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A Patriotic Friday Fun Song

What to post? Independence Day or Friday Fun Song?

Both.  1776's "Sit Down, John" from the 1998 Tony Awards:*

Have a good Fourth of July!

• Hirschfeld drawing of the revival here.

*  Brent Spiner originally played John Adams in the revival, but not in the Tony performance. 

Hello Wall-E! - Jerry Herman

As I was growing up, I went through a Hello, Dolly! phase - singing the songs over and over. [Older son just read this and said, "Oh, you went through that phase too?!"]

We'll be seeing Wall-E this weekend (hopefully) so I didn't know until I read this story (from the Hartford Courant) that Jerry Herman's music, and scenes from Hello, Dolly!, were used in it.

Hello, WALL•E, Sings Jerry Herman, Who Loves Use of His 44-Year-Old Songs in the Movie

...Two songs from "Hello, Dolly!" - "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment" - are pivotal in the film's story about a little robot, the only sign of "life" (not counting a friendly cockroach) left on a devastated and abandoned Earth 700 years in the future.

What keeps the resourceful robot going is not just his recharging solar plates but a videotape from the 1969 film "Hello, Dolly." The songs feature Michael Crawford, Marianne MacAndrew and — if you look closely in the chorus — Tommy Tune. ( Barbra Streisand, who starred in the film, is not featured in the "WALL•E" clips.)

The feel-good song "Sunday Clothes" lifts the robot's spirits as he goes on his programmed daily drudgery. The romantic ballad "It Only Tales a Moment" reminds him of contact with another entity, which is missing from his lonely life. When Jerry Herman, composer of the Broadway musical, saw "WALL•E" Sunday night in Los Angeles, he was stunned.

"It really blew me away," Herman [left, with the original Broadway Dolly, Carol Channing*] said in a telephone interview Monday. "You're talking to someone still in a haze. I couldn't believe how beautifully the songs expressed the entire intent of the film."

Herman, who turns 77 next week, said he was not aware of how the songs were going to be used and expected them to be featured briefly as background music.

Instead, the film opens with a shot of the universe and the voice of Crawford singing the opening lines, "Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers ...," followed by most of the rest of the upbeat song as the robot goes on his daily routine

"I'll tell you that the seat I was in will never be the same," Herman says. "I clutched those two arm rests. I was so thrilled and moved. What a wonderful use — to show a desolate world contrasted with the joy of those lyrics.

"The amazing thing for me is that two songs from a show that certainly was iconic in its day — or still is — will now have a more permanent place in history because of this movie, which is probably going to be the film of the year."

Does he feel vindicated that his songs, sometimes dismissed as too sunny, will live on?

"It made me doubly pleased to have written songs of optimism and joy," Herman says. "They call me the eternal optimist. Well, that's what the world needed after the assassination of Kennedy [before the Broadway show opened in January 1964] and what the world needs now."

Herman predicts this will heighten interest in a Broadway revival of "Hello, Dolly!"

"I've been thinking about it, and there are several ladies — stars — I am already playing in my head to cast."

"To have 'Dolly!" blooming again now," he says, "is like having an orchid plant suddenly, unexpectedly coming back to life."

Herman says that after leaving the cineplex, filled with joy, he turned to his goddaughter and sang, "Well, well, hello, WALL•E!"

Here are the two scenes from "Hello, Dolly!"

 

 

 

More on Pixar:

• The Pixar Blog (unofficial)
• Debate on whether Wall-E (the robot, not the movie) is a copyright criminal under Canadian law on SFF Audio

 

*  You know that, when it comes to music and musicals, I don't know when to stop.  Here's a bit more on the original Broadway musical (from the Wikipedia):

...Although the part of Dolly Levi in the musical was originally written for Ethel Merman, she turned it down, as did Mary Martin (although each later played it).^[2] Merrick then considered Nancy Walker, but eventually Carol Channing was hired, giving her the opportunity to create her most memorable role.^[4] Director Gower Champion was not the producers' first choice, either; Hal Prince and other directors (among them Jerome Robbins and Joe Layton) turned down the job of directing the musical.^[5]

