It’s Baaaaacccccckkkkkkk! OHH …WHAT JOY!

No, not in Mudville, that was never to be. Thanks to Thayer, poor Casey lives in infamy. …but, just when things were at their bleakest for the poor little lost lambs of Scene4.

Comes riding in to the rescue, our beloved and noble conquistador.

The immortal Phoenix is rising! Let the resurrection begin! 

So happy you got back, Arthur; and, just in the knick of time, too;

For Esquerré, and his crazy family wuz planning a bloody coup!!!

Our ‘Fix of Night’ - Scene4 Magazine & Journal – after a ‘pregnant pause’ over the winter/spring, has turned on its Lights; and, will turn-on its readers, once again. It’s gonna be better than before! Arthur sounds as ‘tho he’s reenergized …turned-up a notch or two, or even more! Conan … all is well! You’re getting back your “turgid dialogue” you loved so well … they’re the greatest group of  ‘turgid dispensers’ (not to be confused with the Pez type) the planet has seen the likes of, n’est-ce pas?

…..whoa, talk about your pregnant pauses! I memorized all three Interviews in that “frozen” Scene4 issue that played for such a lengthy run.  I’m certainly not complaining. My name was on it more times than I had to write it in some detention classes (remember them…somebody ought to do a nice little play about them, huh? Hmmmmmm….)

Reading it over and over with my Hot Chocolate spiced with Crème de Menthe (tried it?) … made for some comfy, toasty nights. Probably the Crème de Menthe,

when it kicked its cozy-making self in, huh?

However, don’t scoff; could be a world record there. Someone should check into that!  Fell in love with Yuko Senga.  Martin’s striking stare, accompanied by that boyish grin, stupefies, hypnotizes you! Hey, you! … that’s MY! Hot Chocolate…don’t try to scawf my chawklit.

That one certainly took the cake! A delicious Mardi Gras King cake, with the ‘doll’ in it, of course.  I’m drooling just typing the name! 

Tradition says if you get the slice with the doll in it, you have to buy the next one; or, hold the next party.  Aside: I know a world famous bakery, just down the block, that ships them out to all over the U.S. and the Globe.   Just whistle. And, don’t forget to show me tha money first.  They are OHH…SO DIVINE!!! Just about any filing your heart desires is in them: apple, cherry, cream, et cetera. Believe they do it year round, now.  You Talos people should dine on one, or two, while resetting the start button to your beloved Scene4. How fortunate you are to be a part of its ‘rebirth’!

But, he’s starving y’all, isn’t he.

I may even send you a sampling if the bakery is baking-up these tasty morsels this summer.

Treats on me! … I’ll use the hefty stipend Arthur doled out.  I made some good investments with that money.  I can certainly foot the bill for a coupla King cakes … uhh, Lucille, honey, you got a Twenty you can spare, darling!

And, about that aforementioned ‘pregnant pause’, indeed.  My ‘with child’ daughter-in-law found even more than enough time in that winter run of Scene4 to present us with a Grand Daughter.  With four grand sons, Lady Isabel Rose Esquerré is OHH…SO WELCOMED!

I see the makings of a Y3K Shirley Temple. She’s got Personality…can’t tell who she takes after. No, we don’t behave abjectly for her attention …well, there is this issue of a one-rounder of grappling for it; refereed, naturaliment, to avoid any permanent injury.

Winner gets to hold her first! 

Humph, there was that one time, the BW, she had supposedly won! I argued vehemently to no avail (they say it was a tantrum!).  The jury was stacked … augmentations are certainly big in this neck of the woods … there must be a silicone-gap, huh? Let it be known I was a graceful loser.  Albeit, following a civilized (on my part) tete-a-tete with each judge, who demonstrated my illegal groping, er, grappling techniques, I was summarily disqualified; and, slapped in the face, en plus! Revenge is best served cold is my modus operandi. Be patient for your hand-picked mise en scene (E. stage setting…pardon my French. I’m practicing. We’re heading there this Sunday). 

Oh, I shall have my day in court. Careful, ol’ bean … don’t get yourself  in divorce court, because of this!

