Clearly I’ve been living a sheltered existence in which I didn’t know about Bruce Vilanch (my excuse is that I’m in the UK! Not that I’m too young or anything silly like that, lest anyone get ideas, because I’m the same age as Lovett), and my life is now enriched! ❤
I legit thought my AirPods were glitching when you started saying “c*face” and the audio was ducked… sometimes I forget we’re not allowed to say that particular c word, even though it’s just as satisfying to say as the 4-letter f word (and I said it to my cats just 20 mins ago, and they don’t give a single c-ing f!) Loved this… and am very much here for an extended version that I want to wish into being!
HERES THE REAL STORY ABOUT MADONNA'S 1991 OSCAR PERFORMANCE: (1) SOUND ENGINEER : In 1990 Madonna starred in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy film, as the blond bombshell, Breathless Mahoney. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and Madonna would perform the song "Sooner or Later" backed by the live Bill Conti Orchestra on the 63rd Annual Academy Awards in 1991.. If you happened to see the show, the proscenium curtain rises with Madonna upstage in the spotlight, with the orchestra playing the stripper intro. She sashayed downstage in a most seductive strut. Now I pause to set this potential live TV disaster scene. I'm in my audio remote truck with engineer Tommy Vicari mixing the live orchestra and what will be Madonna's live vocal. That is, if the sleeping stagehand wakes up and hands her the microphone on cue! On the intercom, we hear the audio director start to yell "WTF, where is that microphone? She's almost to her intro!!" In a brilliantly choreographed move, one of the real pro-stage A2s grabs a backup radio mic, yells at the video director to cut to an audience shot, streaks across the stage, handing off the mic to Madonna, who never loses her cool, and makes it off camera just as the director cuts back to a close up of Madonna belting out her big number! Perfect save, the television audience never saw a thing, and Madonna gave a powerful adrenaline-fueled performance. I've seen lesser talents freak out under that kind of stress. -David W. Hewitt (Sound Engineer for The 63rd Academy Awards) from his book ‘On the Road: Recording the Stars in a Golden Era of Live Music’ published by Backbeat Books in 2021 (2) PRODUCER: “Madonna spent three months rehearsing her song “Sooner or Later” (from Dick Tracy) prior to the show, and Cates even rented her a space to prepare. “In the number, she was meant to turn around as a mike rises from the floor to reach her,” says Cates Jr. “She rehearsed this for three months - and on the day of the show, just before the telecast, the guy who’s in charge of hitting the button that controls the mike disappeared, and nobody could find him. If you watch the performance, you can see it threw her a bit, because a stagehand had to put the mike out there. But she was amazing, and that was the one show Gil won an Emmy for.” -Gil Cates Jr. | Son of Oscars Producer Shares Never-Before-Heard Hollywood Tales, From Bart the Bear to Madonna’s Mike | By Stephen Galloway | The Hollywood Reporter | February 07 2020 (3) KURT LODER INTERVIEWED MADONNA FOR MTV IN 1991: KURT LODER: when you appeared at the academy award show there was a very tight close-up and you seemed to be a little nervous. of course, in front of a house like that i can understand that. MADONNA: how about how there was a billion people watching? yeah, I was nervous. KURT LODER: looking back at the performance are you happy with it and everything overall? MADONNA: overall, god yeah, I mean I was just grateful I got through it. I had so many things working against me. I had never performed live with a 50-piece Orchestra before and that was daunting in itself and then the microphone that I sang with was supposed to telescope out of the ground and as I was coming out of the ground a techie under the stage said “ your microphone isn't going up” and so l'm sitting there in my very glamorous pose trying to look like perfection you know and I'm thinking great I'm going to walk forward and there's gonna be no microphone and then what am I gonna do ? so I thought well don't panic, just look good for the first 30 seconds and then you can fall apart. cuz you know everyone says first impressions are the most lasting so of course there was a mikestand but it wasn't my height and you know you when you do a live performance you have to sort of get through all the things that aren't exactly perfect and it's inevitable that something will go wrong and the more experience you have dealing with those things the better. I think I did pretty well KURT LODER: I would have died I'm sure if something like that happened ! -Dinner With Madonna | MTV | 1991 | Available on UA-cam
I remember literally two things from the English Patient, the 'surprise' ending (which I won't reveal because SPOILERS! rofl), and the scene with the guy that has no thumbs juggling eggs. I did not enjoy the movie, but I was born in 1984 for reference. Also, I want to see Bruce performing as a warlock or witch (his choice), it's like central casting genetically engineered the perfect magic-presenting being. Bruce, re: the desert vajayjay, they don't usually have teeth, and it's VERY unusual for a real one to entrap you in it before coating you in a mix of enzymes, hallucinogens, and preservatives so that you can enjoy the ride as your personality is slowly subsumed over 1000 years (give or take).
Bruce is an absolute treasure. A never ending fount of Hollyweird stories.
I wasn't going to write a second comment, but "slabs of humanity" is quite the visual!
I’m glad he’s still alive. I had this opinion that he was no longer with us. But glad Bruce is still with us
National Treasure Bruce Vilanch! What a get!!
Cannot. Handle. The. Legendary. Status.
That clip needs to be in every public library for our education and survival as a species.
Gosh, I havent seen Bruce in a minute. That was really good.
these buys are brilliant together!!!
