Posts Categorized: Holiday

Somebody Super Like You & Life at Last – Phantom of Paradise

Posted by & filed under , , .

I originally told Ryan to write a post about zombies on broadway…I had recommended a few shows about zombies and instead, we got this. Enjoy!

When I started watching the video for Somebody Super Like You / Life At Last from Phantom of the Paradise, I first though I was seeing a KISS tribute concert. After it became clear that was wrong, I wondered if had fallen asleep during a scene from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but that did not seem right either. So I decided I would try to put the song in some context, and you know, read the video title. The song still begs a lot of questions, but at least now I know it is Somebody Super Like You / Life At Last from Phantom of the Paradise.

The whole scene from Phantom of the Paradise is way over the top and cheesy in a way I thought was awesome and hilarious. Opening with a huge thunderstorm and a blatant rip off of the Phantom of the Opera theme, the band quickly starts rocking out on stage. Watching how enthused their fans become, it’s hard not to start clapping and stomping right along with them.

The first time during Phantom of the Paradise when I was unable to hold my laughter in was when the girl in the yellow shirt was reaching out so desperately for the singer, and he takes her hand — literally. Watching as the band continues carrying out mutilations each verse somehow just gets funnier and funnier. I especially liked how they transferred from the victim’s scream back into the song. During the harmonizing part of the number, I thought that the graceful and dance-like sewing of the severed body parts was also hilariously choreographed.

Even though I thought the music in the second section of the song, where you get to see the newly created man, was a little lacking, it was my favorite part. Watching the phantom surreptitiously riding counterweights into the catwalk served for some very light hearted suspense, and I thought this more than made up for the lack luster music. To be honest, I was pretty excited to watch the Phantom use his bizarre lightening bolt gun to kill the Frankenstein character, as I really was not a fan of the man or the music. However, I did think that the guy calling for the fire extinguisher at the end was a great way to squeeze in a final laugh.

After watching Somebody Super Like You / Life At Last from Phantom of the Paradise, I am determined to see the rest of this movie over the weekend. Wrapping up a night out with a couple of friends and an absurd horror rock opera is not something I’ve done in the past, but after this clip from Phantom of the Paradise I am definitely looking forward to trying it out.

Meyer Family at Marry Poppins the Musical

Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins – A Mommy Bloggers Showtune Valentine

Posted by & filed under , , .

This next Mommy Blogger is a close friend and someone who I go to for advice and to vent with.  She is one of the smartest people I know and I am excited to have her guest blogging about her favorite showtune for Valentine’s Day.

A First Broadway Experience We Will Never Forget

Meyer Family at Marry Poppins the Musical

Meyer Family at Marry Poppins the Musical

My daughters have been raised on Broadway music. In fact, my husband and I actually first met when I was doing high school theatre. We started dating while working on “The Music Man” together. Before we had kids, we always had tickets to Broadway Across America in Indianapolis. Our girls have seen a few musicals locally but none of us had ever seen one in New York.

Last year when I was attending a conference in NYC we decided to make it a quick family trip. We only had 3 days and had purchased tour tickets, so we didn’t have a lot of time to spare. We initially decided that we would put off seeing a show until our next visit when we could really plan for it. However, we found ourselves at the TKS ticket booth one day around 5:00 and decided to take a chance.

We ran up to the counter and asked what was available, when did it start, and how much would it be. Their first suggestion was Evita and although it was a favorite of mine, I didn’t think it would be a good first musical for the kids. Options were really limited to get 4 seats together, but she had one set left for Mary Poppins. We didn’t have enough cash on us, so luckily they took our credit card. We had about 30 minutes to run back through Times Square to make it to the show on time.

Grabbing pretzels and hot dogs on a corner, we made it into the line just in time not to be late. We didn’t get to look around too much, but the New Amsterdam theatre was amazing. I spent a little time researching it on the phone and reading to the family while we waited for the show to start. Our seats were terrible and almost the whole way at the back, but we didn’t care!

Although we have seen the movie many times, I was most taken with the song “Feed the Birds.” I never cared about that song before, but I think being in that moment and seeing it performed with my kids on Broadway the first time any of us ever went left a real mark on me. I know I should have understood before that the theme of the song was about charity, but I guess I just always overlooked it because the song didn’t appeal to me. Now I find myself frequently humming it and hoping that my children understand it, too.

A little trivia about the song. It is known to have been one of Walt Disney’s favorites. As a major Disney fan, I love this!

Mary Poppins is closing on Broadway on March 3, 2013, to make way for the new Aladdin. But hopefully many of you will still be able to see it on tours across the country. It was a terrific family experience that mine will never forget. And I will never think of “Feed the Birds” the same way.


Tricia Meyer is a mom, a blogger, and a Disney fanatic. You can read her random musings about parenting and life in general at Helping Moms Connect.

wendy delmonte in gypsy

You’ll Never Get Away From Me – Gypsy – By Wendy DelMonte

Posted by & filed under , , .

This week I asked a bunch of Mommy Bloggers to guest post for me and share a showtune that means something to them for valentine’s day. Each one surprised me with their posts and I was excited reading about what they chose. Some wrote about their kids, others about their husbands and some just wrote about why they love the song. The first post is from one of my favorite mommy bloggers, Wendy Delmonte from Weight’s Over. Wendy’s blog is about weight loss and has a million great ideas for exercise, recipes and healthy living.

wendy delmonte in gypsy

wendy delmonte in gypsy

I love Theater and  I love theatrical music.  Living in Westchester County, New York, while in high school it was a 25 minute train ride to New York City and Broadway Matinees.   But my very favorite theater  song of all time isn’t from a show I saw- it was from a show I was in.

