Popping my head round the proverbial blog door to say hi, and also to prove that sharing is caring...
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Ted Neeley will probably always be the ultimate JCS Jesus based on the fillum and he can still absolutely belt out Gethsemane now (well, two years ago).
Ben Forster has also performed an absolutely staggering rendition in the past including at a local music festival a couple of years ago.
You really have to do something mind-blowing to top those two Superstars but... I'm pretty sure John Legend just blew my tiny mind. I've low-key liked his music for a while now but his range here is just... \chefskiss
First of all ... happy ... whatever day this blog ends up being posted. Monday. Happy Monday. This is your pink and feathery Monday Missive.
Incidentally, well done to both Charlie and Ma QB who identified the song in the last post's subject line as this one:
Mime much, Manfred Mann? ;-)
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This fortnight, I have mostly been ...
Reading
Watching Gilmore girls
Incidentally, many thanks due to AJ for flagging up this treat, coming to Netflix for four special episodes only:
I do believe this warrants a gif much like this:
Fixing Dad This documentary, about two brothers deciding to help 'fix' their father and his ill health, was screened on the BBC a couple of weeks ago, and, my hip-and-with-it status being notoriously fictional, I've only just got round to it, which is shameful, since a family friend was one of the camera operators!
It was a little bit weep-worthy to say the least.
OITNB
Lil' bit obsessed still. Not gonna lie.
I'm currently boosting Pennsatucky up the list of favourite characters. She's messed up but she's surfing that wave of character complexity like a boss. Her unlikely friendship with Big Boo is gorgeous.
Muriel's Wedding
OK so it looks dated but its 90s-ness is endearing. And this is still a fabulous scene:
The English Patient
The Olympics Hot diggity dog.
I don't think we could possibly expect the excitement of Rio 2016 to top the euphoria over the home-games four years ago. We've had an election and a referendum since then, and I for one was feeling pretty darn antsy and uncomfortable about the whole Being British thing.
But I'll admit a lot of pride has risen back to the surface during the last week or so.
Over two days we rose from 9th in the medal table to third. And now we're freakin' second! Woohoo! Way to go, Team GB! Considering how tiddly we are as a country (and also how much of Europe is probably still looking at Great Britain thinking, who even are you?) that's not bad. Not bad at all. Phenomenal, actually.
These Games came at the right time to restore a tiny smidge of goodwill to this little island.
And of course, this being the Summary, I can't let the Olympics pass without including some sort of tribute by way of visual stimuli:
(Man alive, my eyes have been well and truly obliterated this past fortnight.)
The BFG ... with Ma QB.
Heh.
That rhymes.
We two human beans took ourselves off to the Actual Cinema on Tuesday for this Spielberg Spectacular.
I, being of a Certain Age (old; I'm old) have fond, if sketchy, memories of the last film adaptation which looked a little bit like this:
The new film, with CGI and live-action combined, looks very much like this:
and y'know what? We flipping loved it. It was wonderfully true to the feel of the book, right down to the fact it was set in a vaguely composite decade between the Seventies and the Eighties, so no allowances in the story line needed to be made for modern life (although perhaps the reference to Ronald and Nancy Reagan at the end may need some explaining to younger viewers ...).
Ruby Barnhill is a perfick Sophie; very bolshy but also very endearing and ... is it wrong that a computer-generated giant (albeit with hints of Mark Rylance's face), with huge, satellite-dish ears, made me tear up more than once??
And there were some proper belly-laugh moments. Because Ma and I, we're just silly kids at heart really. Who doesn't love a good whizz-pop joke?
And finally ...
Jesus Christ Superstar at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.
It was fantastic.
OK, yes, that's not what one would call an insightful review but hey, I'm spreading myself thin here; bear with.
I'm sure the staging is particularly effective for evening performances when the sun is going down, but we were just as lucky weather-wise; it was hot and intermittently sunny, which felt right for a Holy Land setting (give or take a few very English leaves breaking free, and the occasional unwelcome pigeon overhead).
