Topic: GIRDING MY LOINS (Read 28569 times)

bk · « **on:** February 09, 2004, 12:02:43 AM »

Well, you've read the notes (which were LONG), you've girded your loins and therefore there is nothing left to be done except post until the cows come home. To it, I say.

Jed · « **Reply #1 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:13:51 AM »

Oh my, what a wonderfully difficult topic o' the day. I'll have to do myself some pondering and answer later in the day.

Should have plenty of pondering time today, as I'm subbing for a teacher who has a student teacher at the moment, so I'm just there for legal purposes, while the student teacher will run the classes. Easiest day's wages I'm likely to ever see.

Tomovoz · « **Reply #2 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:15:50 AM »

The quartet version of "Johanna" in Act 2 of "Sweeney Todd" is my favourite Sondheim work. I do love so much of his work - "Not A Day Goes By" and "Finishing The Hat" are so beautiful. I still smile after countless listenings to "I Never Do Anything Twice". I also love "Barcelona". Must also give mentions to "You Must Meet My Wife" and the wonderful "Weekend In The Country: and "Every Day A little Death". I could list so many more - even "A House For Mama".

Tomovoz · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:17:25 AM »

"Gird". Australia's national anthem has the line "girt by sea". It always seems to be an ugly phrase to me.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 09, 2004, 02:52:21 AM »

Hmmmmmmmmmmm......

DR Jed - the CD is called THE LANGLEY SCHOOLS PROJECT, here is the Amazon link for details!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005Q6NP/qid%3D1076323829/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-9388937-4867303

Favorite Sondheim ballad....so difficult to choose any ONE of anything, so I will choose two!

Our Time & No More.

Comedy song: Comedy Tonight, Bring Me My Bride

Lyric: Some People & You'll Never Get Away From Me.

Good thoughts this morning to TD and his family!

Ben · « **Reply #5 on:** February 09, 2004, 05:09:27 AM »

Hard questions since I have many favorites. It's like the favorite 12 show tunes, this list could change but right now I'll say

Favorite Sondheim ballad: Losing My Mind from Follies (the beautiful Dorothy Collins)

Comedy song: If Mamma Was Married from Gypsy

Lyric: So much of the work in Night Music that it's hard to choose.

My favorite all-time number 1 Sondheim song, and I don't think this will change is Someone in a Tree from Pacific Overtures. It is also one of my absolute favorite shows in the entire musical theatre canon. I didn't see the Broadway production but I have seen the show and I just find it to be brilliant culminating in that amazing song.

Ben · « **Reply #6 on:** February 09, 2004, 05:09:50 AM »

JRand, your package is in the mail!

Noel · « **Reply #7 on:** February 09, 2004, 05:53:45 AM »

I'm shocked to hear BK doesn't consider Vittorio Starraro a good lensman:
Bulworth, Little Buddha, The Sheltering Sky, Dick Tracy, New York Stories, Tucker, The Last Emperor, Reds, Luna, Apocalypse Now, 1900, Last Tango in Paris, The Conformist ....leads me to wonder if there's a living lensman who's done better work.

Sondheim ballad: definitely Who Could Be Blue
comedy: A Little Priest
up-tempo: A Weekend in the Country
lyric: the bridge to Uptown Downtown delights me; but for a whole lyric, I was more moved by Children and Art than anything I've heard in any of his shows

but Opening Doors should be there somewhere, for that one song totally captured my life in my twenties.

PennyO · « **Reply #8 on:** February 09, 2004, 05:58:03 AM »

Mawnin', mawnin' everyone. Another beautiful day here on the river.

Favorite ballad - Losing My Mind (singing it in my show, so I'm especially fond of it right now), tied with I Remember.

Up-tempo - Broadway Baby (for the same reason!)

Comic Lyric - well, Officer Krupke really continues to knock my socks off. But there are so many, aren't there.

And one ensemble I always marvel at is the quartet Love Will Get Us Through 'til Something Better Comes Along. Wow. And Johanna's line: What's a reticule? always makes me laugh out loud (especially the way Betsy Joslyn delivered it!)

Have a lovely day - I will! I'm meeting my tech director today. Oh, BOY!!! And the gym on the corner gave me a special two-week membership for $20. I work out every day, so you do the math...

PennyO · « **Reply #9 on:** February 09, 2004, 06:00:02 AM »

Noel: I have to agree with you about A Little Priest!!!

William E. Lurie · « **Reply #10 on:** February 09, 2004, 06:18:32 AM »

There is too much Sodheim to choose from, but I'd probably have to say "Loooosing My Mind" as sung by the lovely Dame Edna (take that "Sondheim Review").

