But while there’s moonlight and music and love and romance...
Let’s face the music and dance.
So wrote Irving Berlin in 1936, for the film Follow the Fleet. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire, who — despite being a reedy-voiced, plain-looking man with thinning hair — introduced more original songs in his career than anyone in history. I know this, because I'm a musical theater/movie musicals geek.
So wrote Irving Berlin in 1936, for the film Follow the Fleet. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire, who — despite being a reedy-voiced, plain-looking man with thinning hair — introduced more original songs in his career than anyone in history. I know this, because I'm a musical theater/movie musicals geek.
The arts — particularly the performing arts — have always been a huge part of my life. I grew up in a house full of music: My father, a classically trained baritone, performed in community theatre productions and sang all the time; my sister danced into her teen years and was very into whatever the current music was; and my mom — well, my mom couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, but she knew when my father was singing wrong and she encouraged my musical (and tap dance) interests. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t dance or have music around me.
Do I know everything about music? No. But I know when something’s good (or bad) and I know when I need to learn more. I'm still a musical theater geek. Back in high school, when I was interested in a show, or a composer, or a performer, I had to know everything about that show, composer or performer (I still do — and it would have been so much easier if Google had been around in the late 80s). I identified with Michael Feinstein, a cabaret performer who once worked for Ira Gershwin and who is a walking encyclopedia of American popular song.
Do I know everything about music? No. But I know when something’s good (or bad) and I know when I need to learn more. I'm still a musical theater geek. Back in high school, when I was interested in a show, or a composer, or a performer, I had to know everything about that show, composer or performer (I still do — and it would have been so much easier if Google had been around in the late 80s). I identified with Michael Feinstein, a cabaret performer who once worked for Ira Gershwin and who is a walking encyclopedia of American popular song.
Dance — I know dance. Not all the technical stuff, of course; I don’t know the name of every ballet step (tap, on the other hand — don’t even try to challenge me there. I’ve been tapping since I was four) but I know good choreography and I know good dancing. That’s why, for the past 15 years or so, I’ve actually been a choreographer myself. I work with community and school groups, people who aren’t dancers but who appreciate being shown how to move. Creating a musical number that really works is the best thing in the world.
So that’s why I’m writing this blog. I love discovering new (or old) artists, music, shows; and if I like something, I’ll bet someone else will, too.
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