CHECK OUT OUR 'BANNER AD'!

We're running a 'banner ad'-

which means it has multiple panels (i think?)-

and it's AWESOME.

of course...

Robbie Rozelle- boy-genius is totally responsible for it's brilliance.

We're running it on All That Chat, and some other places-

but check it out on my buddy Kevin Daly's blog....

cause he's uber cool!

http://www.theatreaficionado.com/

SUH-WEET!!!

hey...

wait a minute...

if Kevin can put it on HIS blog....

then I can probably put it...on.....

*quickly dial the phone....*

"Rooooobbbbbbiiiieeeee.....uhmmmmm, how do i put my banner ad on my blog...and website...and stuff? I'll buy you North AND South Dakota."

aaaannnnndd scene.

xo

dl

SO CLOSE.....

Getting this email today literally made me squeal like a 5 year old girl.

Hey There

 

We are on schedule to deliver your cd’s on Thursday by noon. I just want to make sure that your schedule hasn’t changed.

Let me know if anything is different.

 

Thanks!

Joan

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.

 

Thank you,

Joan Crosby 

 

Play-It Productions, Inc.

259 West 30th Street, 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10001

p. 212.695.6530 x11   f. 212.695.4304

joan@play-itproductions.net

**********

SO EXCITED OH MY GOD!!!!!

;-)

XO

DL

OLD FRIENDS 'MYSTERY TRACKS' REVEALED!

Hey darlins---

Here is the breakdown of the 'real names' of the songs-

compared to the 'code names' I've given them in the blog up until this point.

Again, I apologize for not having gotten to three of these song posts before we had to release the track names today but....I promise I will still post about the remaining three individually to give them their 'due' like the others.

1. "Hard Times Come Again No More" =THE CIVIL WAR SONG

2. "Eiffel Tower" (from The Blue Flower) = THE MONUMENT SONG

3. "Smile" = THE SAD CLOWN SONG

4. "Only Hope" (from A Walk To Remember) =THE MANDY MOORE SONG

5. "Cry" (from Love Jerry) = THE MOMMA'S LAMENT

6. "County Fair" (from Das Barbecü) =THE MAGIC 8 BALL SONG

7. "Once Upon a December" (from Anastasia) = THE MUSIC BOX SONG

8. "Where've You Been?" =THE CAR SONG

9. "I Cried For Us" =THE BALM IN GILEAD SONG

10. "Still Hurting" (from The Last Five Years) =THE DIFFERENT TAKE SONG

11. "When She Loved Me" (from Toy Story II) =(not blogged yet...)

12. "From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours" =(not blogged yet...)

13. "When Eleanor Smiles" (from First Lady Suite) =THE MARY TESTA TRIBUTE SONG

14. "When The End Comes" (from The Zero Club) =THE CMU SONG

15. "The Parting Glass= (not blogged yet...)

........and many congrats to those of you who have been guessing this whole time-- for the most part you all have been pretty damn close, if not dead on.

Well done!!!!

;-)

ok...

so much to do....

more soon...

xoxo

dl

OLD FRIENDS- OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE!!!!

OK MY LITTLE CHICKLETS.....

here it is, the official press release for Old Friends.

I SO SO SO wanted to get the chance to blog about all the songs in 'code' before we released the track listings but i just ran out of time with everything else I've had to do at this point.

So....

please forgive my not getting to the last 3 out of the 15 tracks....

but lots and lots of exciting PR things are happening.

We now have an awesome banner on ALL THAT CHAT, thanks to the brilliant Robbie Rozelle...

(please refer to a previous blog called "Why Robbie Rozelle Is Awesome")-

and we are in the process of setting up other ads-

banners, print ads, etc to help us get the word out.

Other things to do:

I set up an EVENT on facebook for the CD Release Party at the Beechman on the 29th which can be found at:

(http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=174014239117&ref=mf) 

and I am trying to invite as many people as i can to that....

have to send out a personal email blast...

have to set up sound clips for the website...

create a myspace page...

finish address labels...

handle some more recent orders that came in...

pre-address and stuff envelopes for pre-orders, donations and PR so that when I get the CDs on thursday i can literally shove 'em in there and get them to people before thanksgiving...

go to Town Hall for some legal crap...

try and wrangle a few more interviews....

and that's just on the list for TODAY so....

anyhoodles.

