The mailbox was overflowing...

Happy Monday, y’all,

Well, I’m still struggling desperately to catch up after my two weeks on the East Coast. I feel like I finally got some good sleep this weekend! Meanwhile, things are as busy as ever out here, and life does not seem to be inclined to wait for me to catch up. I started writing some updates about the stuff going on this past week and in the immediate future, and the post became so ridiculously long, I decided to separate it from Mailbox Monday, which is itself ridiculously long. It’s the inventory of the boxes from BEA, and I’m still working on it. So, let this be the first part of my weekly check in:

• Just a reminder that the giveaway for Charlaine Harris’s Dead Reckoning is still going on here.  You have until Wednesday morning to post a comment.  The more of you who enter, the more copies I’ll give away.  So please post a comment today!
• My sister and baby Jonah are doing well! 
• I went out to catch the always entertaining Matt Richtel on tour for Devil’s Plaything the other night.
  He was so cute.  He was terrified of boring his audience (I assure you he wasn’t!) and stopped the reading portion of the evening after like the shortest reading ever for fear of going on too long.  But that’s okay; the Q&A portion was more fun anyway.  Most authors wait for the audience to come up with questions.  Matt takes a proactive approach and supplies questions that the audience may ask him.  I shot a few minutes of video before my battery died the other night.  If it’s any good, perhaps I’ll post it this week.  Oh, and this was sweet, HarperCollins messed up and forgot to include the acknowledgements page in the book, but Matt had insert copies cut to size on his signing table.  I did make the acknowledgements page, but Matt signed my book: To my favorite unacknowledged early editor.
• I also had the opportunity to hear Nick Mamatas and Lisa Goldstein read from Sensation and The Uncertain Places respectively, and then both authors had a discussion with moderator Terry Bisson.  This is all a part of the SF in SF author and film series, always an enjoyable night out, even if you’re not especially interested in the books or authors that month.  In this case, however, I was interested in Goldstein, ever since reading this review of her new book.  So, I picked up a copy at the event and of course had her sign it.  Afterwards, several people including Lisa; and her publisher, Jacob Weisman of Tachyon Books; and his wife, Rina, who runs the SF in SF series, just sat around kibbitzing for an hour.  I’d never met (or read) Lisa before, but Rina and Jacob are good friends.  It was a predictably fun evening, and I read a sizable chunk of The Uncertain Places yesterday.  This may sound like an odd compliment, but it’s very readable.  Reading it is pleasantly quick and easy, without being the slightest bit dumb or pandering.  It’s just effortless and delightful, and I’m finding myself carried away by the story.  It’s everything a good fairy tale should be.
• Of course, I would have finished The Uncertain Places in a day, had I not been primarily reading (Finally!) Ann Patchett’s completely wonderful State of Wonder.  This book could have been written specifically for me.  Of course, I’ll be reviewing all books mentioned in the near future.  But the reason I finally got around to the Patchett that I’ve been dying to read for at least a month is that she’s coming through SF on tour tomorrow.  Bookshop West Portal, here I come!  I’ve never met her or heard her speak before, so I’m really looking forward to this.
• Tonight, Jon and I are going to see a current Broadway show, The Importance of Being Earnest, on screen in a movie theater.  Do you know about this?  It will be the second time we’ve seen a theatrical production at the movies, the first time being a few weeks ago with last year’s Best Musical Tony winner, Memphis.  The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the few shows I didn’t see in NY, because as excellent as the production is rumored to be, I knew I could see it this way.  And with so many excellent shows to see, it was a compromise. 
• Also, we already have tickets to a Sunday matinee screening of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Patty LuPone, Stephen Colbert, Martha Plimpton, John Cryer, Christina Hendricks, and many others. This production, in conjunction with the New York Philharmonic, played for only one weekend back in April. This is the sort of special event that sends me running for the airline schedules, but tickets were impossible to get. How wonderful that the production was filmed live so that more than a handful of people would have the opportunity to see it!
• This leads me, of course, to last night’s Tony Awards telecast.  Did you watch it?  Best.  Tonys.  Ever.  Well, not so much having two shows sweep the awards in a forgone conclusion—I hate that—but the show itself was wildly entertaining.  I do love me some NPH, and having him do a number with Hugh Jackman just about sent me into orbit.  And even though The Book of Mormon and Warhorse swept the musical and play categories respectively, they didn’t sweep the acting awards.  Having seen so many of the productions, I was really delighted with most of the winners.  It was a great night honoring the best theater season in years, and I was delighted to spend the evening with good friends who love the theater as much as I do.  Thanks so much, Jon, for playing the consummate host, as always!
• Finally, Jon, Peter, and I went to see Midnight in Paris the other night.  I loved it so much!  But, I have enough to say about the film that I’ll try to do a separate blog post.  But this leads me to a recent epiphany…  I’ve decided not to feel guilty if I want to write about a film, a play, or even a television show here.  Yes, it’s a book blog first and foremost, but I do have other interests, and it’s my book blog.  Since I make the rule, I’ve decided to feel less constrained, or at least less guilty about occasionally veering off topic.  And usually not that far off topic, because these are all scripted forms.  They’re just a different type of written language.  So, it’s still a book blog, but a value added one, LOL.