Hello, Dolly! had rocky out-of-town tryouts in Detroit and Washington, D.C.^[4] After receiving the reviews, the creators made major changes to the script and score, including adding the song "Before the Parade Passes By."^[6] The show was originally entitled Dolly, A Damned Exasperating Woman,^[7] until Merrick heard Louis Armstrong's recording of the song and changed the name of the show.  The supporting cast included David Burns as Horace, Charles Nelson Reilly as Cornelius, Eileen Brennan as Irene, Jerry Dodge as Barnaby, Sondra Lee as Minnie Fay, Alice Playten as Ermengarde, and Igors Gavon as Ambrose. Although facing stiff competition from Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand, Hello, Dolly! swept the Tony Awards that season, winning awards in ten categories (out of eleven nominations), a record that remained unbroken for 37 years until The Producers won twelve Tonys in 2001.

After Channing left the production, Merrick kept the show playing to capacity houses by casting big name stars in the title role, including Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey (in an all-black version with Cab Calloway), Dorothy Lamour, Phyllis Diller, and Ethel Merman, for whom Herman originally wrote the show. Two songs cut prior to the opening — typical Mermanesque "belters" entitled "World, Take Me Back" and "Love, Look in My Window" — were restored for her run.

The original Dolly production went on to become the longest-running musical (and third longest-running show) in Broadway history up to that time, surpassing "My Fair Lady" and then being surpassed in turn by "Fiddler on the Roof."**

** A bonus for anyone in the Triangle who is still reading:  Chaim Topol, who played Tevye in London and in the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof, will be playing it again at the new Durham Performing Arts Center next March.

More Recent Favorite LOLCATS

Yesterday was relaxed.  Today wasn't. 

Oh.  It's after midnight.  The day before yesterday was relaxed.  Yesterday wasn't.  The post I was going to finish up isn't going to happen right now so here are some recent favorite LOLCATS.

[I did get a chance to read a bit more of Emma today while daughter was at her physical therapy appointment.]

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

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more cat pictures

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

Some garden photos... some links... a bit of random writing...

The last month has been very busy, and at times quite hectic.  I actually started getting some of my stress-related problems last week.  Sunday, fortunately, I could take off. 

I know, Sunday is supposed to be for church.  But, my church has been canceled for the summer.  I feel at home at the 11 am service, which won't return until almost Labor day.  We went to the 9 am service for the first year or two, and I definitely don't feel at home there (it's been moved to 10 for the summer).  If I tried going, I'd probably drop out of church altogether.  So Sunday mornings are free until late August when the 11 am starts up again. 

[Note: I will make one exception.  If a certain little guy gets baptized at the 10 am this summer, I'll be there.]

Anyway, I was cranky about everything by last Friday.  The simplest phone call could send me over the edge.  I was amazed at how just taking the day on Sunday and relaxing* made me feel like a totally different person.  Not that it was a lazy day - dear husband and I got up early and walked, and then I spent a few hours gardening.  However, it was the gardening I wanted to do, instead of the usual, almost-July: "Water the plants so they don't die!" and "Oh no!  Japanese beetles!  Why do we have all these stupid gardens anyway?!"

Oh, and I also wandered around the gardens, Sunday morning, taking pictures, and did the same thing again this morning.

Aaaah....this morning.  Finally, a summertime cold front that does some good, temperature-wise (the thunderstorms were useful too).  After recent highs around 90, today's (supposed, but it's 3:55 and we haven't gotten there yet) high of 84 seems like a dream.  It was in the lower 60's when I got up so I spent the morning outside (and even got chilly once!). 

I'm taking today off, too, because the next month is also going to be extremely busy.  I still haven't figured out a good daily schedule so I feel like I'm constantly rushing and falling behind.