TONS TO DO...

all positive and awesome.....

so please now to enjoy the OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FOR OLD FRIENDS (and yes, in those blank boxes there are supposed to be pictures but I don't have time to figure out what the fuck happened and why they're not coming up here):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 12, 2009

 

Broadway veteran Donna Lynne Champlin (Sweeney Todd, Billy Elliot: The Musical, By Jeeves) has announced the track listing for her debut solo album, “Old Friends,” due December 1, 2009 from Parting Glass Productions.  Produced and arranged by the singer-actress, the album is an amalgamation of theatre and film songs, country tunes and pub songs, filtered through the singer/songwriter influences of her life experiences. 

Recorded over a six-week hiatus from Billy Elliot due to a fractured ankle, Donna Lynne took on the daunting task of recording a solo album for $1,000, chronicling the warts-and-all creation of it on her blog, peppered with her trademark wit and four-letter words. Of the creation, Donna Lynne said "I have dreamed of making a solo album since I was five years old.  While being the sole producer, musical arranger, singer, musician, mixer, master and PR agent on this album has been at times hilariously overwhelming... it has also allowed me to make this CD exactly as I have wished, and without compromise. Every song, every minor instrumentation and even the design of the CD cover are choices that I have agonized over and stand behind 100%. Being my own boss is an artistic luxury I have not known since I was a teenager and I have unapologetically reveled in it. With all that said, what was the most rewarding experience of this whole adventure was to be the humble recipient of so many other people's generosity. I still can't wrap my mind around the endless bounty of selflessness that has been showered on me by so many amazing people. From monetary donations, to pre-orders, to offers of talent and skill and advice, to even the occasional encouraging email this whole experience has massively heightened my humility regarding the goodness of others. And I believe in my heart that the quality and the emotional heartbeat of the music on this CD reflects the warmth and spirit of everyone involved. This CD truly took a village... and I am beyond proud that my name is the on the sign post as you enter our little musical town."

“Old Friends” is currently available for pre-orders at www.donnalynnechamplin.com, and will be available at all online sources, including Amazon.com and iTunes on December 1st.

The track listing for “Old Friends” is:     

1. "Hard Times Come Again No More"

2. "Eiffel Tower" (from The Blue Flower)

3. "Smile"

4. "Only Hope" (from A Walk To Remember)

5. "Cry" (from Love Jerry)

6. "County Fair" (from Das Barbecü)

7. "Once Upon a December" (from Anastasia)

8. "Where've You Been?"

9. "I Cried For Us"

10. "Still Hurting" (from The Last Five Years)

11. "When She Loved Me" (from Toy Story II)

12. "From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours"

13. "When Eleanor Smiles" (from First Lady Suite)

14. "When The End Comes" (from The Zero Club)

15. "The Parting Glass"

Donna Lynne Champlin made her Broadway debut in James Joyce’s The Dead, and appeared to great acclaim in Hollywood Arms, By Jeeves, and as Pirelli in the John Doyle directed Sweeney Todd.  Her other NYC credits include Very Warm For May (Carnegie Hall), Bloomer Girl (Encores), Reunion, First Lady Suite, Bury the Dead and My Life With Albertine.  She won a 2007 OBIE Award for her performance in The Dark At The Top of the Stairs, and a 2008 NYMF Outstanding Individual Performance Award for her performance in Love Jerry.  She has also performed her acclaimed one-woman show Finishing The Act at Ars Nova and The Laurie Beechman Theatre.  She appears on numerous cast albums and recordings, and is currently in the cast of Billy Elliot: The Musical at the Imperial Theatre. For more information, visit www.donnalynnechamplin.com

 

# # #

THE MARY TESTA TRIBUTE SONG

Ok.

This song by Michael John LaChiusa is technically not even really a complete song as having an established beginning and end goes. This is sort of…a musical 'amuse bouche' if you will, from the breathtaking musical First Lady Suite which I had the intense pleasure of doing at the Transport Group a few years ago.

This very short and very sweet three pages of music is my favorite section of the entire score- which is saying a lot because I absolutely want to french kiss this entire show like, all the time, every day of my life.

