Music for kids, part 3

Music for kids, part 2

Music for kids, part 1

My sister in law is about to have a baby and asked Todd and me for some music recommendations.  These are a few of the CDs that don't make our brains want to melt and ooze out of our ears with repeated listening.  I'll be posting more throughout the day.

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Musical Monday

Todd thinks it's creepy that I sometimes sing this to our daughter as a lullaby. In my defense, I'm usually just humming it to her.

Musical Monday

I have had this song in my head for weeks now. Spring means there are motorcycles all over the roads again. It's no "Alice's Restaurant" but I love it.

Settle in for a story:

Musical Monday

Snowy weekends in February mean we need a return of Musical Monday. This one makes me think about all those wonderful seed catalogs about to come my way!!

Musical Monday

I love Glee. I love the choir geeks finally ruling.

This scene actually made me a little ferclempt.



Awesome.

2009 Emmy's/Musical Monday

I don't care about the Emmy's. I don't think I've ever watched more than a few minutes of them and the last time was back in high school. But I was tempted to watch last night, since Neil Patrick Harris was hosting.

Then I remembered all the nonsense I'd have to sit through, and decided to just catch the highlights on youtube this morning. I bring you the following gems, such that this could even be considered a Musical Monday.

AND



"Like the Ottoman Empire, the music industry, and Zima, we're here to stay."

Musical Monday

More on the Tony Awards. Here are some of my favorite openings from past years. I offer them in contrast to the 10 minute long, bad sound system, ridiculously expensive mess that happened this year.

This one from the 55th Tony Awards. I'm a little sad they didn't show them all having to stop and swipe their metro cards, though. Still, there was the requisite singing and dancing, sparkly costumes, whimsy (the very idea of tapping down to the awards is delightful...and everyone finding a seat on the subway, which, let's face it, is pure fantasy), and best of all it was under five minutes. Incidentally, this show was the year that "The Producers" swept the awards. The performance they offered that night was the little old ladies tapping with their walkers. The crowd loved it!




I also really like this one for it's simplicity and IT'S AMAZING ALL STAR LINE-UP OF PRESENTERS!!! Seriously, it's like all my favorites got together in a row. And under three minutes.



Anybody else have any favorite Tony Award numbers?

Tony, Tony, Tony!!!

Alright, folks. Let's talk Tonys.

Hated the opening number!! (Except all the Billy Elliot's dancing, and the guy from Rock of Ages getting hit on the head with the scenery, and the very end when everyone sang along with "Let the Sun Shine In" from Hair, and that Dolly Parton came and sang for her show.) I especially hated the whole West Side Story singing along with Guys and Dolls. It just didn't sound good. And there were definite sound system issues all night long. You can hear audible coughing through the opening number. That should never happen on mic.

Loved Stockard Channing's costume!

Loved Neil Patrick Harris as host!!

Loved that Angela Lansbury won!!!

Enjoyed that the Sharks speak Spanish in the West Side Story revival.

Did not enjoy the weird ending to "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" from Guys and Dolls.

LOVED Carrie Fisher announcing the number for Next to Normal!!! She is so so so funny and a great face for mental health issues.

Liza Minelli is a tranny mess and is just embarrassing to watch.

Loved Geoffrey Rush's acceptance speech.

And now here is the 10 minute long monstrosity that was the opening from last night. It was just too much.

Musical Monday

"What's the Matter with Kids Today?" from the show "Bye Bye, Birdie"

Delightfully mashed up to be performed by the cast from Harry Potter.

Musical Monday

This is from the pilot episode of Glee. I'm not sure if this show is quite as funny if you weren't a choir geek in high school. The Ohio aspect makes it funnier for us, too.

About that. The midwest has the corner on Show Choir and Marching Band. Show choirs are not well respected in other areas of the country, and in fact are seen as "sub-standard music education". I think of it as it's own monster, though, not to be compared with other types of choirs. Marching Band is taken seriously (by other marching band people) in many areas of the country, but the midwest tends to be the "trend setter" as far as marching band styles go.

Look at all the useful things you learn here!

Anyway, a show choir dancing around to "Rehab". Had I been drinking anything at the time, it surely would have been snorted out my nose from my laughing so hard.