[Eyed click beetle to the right]

I thought we'd have all sorts of time this summer (at least in certain ways), and that's not happening at all.  All the movies we wanted to see (Wall-E, Indiana Jones, Iron Man, and Prince Caspian of the ones that are out so far)?  We haven't seen a single one.  Daughter and I did start watching "Upstairs, Downstairs" last night.  I didn't realize how long ago that started - the second episode is in black & white!

I got back to reading Emma again today.  I can't read it when I'm rushed or stressed - not and focus as much as I want to.  I have a number of books in progress right now (see my "Currently Reading" list way down on the sidebar to the right) so I have something to read for whatever mood I'm in.

 Some links:

• Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane to star in Addams Family Musical

• Luxurious swimming pools
  

• Amazing photos of Golden Ray migration

• At The Atlantic - Is Google Making Us Stupid?:  What the Internet is doing to our brains:

Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration  often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle...

For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind. The advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many, and they’ve been widely described and duly applauded. ... But that boon comes at a price. As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski...

This was quite popular on many blogs a few weeks ago.  In comments, many said that they found this was the case - except for mothers of small children who said that their focus suffered more from lack of time and too many interruptions.

* Me:  I don't even know what I'd do if I relaxed.
  Dear husband:  That's why you need to try!

"Starting Out in the Evening"

This movie came out last year, and I totally missed it, which is surprising since Frank Langella has been one of my favorite actors for a long time.*  Here's a description from IonCinema:

Based on the novel by Brian Morton, all that remains for Leonard Schiller (Frank Langella) is to finish the novel he has been laboring on for almost ten years. With his four earlier books out of print, he has learned to starve himself of the desire for the success he was once so close to, though beneath this practice lives a pull for his work to be rediscovered. His solitary writer's life is shaken by the arrival of Heather (Lauren Ambrose), an ambitious graduate student who persuades him that she can use her thesis to spur a rediscovery of his work. But as her inquiry proceeds, Heather displays a profound personal interest in Leonard, which unsettles him and stirs up his long-dormant need for intimacy. Meanwhile, Leonard’s daughter Ariel (Lili Taylor) reconnects with her ex-boyfriend Casey (Adrian Lester), a man Leonard firmly disapproves of. Leonard’s encounters with Heather lead him down an unfamiliar path that threatens his writing, his health, and his relationship to his daughter. But in living out in the open, in the evening of his life Schiller puts into practice the core theme of his novels -- life is not designed for our comfort but for our struggle, for in struggle there is growth.

I like this exchange in the trailer:

Heather:  "Do you think people will still be reading you in a hundred years?"

Leonard:  "What I wonder is whether people will still be reading in a hundred years."

I've just put it on our Netflix list.

Here's the trailer:

* Of course, next winter, I'm looking forward to seeing Frost/Nixon in which Frank Langella reprises his Tony Award winning role as Richard Nixon

"Summerfly" by Maura O'Connell (written by Cheryl Wheeler)

Two of my favorite singers, one of whom is a favorite songwriter.

I've been waiting for the first Friday of summer to post this song.  It starts with that feeling you got as a child when summer vacation starts and the whole summer stretches out, free, before you:*

In another younger day I could dream the time away
In the universe inside my room
And the world was really mine from June till September
And if it wasn't really so I was lucky not to know
And I was lucky not to wonder why
'Cause the summer time is all that I remember

A summer fly was buzzin' every night
When I was young
In the gentle world my childlike senses knew
And the world was just my cousin
And the wind was just the tongue
In the voice my lonely moments listened to...

It gets more somber after that, but I love even the bittersweet feeling of the song. 

• Click here for a brief listen to Cheryl Wheeler's version (from her album, Half a Book).
• Brief article about "Summerfly" at CherylWheeler.com.

 

* Part of why I would have been vehemently opposed to year round schools when I was young.