I find it quite interesting that the 40th Anniverary of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show is getting a lot more media coverage that the 40th Anniversary of the Kennedy assassination got a couple of months ago.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 09, 2004, 06:19:55 AM »

So many wonderful choices! I love them all...BUT if we're talking a SPECIFIC lyric it would have to be:

"Some people sit on their butts...
Got the dream, yea, but not the guts...."

The story of so many lives and encouraged me to go out and do something about what I wanted to do....

Jrand73 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 09, 2004, 06:23:10 AM »

Mr BK - on the "Frances" DVD commentary, director Graeme Clifford said that he was shooting his movie on the Zoetrope lot at the same time FFC was shooting "One From the Heart." Did you ever run into any of the Frances crew.

Clifford also said it was ironic that they were shooting there because FFC had had a Frances Farmer project in the works as well, but shelved it when Brooksfilms got off the starting blocks first.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 09, 2004, 06:47:49 AM »

Oh, I forgot to tell DRWEL that the photo of Miss Phoebe B. Beebe was too cute!

MBarnum · « **Reply #14 on:** February 09, 2004, 07:14:08 AM »

DR Jose, hurray! If you can tape THE LAST WAGON for me I will be eternally grateful to ya! Thanks!!!!

Jay · « **Reply #15 on:** February 09, 2004, 07:18:50 AM »

Dear Reader MBarnum--

Last night you were asking about "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra." The L.A. Times gave it a fairly positive review, indicating that lovers of '50s schlock like yourself will have a great time with it. Here's a link:

http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-lost6feb06,2,5283210.story?coll=cl-mreview

Jay · « **Reply #16 on:** February 09, 2004, 07:20:21 AM »

For its interior rhyming, I just love "Ah, But Underneath."

Matt H. · « **Reply #17 on:** February 09, 2004, 07:57:21 AM »

I knew mpost of my choices would already be picked once I logged on, read the notes, and saw the topic of the day. But here you are anyway . . . .

Favorite Sondheim ballad - no question: "Losing My Mind"

Comedy song: "A Little Priest" which is also one of the greatest Act I closers of all time along with "A Weekend in the Country"

Lyric: "The Miller's Son"

Uptempo number: "Everybody Says Don't"

Matt H. · « **Reply #18 on:** February 09, 2004, 07:59:55 AM »

What's fascinating about this is that I could honestly list five or six choices under every single heading and none of them would repeat themselves. His catalog of songs is SO rich in so many ways that it's astonishing. "Genius" is not an overstated word when dealing with this man's work.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:09:55 AM »

DR MBARNUM if you haven't visited the official site of the Skeleton of Cadavra - here it is....it has everything EXCEPT Mara Corday!

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelostskeletonofcadavra/?movie_id=25

William F. Orr · « **Reply #20 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:14:29 AM »

How strange, given the size and quality of the man's work, that we seem to be picking the same songs.

Ballad: "Losing My Mind", I admit it. I'm glad DR Noel brought up "Who Could Be Blue?", which is also one of my favorites and much less recorded. I may switch my choice to "Loving You" at the drop of a finished hat.

You see how unfair it is for us to be asked to pick a favorite, BK? "Nothing's Going to Harm You" and "Children Will Listen" are also both my number-one favorite, the latter more so as I watch how children grow up.

Comedy: Again, I have to go with the majority and say "A Little Priest", but I'm leaning toward "You Must Meet My Wife", as it is more of a character and plot song than the former. And, although I know many hate it, "That'll Show Him" has always set me laughing. And my favorite is "I Never Do Anything Twice"--oops, I mean "A Little Priest", or whatever I said first.

Lyric: "Everything was possible, and nothing made sense", as the perfect encapsulation of youth.

William F. Orr · « **Reply #21 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:16:16 AM »

Most Inspirational: "Move On"

See, I have to invent new categories.

Panni · « **Reply #22 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:16:38 AM »

Good morning. Have to run and get ready for a big meeting. This morning - before I saw the Notes - I was taking my early morning walk and listening to Mandy Patinkin's "Oscar & Steve" album on my Walkman. As I listened, I was thinking that I wanted to ask the DRs what they thought of Mr.. Patinkin. Sometimes he does the strangest things - yet for him it works. For anybody else it would be a sketch of an overwrought singer on SNL . His version of "If I Loved You" is a good example. I mean he is ALL over the place. He's over the top of the top of the top - but it seems to work. Anyway, what do you all think?
As for favorite Sondheims -- right at this moment "I Wish I Could Forget You" from Passion - because it's such a lethal love song ("A love as pure as breath/as permanent as death/ implacable as stone. /A love that like a knife/has cut into a life/I wanted left alone.) Whewww! Intense. And "No One is Alone" is very moving. Some of the others have already been named. Ask me in an hour, and I'll have different favorites.
Will post again after my meeting. I have no clear idea how to get there - so it should be an interesting challenge.