{The set}
{The speshulist members of the audience}
Given I've only 'seen' two stagings of JCS previously (not including the film), and one of those stagings I was in at university (the other was the amazing ESOS production lovely Fi was in two years ago), I had little to compare this production to.
But what I liked about it (and there are many things) was its contemporary approach, from the simple costumes to the modern-dance choreography which had a real 'fanatical' edge to it, to the hipster-bearded disciples to Pilate the Rock Star who played guitar while he sang 'Pilate's Dream'.
And the vocals.
Oh, the wonderful, wonderful "strike me roan, is he singing falsetto?" vocals.
The "OK, we're only in the first half but Mary Magdalene is already making me cry" vocals.
The "man alive, that man has range and did he just sing the lowest note ever known??!" vocals.
We saw Declan Bennett as Jesus; and I may or may not have seen him in Once as well – he has beautiful range and a real vulnerability to his voice. He absolutely roared out his anguish over 'Gethsemane/I Only Want to Say ...' after kicking off the song also playing guitar, then rocked out big-style.
And Tyrone Huntley as Judas. Who demonstrates some serious vocal mastery. He's definitely one to watch. And to listen to. As is the wonderful 'voice that hits yer boots' Cavin Cornwall as High Priest Caiaphas who, with his priests, somehow made being barbaric and bloodthirsty ... a little bit sexy* (and if you see them dance as they sing, you'll understand why).
(*That sounded less inappropriate in my head.)
The relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus is never explored as much as it should be, in JCS; but blow me down, when Anoushka Lucas, as Mary. sings the iconic 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' you listen (except if you're a rude woman three rows back in the audience in which case you hand out and eat doughnuts).
And if you're me you sit there in the open air on a summer afternoon and work that Ugly Cry Face. Ah, the perils of an outdoor, daytime performance, eh?
{Hears: "Doooon't you think it's rather fuuuuuuuunny?
I should beeee in this posiiiiiiiition?" Has this reaction.}
... Neither Ma nor I will, however, ever understand how people can justify talking during a production like this. I'm shooting This Face at you, woman behind us
who, just after 'Jesus' had bared his soul and ripped his shirts from his tortured self after 'Gethsemane', thought it appropriate to comment, "He's quite fit, isn't he?"
Well, yes. He is. (And he brings vulnerability and nuance to his performance; no objectification here.)
But in the middle of a mindful silence is not the time to mention it.
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In the midst of all this cultural stimulation, I have also been (equally cultural in ...)
Heading to IKEA
with AJ and Julie.
And eating meatballs/veggie balls/Daim cake/apple cake (all of those, between us, somehow).
Getting much too much home bar inspo ...
{Can you spot the girls??}
... and not enough shelving units, because the ones I wanted were out of stock ...
{Reaches Aisle 46, Location 38.
Finds it empty.
Like my soul.
And as a side note, thank you, Giphy, for supplying this magnificent retro Stockard Channing gif
under 'roll eyes'. Day = made}
But checking out the quirky coloured wall display on the way out of the shop:
Trippy, man.
Experimenting
... with Boomerang, an Instagram add-on. Such fun!
So perhaps I need to look for more stimulating subjects than trains, or my feet:
Or my feet on a train.
But I'm getting a little bit addicted to finding Boomerang opportunities. Witness:
Look at that chicken dancing. She's dancing! Hours of amusement.
Doing the Coffee and Catchup Thing
... with Lady Charlie. Because, it's Charlie and I needed a catchup. Back to 51 Degrees North we went for a lovely chinwag, and were joined also by Al. Always good to see you two Lovelies.
... But wot, no #blogfodder? Fail.
We need to meet up again so I can get me some snaps.
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Pinterest Pins of the Fortnight One verbal ♦ one visual
Some 'celebrities' write novels and surprise me with their wit, insight and literary talents.
...Sadly Mrs O'P is not one of them.
I'm slightly baffled by how many positive reviews this book has generated. I found it cliche, I found both 'heroines' non-distinct, fairly unlikeable and actually could not tell one from the other after about two chapters. I found the secondary characters unsympathetic and downright evil in some cases. The one positive aspect was that while the book was set in 1994 (when I was the same age as the 'heroines', by the by...) it was not overloaded with cultural references to attempt to create a sense of place. But that's really it. I haven't been so annoyed by a book since The Da Vinci Code and that's saying something.