Love. It.

Musical Monday

When I was teaching 6th grade general music, the unit on opera and operetta was my favorite. Every six weeks, with a new group of 6th graders, I showed "The Pirates of Penzance" in my class and we could discuss operetta, singing, theater, adapting musicals for film, etc. And it was a lot of fun to have a bunch of 12 year olds wander around the school for a few days humming Gilbert and Sullivan in the halls.

Modern Major General is probably the most well known song from the operetta. If you want to borrow the movie, I own it. But I definitely recommend seeing it on stage next time it comes to town. (This has been a favorite movie of my kids since Benjamin was about 3 years old, so it knows no age limit.)

Enjoy!

Musical Monday

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Oh, how I loved this musical when I was a girl. Except for that poor girl named Dorcus. What were her parents thinking? There are plenty of fine upstanding biblical names that just shouldn't be used any more.

Anyway, does anybody remember that one episode of Fame where the blonde kid (who does the ax thing in the barn raising scene and who was also in West Side Story) was all grown up and fat but comes to the high school to talk to the kids and they're all really disappointed that he's all old and fat and bitter, but he still at the end manages to do the ax thing just like at the barn raising scene of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers?!

No?

Just me then?

Hm.

Here is "Lonesome Polecat". With Italian subtitles. Those two boys in the back, must be cutting some hard wood. That's a lot of chops with no results. 'Course they look real pretty when they do ballet.

Musical Monday

Apologies for the poor clip quality, but it was the only one that had the ridiculous story before the song.

I did not like the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding", but I LOVED this scene! I think it's the wait staff in the back with their crab claw hands waving in the air that really push me over the edge. And of course, my beloved Rupert. I may need to add him as a label for my posts, since there have been at least three featuring him. While we're at it, here's another favorite bit from a movie I didn't love:



"Maybe there won't be marriage, maybe there won't be sex, but by God there will be dancing!"

Words to live by when life is in fact a musical.

Musical Monday

This week's Musical Monday is dedicated to Marc who is going to enjoy not only hours of opera this week, but days. (He is so hard core.) That's right, folks, it's Ring Cycle week at the Met!

This video is how most of we American children were introduced to Wagner's music and operas, and frankly many of us still have difficulty hearing "Ride of the Valkyries" without hearing "kill da wabbit" in our heads.

So, gather the kids around and enjoy!

What's Opera Doc?

(Apologies for linking, but youtube disabled the embed code. Boo Hiss!)

Musical Monday

Because all you need is love.

Musical Monday

Those hot dog on a stick hats remind me of all the hours of my middle school years I wasted at the mall.

I might have spent more hours there, though, if something like this had happened.

To read more about the people behind it click here.

(Incidentally, some victims of this group Improv Everywhere stayed with us in Ohio when their band was on tour. You can read Improv Everywhere's side of things here and the band's version as the explained it to Ira Glass if you watch the first TV version of This American Life on Showtime.)

Musical Monday

On the Town was a musical written by that wonderful combo of Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music.



Incidentally, on stage the lyric was "New York, New York a helluva town!" This was apparently to wild for MGM who changed it to "New York, New York a wonderful town!"



When I was in town last week for my uncle's funeral, I spent the following day in
New York City with some dear friends. I can't really explain how I felt. I'm not native to NYC. I'm a Jersey Girl, but being back in NYC again made me feel like I was home. Being on NJ Transit made me smile. The fact that I could remember the train stations and schedules to get into the city made me happy. I was even able to help out a few tourists who were lost. (I, myself, was lost at one point because the E train was stopped and sitting just short of the 6 train and the nice policeman gave me bad directions for getting to the 6 train.) Anyway, I love my new city and state. It is a wonderful place for us to raise our kids and live in an incredible neighborhood with great friends, neighbors, and schools. But every now and then it's nice to slip back into a comfortable place and enjoy it for a few hours.

Musical Monday

I was at a funeral this weekend. 2:30am in the dark hours before the funeral I asked my sister, "Can you think of any songs with singing corpses?"

I do it for you, gentle readers.

Elysa suggested this:



While we're on the subject of creepy Tim Burton things, my favorites are this:





Hm. I may know now where Caleb gets it.