I was a theater geek.  We had a very active theater program at our school of which I was a part.   Like most drama clubs, we were a tight group who hung out together all the time. We were all friends.   We performed a lot of plays- Our Town, Grease; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Voices From the High School, Camelot, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Bye, Bye Birdie, and my favorite, Gypsy.   Yes, it helps that I had the lead , Rose, but  in hindsight, it’s even more  special because my husband , Dave, played Herbie, my love.

In fact, all throughout High School, he played my other half.  Pretty much in every show we were in together, we were partnered up.  We never dated, though. We were friends , but never more.

We had this duet in Gypy:

You’ll never get away from me.
You can climb the tallest tree.
I’ll be there somehow.

True, you could say, “Hey, here’s your hat.”
But a little thing like that
couldn’t stop me now.

I couldn’t get away from you,
even if you told me to,
so go on and try.
Just try and you’re gonna see
how you’re gonna not at all
get away from me.

We sang that in High School.  In fact, we had a stage kiss after this duet and I refused to kiss him.  We were just friends. We hugged instead. Little did I know HE wanted that stage kiss. He meant that song.  As soon as he got home from college, he looked me up.  We did a lot together as friends- lots of karaoke and Community Theater.  He sang to me, we sang together. We fell in love.  I hadn’t gotten away from him, after all.  I am so glad!

When we got married, our priest made fun of the fact that I refused to kiss him on stage. We sang this song, together, at our reception.

wendy delmonte

wendy delmonte

Because Wendy lives in Connecticut, here is another fabulous lady who lives in Connecticut performing You’ll Never Get Away From Me.

Wendy writes about losing weight  and healthy living all while raising a family at www.weightsover.com  You can follow her on Twitter at @weightsover and her Facebook page

 

By The Sea from Sweeny Todd – Happy Labor Day!

Posted by & filed under , , .

I couldn’t think about what to write about today because I’ve sort of checked out for the long weekend for Labor Day, I was completely brain dead.  I couldn’t actually think of a showtune to write about or anything, even though there are a ton of showtunes about the USA that would be perfect.  Instead I was thinking about everyone going to the beach to relax this weekend as well as finally having time to sleep and relax and do nothing but drink wine and read a book and hang out with friends.  I’m also completely excited for the new Tim Burton movie to come out and so when I was thinking of what to write about it finally came to me, Sweeny Todd.  By the Sea from Sweeny Todd by Stephen Sondheim is a classic song about relaxing and taking time off which is what Labor Day is all about and when you combine Tim Burton whose new movie is coming out soon you have a perfect song and show for Labor Day weekend.

By the Sea from Sweeny Todd is when Mrs. Mooney and Mr. Todd are tired of working and Mrs. Mooney wants a break from her pie shop.  Mr. Todd is still focused on revenge against the Judge that destroyed his wife and kidnapped his daughter, but even when he is thinking revenge, he actually considers taking a break and relaxing with Mrs. Mooney.  Unfortunately for her she is thinking that he will fall in love with her and he is thinking that although he likes her as a friend, all he wants is his daughter and revenge on the Judge.  By the Sea from Sweet Todd is an awesome showtune and I love how Tim Burton took it and turned it into something that looks like Halloween.

He was able to take light colors and turn them dark with costuming.  He shows the sun and clear skies but also has people dressed up in dark colors with pale skin and dark make up to turn it dark like it is Halloween at the beach.  I love the color contrasts of this song in the movie version and even though they do a good job with By the Sea in stage productions, I love how Tim Burton directed it in the movie.  By the Sea from Sweeny Todd is the perfect showtune for Labor Day and if you are going to the beach I hope you have a great holiday weekend.

Drop Dead Gorgeous Sings Proud to Be An American

Posted by & filed under , , .

One of the funniest and least remembered movies from the 90′s or early 2000′s has to be Drop Dead Gorgeous. Not only was Kirstin Dunst amazing in it, but you also had Kristy Alley, Midwestern beauty pageants, murderous moms, models eating and puking shelfish, singing, dancing, burning swans and everything else that makes a comedy about a beauty pageant great!

Because Drop Dead Gorgeous takes place in the mid west, everything is patriotic and American. You know, Mexican and Chinese food, Toyota and VW cars, Swiss watches and even Belgian chocolates. It’s amazing how everything is American there and how you can be proud of it, so when I heard them perform Proud to Be an American in the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous, I absolutely thought that it would be the perfect showtune for today on the 4th of July. To be honest though, the 4th of july is absolutely one of my favorite holidays.

I live in Washington DC and there is nothing like seeing the fireworks over the monuments and hearing the NSO orchestra with amazing broadway performers and being in the Nation’s Capital to celebrate our Independence. I was originally going to play a showtune from the broadway show 1776 since it is all about the 4th of July and our Independence, but I also wanted to find something that was fun…and I already reviewed 1776 a few months ago so I didn’t want to do it again. I also thought of a few other shows which would have been good, but instead my friend Dan posted this video on Facebook today and it was absolutely the perfect one to play and post for the 4th of July. Although it isn’t technically a musical or broadway show about the 4th of July, it is all about being proud to be an American and being proud of your country.

Patriotism is extremely strong in the mid west and here in DC everyone loves America on the 4th of July and everyone gets along. It’s actually a really nice holiday because all of the locals leave for the beach and that is why it is a much friendlier place lol. Anyways, I’m Proud to be an American from Drop Dead Gorgeous is the perfect movie musical and showtune for the 4th of July and one that is absolutely hilarious. Have a great holiday everyone!