Ben Vereen

            On Thursday morning despite my having steamed the baseboards and laid down diatomaceous earth along them yesterday there were just as many bedbugs on the walls as ever. I noticed that sometimes while I was steaming, the green light on the steamer went off so maybe it wasn’t as hot during those times. Maybe I should only spray when the light is green. Meanwhile I’ll spray down some more diatomaceous earth. 

            The smoke from the wild fires was worse than ever. It’s like living next door to a house that’s on fire. I can see the smoke in the air. 

            I finished working out the chords for “La complainte de Bonnot” by Boris Vian. On Friday I’ll run through singing and playing them in French and English. 

            I finished memorizing “Je t’aime. Moi aussi” (I Love You. So Do I). I transcribed the chords from the rest of “Je t’aime. Moi non plus” (I Love You. Neither Do I) and placed them on the final verse of the parody. Tomorrow I’ll run through singing and playing it in French and then work on my translation. 

            I weighed 89.45 kilos before breakfast. 

            I played my Kramer during song practice and it stayed in tune about half the time. I had a discomfort in my chest from the smoke through the whole rehearsal. 

            I weighed 90.9 kilos before lunch.

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride but I felt it would be too dangerous to ride all the way downtown with the air quality so low, so I just rode as far as Ossington and Bloor. I stopped at Freshco on the way home. I planned to do a price match on the grapes but only found four bags of red grapes and one of green that were firm. I got two packs of Canadian blueberries, some bananas, a striploin steak, a pack of Full City Dark coffee, and a jar of salsa. I matched the grapes to the Food Basics price of $4.37 a kilo and Freshco always knocks off a penny a kilo so I got them for $4.36 a kilo. 

            I weighed 90.65 kilos at 17:55. I worked on getting caught up in my journal but was still a day behind at suppertime. 

            I had a potato with gravy, a small chicken leg and some skyr while watching season 10, episode 20 of The Carol Burnett Show. 

            Carol introduces Ben Vereen and he gets a standing ovation. Carol says the only other person who ever got such greeting on her show was Sir Laurence Olivier. He introduces his wife and two daughters, asking them to stand up but none of them are willing. He says he hasn’t got a ham besides himself in the family. 

            Carol and Tim play a married couple and Tim is trying to write a eulogy for his best friend Charlie but can’t think of what to say. Carol suggests that he just list all the things Charlie did for him. Tim remembers when they were in basic training together Tim was the worst shot in the whole company but Charlie switched the scorecards so Tim could win the sharpshooter medal. “Three months later all of us sharpshooters got to go oversees. I was lucky enough to go in with the first wave. Poor Charlie is the one who always liked the beach” but had to spend the entire war in Miami. Tim says, “If it weren’t for Charlie I’d have never gotten that Purple Heart”. After the war Charlie asked Tim to be his business partner. All Tim had to offer was the $11,000 in back pay that built up while he was a prisoner of war. Charlie had a second house, a yacht, and a mountain cabin. Carol says, “Oh that mountain cabin! What a place!” Tim says he doesn’t remember Carol ever seeing the mountain cabin. She says she just pictures it from the way Charlie described it. Tim says, “Remember when Charlie used to send me away on those business trips and I’d be gone for months on end! But no matter how long I was gone Charlie would be right here to greet me.” Tim shows Carol a picture of Charlie when he was a kid but Carol corrects him that it’s a picture of their son. Tim wonders if Charlie was on his way to the gym when he died why did he die here. Tim says Charlie was quite a ladies man and every time he had a girlfriend he always bought her a box of candy. Tim wonders why they have a closet full of those boxes of candy. Tim pulls out a gun and tells Carol to say hello to Charlie. 

            A little boy and a little girl are lost and frightened in an enchanted forest. Ben Vereen plays a magical man who jumps out to calm the elements down. He comforts the children by singing “Believe in Yourself” by Charlie Smalls from the 1975 musical The Wiz. The children and some strange animals dance with Ben. The little girl has obviously had some ballet training. 

            Carol and Harvey play a married couple at a table in a cafeteria arguing about Harvey’s plan to have his mother move in with them. Then Ben sits at their table to eat his lunch. Carol makes a point and thinks she sees Ben nodding in agreement. They both keep trying to pull Ben into their argument while he keeps trying to eat his lunch. Harvey wants his mother to have the one bedroom while they sleep on the bed couch. Carol asks Ben if he would kick his wife out of her own bed. Bed says it was the other way around, which is why he became a divorce lawyer. Now that they know he’s a lawyer they try to get his opinion even more but he says he charges for consultations. Finally Ben confronts them each. He tells Harvey to get over his obsession with his mother and learn to leave the nest. He tells Carol to learn some tolerance and stop making fat jokes about her mother-in-law. He declares that both of them are a mess. They are offended by a complete stranger trying to run their lives. Carol tells him to keep his nose out of other people’s business and she and Harvey leave in disgust. 