Trials and tribs beset us throughout the harsh winter --- no, no Nanuk of the North, no snow or any below zero days …hee hee!  However, being already 6 feet below sea level, our drainage backed up, causing damage to the flooring.  Why, we had to move out into a fully equipped Marriott Courtyard, thanks to our Insurance, for the entire month of March!  Tough, but roughed it out, ‘tho.Please, don’t edit this out AM! I’m leading up to something:

Got to see a lot of movies; as one of those giant multi-screen theaters was right next to it. Ever notice some critics give a movie but one star; and, maybe an additional half of one; when you know you just saw a 3or 3 ½ star show.  One local guy winds up giving more stars to ABOUT A BOY than MULHOLLAND DRIVE! Go figure!

So many movie critics can be arty-crafty (pardon moi, arty, no, no, not you!) pretentious, elitist snobs: They love to go against the grain of what WE see to be wonderful movies; but to them, just so much squab doo-doo.  Their noirs (not all, mind you) are just dark, dreary, non pro bono publicos to we unserious, obviously uneducated, movie goers.  A movie should simply entertain…period. Oh, sure, acting “rules”, but don’t just give them all the “Best” awards for only the high-falutin’, roles, in flicks, especially Brit flicks, froth with supposed meaningful, life-essential, storylines.  Ya not gonna top Shakespeare and the ‘boyz’, Mr. Producer.

Don’t beat me over the head with a ‘message’…I get exposure to that in the real world, every day. I like to check reality in when the ticket person hands me my ducat.  Just entertain me for a while, crimminy.  Is that too much to ask? Besides, live theatre…watching them sweat up there, delivering their lines without the crutch of those ‘lets-do-that-again” takes is more to my liking…acting “reigns supreme” up there! Why, even Legs have been broken for crimminy sake!

Now take Su Gonczy (I double dare you to try that…over our collective dead bodies, podnas). Su’s the patron saint of writers of original works.  Her Wednesday READs at Le Chat Noir have been a godsend to us. An opportunity to hear the voice of our plays before an audience!  What a wish-fulfiller she has been, these past two years.  It’s the only program of its kind in this neck of the woods.

She’s recently turned this work up a 6-pack of notches….Bam!….she held a contest for one-act plays.  The first 20 submitted were performed at her ‘baby”: the one hour Cold Read program we all clamored to get a spot in….a half hour, 15 minutes, a nano second!

A full hour was stuff that dreams were made on.  I got a 60 minute slot just prior to the Mardi Gras season.  Don’t ask, I won’t tell…nothing under the table, mind you…I just got lucky (those dozen of crème filled canoles from Brocatos - chocolate on one end, cream cheese on the other - hit the spot, Su said!)

Guess you Talos people want me to send y’all some of them, too.

Well, ya gotta beg; and, I mean on your knees with outstretched ‘prayin’ hands’. We’re talkin’ Food For Gods ya bunch of Gorgons!

The judges of the 20 plays reduced them to 4.  Nope, I didn’t make the cut; but, Su, herself, read my play in the competition.

Titled: IT’S HIS BALL AFTER ALL…He only lets us play with it … for a while) 

Whew! …The title seems longer than the play was!

The Final Four plays are:

THE STUD MULE written by Kevin Allman.  It’s about a rich woman in her 40s and she’s still a virgin. Now she wants to recruit a guy to get her pregnant and then just hit the road Jack.

Kev’s weirder then me!

THE COSMIC DEBT written by Pat Bourgeois

This woman has an invisible psychic who happens to be a drag-queen and fashion guru. God is in this one.  He’s a female and dressed in black!

Pat’s weirder than Kev and me, combined!

THE BAR MITZVAH written by Bernard Burk

It’s about the goings-on at a young Jewish boy’s rite of passage to manhood.

THE BONDING ROOM by James Perry

The setting is a hospital waiting room.  Several fathers, interacting, as they wait to hear if their child will make it following a deadly, traumatic injury. I spoke to Mr. Perry following his plays reading. I felt I knew the answer; however, I asked it anyway.  Was the play personal to him? He said yes; and, his daughter has made great improvements since the tragedy; but, has a way to go.

One of the plays will make it to a full run at Le Chat Noir later this year…..good luck, guys!

Au revoir everyone.  It really is good to be back, n’est-ce pas?

© 2002 Steve&Lucille Esquerré

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