Sacramentune

Dan's iPhone cigarette lighter

2008-09-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

From a customer's bathroom

2008-09-06T06:35:00.001-07:00

Telescopes...

2008-09-05T06:53:00.001-07:00

...in an office at Folsom Lake College, where I will be tuning pianos next week.

The blanket

2008-09-04T06:28:00.001-07:00

There is a a great scene in I Heart Huckabees where Dustin Hoffman's character explains, using a blanket as a metaphor, that everything is connected.

“Say this blanket represents all the matter and energy in the universe, okay? This is me, this is you, And over here, this is the Eiffel Tower, right, it's Paris!...When you get the blanket thing you can relax because everything you could ever want or be you already have and are.”

Stan mask at home

2008-09-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

On Stan's last day the whole band signed Stan's mask.

To the cubist barricades!

2008-09-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

This is the set for the Les Mis section of Best of Broadway. I don't know if it's appropriate, but it's beautiful.

No más

2008-09-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

Luis's Mexican Food was popular and a hangout for the powerful when Jerry Brown was governor. After that, the quality fell down. Still, it's where we had our pre-wedding lunch, and so I was sad to see today that it was boarded up. I was still sadder when my friend Steve pointed out that it's been that way for years. How did I miss it?

Eric Kunze...

2008-09-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

...played Che in Evita. (I just found this photo after three weeks.) He, like Rachel, was in theatre at UC Irvine. He was at UCI's semester-in-New-York program, auditioned for Les Mis, got cast, and never looked back.

Chalk It Up! 2008

2008-09-01T19:42:00.001-07:00

Chalk It Up! 2008

Click on the photo to see all my pictures from Sacramento's annual sidewalk drawing show, Chalk It Up!

The stage door at Luther Burbank

2008-09-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

This is the stage door at Luther Burbank. With luck, this will be our last year at this auditorium. People don't like coming to this neighborhood at night. For some reason, though, the local car dealerships really like having the show here and have been contributing large sums for us to do it here.
We had a lot of success last year doing two weekends at a school in suburban Rocklin. There are lots of upper-middle-class kids there who love theatre.

Best of Broadway loft

2008-09-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

Instead of a pit, the Best of Broadway band has a loft. This is the second year for our marvelous sound guy Mike... he has a great monitoring system. For the first thirteen years I did this show, I wore headphones. Instead, Mike has arranged a monitor for each musician. The two keyboardists even get an additional monitor which is just for vocals. Between the keyboards is a mixer where Dan and I can adjust the mix (Key 1, Key 2, bass, guitar) in our monitors. This is actually a much better system than at Music Circus — though comparable to what you have in the larger churches.
Notice that both keyboardists have office chairs which I have previously noted is the best kind of piano bench.
For more pictures, see the Best of Broadway album.

This week's foodstuffs illo

2008-08-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

The piece is about a gardening class.

Wild turkeys

2008-08-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

...in Rancho Murieta. (Click on the image to see them better.)

Hairspray album

2008-08-29T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hairspray Music Circus 2008

click on the image to see the whole Hairspray album.

We are Stan

2008-08-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

The band for Hairspray on the night of Stan's last performance. Everyone but Stan is covering his face with a Stan mask.

Bee article on Stan

2008-08-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Read the article about Stan Lunetta's last show here.

Stan's old friend

2008-08-27T23:51:00.000-07:00

This piano belongs to a customer who turned out to be an old friend of Stan Lunetta's from high school and college. They haven't talked in years; I gave his number to Stan.
Tonight a Bee photographer was taking a picture of Stan. I'll link to the article when it comes out.

Box of chalk

2008-08-26T23:28:00.001-07:00

This is a box that dancers can step in to get chalk on their shoes. It's like gymnasts chalking their hands.

Musicians through the ages

2008-08-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Stan Lunetta compiled a list of all the musicians who played at Music Circus during his tenure. You can see it here.
(Or just click on the image above.)

The Trap

2008-08-25T06:27:00.000-07:00

Last night at the show someone told me that the Trap, Sacramento's oldest bar, is in danger of closing. I found this article by Lisa Heyamoto from a few months back in the Bee:

It doesn't take an architect to see that time has not been particularly kind to the Trap. With its horizontally challenged floors, its dilapidated deportment and a roof that isn't exactly holding up its end of the bargain – let alone the walls – the legendary Pocket watering hole is a bit like an ungracefully aging debutante who was never that cute to begin with.

But to shut it down for its aesthetic indiscretions? Owner Richard Crudo thought he'd never see the day.

"We knew it needed work," he said. "It's been here since 1860, you know?"

To be fair, the problems run a bit deeper than what meets the eye. Turns out the Trap – brace yourselves, now – isn't up to safety code, and the city's housing and dangerous building division recently slapped it with 14 code violations ranging from improper plumbing valves to unpermitted add-ons.

This is a cause of significant worry for Crudo, who fears the much-beloved bar might end up closing down.

But shutting the Trap is not what the city is after, say both Ron O'Connor, operations manager of code enforcement, and Councilman Rob Fong.

"We want to make sure it's safe for the customers, but at the same time, we're not interested in putting anyone out of business," Fong said. "It's certainly a Sacramento institution."

Yet Crudo said that even the smallest repairs would cost more money than they have, especially considering what they just paid to upgrade the bathrooms. So he's turned his mind to fundraisers or – fingers crossed – benevolent millionaires to somehow keep the bar from closing.

"If we have to fight to keep it going, we will," he said. "I'm not giving up yet."

Forget about the whales. Someone save the Trap.

I'm going to make sure to drive by and take a picture before it gets knocked down.

Dressing room piano

2008-08-25T00:28:00.000-07:00

The men's dressing room at the Cosumnes River College theatre has this odd piano on it. Note the faces on the front. (And why is it shoved in front of the lockers?)

I can't wait to see...

2008-08-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

... the movie Hamlet 2. It's a send-up of movies about inspirational teachers like Mr. Holland's Opus and Dead Poets Society. A teacher played by Steve Coogan tries to save his school's drama program by staging a musical sequel to Hamlet. The hit song is "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus." (see picture.)

Are we too loud?

2008-08-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

Today we had a band meeting before the evening show and our conductor, constantly apologizing, said that he was getting complaints from the sound man that the band was too loud. We listened attentively and then played exactly the same. We are AWESOME! In fact, the conductor said we were the hottest band he'd had all year.

Our Edna

2008-08-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

On the left is Paul Vogt, who plays Edna Turnblad in our Hairspray. He played the role on Broadway and in Las Vegas. On the right is a friend from Best of Broadway whose name escapes me right now.

Toasting Stan

2008-08-21T23:14:00.000-07:00

Between shows today we took Stan out to dinner at Michelangelo's, which is walking distance from the theatre.