            It’s been a while since they’ve done the As The Stomach Turns soap opera skit. Marian is saying goodbye to the guests at her daughter’s wake. When all that’s left is the minister she grabs him, dips him, and kisses him. Someone calls to invite her to bridge at 13:30. She tells them she’s in mourning and must wait a respectable amount of time before socializing, so she’ll be there at 14:00. The doorbell rings and it’s Tim in his old man character playing Duane Toddleberry, the oldest insurance agent in Canoga Falls. He sits on the couch and falls asleep with his eyes open. Marian says that’s the first time a man has ever slept in her home. Duane is here about Marian’s $50,000 life insurance policy on her daughter. He thinks she’s still alive and he’s here to get the money back. She says she spent it all on the hall rental, the band, and the open bar for her funeral. he starts looking for Marian’s daughter. There’s a painting of a barn behind the couch and he says he’s going to look inside. She says it’s a painting but Duane opens the little door of the barn and crawls inside. Then he opens the hayloft door and looks out. He sneezes from the hat and gets poked in the face by a tiny pitchfork. The doorbell rings and it’s Harvey in his Mother Marcus Jewish mother drag character. She sits down and announces that she’s become a medium. Marian said she thought she was an extra large. Marcus says she communicates with the dead and so Marian asks her to contact her daughter Jamie. Marcus goes into a trance and asks Jamie to give them a sign. The doorbell rings and it’s Jamie (played by Vicki as usual) and as usual carrying a newly born baby. Marian asks her to forgive her for the way she treated her when she was alive. Jamie tells her she’s not dead and Marian closes the door on her. Jamie smashes through the door and tells Marian that the reason she didn’t die is because a secret government agency put her back together and gave her bionic parts. She says she never wanted legs that can run 100 km an hour. Now nobody can dance with her. Marcus says it must be murder on pantyhose. Marian tells Jamie her friends will understand because they always thought she was fast. Jamie bangs her head against the wall in frustration, causing the foundation to quake, and both she and Duane end up with amnesia. The announcer asks if Jamie will realize how much men love women with amnesia? And will Marian stand trial for insurance fraud or will her case be settled in the judge’s chambers? 

            Carol and Ben to a salute to the songs of Harold Arlen. Ben sings “Hooray for Love” with lyrics by Leo Robin from the 1948 film Casbah. Carol sings “Down With Love” with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg from the 1937 musical Hooray for What!. Ben sings “Over the Rainbow” with lyrics by Harburg from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Carol sings “Blues in the Night” with lyrics by Johnny Mercer from the 1941 film of the same name. Ben sings “A Sleepin Bee” with lyrics by Truman Capote and Arlen from the 1954 musical House of Flowers. Carol sings “The Man that Got Away” with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the 1954 film A Star is Born. Ben sings the 1948 song “For Every Man There’s a Woman” with lyrics by Robin. Carol sings “Someone at Last” also from A Star is Born. Ben sings “T’morra T’morra” with lyrics by Harburg from the 1944 musical Bloomer Girl. They sing together “Ain’t it the Truth” with lyrics by Harburg from the 1943 film Cabin in the Sky. Ben sings “Get Happy” with lyrics by Ted Koehler from the 1930 musical The Nine Thirteen Revue while Carol sings the 1944 song “Ac-Cent-Choo-Ate the Positive” with lyrics by Mercer. They sing “The Eagle and Me” from Bloomer Girl. They sing “Any Place I Hang Ny Hat” with lyrics by Mercer from the 1946 musical St Louis Woman. They sing “We’re Off to See the Wizard” from The Wizard of Oz. Ben sings “I Love a Parade” with lyrics by Koehler from the 1931 revue Rhythmania. Carol sings “That Old Black Magic” from the 1942 film Star Spangled Rhythm and “My Shining Hour” from the 1943 film The Sky’s the Limit with lyrics by Mercer. They sing “Gotta Have Me Go With You” from A Star is Born. They sing the 1932 song “”I’ve Got the World on a String” with lyrics by Koehler. They sing “Hit the Road to Dreamland” from Star Spangled Rhythm. They sing “Don’t Like Goodbyes” from House of Flowers. They end with the beginning as usual and sing “Hooray for Love”. 

            Ben Vereen graduated from The High School of the Performing Arts. In 1964 at the age of 18 he made his New York stage debut in The Prodigal Son. He was the understudy for Sammy Davis Jr. for the Broadway show Golden Boy. He made his film debut in Sweet Charity in 1969. He was the first simultaneous winner of Entertainer of the Year, Rising Star, and Song and Dance Star from the American Guild of Variety Artists. He was Emmy nominated for playing Chicken George in the series Roots. He was nominated for a Tony in 1972 for his performance in the original production of Jesus Christ Superstar and won the award the next year for Pippin. IHe co-starred in Funny Lady, Buy and Cell, Time Out of Mind, In 1981 he performed in blackface at Ronald Reagon’s first inauguration but ABC cut it. He was trying to make a critical statement about Republican policies. He starred in the series Ten Speed and Brown Shoe. He played Webster’s uncle on Webster. He appeared in 62 episodes of Zoobilee Zoo and 11 episodes of Silk Stalkings. He played Geordi LaForge’s father on an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. He appeared in five episodes of J.J. Starbuck. He was his godson Usher’s acting coach. In 1989 he started Celebrities for a Drug Free America. In 2018 four actors accused him of sexual harassment during a production of Hair that he was directing.