DERBRUCER · « **Reply #23 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:17:28 AM »

Quote from: Jay on February 09, 2004, 07:20:21 AM

For its interior rhyming, I just love "Ah, But Underneath."

For the ultimate of this art form see TomOfOz earlier today:

Australia's national anthem as the line "girt by sea".
It always seems to be an ugly phrase to me.

der Brucer (waiting for T of O to start in with Haiku)

DERBRUCER · « **Reply #24 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:21:52 AM »

"Jogging Jew with Girded Loins"

Somewhere there is a great painting (or, indeed, sculpture) waiting to be set free.

der Brucer (thinking "Jogging Jew with Girded Loins Avoiding Vile Epithets" at tad too complex)

William F. Orr · « **Reply #25 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:33:44 AM »

DR Panni:

A colleague and his partner saw Mandy live last year, and his comment was that no matter what you think of Mandy on CD everything he does absolutely works in a live concert.

Freudeshaden Department:

A mutual acquaintance tells us that the MacBeths next door are having serious marital problems. Lord MacBeth was away all weekend, returned to the castle at 1:30 this morning and left for work at 5:30. Lady MacBeth was in and out all weekend alone, no sign of her two-year-old, which is not surprising, since she usually has the grandparents baby-sitting.

I really don't often wish bad things upon people, but when someone has gone out of her way to do something purely evil, I cannot help be enjoy watching the monster eat the Evil Industrialist who refused to cancel the festival!

Vibes: Thanks again to one and all.

Ballad: "Sunday". One of the most glorious songs ever written, and when I'm not humming the song that's my favorite, my favorite's the song that I'm humming. With apologies to Yip Harburg.

Ben · « **Reply #26 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:37:27 AM »

Part 3 of the Frank Loesser Story on BBC 2 is up. After you've listened to our own Donald and Evita deconstructed, ramble over to this link and hear some wonderful stuff including a story about Slow Boat to China and how "dirty" the song was thought to be by film censors of the time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/easy/

William F. Orr · « **Reply #27 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:46:59 AM »

Perhaps "Jogging Jew with Girded Loins" will soon be playing on a double bill with "Jewish Thighs on Broadway".

Yesterday's Topic: My apologies to those who feel otherwise, but the Enterprise Theme "Faith of the Heart" impresses me as pop schlock. Joe and I turn down the volume and sing "I got strength of the bladder".

The worst part is that it has nothing to do with the entire concept of Roddenberry's Star Trek universe. The song is al I, I, I, and me, me, me. Roddenberry is Us Working Together. And, of course "ain't gonna hold me down no more" is a piece of non-grammar that even Captain Kirk wouldn't come out with. Captain Picard might smile tolerantly.

And speaking of Captain Picard, I have a

Star Trek Trivia Question: Although not as randy as Captain Kirk, Picard has had relationships with quite a few women. Three of them were played by actresses best known as singers, but none of them got to sing on the show. Can you name them? Hint: One has appeared on Broadway (and is doing so right now), one has been recorded by BK, two have appeared in musicals, one has written a musical, and one had a hit single of a Rodgers & Hart song.

bk · « **Reply #28 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:47:37 AM »

Noel, darling, I didn't say I didn't think he was a "good" lensman (Mr. Storaro) - I said for me he isn't one of the greats. I don't think much of today's "living" cameramen, so sure, compared to today's cameramen he's fine. But I find his work not that special and I could make up a rather long list of people whose work I admire more, to wit: Franz Planer, Winton Hoch, Conrad Hall, John Alonzo, Henri Decae, Nicholas Roeg, Freddie Young, Douglas Slocombe, William Daniels, Stanley Cortez, Greg Toland, Raoul Coutard, Jack Cardiff, and I could go on and on. There's nothing wrong with Storaro - he's a fine cameraman, just not the second coming in my opinion (IMO, in Internet lingo).

Jrand73 · « **Reply #29 on:** February 09, 2004, 08:57:01 AM »

DR WEL - hmmmmm....good question!!

DR DerBrucer - it could also be filmed by Ingmar Bergman as:

Thighs and Whispers.

News:

Author Topic: GIRDING MY LOINS (Read 28569 times)

Ben

Ben

MBarnum

Ben