March is just around the corner, and all of the Casablanca's members are gearing up for ourannual club dance! I always want the evening to be something from a movie, and here is a fine example of that which we pine to match, and dance right into.
"Skip to my Lou" Meet Me In St Louis 1944
One of my very favorites, I love the big "at home party"- people everywhere having a good time with friends (every light in the house on. With people eating on the veranda heavily reminds me of our own Casablanca gatherings) where all the attendants know how to dance.
(I mean I wouldn't scoff if Judy Garland led a dance at one of our parties!)
I love that everyone's dressed up. People should dress up for things more, its really going by the wayside... I mean have you SEEN most "Prom wear" today? Although this movie is set about 60 years before the Casablanca's prime, its a sweet technicolor reminder of what provably never was MGM how I love thee!
Naturally after the party is over, Doris Day along with Gordon Macray will sing and dance while cleaning up the general mess, as Patricia and I sleep in till noon!
"Five Acts of Kindness" Dear Readers,
Earlier this yeah I happen to be on Facebook and "liked" my friend Jeanie's status, which was along the lines of "The first 5 people tolike this will receive a gift- it could be anything and come at any time". So picture my surprise and delight when a few days before the show, when my friend Hannah (her daughter, who is playing Rizzo in Grease) brings me this gem!
Jeanie knows how much I adore the 1950's and thought of me when she found this lamp! Thank You Jeanie! I need to get a light kit to make it work, but isn't it nice? I had the shade in a stack in my storage unit of props, and I think it goes nicely with the lamp, however the cherry on top of this wonderful gift?
(The original ruby red glass finial was still with the lamp! )
It was so nice of Jeanie to think of me, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! So now I would like to keep the "Five Act's" going! Out of the people who comment on this post I will randomly select five and will try and do something nice for you!
I promise you "Atomic fallout" was not my original theme for this week! Jim, an old friend of mine dropped off a small box of '78 rpm records down at the theatre for me to go through. There was lots of neat stuff in it, a super old 1910's one sided RCA Victor record, lots of Bing Crosby, I found "Dont Fence Me In" by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (I Love finding Andrews Sisters songs on '78's!) and in the very last sleeve of the very last book inthe pile was this little gem.
Recorded for Columbia Records by the "Golden Gate Quartet" (a mostly Gospel group) in 1947, with strong worries that "the Bomb" might fall into the wrong evil hands... which a few short years later in 1949 it would "Russia has the bomb children, duck and cover!" Moods were tense back then, and this little ditty makes no illusions to Russia being the bad guys.
I have since found this website- http://www.atomicplatters.com/index.php that lists all the records and songs made during Cold War Pop Culture, and you better believe I'm going to be hunting a few of these titles!
("Better Dead, than Red")
In school we always skimmed over stuff like this to make room for studying for state standardized test, I wish we had spent more time on it! Let me state right now, I am NOT dogging Russia or its people I am presenting these things to you as they would have appeared when they came out. As one of my favorite college Professors told me, "Not all nostalgia is as wholesome as Leave it to Beaver."
"-Atom and Evil If you don’t break up that romance soon We’ll all fall down
and go boom, boom, (boom), boom! We’re sitting on the edge of doom (doom)
(doom) (doom) doom!"
I happen to stumble upon this little A-side "None-hit-wonder" on the big auction site, until finding it I had never heard this song before so I snapped it up for less than $5.00.
Vocals by Billy Chambers a 24 year old Florida Southern College Student in 1962. This gem came about during the height of the Cuban Missal Crisis in October of that year, and from what I've found wasn't played but by a hand full of DJ's in Florida only a few times because of it's morbid nature. Once the "Crisis" subsided, the record and its vocal star fell into the footnotes of historical obscurity. Albeit corny, it really is kind of a chilling song when you think about it... very much in the style of late 50's and early 60's "teenage tragedy- you jump I jump" songs (you know, like "Teen Angel" and "Tell Laura I love her").
"I'd rather die with you, than live without you,
and I hope that you feel the same..."
(Makes you want to hold your 'steady' close, doesn't it?)
Mother's lock up your Daughters, ole Mick has learned how to croon... I love it when our names end up on the show poster!
Well, is learning to croon! This week our production of "Grease" opens and its going to be one helluva week! Busy, busy, busy, I'm having trouble with the color "coral" and the Casablanca has been nearly emptied of its contents to fill up the sets on stage. It's 1959 and this show is non stop fun! With any luck I can do a few sneak peak posts this week, and come back to you on Monday with a hopefully good review for the show! I was interviewed with a few of my other cast mates last Thursday and we might just have a our pictures in the paper this week!
Today Readers I'm going to present you with something that I hope you will think is a treat, and I hope the comments and feed back will be plentiful!
I cant recall if I told you, but I'm currently in rehearsals for the show GREASE! It is one of my all time favorite musicals, and really got me started loving both the 1950's and musicals. I am playing "Doody" the youngest of the "T-Birds" gang and go steady with "Frenchie" the beauty school drop out of the "Pink Ladies". (I have dreamed of this role since I was about nine years old!) In the stage musical Doody sing a song called "Magic Changes".Where Doody who obviously cant sing,("C-C-C-C-C-C-A-A-A-A minor-F-F-F-F-G-G-G-G-seventh") transforms in to a well voiced "Ricky Nelson" type teen idol and I along with my cast mates, would like to sing it for you now... P.S. until I really start singing, its supposed to be that awful!
(Friend Mary was nice enough to film it on my phone, Thanks Mary!)
Please excuse my poor heavily Catholic "Chicago" accent and a few flat notes here and there! (I'm working on it!) The song "Magic Changes" while original to the stage show, did not make the final cut of the 1978 GREASE movie. It is actually used as back ground music during the "National Bandstand" dance in the high school gym.
I am so excited for this show, its everything I love about the 1950's and here I am right in the middle of it, Thank you Jim Jacobs! The sets are going to be great, the dances are high energy and vibrant. As an added bonus lots of my best friends are in the cast so its just non-stop fun from start to finish.
(Hannah, Amanda, Brandon, Craig, Jenn, Bryson, Mary (we're missing Austin!))
I hope you enjoyed the sneak peak, there will be a Sets post to follow when the show opens, and If you'd like to come see our show I can hook you up with ticket and booking info.
Well readers we are still chugging away, making preparations for the Spring Break Dance! I think this year since out theme is "It's Only A Paper Moon" I'd like to try and make one of those old timey photo stands that are a giant crescent moon that one sits on for a picture, you know the kind...
(I love this one, so quaint.)
(I love the starry back ground!)
(But I think the best combo is Stars and Clouds.)
Over at Dollie Deville's blog The Rockabilly Socialite She cut out and made a moon for her FABULOUS wedding reception and I'm hoping to do the same for our dance!