In our production, I did not get the chance to sing this songlet, which was fine by me because that meant I could sit stage left and watch the absolutely beyond gifted and talented Mary Testa not only sing the shit out of it, but kick it in balls, wrestle it to the ground and then give it the finger.

Now, let’s just talk about Mary Testa for just a moment, shall we?

Mary Testa, is probably one of the most brilliant stage actresses of our generation. 

And if you need to re-read that sentence, go right ahead.

................

................

...............

back?

Good.

Now.

If you just thought to yourself, 

"HELLS YEAH! I totally agree! FINALLY! Someone SAID it!"

Then feel free to skip to the * because I'd obviously be preaching to the choir, and I'm sure you're all very busy, incredibly intelligent people with tons of shit to do.

If you just just thought to yourself,

"She' s GOT to be kidding! Mary Testa?!! The comedienne?! Mary Testa??!!"

Then you have NO CHOICE but to keep on reading....

Capice?

No.

Choice.

And i've got 'eyes'.....

everywhere.

However, if you're crinkling your brow and thinking,

"Who's Mary Testa?" then...

oh my GOD

you must GO

to the Lincoln Center LIBRARY

IMMEDIATELY 

and watch the Transport Group's PRODUCTION

 of First Lady Suite to WITNESS 

one of the most genius theatrical performances ever (thankfully) captured on FILM.

Ya see Timmy....

If life was fair, and if our business was even remotely sane...Mary Testa would have moved into a bigger apartment because she would literally not have enough room for in her place for  all the awards that would have been SHOWERED on her for her genius in the theatre by now.

But it's not.

So.

Lemme tell you a li'l something about Mary Testa and why it's NOT necessarily common knowledge-

like in KANSAS, common knowledge-

that Mary Testa is indeed one of the finest theatrical actresses of our generation.

It is because....

Brilliant actors like Mary Testa are rarely given material that's worthy of them. 

In fact, they're usually given the worst material in the business because they're the only ones who can do anything with it....and producers, directors --  everyone on the inside knows it. 

Occasionally, they can spin that shit into gold and manage to get some actual credit for their efforts.

Most of the time they can spin it so it just matches the level of whatever good material might actually be in the rest of the show so there's no noticeable 'dip'. 

But sometimes they try vainly to push that enormous turd ball up a hill with a piece of straw in order to save the rest of the village...

but...

just...

can't. 

And rarely does the material (or the director, for that matter) get blamed...

it's more often than not that -- the actor takes the hit.

They get blamed for being 'over the top', or 'scene stealing' or (my personal favorite) 'working too hard' when....yeah! You BET they're working hard. They are working their TITS OFF UP THERE with subpar crap and taking bullets all night for actually showing some sweat. While reality show rejects are handed the built-like-a brick-shit-house material because they can't handle anything less without dropping the ball all night. 

And believe me...it's not just the Mary Testas that lose here. It's everybody. 

The actors lose because with the WORST material- all they can hope for is to come of slightly better than average in the end.

The writers lose because their BEST material is always in the hands of some fucking doof-nut who has no business even being on a stage.

And the audiences lose because instead of watching A-game actors, doing A-game material, resulting in an A-game show...they're instead treated to an evening of a complete white-wash of MEDIOCRITY from all sides.

It's like...

making Michael Phelps and Paris Hilton compete in a swimming competition. Except Phelps has to wear 500 pounds of weights on his body- while Paris Hilton is given a state of the art swimsuit complete with a built in motor.

And then everyone sits back and wonders not only-

why the race is boring as hell to watch...

but why the fuck that slow pokey Michael Phelps' eyes are about ready to pop out of his skull.

Yes.

Wilkommen.

Bienvenue.

Welcome...

to the crazy bizarro-world of Broadway.

HOWEVER....

there is that silver lining...

usually found Off-Broadway, and sometimes even Off-OFF-Broadway btw...

When the rare opportunity comes...

that actually COMBINES a brilliant actor with brilliant material...

like Mary Testa and the part "Hickock" in First Lady Suite....

or Michelle Pawk and the part of "Louise" in Hollywood Arms...

or Emily Skinner and the part of "Lizzie" in 110 In The Shade...

well, then holy fuckballs in hell, people....

strap yourselves IN-

and keep your hands and arms INSIDE OF THE CAR 'cause...

watch OUT suckahs!!!