A Cyd Charisse Celebration

Of the wonderful dancer/actresses who starred in the musicals of Hollywood's Golden Age -  Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Ann Miller, Leslie Caron, Vera-Ellen, Jane Powell... - Cyd Charisse, who passed away last week, was my favorite. 

No surprise that, on blogs which I frequent, she's been a popular subject.  Here's Self-Styled Siren's view of Cyd Charisse's performance in The Band Wagon (right):

As in The Band Wagon, Charisse's greatest moments usually cast her as a woman whose jazzed-up dancing is seen as slumming somehow. In that sense she was perfectly of the 1950s, her sensuality boiling along under the surface as she gives her frequently wooden line readings. Then the music starts, she begins to dance and all hell breaks loose. You realize that here is the real Cyd, a dose of sex so strong that at some point in the dance her partner, even a great like Astaire or Kelly, seems bowled over by it.

In Band Wagons' "Girl Hunt Ballet," Fred Astaire's character says of Charisse's character, "She came at me in sections, more curves than a scenic railway. . . I wouldn't trust her any further than I could throw her, but she was my kind of woman."  This is one of my favorite scenes in any musical:
 

Here's another sultry dance scene with Gene Kelly from Singing in the Rain:

The Independent mentions this scene:

Charisse recalled, "As the camera panned up my legs and my body, I was supposed to exhale a drifting plume of smoke. I had never smoked and it took me a long time, plus a lot of coughing, before I got it right." The result was, and is, a breathtaking piece of choreographic seduction, and established Charisse as a prime musical star.

Cyd Charisse's husband said that he "could tell who she had been dancing with that day on an MGM set. If she came home covered with bruises on her, it was the very physically-demanding Gene Kelly, if not it was the smooth and agile Fred Astaire." (IMDB)

The Awkward Blogger mentions many Cyd Charisse movies that I'm unfamiliar with, including The Ziegfeld Follies, Til the Clouds Roll By (with Angela Lansbury, among many others), and The Kissing Bandit, with Ann Miller and Ricardo Montalban* (great video links too).

I enjoyed the roles she played, from the two sultry vamp scenes above, to the stuck up dancer in Band Wagon, to the stern/sweet Russian bureaucrat in Silk Stockings.  Bitch, Please says:

...Girl could MOVE. From sassy jazz moves to abstract modern works and everything in between, she could morph from good girl goddess to bad girl femme fatale without so much as saying a word--nothing needed to be spoken when you could express yourself so beautifully within your own limbs. Style, substance, smarts and sex appeal--one my personal heroines returns to that great big dance number set piece in the sky...

Although I love her performances in Singing in the Rain and The Band Wagon, my favorite movie of hers is Silk Stockings.  In it, her stern character is sent to Paris to bring back a Soviet composer.  There, she is romanced (and thawed (thawing to the right)) by Fred Astaire.  My favorite dance, however, includes only the chorus and Cyd Charisse.  Her exuberance is wonderful in "The Red Blues:"
 

A few more tributes:

• Bigmouth Indeed Strikes Again writes about meeting both Cyd Charisse and George Carlin.

• Another Old Movie Blog has a wonderful discussion of Dancing in the Dark from Band Wagon:

...Her strength is one of the most remarkable qualities exhibited in the lovely “Dancing in the Dark” number, a slow and romantic pas de deux. Here her trademark long, sexy legs are mostly covered by the mid-calf white dress, whose accordion pleats swish every now and then to give us the briefest glimpse of thigh. No high heels in this number; she dances in flats, gray ballet slippers. No draping her slinky body over her partner; it is nearly a full minute into the dance before she and Astaire even touch each other. No jazz beat, no revealing costume, yet it is one of the most sensual dances she has ever performed.

And though we see less of her body, we seem to see more of Cyd. We see her self-contained world where dance is a most revealing self-expression. Her confidence is riveting. She does not seem to be playing to the audience as much as she seems to be pleasing herself. It’s one of those rare moments were we get to watch a person doing what that person was born to do...

• Film Experience Blog loves Brigadoon.

