junecleavage

I love musicals. Love with a capital LOVE. I also have been known to dig on a rock opera or two (not TOMMY though - I was forever damaged as a young girl of only 7 years old when my mother took me to see The Who's "Tommy" at the drive-in...baked bean nightmares for WEEKS to the extent that I hid the 8 track soundtrack tapes for fear the songs would flood me with memories of the horror). I was super into Camelot when it came out, must have gone to see it a thousand times (or maybe ten back then). Was given the cassette soundtrack as a gift and would sing along with it for freaking HOURS I tell you, hating Lancelot all the while for stealing King Arthur's good thing. The effing tool belt.

I had to be carried out of the theater, age 3-4ish, during the final scenes of Jesus Christ Superstar as Ted Neely was my boyfriend, you see, and I was destroyed by the treatment of him by the singing Pharaohs. (best rock opera line ever uttered "One thing I'll say for him, Jesus is cool"). Funny side note - many years later when I was living on the Venice Canals, Carl Anderson (Judas) moved in TWO doors from us. I nearly peed my pants. My room mate and I used to stalk him mercilessly we were so obsessed. I had seen the Broadway version so many times since the movie with both original actors, I was star struck and shameless about it.

I love me some Mary Poppins,

Sound of Music,

Victor/Victoria...man...I just love me some Julie Andrews. I love the way her movies just feel sort of like pop music. Bubble gum pop all the way. Catchy and smiley. Good stuff. But. well, V/V was her black knight.

Cabaret ended up being like the cheese steak ("wid" whiz) for me in the realm of dark musicals,

well that and All That Jazz. I loved the seedy late night I definitely would have frequented these places had I been alive feel of these flicks ( and clearly I have a "thing" for Fosse)

and I even have some deep love for Pippin, maybe because we performed it in high school, and it is classic Fosse.

(I love the way he threw Ben Vereen into All That JAzz - and more important the GREATEST AMERICAN HERO is in PIppin fer crissakes)

This could go on obviously....for pages...but I miss the well written, choreographed and produced musical. I love the intricacy of the dance and song tied in to produce a story. My favorite Christmas movie ever is White Christmas for exactly that reason. There is comfort in the revisiting of that landscape. Music...song...dance...laugh...romance...neatly tied up...fade to black.