Your brain is about to be explodified!

Which is exactly what happened to me every single night, when I watched Mary do the third act of FLS...but mostly when she sang this song in particular.

And I watched her every single show. 

I couldn’t help myself. 

I was hypnotized.

I had to sit stage left every time she was on because I knew, no matter how many times I would see her do this role, it would never be enough once our run was over. I would always miss it.

And I learned a lot from watching her night after night. 

I learned about planting yourself. 

I learned about beyond exposed honesty. 

I learned about ‘saving’ the belt.

I learned about going with the moment whatever that moment is. 

I learned that it's ok for the actual character to have a sense of humor too, and not just the actor playing the character.

I learned about the mastery of timing. 

I learned that humor sometimes comes from the most painful of places. 

I learned that if you play every moment straight, it won't matter if you get a laugh or not...but most likely you will.

I learned that it's better to pace the laughs to build up to one big release, than to appease your own ego and disperse the build up by gobbling up a bunch of smaller yet more frequent chuckles along the way.

I learned to not give a shit about anything but the moment.

I learned the true meaning of the phrase "mining the material".

But mostly I learned that some things can’t be learned. And some things can't be applied. Because some things are just so unique to certain people that to even try to attempt making them your own is one of the most futile exercises in the theatre. 

I learned to sit back and appreciate someone else's mind blowing uniqueness....

I learned to be once again....be an audience member, and not an actress.

Now.

Let's talk about the song itself.

* (Welcome back Mary Testa fans).

I love this song for so many reasons my jaw bone dislocates on its own. 

It’s structure is beyond insanely perfect. It’s a spotless build, the lyrics meld so completely with the movement of the notes underneath it and it’s like a complete three-act play in three pages of music.

Musically, this was by far the arrangement I was most proud of on the album. There’s a very specific time period feel to this song. Even if you hear it wild, you know that it’s from the 1920s-1930s because of the subtle hint of ‘rag’ in it. So it was so important to me for this to sound like something you might hear in the lobby of a very expensive hotel from that time. Piano, violin and cello. That’s it. A perfect ‘piano trio’ of sound.

It was also extremely important to me that I played every single note in the piano perfectly because part of Michael John’s genius is that he will very specifically set up a ‘conventional’ melody line and then underneath it throw in some very purposeful literally feral notes just to make you subconsciously feel slightly off balance. 

Plus, I think Michael John must have the biggest hands in show business because there are chords spans that I don't even understand how one hand can reach.

So I recorded this piano part literally, one hand at a time. And sometimes 'one' hand meant using both hands to actually hit ALL the notes in the chord.

And it took me hours. 

Just the piano part. 

And i fucking loved every fucking minute of it!

So if you ‘think’ you’re hearing wrong notes in there…I assure you they are not. If you're momentarily feeling, 'Oh hey...wait a minute...what's...'- then you're right on schedule my darlings.

Those wayward notes are part of Michael’s absolute brilliance and they serve every moment emotionally.

Also, just a fun tidbit was since...it really doesn't have a definite beginning and a definite ending...I was able to make them UP! 

Of course, I had to resist the urge to make it all fancy-pants and shit...

and I finally settled on the simplest of simplest of simplest bookends.

Because it served the piece the best.

So-

this is my tribute to Mary Testa and Michael John LacChiusa.

Two of the most talented, and under appreciated people in our business.

Rest assured, this version is actually nothing like Mary's version...

I'm very very proud to say this version is all mine.

Which in my way, is the best and most sincere way I can ever truly pay tribute to Mary.

Because as I said before,

one of the best lessons I ever learned from her, is that-

what she does...

no one else can do.

Track #13 my darlings.

What I do.

xoxo

dl

THE MAGIC 8 BALL SONG

I first heard this song in my dear friend, Ian Knauer's car when we were driving home from a weekend of shows at The Goodspeed Opera House. One of my favorite things about riding home with Ian (besides the fact that he had a really comfy, sassaroonie KIA mini van, and endless fabulous stories from his childhood "when he was a tow-head") was that he had all these brilliant mix tapes of music I’d never heard before.

Yes. I said ‘tapes’. Because this was pre CD. Anyone too young to know what I’m talking about- Google “when I was your age.com”.

