Happy New Year! 

On New Year’s Eve, I had a game night with some pals, including David Turner. We first met doing Harmony in 2003 (the production that wound up not coming to Broadway because of producer issues), and then we did The Ritz together on Broadway in 2007. We spent the entire time laughing backstage. I had him tell the other game nighters about the mortifying mishap that happened to him while he was starring in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever opposite Harry Connick, Jr. and Jessie Mueller.

Normally, this scene is supposed to begin with Harry as a psychiatrist giving a lecture about hypnosis. David, in the lecture hall, proudly comments that he'd never be susceptible to hypnosis and, of course, as soon as Harry snaps while demonstrating, David falls asleep. Harry then tells the class that once a patient is asleep, he can add some post-hypnotic suggestions like, "When I say the word ‘Wednesday,’ you'll take off your shirt." He then snaps his fingers and David wakes up. At the end of the scene, Harry tells the class, "See you next Wednesday," and David immediately starts taking off his shirt. The audience laughs and it’s the end of the scene. There are then two more "Wednesday" references throughout the show.

Cut to, one night, Harry got mixed up on lines and forgot to say the part about Wednesday and taking off the shirt. David assumed everyone else in the cast noticed and the scene would move on without him taking off his shirt. So, when Harry told the class, "See you next Wednesday," David didn’t move and waited for the next cue. But everyone in the cast was waiting. Staring. Waiting. Finally, David knew it was up to him to make the show progress, and had no choice but to start slowly taking off his shirt. What was usually a big laugh was met with silence and hostile confusion. The audience was like, “What is wrong with him? Why is this character randomly taking off his shirt?” David was mortified, and ran backstage to plan how they could cut all of the future "Wednesday" references and still have the play make sense. Unfortunately, he was never offstage when Harry was offstage, so they never conferred about it. David assumed someone would tell Harry how they were going to change the script so the shirt-taking-off would not have to happen again. Well, when you assume…

David came out for the next scene, now as Harry's patient. Harry put him to sleep and, right before he woke up, Harry, who didn’t know David’s plan to completely cut the “Wednesday” reference, added the line, "And, uh, just for kicks, when I say the word ‘Wednesday,’ take off your shirt." He then said, "Wednesday," and David was forced yet again to take off his shirt! This time the audience was not just mystified and annoyed at David, but they were completely judging the psychiatrist character for horrifically unethical behavior.

“So, doctor, ’just for kicks’ you're making your patient take off his shirt? See you in court!”

Here are some great moments from On A Clear Day…

Speaking of Jessie Mueller, I’m going to be doing one of my signature concerts with her in Chicago at the Studebaker Theater on February 15. Come see us!

We recently lost Linda Lavin, which was shocking to all who knew her. She was in her late 80s, but so unbelievably active; constantly working, and always fantastic to watch. I had just texted her because I loved her performance on the television show Elsbeth. We became close after she appeared in the video I helped put together to bring attention to the hostages taken from Israel on October 7, 2023. She sang harmony in the group (you can see her standing next to Debra Messing) and then sang a solo as well. 

She was so appreciative of the effort to help those victims of terror and sent me the sweetest texts. She also often posted such wonderful comments on my Instagram!

Here she is in the video!

I’m very happy I got to know her a little and so enjoyed the interview I did with her on Seth Speaks on SiriusXM. Here’s a recap!

I interviewed Linda on my radio show and found out she's from Portland, Maine, like Andrea Martin. Who knew that town was a hotbed for future Tony winners? Linda made her Broadway debut in A Family Affair, and, even though she was in the ensemble, she got a great mention in The New York Times. I asked if that jumpstarted her career, and she said it actually did nothing whatsoever. But doing that show started a great professional relationship between her and first-time director, Harold Prince! Up until that point, Hal had produced, but never directed.

A few years later, Linda was trying to find a job. When Hal found out, he offered a gig in the ensemble of She Loves Me on Broadway. Unfortunately, on the day she was supposed to begin, the show closed. Yay show biz?

I myself was supposed to learn the keyboard book to the Cy Coleman musical Welcome To The Club. When I showed up, I could not figure out how to get the stage door open. I finally figured out that it wouldn't open because it was locked— because the show had closed. And thus, my similarity to Linda Lavin’s career ends.

Okay, back to the 1960s! Linda and Hal continued their good relationship, and she felt so comfortable with him that she had no shame in campaigning for a big role in his musical It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Superman. She had photos taken of her looking like Lois Lane (in phone booths, etc.) and she sent Hal a mock-up Superman comic strip starring herself, and asked him to consider her for the role. He told her a flat-out NO, but he followed that statement by telling her that he wanted her for another role—the sassy sidekick, Sydney. That was the show in which she got to introduce the song, "You've Got Possibilities." I am obsessed with her performance on the CD and did a full deconstruction of it.

Linda talked about the ups and downs of the business and how arbitrary it can be sometimes. The television show Alice was based on the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (about a struggling singer working as a waitress while she raises her son), but the script was stymied because they couldn't find anyone to star in it. Alan Shayne, who was a casting director, and then became head of Warner Brothers Television, greenlit the script and told producers to hire Linda Lavin. Everyone told him that the show wasn't funny, and he said Linda would make it funny. Well, Linda got the gig and her whole life changed. That story is one of those, "there's stuff going on you don't even know about," stories. When Alan was a casting director, he had seen Linda’s work throughout the years, but had never called her in for anything. Yet he wound up calling her in for the biggest gig of her life!

Linda said that throughout the series, and to this day, women came up to her and told her that they struggled with issues similar to Alice’s and would find strength from watching the show. Essentially, they would say, "If Alice can do it, so can I." The show also tackled social issues from the get-go. On the second episode, a football playing buddy of Mel (the diner's owner) goes out on a date with Alice. He doesn't want to kiss her, and finally tells her that he's gay. She then must deal with her own homophobia because she's uncomfortable letting her son go on a fishing trip with him. This was in 1976. Brava!

Linda starred in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. I told her that I heard Neil could be cranky. She said that wasn't true and that he was always wonderful. During Broadway Bound, Neil wrote Linda a beautiful 16-page monologue. I said that a 16-page-monologue doesn’t sound wonderful. It sounds incredibly stress-producing. It obviously wasn't to her because it won her a Tony Award. But that show was also the site of a classic mishap for Linda.

During the show, Linda was able to go offstage during one scene, which turned out to be when Designing Women was airing. She always had enough time offstage to watch a scene up until the commercial break and then she'd go back onstage. Well, one night Designing Women was particularly riveting, and Linda somehow found herself watching the next scene. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her reverie when she heard Jonathan Silverman and Jason Alexander on the monitor saying, "Boy, I wonder where Ma is…" She had a mug of tea in her hand, and she remembers hearing it shatter as she dropped it. Then, Linda said she felt like a kid who's late for school and decides maybe it's better to not even show up. She thought, "I'm already so late for the scene and it will be so mortifying when I come on. Perhaps I'll just skip it." Well, she changed her mind and ran like a lunatic up the stairs to the stage. When she got onstage, Jason and Jonathan sassed her by asking, "Gee, Ma, where were you?" She babbled something about a neighbor needing help and the show went on. After the story, I needed a cup of tea…with a Valium!

As most of you know, I love to “deconstruct” classic performances. Well, I have to hand it to Alexandra Billings, who did a brilliant job deconstructing Linda Lavin’s ferocious performance of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” Read her description, and then watch.

Linda Lavin, we’ll miss you!