I love Louis!
dear god Louis know EVERYTHING about Hollywood TV film culture
Love this history!! So interesting!
Bruce is absolutely a legend 🌠 has been for over 30 years 🌈 kind regards from Aotearoa New Zealand 🇳🇿🫶🏻
Louis Virtel-, I mean, Virinterviewing it like it is!
Clearly I’ve been living a sheltered existence in which I didn’t know about Bruce Vilanch (my excuse is that I’m in the UK! Not that I’m too young or anything silly like that, lest anyone get ideas, because I’m the same age as Lovett), and my life is now enriched! ❤
I legit thought my AirPods were glitching when you started saying “c*face” and the audio was ducked… sometimes I forget we’re not allowed to say that particular c word, even though it’s just as satisfying to say as the 4-letter f word (and I said it to my cats just 20 mins ago, and they don’t give a single c-ing f!)
Loved this… and am very much here for an extended version that I want to wish into being!
I am that one who liked Madonna in Dick Tracy as well as her hootchie performance on the Oscars
I’m not a Madonna super fan or anything but she was actually very good in that movie and good in that Oscars performance.
HERES THE REAL STORY ABOUT MADONNA'S 1991 OSCAR PERFORMANCE:
(1) SOUND ENGINEER :
In 1990 Madonna starred in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy film, as the blond bombshell, Breathless Mahoney. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and Madonna would perform the song "Sooner or Later" backed by the live Bill Conti Orchestra on the 63rd Annual Academy Awards in 1991.. If you happened to see the show, the proscenium curtain rises with Madonna upstage in the spotlight, with the orchestra playing the stripper intro. She sashayed downstage in a most seductive strut.
Now I pause to set this potential live TV disaster scene. I'm in my audio remote truck with engineer Tommy Vicari mixing the live orchestra and what will be Madonna's live vocal. That is, if the sleeping stagehand wakes up and hands her the microphone on cue! On the intercom, we hear the audio director start to yell "WTF, where is that microphone? She's almost to her intro!!"
In a brilliantly choreographed move, one of the real pro-stage A2s grabs a backup radio mic, yells at the video director to cut to an audience shot, streaks across the stage, handing off the mic to Madonna, who never loses her cool, and makes it off camera just as the director cuts back to a close up of Madonna belting out her big number! Perfect save, the television audience never saw a thing, and Madonna gave a powerful adrenaline-fueled performance. I've seen lesser talents freak out under that kind of stress.
-David W. Hewitt (Sound Engineer for The 63rd Academy Awards) from his book
‘On the Road: Recording the Stars in a Golden Era of Live Music’ published by Backbeat Books in 2021
(2) PRODUCER:
“Madonna spent three months rehearsing her song “Sooner or Later” (from Dick Tracy) prior to the show, and Cates even rented her a space to prepare. “In the number, she was meant to turn around as a mike rises from the floor to reach her,” says Cates Jr. “She rehearsed this for three months - and on the day of the show, just before the telecast, the guy who’s in charge of hitting the button that controls the mike disappeared, and nobody could find him. If you watch the performance, you can see it threw her a bit, because a stagehand had to put the mike out there. But she was amazing, and that was the one show Gil won an Emmy for.”
-Gil Cates Jr. | Son of Oscars Producer Shares Never-Before-Heard Hollywood Tales, From Bart the Bear to Madonna’s Mike | By Stephen Galloway | The Hollywood Reporter | February 07 2020
(3) KURT LODER INTERVIEWED MADONNA FOR MTV IN 1991:
KURT LODER: when you appeared at the academy award show there was a very tight close-up and you seemed to be a little nervous. of course, in front of a house like that i can understand that.
MADONNA: how about how there was a billion people watching? yeah, I was nervous.
KURT LODER: looking back at the performance are you happy with it and everything overall?
MADONNA: overall, god yeah, I mean I was just grateful I got through it. I had so many things working against me. I had never performed live with a 50-piece Orchestra before and that was daunting in itself and then the microphone that I sang with was supposed to telescope out of the ground and as I was coming out of the ground a techie under the stage said “ your microphone isn't going up” and so l'm sitting there in my very glamorous pose trying to look like perfection you know and I'm thinking great I'm going to walk forward and there's gonna be no microphone and then what am I gonna do ? so I thought well don't panic, just look good for the first 30 seconds and then you can fall apart. cuz you know everyone says first impressions are the most lasting so of course there was a mikestand but it wasn't my height and you know you when you do a live performance you have to sort of get through all the things that aren't exactly perfect and it's inevitable that something will go wrong and the more experience you have dealing with those things the better. I think I did pretty well
KURT LODER: I would have died I'm sure if something like that happened !
-Dinner With Madonna | MTV | 1991 | Available on UA-cam
❤
I would be terrified too if everyone found out I don’t have talent.
I remember literally two things from the English Patient, the 'surprise' ending (which I won't reveal because SPOILERS! rofl), and the scene with the guy that has no thumbs juggling eggs. I did not enjoy the movie, but I was born in 1984 for reference.
Also, I want to see Bruce performing as a warlock or witch (his choice), it's like central casting genetically engineered the perfect magic-presenting being.
Bruce, re: the desert vajayjay, they don't usually have teeth, and it's VERY unusual for a real one to entrap you in it before coating you in a mix of enzymes, hallucinogens, and preservatives so that you can enjoy the ride as your personality is slowly subsumed over 1000 years (give or take).