Ian and I have extremely similar tastes in music and since I’d pretty much grown up in practice rooms and dance studios I had a woefully weak grasp on popular music in general. In fact, the only popular music I ever heard was in dance class and inevitably performed by Madonna, Barry Manilow, Michael Jackson or Huey Lewis because those were the only acceptable artists to create dance routines to in my youth.

So, it would often be the case…that we’d be sitting and chatting and then all of a sudden a song would come on and I wouldn’t be able to pay attention anymore. It’s like the music would suck my ears in like a magnet and nothing else had sound. I'd hear in the distance....

“Hello? Helllloooooooo. Donna Lynne……”

Soon he learned to just wait til the song was over and then….I would inevitably pummel him with questions,

“Tell me EVERYTHING about that song! Where is it from? Who’s singing it? Who wrote it? Where can I find it? Play it again, play it again, play it again!!!!”

So he would play it over and over for me and then tell me everything he knew about it. He introduced me to Billy Joel’s And So It Goes, Liz Callaway’s Moon and Stars, even recently not two years ago we were working at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera’s FULL MONTY and I borrowed his car. His recent mix-CD was in the player and on came one of the most gorgeous renditions of “She’s Got A Way” I’d ever heard. Except in this case, it was sung by a woman with an incredibly familiar voice and it was called “He’s Got A Way”. 

The minute I got to the theatre that night I went through the whole thing again,

”Where is that song from? Who’s singing it? Who wrote it? Tell me everything!!!”

**Btw, if you don’t know of this rendition by Bernadette Peters from one of her recent concerts- I implore you to go buy it immediately on Itunes. Not that it’s anyone’s business either, but I believe this was recorded soon after her beloved husband died tragically and knowing that will serve only to crush your solar plexus even more when you hear how plaintively she sings it. Genius. Absolute. Genius. **

So.

Anyway.

THE MAGIC 8 BALL SONG

This tune, I learned from Ian as we listened to it on loop for most of route 95, is from the musical Das Barbecu written by Scott Warrender. It also, luckily for me had one of its first productions at Goodspeed (which has one of the most complete musical theatre libraries in the country including scores and scripts). Obviously, the minute we got back to campus I found it in the library and put it in my book. The singer was the brilliant Sally Mayes who can even somehow make a belt sound poignant.

I was hooked from the first lyric.

“You grow up with your daddy gone.”

Oh HE-llo...

“A man cannot be counted on.”

preach.

“And then one firey day…”

This is already in two lines....my life story.

“A hero comes your way…”

Oh thank Christ….FINALLY!

“As solid as the rock you dance upon.”

Ha! I knew there were men out there that were ‘solid as a rock’. I KNEW it.

“He takes your breath and your heart away....

Talk to me Sally....give me good news.....

You wear his ring and he swears he’ll stay…” 

Ohhhh!! They’re actually really engaged and not 'pretend' engaged like I get....

“You close your eyes and then, before you count to ten…”

Marriage? Kids? Happily ever after?!

“You find you’re somehow...."

yes? yes? yes?

"all alone…."

wait a minute......wait....what?

"...again.”

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh right.

Of course.

well.

mother…..fucker.

Awesome.

Bring it.

Now, as disappointed as I am for the girl, because believe me- I know her pain 10 times over…I’m absolutely fascinated as to what she’ll do next. 

Will she give up and save herself more pain? 

Will this be another song about standing up for yourself and telling all men in general to go fuck off? Cause I like those too but…I can’t ever seem to BE that girl in real life. 

Or will it be about her trying again….and again…and maybe….MAYBE…because she never gave up….finally finding true love?

Oooooorrrrrrrr...maybe there’s another way to get on this ferris wheel that everyone else seems to have figured out how to ride...

The song is now......

an aural magic 8 ball, basically.

I have, in 4 bars of musical interlude music- 

given this song all the power to dictate the rest of my life.

It's either that powerful...

or I am somewhere....

that crazy.

meh.

the song continues....

“Each summer night, a county fair….settles on the edge of a town somewhere…”

Wait.

What?

Why the hell are we talking about county fairs now?

slight panic ensues...

Momma is not spending the rest of her life trolling around county fairs like some sorta carny-trash....I need REAL Ann Landers shit here Sally...COME ON!