That’s all for now, but I will be posting a Mailbox Monday post sometime later today.  Thanks for sticking with me as I ramble!

Indulge me for a moment... of Hugh

I realize this is supposed to be a book blog, and most of the time I stay fairly on topic.  But I can't think about any dusty old books right now.  All I can think about is the lovely time I had at the Curran Theater where some friends and I saw Hugh Jackman perform his one-man show last night.  (Oh, and if you absolutely must insist on a literary tie-in, one of the friends accompanying me was NYT bestselling author James Rollins.)  It would be an understatement to say we had an awesome time.  I could barely sleep last night I was so jazzed!

So, why is action star Hugh Jackman singing and dancing in San Francisco for two weeks?  It really is rather random.  He was all set to fly to Japan to film the next Wolverine movie when the earthquake and tsunami hit, setting back production for a few months.  He had a bit of unexpected time on his hands, and the Curran Theater had a brief opening, and it all came together rather spontaneously.  Apparently the Aussie motto is "Let's have a go," and as Hugh explained, "This is us having a go."

This morning, I read about six different press reviews of his show.  There wasn't a negative one in the bunch, and the word of the day was "charisma."  The man is warm and winning, and he'll charm your socks right off.  (I speak from experience.  A mutual friend introduced us for one minute years ago after a performance of The Boy from Oz on Broadway.  Hugh addressed me as "darlin'."  I still get giddy thinking about it.)

So, what is Jackman doing for more than an hour and a half on stage each night?  He's showing off his considerable vocal talents backed by a 17-piece orchestra.  Not all fans realize that he has a long musical theater resume.  The evening opened with the song "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma!, a nod to his star turn in the 1998 London revival.  Another show-stopper, and piece of his past, was the song "Soliloquy" from Carousel.  My friend Jon was in the audience when he originally did this number in a staged concert production at Carnegie Hall.  Even out of context and on an empty stage, his performance was extraordinary.

Not every song was so heavy, or had such pedigree.  Hugh got to shake his hips to Elvis ("A Little Less Conversation" and "Jailhouse Rock") and sang Peggy Lee's "Fever" from a seat in the front row, while an audience member shook it good naturedly with the back-up singers on stage.  Speaking of "shaking it." Hugh did a little shtick about needing to stay muscled up for Wolverine and how jazz hands made Hollywood producers nervous.  Not good for the image.  He then launched into roughly the same "I Won't Dance" medley as he performed here on the Tony Awards back in 2007.

There were several medleys in the course of the evening.  One was full of favorite songs from the movies and included: “As Time Goes By,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “Lady Marmalade.” 

At one point, Hugh briefly left the stage to let his two backup singers do a number of their own.  Moments later he appeared in the mezzanine in full Peter Allen regalia.  From there, he quickly ran back to center stage where he sang several of Allen's songs from the show The Boy from Oz, including: "Not the Boy Next Door," "Don't Cry Out Loud," "Best That You Can Do," and "I Go to Rio." 

As he'd done on Broadway, he had fun interacting with the audience in character.

Hugh was definitely having a good time with the audience, and I get the feeling that the show is different every night. Apparently there were several mishaps on opening night, but Hugh just rolled with whatever was happening, often turning the spontaneous occurrences into the show's highlights. On that first evening, he split his pants doing fan kicks that would make a Rockette proud. He had his dresser bring a fresh pair, and donned them center stage. Alas, there were no such mishaps last night, but more than a few audience members called, "Take it off!" Hugh could not have been more comfortable or having a better time with the rambunctious San Francisco audience. I think we were all there to have a good time, and no one left the theater disappointed.

All through the evening he shared stories from his life and career, such as being awoken in London in the middle of the night by Steven Spielberg asking him to host the Oscars.  One of the most interesting things I learned was that he spent several months with the Aboriginal people deep in Australia's outback in his late teens.  It was clearly a powerful experience.  Despite his best intentions, he was unable to return for 20-some years.  He sang an unusual Aboriginal song, accompanied by two didgeridoo players which then led to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  The final song of the evening was a rousing "Luck Be a Lady" from Guys and Dolls.  I listed a lot of songs he sang, but truthfully, there were an equal number I didn't list.  It was a full night, and while ticket prices were steep, we got our money's worth.

Certainly none of us who saw this show last night would be surprised if he takes this show to Broadway some day.  It deserves to have a life beyond these 10 or 12 performances.  But how exciting to have had a chance to see this early incarnation in such a wonderful, intimate house!  We had such a great time, that my friend Jon and I are very much hoping to score some cheap student rush tickets to a performance next week.  Fingers crossed! 

Now, I promise to get back to the books, but be forewarned.  I'm off to New York for BEA and BBC in a couple of weeks.  There will be a lot of theater.  I'll try to control myself, but there are likely to be reports.  Thanks for indulging my enthusiasm!