Day 18 - A Song with the best lyrics

I've never seen a stage production of this show.  The Raven in Healdsburg is doing it in January so I will get to see that one.  The movie, however, is so great.  I've listened to this soundtrack hundreds of times.  They lyrics to this just kill me.


 Cell Block Tango from CHICAGO  

Day 17 - A Song with the best music.

 Tonight from WEST SIDE STORY  - i don't think I need to say anything else.

Day 16 - A song from your least favourite musical, by your favourite composer.

Hate this musical.  Hate it.  This song is ok.  Just ok.  Being Alive/COMPANY/STEPHEN SONDHEIM

Day 15 A song by your favourite musical composer.

Can you tell I love Stephen Sondheim?  SEND IN THE CLOWNS from  A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.   I loved this song long before I even knew who Stephen Sondheim was.  One of my all time favorite songs ever.  This is the magnificent Judy Densch performing it.  ENJOY!!!

Day 14 A song from the musical you haven't listened to (or seen) in a while

Miss Saigon was the first musical I worked on at the Raven - my first in Sonoma county actually.  I worked backstage.  It wasn't a show I was at all familiar with and actually never saw the first act from the audience.  This song - BUI DOI grbbed my attention and it's my favorite song from the show.  I think I need to pull out my cast recording and give it a little listen to.  


This rendition isn't from a production of Miss Saigon.  It's a police officer.  So good.   

In Flanders Fields

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

I grew up reciting and memorizing this poem every year on what Canadians call Remembrance Day.  It is so haunting.  It is a true piece of Canadiana.  It is a huge part of the memories of my childhood school years.We also went to the cemetery with poppy wreaths to lay on the graves of soldiers.  The bagpipes would play, the faces were solemn and we wore  poppies on our coats with pride.  In Canada most people make a donation and receive a poppy which they wear with pride in the days leading up to and on November 11th.  I have one stuck to my bulletin board in my scrap studio.   I'm going out and about tonight.  I think I'll put it on.  Here in the U.S. they may not know what it means but I'll enlighten them.

Just a bit of history about the poem.  

During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2^nd May, 1915 in the gun positions near Ypres. An exploding German artillery shell landed near him. He was serving in the same Canadian artillery unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrae.

As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.

Redneck Wine Glass

Norm recently went on a trip to Arkansas to see his dad.  He called to say he had bought me a great gift and couldn't wait to give it to me.  When he got home he handed it to me with pride in his voice and said, "I hope you like it."  I just about laughed myself silly when I took it out of the bag. This is the description of it at Amazon:


"Break out the hooch and sip in bumpkin style! Not just for the good ole boys, this here redneck wine glass says “yahoo!” for the mason jar and heck yeah for the hillbilly honor! Crafted from a genuine Ball mason jar and fancied with a dang good looking stem, these mason jar wine glasses are terrific for white lightening, your favorite brew, or a nice glass of that there red wine! With the screw-on lid in place, simply tighten the lid for a break. Redneck mason jar wine glass measures 9” and holds 12oz. Hand wash only."


BEST. GIFT. EVER!!!

Day 13 A song from the musical you loved from hearing the first note.

Day 12 A song you could listen to all day.

We Beseech Thee from GODSPELL  is one of my all time favorite songs from a musical.  Godspell is the first theater production I got involved in after a long theater hiatus when my kids were growing up.  It was 1998 and I jumped in with both feet.   I was the costume designer as well as the light and sound tech.  It is on my short list to direct someday.  It is coming back to Broadway on Monday, November 7th.  It's a whole new updated version.  It looks fabulous.  You can find out more about it here


I found 2 versions of the song - one very traditional

and then this one which i just love