…..and then the song unfolds.

The County Fair being, obviously a metaphor for the ‘dance’ of love, marriage and whatever else follows- that seems to come so easily for...others. And what it's like to watch it all from the side lines, while desperately wishing to be included. 

Because yeah, you can go to a County Fair by yourself...but it sucks.

And you can go to a dance by yourself....but it sucks. 

And you can go to weddings by yourself....but it SUCKS. 

And not for nothing gals, but stop dreaming about meeting Mr Right at the 'singles table'. You will always end up babysitting everyone else's children or grandparents. So heads up ladies and GRAB A GAY before you go to your next wedding stag or you will become the worst paid hired help in all the land.

Cause here's the thing.

I am this girl.

I am-

depending on how you look at it- 

the hopeless romantic AND the dumbest, most stupid girl on the planet.

In fact, I was really close to naming this post THE HOPELESS ROMANTIC/STUPID GIRL SONG. Because after a while.....? 

From where I'm sitting? 

The line between "Hopeless Romantic" and "Stupid Girl" becomes thinner and thinner and thinner. And I don't say this to garner pity, because it's almost as if I'm standing back and watching myself on an episode of The Wild Kingdom at this point...the observant Aquarian in me has clearly taken over this department.

And….

when I listen to this song...

depending on where I'm at in my own life....

I don't know whether to cheer this girl on for not giving up...

or to slap her across the face at least three times with a really big fat smelly fish so that she DOESN'T "find she's somehow all alone.....again",  DOES get a bunch of sweet kitty cats and lives the rest of her life in peaceful solitude.

Btw, let's talk about the brilliance of that "somehow" in there.

"You find you're SOMEHOW all alone....again."

Jesus Christ, that 'somehow' is just PURE genius because it really.....betrays- 

again, depending on how you look at it-

her pure and trusting heart? 

OR...

her deeply flawed delusional state.

And the delicate balance in this song....

between that heroic girl who refuses to let bad man after bad man take every last bit of her heart- and the pathetic girl who literally begs, begs, BEGS to be invited to the County Fair is astonishing to me. 

Because what's so incredibly frustrating about the County Fair is that you really CAN'T go, unless you go WITH someone. And this girl knows it. Because she wants the dream. Well, we all want the dream when we're younger. 

Believe me, you go through enough tragic relationships and you're all of a sudden just happy to find a man who won't punch your mother and knife you in your sleep.

So. This County Fair for this girl....is 'the dream'. 

And it only works when you go with another person. 

Sure, you can 'dance' alone....but you can't waltz.

You can ride the ferris wheel...with all that room in seats 'built for two'.

And you can go with your brother...but that goodnight kiss can get reeeaaalllly awkward.

just sayin'.

And the real kicker for women....is that we have to WAIT to be asked. I mean, this is the part that absolutely kills me. WE have to WAIT to be asked to go to a County Fair that WE want to go to more than the person who's asking us, IF we're lucky to even be ASKED. 

I mean, the whole thing is absurd really.

Let's turn the tables...it's like. If getting married was akin to going to a strip joint, and all the men really really wanted to go...but the only way the men could ever go to a strip join was IF it was up to the WOMEN asked the MEN to go with them. Yeah, there might be a few gals who thought going to strip clubs was something they'd really want to do too but...at it's core....it's ludicrous.  The whole thing.

But ok.

Say this girl just full out Sadie Hawkins' this guy and asks HIM to go the County Fair...

and the guy turns out to be once again, just another guy who said he'd take her but then...

never shows up.

Which clearly has happened to her before.

After a while, you have to really wonder...

Is her tenacity to get to that County Fair admirable?

or is it now, merely stubborn and self destructive?

And this is not even questioning whether or the the County Fair is even a good time once you get there....cause that REALLY depends on who you ask but....

...let's talk musically about this song for a second.

Now....

Sally BELTS this whole song. From tip to tail man, she just wails this shit.

Which is amazing. Truly amazing.

But, I really feel that the song...'hurts my heart' too much to belt it. 

Plus there is a place in the song for me where...

this girl literally BEGS for this man to take her to the fair-

and in my mind, she becomes...

just pathetic....

she definitely tips her hand when she says, 

"OH PLEASE WON'T YOU TAKE ME THERE??!!!!

