then boyfriend. It wasn't a great act but it was a three year gig and it got us out of Texas -- and me to New York.)

Louann, you are missed and will always be missed.

Steve Schalchlin

Pre-Announcement for Missa Appassionata, The Bay Ridge Mass, June 7

After I write something -- or even during or before -- I like to see it visually, so I make a logo. And there it is.

After four years, I am finally ready to present the Mass I've been composing for Christ Church Bay Ridge. The world premiere will be June 7th there in Brooklyn.

I'll have more to say on the subject soon. But I wanted to let my own fans know first. There will be limited seating. Whether or not we'll record it is still something we're discussing. Hopefully, we will.

But we now have a date and I'm very excited. This is the most ambitious composing I've done in my life. I hope it exceeds expectations. (Which means, come without them).

Another Angel Dies. RIP Louan Gideon.

I mentioned, a few posts ago, that First Angel Don Kirkpatrick, had died. A couple of days ago, I learned that Louan Gideon had also died. Louan got short fame on a soap opera, Search For Tomorrow, thanklessly coming in to play a role that had been the property of another actress for a very long time -- in a story where they ended the series by flooding the town.

At this point and time, I think I wanted to both
Daryl Hall AND John Oates.
Louan was amazingly beautiful and guileless.

In a way, I didn't know Louan that well when we worked together, even though I was serving as musical director for her and her then boyfriend, Chris, in an act they called Taylor and Cole, a kind of girlfiriend/boyfriend Donny and Marie act. I didn't really lead the band. Chris did. All the arrangements and show ideas were his. The money was his, though I don't recall we were paid all that much. We lived on the road.

We being the band, consisting of myself plus four teenage boys -- I was in my late-20s about then. Even at my age, I was still new to the world, so we kind of discovered partying on the road together. I only gave them one rule. No getting high before going on stage.

We kinda thought the Vegas thing they were going for was stupid, but, as musicians, we liked having a gig, and were really communicating and learning how to play together. I was never one to learn "parts." I'm a jam musician. It's rare that I ever play a song the same way twice, so I probably held us up when it came to playing top ten hits and stuff, which we usually had to do between shows (that featured "Loren," which is what Louan called herself back then, and Chris).

We were just the hired hands with rock and roll dreams in our eyes, the boys and I.

We even made up band names and recorded demos of songs I wrote, only a few of which exist. It was long before I found my own musical voice, so the results are kind of lame. No two songs are in the same genre. I was probably trying to sound like whatever was on the charts. Looking back, I can see me teaching myself how to write, through each successive demo. But, at that time, I'm not sure I had that much to say.

And that's the thing about songwriting. It's good to have a point of view and something to say. Me, I was lost. I had no idea where my life was going, or what I was going to do, but I could play music. And I could do some living. It was an adventure and we created our own little community.

I think I drew this.

This was the early 80s. AIDS was not on my radar at the time. Living on the road -- pre-Internet -- I had very little contact with the gay world except for me and boys ( all straight) hitting the gay clubs after the gig. (Easier to pick up girls at a gay club).

We lived separate lives, though we shared hotel rooms. They weren't interested in the rock musician life style. And, frankly, that arrangement suited us, too. Gave us some privacy.

But, because of them, I met Ozzy Ozbourne and smoked a joint with Randy Rhoads because we were the lounge band in the hotel in Beaumont, Texas where they were staying. One week before he died in a plane crash. (Spooky story involving a hotel burning down. I've told it before, but I can't find it).

One thing I loved about Louan, she never stopped trying to learn new things. One week, it would be the banjo. The next week, the drums.

Long after the band had broken up, she found me again when she saw the marquee for The Last Session on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles -- with Jim's and my name plastered all over it. She was, at the time, learning to tune pianos. So she came over and tried to tune mine. Not that successfully, but it didn't matter. I knew she'd be on to something new.

She caught up with me again on Facebook a few years ago. She had had breast cancer and, after chemo, had written an Amazon Kindle book showing women how to make different wraps when you've lost your hair.

I didn't know she had gotten sick again. Suddenly, in my inbox this past week was a notice: Check Louan's Facebook page. She has passed.

I was shocked and saddened by the news. It brought back a flood of memories of a difficult but very happy time in my life. I loved being in a band. And I love making music with other musicians.

Here's to you and your indomitable spirit, Louan Gideon. I'm gonna miss ya.

"Loren and Chris" on the far upper right.
Me and the band surrounding two people I don't know.
Steve, Dave, Chris and Bob.

Jim Brochu's Character Man Will Open Off-Broadway.

http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=JIM17