I know...yet again, I probably don't have much of a readership left other than the Lovely Q. And maybe a few others that don't comment very often.
If you're here, welcome again! Thank you for taking time to visit my poor neglected blog.
I'm posting again for a few reasons.
1. My best friend in real life started writing a blog. You should check it out. This guy is amazing, both on the interwebs and in real life and is an inspiration to me in SO many ways.
2. I've moved! Instead of living Somewhere Sort of Near Houston, I now live Somewhere in the Vicinity of Dallas for school. I'm a University student now!! And as such, I have some thoughts on my experiences and people that I've met so far. Names will be changed to protect the nerdy.
3. I've missed blogging. Yeah, yeah, if I've missed it, why haven't I written?! Well, I haven't had much to say for awhile. This syndrome has affected me in other regions; I'm normally pretty consistent about keeping my journal, but lately that's been neglected as well.
Aaaaand, now that I have administrative business dealt with, I leave y'all with my current favorite song that I wish to purchase in the future.
(the video is rather weird, but I LOVE this song.)
"Pray for the people inside your head for they won't be there when you're dead."
...that when I need new music, the library catalog is being updated, ergo I can't put anything I want on hold?! Well....for consolation, I'm going to go to the bookstore today. So there.
In other news, the first rehearsal for my show is tonight...I'm very excited. After much rigamarole, we have a cast again. In order to get a replacement for someone who had other commitments, I had to brush up the phone voice again. I called...what was it?...four people before I got someone who could do it that actually had an interest.
Lesson learned: Don't count your cast members before the first rehearsal.
And so this post isn't completely lame, I leave y'all with a song I'm really loving right now from a musical called Curtains.
To make up for the angst of that song, and because I told myself I was going to be HAPPY today, I'll also leave y'all with links for Muppet Show songs I'm also loving right now.
Take me out tonight
Where there's music and there's people
Who are young and alive
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven't got one anymore
Take me out tonight
Because I want to see people
And I want to see life
Driving in your car
Oh please don't drop me home
Because it's not my home, it's their home
And I'm welcome no more
And if a double-decker bus Crashes into us To die by your side Is such a heavenly way to die And if a ten ton truck Kills the both of us To die by your side Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine
Take me out tonight
Take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
And in the darkened underpass
I thought Oh God, my chance has come at last
But then a strange fear gripped me
And I just couldn't ask
Take me out tonight
Oh take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven't got one
No, I haven't got one
And if a double-decker bus Crashes in to us To die by your side Is such a heavenly way to die And if a ten ton truck Kills the both of us To die by your side Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine
There is a light that never goes out
There is a light that never goes out
There is a light that never goes out
There is a light that never goes out
Before we get to the final post in the "Music That Currently Makes Me Happy" series, did anyone see the GOP debate last night? I was unable to, though I was encouraged by an article that said that Ron Paul "was the crowd favorite."
Oh, the joys of being able to vote in the next election!! I can't wait.
We wrap up with miscellaneous music: two alternative songs and a soundtrack song.
First, Under the Milky Way by the Church. This guy's voice....oh...my...gosh. I love it. Just the title of the song makes me happy thinking about it. These Aussies are pretty awesome.
Next, Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge. This song is SO BRILLIANT on so many levels. Baz Luhrmann took what on their own are sappy love pop songs and combined them into the medley, which is PERFECT for Christian and Satine in the movie. I hadn't even liked most of these songs on their own, but combined, they rock.
On a side note, this is a very cool video that someone made of the original songs in the medley against pictures of Satine and Christian.
Honorable Mentions: Where the Streets Have No Name, (Pet Shop Boys version) Nara, (E.S. Posthumous) Test Drive, (How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack) Lucky, (Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat) In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel) and Come What May and Your Song. (from Moulin Rouge)
I could include most of the songs from their album Songs from the Heart, particularly Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears; Galway Bay; You'll Be In My Heart; and Amazing Grace; but my current favorite is their version of Fields of Gold, originally by Sting.
Another song that I was until recently unaware of that I love is Newgrange. It's about, well, Newgrange, which is actually the oldest surviving man-made structure in the world. It's older than the pyramids and Stonehenge. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Orla's voice in this song.
Finally, I'm so irritated because they don't have a recording of this song. It's such a wonderful song, but there is NO RECORDING OF IT!!!!
At the Ceili
Honorable Mentions of Celtic Woman songs that make me happy other than aforementioned songs: Orinoco Flow; the Sky, the Dawn, and the Sun; Chloe's Starry, Starry Night; Walking in the Air; Siull A Run; Dulaman; and the Soft Goodbye.