AND MAYBE WIN me a teddy bear?

we could grab another chance...

to dance....

in the summer....

air..."

Oh God that part just rips my guts out. 

It's literally like watching a train wreck for me.

and so i 'saved' the belt for just that section.

To me, it just makes it sound all the more....desperate.

Because it's the one moment where she just loses her facade and just drops the whole girly, flirty bullshit of, 

"Hey wouldn't it be NICE if we went....look at all these couples....wouldn't it be NICE..."

hint hint hint hint hint HINT.

ugh.

blech!

and she just....

loses it.

because....

well, 'because why' exactly?

Again--

it could go either way.

Does she lose her shit because she just loves loves loves loves THIS guy?

OR

Does she lose her shit because at this point she's just absolutely terrified she'll never ever get to the Fair and figures at this point, any dream will do?

regardless...

she just finally busts and flat out BEGS for him to take her and in that moment....

you just know....

and she knows...

that she's just blown it.

and the guy doesn't want her anymore.

because she's 'needy'...

because she's 'soft'...

because she's.....honest.

I mean, she might as well have just started naming their unborn children for him...with the begging.....it would have been just as bad.

and then...

the worse part....

she tries to.....fix it.

"Oh you'd sure be a sweet sweet sight tonight.....I swear...."

Oh God....is she still....trying to fix it? oh god girl...have some...pride...

"When we light up the lights real bright tonight, somewhere...."

oh honey....please....PLEASE just stop...making a fool of yourself...as his eyes now, are just...scanning the horizon for someone better to talk to....she's lost him...maybe he didn't hear me, she thinks... so she says it again....

"We could light up the lights real bright tonight, OUT there....."

He excuses himself to go talk to some other chick who's just way better at this game....

and she's standing there...

all alone.....

again.

at the very edge of this fair...

in front of the ticket booth...

with the sounds and the smells and the laughter so so so so so close.....

and a million miles away at the same time....

"at the County....Fair."

And the song ends.

So.

I love LOVE love this song because it's so.....mercurial for me. That's the ridiculously AMAZING thing about this song. I can literally be in the polar opposites of emotional states and yet, this song will always always move me. Always.

I might be inspired to give love one more chance, brush the dirt off and put up yet another Match.com profile...

or it might make me absolutely livid, decide the whole game is for losers and then remove my Match.com profile. 

It holds great power over me, this song. 

It always has.

because I alternatively love and hate this girl. 

I love her heroic tenacity, and hate her vulnerability. 

I love her resilience, and hate her transparency.

I love her purity of heart, and hate her stupidity.

And so, this song really is a MAGIC 8 BALL.

Because it never fails to tell reveal to me whether....

I love or hate myself.

Track #6 ya'll.

The mirror into my heart.

xoxo

dl

THE MANDY MOORE SONG

Yes.

You read that right.

The Mandy Moore Song.

As in, the pop-tartletina extraordinaire…Mandy Moore.

Now.

Normally I’m not a fan of the pop-tartletinas, as I feel most of them have been given a whole hell of a lotta fame and fortune based on very very little legitimate talent. And as someone who’s had to scrape and fight and hustle for pretty much everything…part of me wants to just rip out their weaves, shove a GED down their throat and then lock them in a room with their mom's voices on a loop saying,

"When I was your age...I had to blah de blah de blah blah blah di dee blah blah BLAH..."

Forever.

And.

Ever.

But. 

I happened to be down with walking pneumonia a few years ago (surely a direct result of my most recent and spectacularly insane breakup), just watching whatever came on the TV in a stupor, and a movie called A Walk To Remember came on. It was one of these really sappy, cheesy, teen-angsty, someone-always-has-fucking-cancer movies which normally make me want to yak out my eyeballs. But for some reason…maybe I was too weak to change the channel, I dunno, but…I watched the whole thing.

And I fell absolutely head over heels in love with Mandy Moore.

I would have married Mandy Moore right that second. And I didn’t give a damn whether she had cancer, wore hideous pastels e-very-DAY, and was the President of the God Squad. 

I didn't give a damn. 

I loved her.

And girl.

Can.

SANG, people.