So now I'm reading the far more gratifying The Universe versus Alex Woodsby Gavin Extence. I'm only about ten pages in but already it's so much better than Paper Aeroplanes.
Seeing | Jesus Christ Superstar on stage
JCS is the latest production by ESOS (East Surrey Operatic Society), performed at the Harlequin Theatre in the cultural hub that is Redhill. My friend Fiona, she of Jane Eyrefame, was in the chorus which gave me added incentive to see it.
I feel particularly tied to Superstar for two reasons: one being that I performed in JCS in my first year at university (in 1997) as part of the Musical Production Society*.
The other that, rock music references and excessive use of cheesecloth aside, it was the most accessible entry to the Bible that I had come across at that time, and I fell in love with the 1973 film as a result. And cheesecloth.
{Not sure how this video will show -- do take your chances, though}
Of course Superstar has its moments of enormous irreverence (Herod's Song, anyone?) but it is also a considered re-enactment of Jesus' last days, not just from His perspective but also that of Judas.
Anyway, I digress.
I went to the Wednesday showing of the ESOS production, and was impressed -- there were some seriously powerful performances on display, emotionally and vocally.
Jason Lines played Jesus with great humility and humanity, some blinding vocals -- and some seriously scary-looking welts after the whipping scene. Likewise, Jamie Thomas as Judas maintained a vocal and emotional intensity throughout the whole show that made me realise what an emotionally exhausting role that of Judas truly is on many levels.
All the performances were stellar, really, but one of the standouts was Tony Lee as Pilate -- Superstar has always depicted Pilate with a considered (and maybe controversial?) amount of sympathy, and it's a delicate balance to portray that aspect of Pilate, rather than that of executioner.
The fire alarm during the interval didn't dampen anyone's enjoyment of the show either!
I've subsequently been listening to the film soundtrack on a loop. And singing the whole thing. All parts. Yep. #Whaaaaat do you meaaaaan by that? That... is not an answer...#
* 17 years later, I am totally over the fact I wasn't chosen to be one of the 'hot' dancers in Herod's Song back then. Totally. No, really. It's OK: I wasn't one of the hot ones, or a good enough dancer. That's fine, I accept that. Totally. ;-) #issues #letitgo #noseriouslygetoverit #itwas17yearsago #moveon Listening | to old vinyl
On Friday I picked up this bargainous little LP-to-MP3 converter turntable at Maplin:
I'm still working out how I can rig it directly up to my stereo but for now I'm enjoying some of my long-neglected vinyl played, somewhat crudely, through my PC.
{I took the plastic needle protector off right after I took this photo...}
{Picked up these little gems for £1 for 3 in the charity shop. The Kids from FAME | Simon & Garfunkel | Dusty Springfield}
ICYMI** << g'argh, yes, that acronym is hugely pretentious. I promise not to use it ever again
I posted this little epic Contemplation on Thursday night on the dilemmas posed by the #nomakeupselfie trend.
It included the Grumpy Cat meme so if nothing else incites you to read it, surely this will?
Now, if someone could help me down from my moderately high horse, that'd be fab, thanks...!
** ICYMI = 'in case you missed it'
Featuring | in my friend George's fabulous promotional video
Georgina and her husband Jason rent out their gorgeous cabin retreat in the mountains of Chulilla, Valencia. Their visitors are many and varied, and get up to all kinds of antics, and George has captured just a few of these folk (moi included -- I'm book-and-tapas Beth...!) in this lovely little video that makes me want to jack in my whole working week and fly back to Spain, like, NOW (with a pile of books, natch).
You understand my predicament, right?
G & J truly are the hosts with the most...s...! Easter dates still available!
And now... YOUR INTERWEB LINKS OF THE WEEK
(With special thanks to Clare, David, Evie, and the Press, PR and Marketing wizards at Egmont for much of this fodder)