• New York Times slideshow and two articles:

...It’s impossible to imagine the Hollywood musical without her. Like the greatest American movie dancers, she showed how appearing on screen isn’t just a matter of mouthing words, but also moving through and holding space. And she was a stunning physical specimen, at once lean and beautifully curved, with a wasp waist that seems to have been naturally designed for a man’s hand to rest gently in its slope. She didn’t do all that much with her face, though on occasion she let loose a deliciously evocative leer.

Her legs could send viewers into raptures, and after watching “Singin’ in the Rain” again, it’s easy to see why. She’s on screen less than 10 minutes — simply called the Dancer — but she dominates the windup of this American classic. The number, “Broadway Melody Ballet,” occurs in a film within a film that takes flight with Kelly as an eager hoofer looking for his Broadway break, singing “Gotta Dance!” He slides on his knees toward the camera, abruptly stopping before his hat, which has somehow become perched on a foot attached to a long, long leg. He gapes (as do we) as that leg then rises straight in the air with phallic suggestiveness, a prelude to a carnal encounter that was as close to on-screen sex as was possible in the 1950s and wholly sublime..

 We'll end, however, with Fred Astaire (quoted by Self-Styled Siren):

That Cyd! When you've danced with her, you stay danced with.

* Fans of Fantasy Island, Star Trek:  The Wrath of Khan, or the second and third Spy Kids movies may not know about Ricardo Montalban's musical past. Along with starring in movie musicals, he also was nominated for a Tony award as Best Actor in a Musical for Jamaica in the 1950's (Lena Horne also starred and was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical).

Stopping for pizza

 

We've been visiting my sister in Pennsylvania this week (and I set this week's posts up last weekend to appear while I've been gone).  I'm sure we've had a wonderful time.

We're heading back today - back to older son who stayed home for work and Music Man rehearsals, and to take care of recovering kitty. 

About the time this post appears, we'll be stopping at Bottoms Up Pizza in Richmond, VA for lunch.  We usually eat a picnic lunch when we travel, but we found this wonderful pizza place last March when we visited Richmond.  It's tucked in where I-95 and the railroads all come together.   The first picture shows I-95 overhead behind the pizza place, and the second shows the outdoor seating with elevated train tracks in the back.

If you're familiar with I-95 (with friends and relatives in the northeast, I've been quite familiar with it since we moved to NC long ago), you'll know the clock tower in the old railroad station (which is in use again!) that's right next to the highway (right). For decades, this clock tower has been my favorite thing on the drive.

The pizza place is a block or two from the station.  The bottom photo is the view looking out from the second floor of the train station towards the area where the pizza place is.

We'll be bringing some pizza back for older son.  

Friday Fun Song (which appeals to my introvert nature): "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" by Pink

... Go away
Give me a chance to miss you
Say goodbye
It'll make me want to kiss you
Tonight
Leave me alone I'm lonely
Alone I'm lonely
I'm tired
Leave me alone I'm lonely
Alone I'm lonely tonight...

No, this isn't directed at dear husband. This song just really struck me - particularly last week when I had little time to myself, was rushing around, and was spending lots of time worrying about sick boy kitty.  

It's a Pink song so there's language. 

From her album, I'm Not Dead, which I've been enjoying (Musiclectic post on Who Knew).  On the album, I also particularly like Stupid Girls, U + Ur Hand (language), and I'm Not Dead (why is it that all of the songs I like most, musically, on this album, also seem to be the most in-your-face opinionated?).

There's an interesting link to last weeks Friday Fun Song, about the musical Contact.  I mentioned that the dress in Contact (right) had been featured in an exhibit of William Ivey Long's costumes.  Another featured costume (left) was from the Musical "Nine."

Now, look at Pink's video for  U + Ur Hand (or don't look if it might bother you - it's rather bawdy in parts).  Check out her costume at 2:38 (click here since there aren't any embeddable videos of this one).