There is one song from this movie that she sings as she becomes (natch) the sleeper hit of the big musicale in high school...that just wrecked me. I was lying in my bed, under an avalanche of tissues anyway….just sobbing. 

Oh Mandy, Mandy, Mandy. You’re so strong even though you have cancer, because you have God. And I’m so weak because, even though I don't have cancer- I date ridiculous frito-lays who rip the soul out of my body and then try to make a donation to my CD years later after breaking up our engagement by phone, which makes me take a poll on Facebook asking whether I should keep it or refund it.

True story.

But I just love- strangely enough- the whispery tone she uses on this tune. There is absolutely no core or body to it at all and btw- there's no way if she'd actually been in that high school musical, anyone past the front row would have heard her. But, when she does the whispery-thing…it’s extremely moving. And it's a very 'microphone-friendly' sound as well, I discovered.

Ok, admittedly sometimes... I have absolutely no clue what she’s actually saying but…

I don’t care. 

It’s Mandy. 

Sweet, pure, virginal little Mandy. Who,

“Does not.

Need.

A reason.

To be angry.

With God!”

Ahhhh, bless.

And she’s a sweet little actress too. If you’ve never seen her in yet another movie about God; SAVED- I think she turns in an incredibly under appreciated comic performance. Which shouldn’t surprise you, if you've read my blog post about comedy in general- via the ‘SAD CLOWN SONG’.

But yes, Mandy Moore has some real talent. God bless her.

Not like that terrifyingly beautiful Taylor Swift who I saw on SNL the other night. Wow. And I could NOT be convinced that she was actually famous for being a singer. I literally got into fights with people at BILLY because I just would not believe this girl was known for…actually….singing. I thought she was another Paris Hilton, known for…. being extremely pretty and generally silly in public or something. But nope. She's actually a singer? I guess? If you all say so....

Anyway.

I scribbled down the name of the song a few days later when I was sure I hadn’t hallucinated the whole thing, ordered the DVD and the CD off Amazon.com, and the sheet music from Sheet Music Direct.com and waited for the magic to arrive at my home. 

A few days later…I sat at my piano and sang this song over and over and over again. Originally, I had thought it was a love song but when I finally read the lyrics--I realized it was actually a prayer.

I actually realized a lotta things when i finally had the lyrics in front of me which really leads to my only criticism of Mandy's performance of this song- which...let it be known across the kingdom- i LOVE. 

There's a set of lyrics that goes,

"At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back".

Now, listening to it I kept thinking,

"It SOUNDS like she's saying 'at the top of my lungs'...but she's singing it soooooooo quietly...that can't be right.

Bless.

She does actually sing the words, "at the top of my lungs"...in a whisper.

but...THAT'S OK.

because she's Mandy.

And her character had cancer.

So BACK OFF EVERYBODY....JUST BACK OFF!!!!!

Anyhoodles..

the song is a prayer?

Even BETTER!!!

Cause Lord knows I didn’t need another goddamned syrupy love song to make me feel like a complete spinster in training. A PRAYER!!! JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED!!! I sang it even more. Sang and cried and sang and cried and sang and cried. Ohhhhhh, aren't you all so relieved you're NOT my neighbors? Those poor people. Imagine how awesome it must have been to live next to me during Sweeney rehearsals. Oof. Ok I'm totally sending them all fruit baskets now.

but this song is just so gooorrrgggeeouuussss.

And it's a SEXY prayer. 

But ya know....God's gotta a sense of humor. Clearly. So, I'm sure it's all cool. 

It's really a song for when you need some hope. I find myself singing it walking down the street when I'm headed to something that's making me nervous like an audition, or therapy, or physical therapy for the ankle....

it's soothing.

but totally in a cool, kicky way.

And it's got a lovely, mournful minor key and it's very simple. Very music box-y. 

There's really nothing grand to report about the musical arrangement here on my side at least...except that it kicks ass and I love every note of it. Probably because it's a 100% direct lift and I have given the arranger (Mervyn Warren) FULL credit for it on the album. In fact, this is the only song on the entire album that I did not arrange in some way...so kudos to Mervyn and his awesome arrangement. I am extremely grateful to you and your talent.

Track #4 ya'll.

The closest to American Idol I'm ever gonna get.

Whee!

off to dinner...

more soon....

xoxo

dl