Entre Nous.

Delish! Terrif!

Last night I went to see Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Mount Baker Theater.  I haven't been to the Mount Baker since seeing Modest Mouse there about 4 years ago, it felt great to be back.  The theater is gorgeous, built in R.C. Reamer's Moorish-Spanish Renaissance design.  The play was incredible.  The costumes, the songs, the dancing, all were superb.  Needless to say the audience was filled with a lot of older theatergoers.  We sat in front of the sweetest older couple.  They must have been in their 70's and the wife had a great Chanel bag and just looked so posh.  Her husband informed us that he went to high school with one of the writers of Thoroughly Modern Millie (Richard Henry Morris).  He shared with us how his family had just moved to Georgia when he encountered Morris at his new High School.  He signed up for a creative writing class and was disappointed that his short story had come in second place.  Stubbornly he informed his teacher that she must have made a mistake and she told him that Richard Morris had indeed come in first place.  All these years later he finally got to see his classmates play performed. 

Simon Says

I just finished two books that I thought worth mentioning.  The first is Nasty : My Family and Other Glamorous Varmints by the window dresser of Barneys, Simon Doonan.  This is the third book by Doonan, his previous two are titled: Confessions of a Window Dresser: Tales from the Life of Fashion and Wacky Chicks : Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women.  Both worth reading.  Nasty is a memoir but not of the cuddly sort.  Doonan was raised in Reading, England in the 1950's by a glamor-puss mother and an amateur winemaker father.  Various other eccentric lodgers and mentally ill relatives resided with them.  Doonan eventually left Reading for London in search of the "Beautiful People".  Then ends up dressing windows in Los Angeles. Once leaving Reading he continues to encounter all sorts of oddballs and eccentrics.  In the end "by finally embracing his less-than-happy memories, he discovered that "nastiness is rich. Nastiness is fun ... has texture and the power to transform."  This book is a hilarious read and is accompanied by photos (bonus!).

 

The other book is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady written by Anita Loos.  The introduction to the book was written by Candace Bushnell who proclaimed that if Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was written today it would have been titled Gentlemen Prefer Breasts.  Anita Loos also wrote an introduction to the book and she mentions an interview she gave where she stated that she thought the book, if written in the 70's, would have been titled Gentlemen Prefer Gentlemen.  Edith Wharton referred to the  book as "the great American novel".  It first appeared as a serial in Harper's Bazaar then was turned into a novel.  "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is the diary of Lorelei Lee, a pretty young flapper originally from Little Rock.  Since she has managed to get engaged to a married man, and might be hit with a scandal, Lorelei goes overseas. She cuts a gold-digging swathe through Europe, dazzling wealthy men, seeing the "Eyefull" Tower, and recording thoughts both witty and vapid."  It is presented in the form of Lorelei Lee's diary, so is entirely in her unique voice and creative spelling.  Quite a funny read.  Was this where chick-lit originated?

 

Speaking of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Carol Channing made an appearance on Martha today.  She's gorgeous at the age of 84.  She made Halloween masks with Martha and even performed Hello Dolly.  Anyway back to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  Carol was the first person to perform the part of Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on Broadway. I have such a fondness for Carol.  I think I first became enamored with her when I heard her voice on my "Free To Be You And Me" tape.  Then my adoration grew after seeing her in the movie "Thoroughly Modern Millie". I was lucky enough to see her in San Francisco a few years ago in "An Evening with Carol Channing", where she sang her trademark songs and shared all sorts of dishy stories with us about her past.  She wore the tiniest of dresses and looked just stunning.  She has the longest thinnest legs.  In 2003 (at the age of 82) Carol Channing married her junior high sweetheart.  This was her forth marriage.  Shortly before reuniting with her junior high boyfriend her third marriage of 41 years ended.  "In the divorce papers, poor Carol disclosed that she and her husband had only ever had sex once or twice in our 41-year marriage and that was 41 years ago.  What's worse, she stuck to her wedding vows  the whole time and didn't have sex with anyone else either! And to add insult to injury he'd funneled off her fortune and now was spending her money like--you guessed it--a "drunken sailor!" The scandal reached its anti-climax when Ms. Channing went to the press with the news that her hubby was a homo. Somehow a camp icon with a gay husband wasn't as shocking as a 41-year dry spell."  What a life this girl has lead.  If you don't have a chance to see her live the very least you must do is buy a copy of Carol's book that was released in 2002 called Just Lucky I Guess: A Memoir of Sorts.

Tantrums and topiary

There's a Project Runway marathon on Bravo today.  Watch it!

I have a real affinity for Carol Channing.  She's so campy.  I think I first became enamored with her when I heard her voice on my "Free To Be You And Me" tape.  Then my adoration grew after seeing her in the movie "Thoroughly Modern Millie".  Her third husband of 40 years turned out to be gay.  Then she married her high school sweetheart at the age of 82!  I got to see her in San Francisco for an "Evening with Carol Channing" last year.  She discussed stories from her book Just Lucky I Guess and sang some of her trademark songs.  The lady isn't getting any younger so if an "Evening with Carol Channing" is taking place ANYWHERE near where you live, go!  Or at the very least read her book.  She's an icon (and I'm not talking about the "False" kind).

Cool Schmool

I just discovered that the Magnetic Fields contributed to a CD called "Knitting on the Roof"  Here's how it's described...

"The Knitting Factory's house label presents a tribute to the Broadway musical Fiddler on The Roof, as interpreted by some of their favorite rock, jazz, klezmer, and avant-garde artists. The Magnetic Fields contribute "If I Were a Rich Man," one of Fiddler's best-known tunes. Their version features Stephin Merritt's solemn baritone voice and one of the saddest-sounding ukeleles ever." 

I'm all over that.  I adore Fiddler on the Roof.  And klezmer music is just brilliant.  The girl Alina and I stayed with in Brooklyn was in a klezmer band.  I so have to get my hands on a copy of this.

Oh AND how dare you Gwen Stefani.  If you're going to rewrite an original at the very least leave the grammar alone.  It should be "If I WERE a Rich Girl".