Recently on Musiclectic

• "Riena" by Varttina:  Another energetic song with depressing lyrics from one of my favorite groups - a Finnish folk-ish, rock-ish group (so most of you won't be able to understand the words anyway (grin)). 

• "The Motown Song" by Rod Stewart and the Temptations:  I think it's my favorite Rod Stewart song.  It was very popular on aerobics tapes back when I started doing aerobics.  

• "It Goes Both Ways" by Carrie Newcomer:  She's another one of my favorite singer/songwriters - with a beautiful, mellow voice, thoughtful lyrics, and lovely music.  I was surprised that I haven't mentioned her before on either blog. 

Linkfest: June 17, 2008 - Peace and Books

Various items of interest:

• At MyCup2Yours:  It's How You Say Hello, a wonderful post about how to act towards those we care about:

The other day I took my kids to the gym with me. When I went to pick them up from the play area after I’d finished working out, I passed the window to the room that they were in. My daughter saw me through the glass and jumped up and waved. And when I opened the door, she was standing at the front desk, smiling. “Mommy!” she said, hugging me tight.

I’d only been “gone” for an hour, but by the way she acted, you’d guess it had been a week.

This sweet greeting from my third-grader seriously melted my heart. And it made me think...

How do I say hello to her?...

[Hat tip to Rocks in My Dryer]

• What Spam Can Teach You about Inner Peace:  Christine Kane explains how to combat the spam in your mind.

...Here’s how mind spam works:

You’re driving home after a party. It was a great party, and you’re happy inside.

Bink! Your mind spams you. (”You’ve got mail!”)

The spam subject heading is: “You’ve always been a moron. Here’s how…”

You’re curious. (”I am?! Do tell!”) You click.

The body of the spam is: “You know, that woman named Rachel seemed to avoid you after you made that stupid remark to her.”

Rather than rolling your eyes and hitting delete, you do the very thing your mind wants you to do. You click the link! You pore over the details of that spam thought. And before you know it, you’ve entered the actual website of that thought. (www.101reasonsyou’reamoron.com.)

Now you’re in trouble. You begin clicking links like a madman. You’ve followed that spam and are now putting that whole story into a shopping cart and clicking BUY! Before you know it, you feel awful. And you believe all of that mind spam like it’s the truth...

• Review Haiku at emilyreads -  For instance, Pride and Prejudice:

Two blowhards meet cute
in Austen's classic rom-com.
Paging Colin Firth . .

or Here if You Need Me:

The Plucky Widow
will make you laugh, cry, praise God,
without sentiment.

• A Wrinkle in Time:  Quit Tesseracting Up at Jezebel:  A celebration of the book.  Here's a sample:

If I had my way, none of us would have to read this review at all. Instead, we'd join hands, hear a great dark thunderclap, and be whisked off to a rambling house in the country, where we'd view odd things bubbling in a lab with a stone floor, then eat limburger-and-cream-cheese sandwiches while swinging our legs at the kitchen table. We'd sidestep for a moment onto a planet inhabited by gentle gray creatures with dents for eyes, then be inserted into some mitochondria. We battle for the soul of Madoc /Maddox, and eat small crayfish with our lesbian kind-of aunt who insisted on calling us our full name (Polyhymnia). We'd hop on a freighter and solve a mystery, then go to boarding school in Switzerland. We would make a brief detour on the Upper West Side by way of Portugal, and be concerned with cell regeneration in starfish. We'd be smacked on the ass by a dolphin. Most important, whatever happened, we'd know we could get through it—because we are creatures that can love...

For those readers who don't know—and I can't imagine there are many, but just for the record—A Wrinkle in Time is the story of Meg Murry—bespectacled, easily angered, brilliant at math—the first in a line of L'Engle heroines who flit across the boundaries of space and time, even more flummoxed by adolescence than they are by being whipsawed across the universe. (Which they are generally, just to complicate things, in the process of saving.)...

[Hat tip to A Chair, A Fireplace, & a Tea Cozy]