I must remember to post about the (somewhat) recent discovery of my love for my (what little I have) Irish heritage...
Insomnia strikes again, so here we go with Part 2!!
First, the main theme from Firefly. I could listen to this song over and over and over without getting sick of it.
"Take my love, take my land. Take me where I cannot stand.
I don't care; I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black. Tell them I ain't coming back.
Burn the land and boil the sea. You can't take the sky from me."
Next, Bonnie Blue Flag. This is the 2nd South Carolina String Band performing in the movie Gods and Generals.
Finally, A Prayer for Me In Silence by Flogging Molly. I wish this song was LONGER because it's so awesome. And I couldn't find a version of them actually performing it, just the audio.
Despite my griping and complaining that this musical even existed, I really love this one song. Someone in my vocal studio sang it during our recital, and I fell in love with it.
Which makes it really irritating that I don't have the vocal type or range to sing this song, ha ha.
The Title Song from Love Never Dies
Next, another piece that was performed at my vocal recital, though again not by me. This song is from the musical Side Show, which is about a set of conjoined twins. In my recital, it was performed by non-identical twin sisters, so it was very appropriate for them.
I actually liked our vocal recital staging better, but this video works. Just skip the jabbering at the beginning.
These kids prove, as my mother said, that there may be hope for my generation after all. They did what we've thought about attempting to do. I'll first show the real version, then the video I'm talking about.
Enjoy.
EJC's most ambitious project to date is finally complete!!! What starts off to be a serious filming of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again soon turns into a fiasco in this two-part piece featuring the return of the Famous Producer, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, and lots of humor!
Enjoy!!
EDIT: My films are filmed in widescreen, so they may show up squashed on the blog. Clicking again on the video to view it directly on youtube is recommended.
In other news, whilst accomplishing the above project, we finally had the Official EJC convention, which was the first time that all of the current members had ever gotten all together. We also got a cool picture....
So...a review. To clarify, this is a semi-joint review: a review of the movie (based on a musical) and the original cast recording (of a revival of the original musical).
Anyway.....Sweeney Todd. (quick synopsis borrowed from here: "A barber who slits people's throats has a neighbor who makes meat pies....... you do the math.")
I have to say, I didn't expect to like it that much. I knew my best friend really liked it, and my tastes usually coincide, but in this instance, I thought....well, never mind with what I thought. I think I LOST my train of thought... (haven't had my cup of tea yet this morning.) Spoilers probably follow.
So ANYWAY again....my friend gave me the soundtrack, but because I hate listening to showtunes without knowing the story, I put the movie on hold at the library. Because I'm in a scatter-brained mood, I'll do this part of the movie review list-like:
CON: Blood....for some of the more....let's say, 'dramatic' scenes, I just closed my eyes. Yes, I know the subject matter, but Tim Burton didn't need to be THAT graphic.
PRO: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman. They each were AMAZING in their roles, and they all sang very well, I thought.
CON: They didn't use the Ballad of Sweeney Todd and all its reprises!!! That song was an integral part of explaining what the musical was really about!! (but more on that later)
PRO: Costumes, make-up, and overall look of the movie I thought fit very well with the story and characters.
Moving on from the movie to the music and show in general, it really has grown on me. Yes, it's dark, but it's dark for a reason. Sweeney Todd was motivated to slit throats because he wanted to avenge the supposed death of his wife. Yet ironically, in getting his "revenge" he actually kills his wife! We can despise Sweeney or pity him, but we are not immune to what led him to such dark deeds. Just as the Ballad said, "Perhaps today you gave a nod to Sweeney Todd" and "To seek revenge may lead to hell, but everyone does it if seldom as well."
If I had anything else to say about this subject, I forgot what it was, so I'll just leave y'all with two of my favorite songs from the musical, one version from the original cast the other from the movie. Enjoy!
Well, recently I had the amazing privilege of seeing The Phantom of the Opera live on stage, and there are many words that come to mind to describe it: amazing, fantastic, gripping, tragic, beautiful. But a review that just describes something in such pithy undescriptive tones would be boring, so I'll try to think better ways to relay my awesome experience. As always, spoilers are a constant presence, so beware. Also seeing the musical makes me even more suspicious of the sequel, as I posted about earlier.
Times I cried in the whole show: four.
Three times in Act 1 and once in Act 2, though that time was rather...extensive, we'll say.
