Saturday, May 7

I love showtunes!


Meet Me In St. Louis Poster
Originally uploaded by BLANKartist.
There I said it. I must confess; I love showtunes! It's entirely my mother's fault. Thanks, Mom. She practically feed them to me in my bottle. I cannot tell you what a source of embarrassment this has been throughout my life. I mean, I sing and tap my toes to that annoyingly perky music that they play everywhere! While my coworkers groan as they play "That's Amore," yet again, I sing along. But as I'm growing older and little more okay with myself, I'm a little more ready to admit it.

What brings this on is that I just finished an ironing mega-marathon, my most dreaded chore. The only way I can get through it is by putting in a CD of, you guessed it, showtunes. Right now, it's the soundtrack to De-Lovely that I'm wearing thin; can you believe I actually saw it in the theatre. There's a really great version of '€"Let's fall in Love"€ sang my Alanis Morissette on it. But I'll often randomly break into "My Favorite Things" or "76 Trombones" at the most inconvenient times. What makes matters worse, is I have very set ideas on exactly how these songs are suppose to be sung. So, if I hear somebody besides John Travolta and Olivia Newton John singing "You're the One that I Want" I get very upset, because they'€™re just plain doing it wrong.

I take comfort in knowing that I'€™m not the only one. What's you favorite showtune?
UPDATE: Kristina mentioned this link to a tribute to "Sound of Music." I encourage you to check it out. I think that my favorite was "I Have Confidence" though most of them are terrific.

8 comments:

Angie said...

I couldn't even begin to choose my favorite! Don't be embarrassed about showtunes! I love them, too. You are not alone. :) Hello, via Michele. Have a great weekend!

Panthergirl said...

Here via Michele...another New Yorker!

I love *some* showtunes too... I was married to a stagehand in the late '80s, so my daughter and I spent every night downstairs at Les Mis... it was wonderful. I loved A Chorus Line, and Hair (back in the day!), and Chicago... still listen to all of those...

Julie said...

Does Sound of Music count? Love that one!

Lora said...

"Sound of Music" definitely counts. Not only do I own it on VHS, but my mother also owns the record from the Broadway production and I admit to playing it, even as a teenager.

I still have not seen Chicago or Les Mis. It's funny because these songs get so ingrained into popular consciousness from the making of the movies that sometimes I forget that they originated on the big stage. The one musical that I do not like is "Phathom of the Opera." The music's great, but I just can't stand the story.

Waterfall said...

Oh, I LOVE Sound of Music. Here's something embarrassing: my favorite showtunes include "The Lonely Goatherd," "The Farmer and the Cowman" from Oklahoma! and "I Cain't Say No," also from Oklahoma! I tend to break into "My Favorite Things" without warning, too. Particularly when the dog barks, or when the bee stings, or when I have snowflakes on my nose and eyelashes.

Kristina said...

Raising hand as a big showtunes freak

Love 'em. Old ones, new ones. I'm a big fan of almost all musicals I've seen... and my kids are following in my footsteps. We watched "Easter Parade" at easter and they both LOVED it. In heavy rotation right now in our house is the Broadway soundtrack of "A Year With Frog and Toad" which we recently saw at the Children's Theatre here in Seattle.

Sound of Music fans, check out the "Rolf if a Nazi" fan tribute here. Fun stuff.

Lora said...

Kristina- Thank you so much for sharing that. I loved so much I'm going to pull it up into my post. Also good to here from you, things have been quiet on your blog lately so I figured that you must be busy. I've never heard "A Year with Frog and Toad. " I've only seen the books, I'll have to check it out.

Waterfall - yoo-da-lay, yoo-da-lay, yoo-da-lu! Check out the verson Kristina linked too. I've listened to it three times already. "Oklahoma" was actually the last musical I went to. I saw it at Discoveryland an outdoor stage in Oklahoma that runs "Oklahoma" and "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" all summer long.

Kristina said...

Yep, I've been quiet but I'm back at it now. I've been in the I phase of my I/E existence. :)