Last night we went to see this summer’s musical-in-the-park.
It was The Music Man so I’ve been singing about Gary, Indiana, all day today.
The whole evening was spot-on perfect.
We laid our blanket down at 6:00, walked across the parking lot and swam in Barton Springs ’til 8:00, walked back and picnicked as the show started, and knew enough to sing along fairly frequently. The girls had that lusty look in their eyes, that "I could be up there singing" look, from start to finish.
So it should’ve been no surprise when, during the intermission, one of them said, "Plays are better than movies."
"Way," said the other.
"Way."
"Better how?" I asked.
"Well," said Tall One, "they’re real. I mean, they’re almost real. You can even see a little mistake here and there."
"Yeah," echoed her sister. "When they make mistakes in movies they just rewind and change it up. It’s kind of cheaty."
"With plays you’re right in the middle of whatever’s happening," said Tall.
"I see what you mean," I said, and then the band struck up.
Note to self: What kids want from art is to be "right in the middle of whatever’s happening."
At least some kids.
At least mine…
You and your girls rock.
Not quite as much as the folks up on stage the other night! Man-oh-man!
Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana, not Louisiana…
Okay, now that’s stuck in my head, too.
You know, your girls are going to LOVE junior high and high school. I look forward to their continued enthusiams for musicals and plays and being right in the middle of everything.
I am printing this out:
“your girls are going to LOVE junior high and high school”…
because, y’know, there seems to be so much cultural dread about that age range and time period and I’d MUCH rather welcome it! So thank you…
Tanita Says 🙂
Oh, oops, that was me.
Re: Tanita Says 🙂
Oh, honey. I recognized the wisdom…
I would not be singing “Gary Indiana”. I would be singing “76 Trombones”, because it is in rotation on brainradio on an average day anyhow – and then, that lovely inversion of theme that is “Goodnight My Someone”. Then again, “Trouble” and “Pick a Little Talk a Little/Goodnight Ladies” plays on brainradio as well.
I like plays, too. Funny that your kids decided that movies were cheating!
I know!! And I LOVE movies! I personally don’t find them cheaty at all, but I get the point they were making. And I dug it for sure…
The tune I really love is the one that goes “There was love in my heart and I never heard it singing, I never heard it at all, till I met you…”
Swwwooon….
Damn you, Liz. Now brainradio is all
“there was MUsic, and there were wonderful roses, they tell me, in sweet fragrant meadows of dawn . . . and dew. There was love, all around, but I never heard it singing, no I never heard it at all, TILL THERE WAS YOU!” And the orchestration on brainradio is way, way over the top, to say nothing of the full-voiced finish by the duo singing. Not sure who it is, but I’m pretty sure it’s Robert Preston and Shirley Jones and not Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenowith. It is terribly, terribly schmaltzy, this version. And it is LOUD.
I love this! How perceptive!
I know! I definately thought they had a point…
“It’s kind of cheaty.”
I think I’m going to start using the word “cheaty” in everyday conversation. I love that word.
I’m surprised nobody’s used that word in your suggestion box, Adrienne.
Like: “Please only put books and not DVDs. DVDs are cheaty.”
Or: “More chairs that are private because it’s kind of cheaty how close people sit and read over your shoulders.”
Y’know?
Or: “It’s cheaty not to pick up the blocks when you’re done playing with them.” (The not-picking-up-of-blocks is a frequent subject of missives in the Idea Box. The kids who pick up after themselves cannot seem to abide the ones who don’t.)