Sorry I've been away -- there are a few newbies here from the last month I
need to introduce to you all (or feel free to introduce yourself, if so
inclined), but I'll do my Moderatin' Duty in any case very soon! Welcome until
then :)

From my blog about the show tonight (mostly) and me (least-ly).

Madley

===
It's The Thea-tah, Darling
Nov 11, 2004

I love showtunes! I love musicals! I love Hollywood!

I LOVE IT ALL!!!

(I'm listening to "Showtunes" on Radio AOL and Antonio Banderas is singing
about being God and Buddha from the musical "Nine" -- WOW!)

I was catching up with _Wil Wheaton's blog_ (http://www.wilwheaton.net/)
today and found out he was going to be a panelist on a live, non-scripted show
based on the old TV game show _What's My Line?_ (http://www.jkeith.net/) in
Hollywood, and if we printed out the blog entry we'd get 2-for-1 tickets --
only six bucks a pop, my kind of date. Then finding out _Troy McClain_
(http://www.troymcclain.com/) from The Apprentice was another of the four
panelists
-- fuhgettaboutit, I'm there!

Called up Jeffrey (of non-judgmental, suburban Newark fame and who I've
known since jr. high) at 5:00, and said "Wil" and "Troy" are going to be down
the
street, let's go! When I picked him up we giggled -- we really live in L.A.,
don't we? I told him about Answer Girl's blog and her relocating to Maine
and how I was thinking maybe it's getting to be that time. He and Alan are
planning to move to Vermont in a few years, so when I bitched that it took 40
minutes to get over the hill from my house to his -- 7.31 miles -- he said they
don't have traffic that in Vermont. Then we drove 2.13 miles down La Brea and
I had to valet park the car -- they don't have that in Vermont either.

The show was terrific! _The Acme Theater_ (http://acmecomedy.com/) is one
of the finer, classier 99-seat spaces in L.A., with a lobby that opens right
smack into the fabu Amalfi restaurant and bar. As we sat down, a wonderful
pianist, Adam Chester, played cooler-than-Muzak versions of Queen and
"Supercalifragilistic." I was thinking (as I always do at these things) "This
is SO
Hollywood!" because I was flanked by Tall Beautiful People in the lobby and
audience... but, heck, I had blowdried hair and lipstick on tonight, so I felt
like I could stand as tall as my 5'4" would allow. :)

I looked around to see how many Wil fans were out there too -- when I calmed
down a bit, I could almost tell the difference -- intuition? experience? --
hell no, We're Geeks! :) I wondered silently if they felt as "signaled to" as
I did when he shot that _double goat throw_
(http://pokergeek.blogspot.com/2004/10/theres-im-being-goofy-goat-throwing.html)
out at the end of plate
spinning portion -- THAT was the Wil we knew, he was just masquerading for the
evening in a smashing black pinstripe suit and red tie. OOH! (I'm such a fan, I
gotta stop that.) He also got to plug his books, a book-signing in
Huntington Beach, the Richard Burns character in San Andreas (his friends ask
if they
can kill him now), a character he's playing on Teen Something (sorry!) and
that he'll be at The Acme in a show from December-February. How cool!

So Jeffrey and I howled at the Clever, taking-notes-all-night,
quick-with-the-comebacks and
even-communicating-with-his-hands-while-blindfolded Wil, The
Voice of "Brainy Smurf" Danny Golden and the refreshingly NON-Hollywood Troy
(non-suited and in a plaid flannel shirt and cowboy boots, of course). We
also gave the elegant Ann Magnuson in her knee-length black dress and red Nike
slip-ons a big laugh when she said she was playing a cemetery owner, "Martha
Stewart -- with a twist" on CSI Miami episode "when the tsunami hits."

The first contestant was a Comedy Traffic School instructor "Kenny Morse:
Mr. Traffic" -- the panel guessed right. For any of you from Idaho like Troy or
who don't have Traffic School, it's an 8-hour day of school you can go to if
you've gotten a ticket so you can get the ticket dismissed and you don't
have to hassle the insurance and ding on your DMV record. The comedy part is
that usually Traffic School is as dry as a popcorn fart, but in L.A.
comedians/actors/etc. will teach it to support their performing habit and it's
whole day
of laughin' and learnin'. Take it from me -- if you're allowed to go to
traffic school, make sure it's a comedy one -- and some of those even serve you
free pizza for lunch as a bonus!

Richard Green, a Bluegrass Fiddler, was the second contestant -- and I guess
since he was wearing a bolo tie, Troy just came out (first question!) and
said, "Are you in the music industry?" Right on, Troy -- they guessed his
profession too. He was a bit of a trip -- when asked if he played with a band,
he
said yes. "What band?" "Richard Green." "No, do you play with other people in
a band?" "Yes." "What's the band?" "Richard Green." I guess that's like "Van
Halen" or "Bon Jovi" but you don't picture that from a hippie-dippie type (I
was gonna guess he was an acupuncturist)! He did treat us to a nice little
fiddle interlude though, and seemed impressed when the pianist gave him exit
music in the exact style and key of the original composition he'd just played.

Contestant Three, Miss Julia Something-or-Other (sorry) came out in a loud,
only-in-Hollywood-pink, pretty sequency short thing and high heels -- she was
from England and self-employed. Of course the panelists went down the route
of "model" and "stripper." They got close when they thought she "demonstrated
something" but she stumped them -- she was a Plate Spinner! She also gave us
a demonstration, then got Wil, Troy and Ann up there spinnin' too. (Funny
moment -- to us anyway -- when Troy dropped his plate someone said, "You're
fired!" He shot back with "Oh, it's been awhile since I've heard that!" Well,
what a good-natured fella he is because I'm sure he hears that ALL THE TIME.)

Mystery Challenger (when the panelists are blindfolded) was Rose Marie from
The Dick Van Dyke Show. Boy... uh, well, she hasn't aged very gracefully. :(
But she was as funny as a stitch, and played off the host, Mr. J. Keith van
Strattan perfectly. He, BTW, was as sharp as button (why do they say that,
buttons aren't sharp!) and one of the quickest wits I've ever heard or seen!

At the end, there was one Stupid Lady who started taking flash pictures --
but the host said go ahead? GO AHEAD? Oooooh... I started to get annoyed
because I can be a theater snob too: "Why didn't they have the usual warning
before the show about cell phones and flash photography? And if they were
allowing
it, why didn't they mention that somewhere so we coulda brought a frickin'
camera?!" Natch, I told you I could be critical... I don't like to be shaky on
stuff like this... someone be clear about your show policies, please!).

But Stupid (or Apparently-Not-So-Stupid) Lady didn't change my experience of
the whole night -- there were so many darn good-hearted laughs, and time
just flew in those experts' hands! I love when that happens, when you're RIGHT
THERE, second by second with the folks upstage, everybody winging it, wild and
crazy, even the funky Rose Marie. A spontaneous theater experience and show
biz at its best!

Oh, no. They don't have this in Vermont.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]