I have a song

[pinksonia]

I have the bestest friend ever!  I had mentioned the other day that I had Cole Porter's "You're the Top" stuck in my head and that I was enjoying giggling about cellophane.  She wrote me my very own, extremely geeky verse.  I am so proud. 

You're the Top
You're a squashed banana
You're the top
You're John Wayne's bandanna
You're Wanka's Loompas
or the boom of
the guns of Navarone
You're Jeeves and Wooster
You're Marcel Proust
You're Indy Jones

You're the Top
You're Rose and the Doctor
You're that Sta-ar
Trek where Mr. Spock turned
off the devise so the
Enterprise's great mission wouldn't stop
But if baby I'm the bottom you're the top. 
 
 I will admit there are some awkward portions, but then have you heard the original?


Also I finally got to see Sondheim's Assassins which makes me super happy.  That soundtrack is one of the first things I ever got through inter-library loan after I realized that someone at the Tredyffrin branch had my exact taste because every time I couldn't find something there it was at Tredyffrin.   I've wanted to see the show since hearing the spoken track "November 22, 1963" and reading on the old newsgroup rec.arts.theater.musicals that live it was possibly the most moving thing ever in musical theater.  It was pretty mesmerizing.  Though I did have a problem with them going for a laugh and having Booth act like Oswald touched him inappropriately while searching him to make sure he wasn't with the FBI.  The first two thirds of the show are pretty funny and that works for the "footnote" assassins, but I think the director lost the importance of the transition of the Balladeer into Lee Harvey Oswald.  Up until that point, the Balladeer is the one character arguing for hope and peaceful answers, when he transitions, and all hope is lost, the show needs to become serious real fast.  I also had a problem of the visual of Sarah Jane Moore pointing a gun at her child being played for laughs. 

Comments

[brightredday.livejournal.com]

I've seen Assassins live twice, and in neither version did they utilize the Balladeer-to-Oswald transition of the revival. I find it interesting how many different ways that show can be played. In the most recent version I saw, the Balladeer was black, which was a very interesting dynamic; they also really upped the contrast between the motivations of the Balladeer and the Proprietor, which worked very well. And there was some homoerotic tension between Booth and Oswald, although nothing overt or distracting. None of that was present at all in the other version I saw, which I found more effective overall in their portrayals of most of the other characters; that production's extremes between the funny and the serious moments, both at the end and throughout the show, were much more pronounced. To contrast those productions with what I know of the original and revival shows just how different that show can be from one production to another and still be effective.

[pinksonia.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't realize that the Balladeer-to-Oswald transition was new to the revival. Now I'd like to see a version were they're different people to see the difference. I can see how homoerotic tension between Booth and Oswald would work well and add an interesting dynamic - much better than the random maybe-goosing that went on.

I'd also sometime like to see a less clownish version of Guiteau than the one I saw. I thought he was the least effectual character in this production, but I also know that the actor was one I seldom like. I always find him too clownish in roles, but he is unfortunately the darling of the New Orleans theater scene, so I expect I will be seeing him in many shows to come.