Favorite scenes:
Chandelier going up:
We were in the mezzanine, so we had a spectacular view of the chandelier and how it ascended from the stage, over the heads of the orchestra pit and people in the first few rows, then all the way up the theater.
When Christine and Meg were singing Angel of Music:
The ballet chorus girls kept making hilarious mistakes. There is always the constant question of whether art imitates life or life imitates art: I think in this case, art imitates life because I've made many of the same silly mistakes those girls have made when dancing.
Title song:
Ohhh......my.........gosh...... There are no words sufficient enough to describe this scene. This one in my mind was the thing I had anticipated the most, and it did not disappoint. Think of how the movie version had an elaborate set, then stuff it down to moving platforms, fog, candles that come out of the stage, moving boat, and the Phantom himself. With a hat! I'm so used to the movie, I always forget that he has an awesome hat in the musical. Add to that the music itself and the actors singing it, and... ugh! I'm flabbergasted trying to explain, so I'll just move on... Well wait, before I go on I have to say something: I was obsessed with Spamalot before I was obsessed with many other Broadway musicals, Phantom being one of them. But seeing "Phantom of the Opera" (individual song) on stage made me completely get how brilliant "The Song that Goes Like This" was in parodying it in its staging. I don't think I'll ever be able to choose my favorite musical.... It's either Spamalot, Phantom of the Opera, or Les Miserables...such a decision...but moving on.
Music of the Night:
Rocked. His high light note literally made me and a friend I was seeing it with gasp in amazement.
All I Ask of You and its Reprise:
This Raoul actually wasn't annoying! It's amazing how this has happened two times in a row... the Lovesick Tenor in love with the Main Soprano usually never fails to annoy in movie versions or soundtracks. In both Les Mis and Phantom, their Marius/Raoul and Cosette/Christine were not completely annoying!
Phantom lowered down on the statue: completely amazing.
And of course, the Chandelier Crash.
Really, it crashes. Right back onto the stage. And it rocked.
Past the Point of No Return to the end:
I'm really coming up with nothing descriptive that wouldn't completely ruin the musical for someone who hasn't seen it, so I'll just say this: it made me cry pathetically.
Overall, I had an incredible time, and I was so blessed in that I got to see it with some of my dearest friends and family, which made the time even more amazing.
To leave y'all, here is the condensed title song and Music of the Night as performed in the Tony Awards in 1988, by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, the original Phantom and Christine. This'll give you a tiny taste of the awesomeness of the set, especially the title song.
Ok, a mini-speech... I always find it interesting how as an actor, I've always been taught never, Never, NEVER to turn my back on the audience, yet in shows like Les Mis and Phantom, there are times when a performer has his back on the audience for long stretches of time... I just find that amusing...
I LOVE these videos, and would watch more Les Mis, but that my internet can only take so much youtube before dying on me. So...enjoy these two, and if you have good internet, find the other ones related to these. I'm sure they rock too.
I absolutely LOVE songs that tell a story. Not just narratives, but an underlying relationship or event that isn't expressly stated. My musings are inspired today because I finally got Wonderwall (by Oasis) from Mom. The reason she thought to get it is that Charlie sings it in Desmond's flashes and it's such an ironic song for him to sing in regards to Desmond. Here is a snippet:
And all the roads that lead you there winding And all the lights that light the way are blinding There are many things that I would like to say to you I don't know how
I said maybe You're gonna be the one that saves me? And after all You're my wonderwall
Isn't that ironic??? Desmond, the man who sees flashes of Charlie's death in many different forms, witnesses Charlie singing THIS song in his flash. The music directors of Lost are awesome at finding songs that perfectly pertain to what's going on. So yeah. That's my current song that I'm obsessed with.
NOTE: I will have a new EJC Productions video up soon. Just a fluff piece on my kitten, but I thought it was fun to watch her be a cute little baby rat looking thing again, ha ha. And also, in the works is another film that is Phantom of the Opera related. The script has been written and negotiations will start soon for a guest actor in the production.
Tasha lives! She can dance and sing because she took the PSAT today, and thinks she did pretty well on it! Even though we won't get scores back until December, I'm counting 51 as a completed goal now, because, as Dad said, "It's no use talking about anymore until December." Thank goodness...
I finally can read for real again! And just in time, cause Erustan lent me Inkdeath, which just came out! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover.
On the 101 front, I changed some of my stuff because alot of the goals were really vague...so if you see me complete a goal you didn't realize was there, it probably wasn't.
I conform to non-conformity. I am myself because everyone else is taken. I am a paradox wrapped in an oxymoron smothered in contradictions in terms. I am who I am and say what I feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
