The music is not yet complete, but you can probably hear it in your head.

You Have My Full Support

If you are a traitor,
Impatient for your day,
Remember that deception
Must be done a certain way.
Before betrayal, don’t forget:
Observe the proper etiquette
Look your victim in the eye and say …

“You have my full support,
You have my full support.
I know once or twice in the past we fought,
But you have my full support.
You have my full support,
You have my full support.
I just helped you buy the farm you bought,
And you have my full support.”

Caesar woke one day
In 44 BC,
Went to the Senate and thought,
“How everyone wants to get close to me!”
After twenty stabs or so,
Caesar said, “Et tu, Brute?”
And just before Brutus tested his blade,
What did Brutus say?

“You have my full support,
You have my full support.
I’ll see to it all these assassins are caught,
‘cos you have my full support.
You have my full support,
You have my full support.
Oh dear, look at the rug, now come here for a hug,
And you have my full support.”

Jesus took a walk
In the garden late one night.
Judas arrived, all silver and booze,
Tilting slightly to the right.
Judas kissed him on the lips,
Well, that’s the tale you hear,
But not everyone knows that after the smooch,
He whispered in his ear,

“You have my full support,
You have my full support.
That turning of cheeks, what a lovely thought!
It has my full support.
You have my full support,
You have my full support.
Now I’ll just ask your dad for that hammer he had,
And you have my full support.”

Kennedy woke one day
In 1963,
Went for a drive and thought, “These Southerners
Seem to be warming to me.”
Before those rifle shots
Took their terrible toll,
What comforting words did Kennedy hear
Coming from the grassy knoll?

“You have my full support,
You have my full support.
Now wave and smile, like a President ought,
‘Cos you have my full support.
You have my full support,
You have my full support.
No, no, stay in the car, have a Cuban cigar,
‘Cos you have my full support.”

Malcolm had panache.
Malcolm had the charm.
Malcolm had Tony and Joe by his side,
Keeping him safe from harm.
Did Malcolm know he was toast?
Did Malcolm know he was dead?
When Tony came out of the party room,
Then turned to him and said,

“You have my full support,
You have my full support.
Got a meeting with Joe, but I’ll keep it short,
And you have my full support.
You have my full support,
You have my full support.

The earth’s getting hot
‘til you’re gone, then it’s not.

And you have my full support.”

I am indebted to Mike Lynch for the climate change quip in the last lines, and I know, I’m anticipating Monday’s events.  I may have to re-write but I think, historically, the odds are on my side.

Ne me quitte pas…

- Jacque Brel

Eu só espero que meus antigos professores de francês não vejam isso, pois, como parei de praticar a língua há alguns meses, erros podem ter ocorrido.

La poétique du cabaret

Nous sommes tout seul

Dans cette table, dans cet bar;

L’homme chubby regarda le ciel

Avec un rêveur.

.

Il, qui plante les fleurs prolixes,

Est en face de moi.

Les cigarretes brûlent, brûlent,

Et se defaire sur le cendrier

.

Pendant qu’il parle sur la beauté de chanterpleurer:

“C’est magnifique, je pense, la capacité

De chanter avec le face mouillé,

Mais avec une voix claire.”

.

J’étais sur le point de m’élever

Et partir san payer l’addition

Quand il a commencé a parler

De la Poésie.

.

Je suis resté, regandant l’hômme,

Qui, bien inutile pour la plupart des choses,

Avait une raison cristaline à ce sujet:

“La vrai beauté de La poésie

(dit-il entre les joues roses)

Est sur la liberté de création!

.

‘A bas les puristes!’

Vive le vers blanc puissant!

Sans rime, sans compteur, sans rigueur formelle;

Solement avec l’éssence de la mélodie!”

Aos que não sabem, fica aqui um claro exemplo do que é o chanterpleurer (cantar chorando):

 L’accordéoniste by L’Accordéoniste

2009 (17 tracks, 59:08)

cabaret/cast recordings

Hmm. The NME’s review really enjoys pissing on Mr. Bellamy’s parade. The best bits on The Resistance usually occur when the band push their sound to polarising extremes. Hence why “I Belong To You (+ Mon Cœur S’Ouvre À Ta Voix)” is an absolute riot, in spite of its threat to break into Elton John doing cabaret at any given moment. Yes, Bellamy’s French accent resembles a daytripping tourist on acid. Yes, there is a celebratory “Woo!” at the beginning that belongs firmly on Broadway. But, as with so many of Muse’s best songs, it is the wavering on the right side of ridiculous that is the song’s making. Understandably therefore, the clarinet solo near the end is a work of genius – beautifully written; played with just the right tone and character; interlocking marvellously with the rest of the music.

So why, after all this star-struck amazement and wonder, does the band then have to ruin their credibility with utter rubbish like “Guiding Light” – a song so mediocre and in thrall to U2 at their very worst that it should be locked up in a secret cupboard in the headquarters of Magic FM.

Muse – I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S’Ouvre A Ta Voix)

దారి లో హూవర్ డ్యాం చూసుకొని లాస్ వేగాస్ వైపు బయలుదేరాం. హూవర్ డ్యాం వేగాస్ అంతటికి నీళ్ళు సప్లై చేస్తుంది. నెవడా ఎడారి లో బడాయి గా బాగానే కట్టాడు  అమెరికా వాడు, ఈ లాస్ వేగాస్ నీ, దాని గొంతు తడారి పోకుండా ఆ హూవర్ డ్యాం నీ.
లాస్ వేగాస్  లో  ట్రోపోస్పియర్ ఫ్రీ ఫాలూ, మూజికల్ ఫౌంటైన్సూ చూడటం అయ్యాక,కాసినో కి వెళ్ళాం.నేను ముందు కొన్ని డాలర్లు గెలిచాను.తరవాత దానికి రెండు రెట్లు పోవడం తో,  బ్రతుకు జీవుడా అనుకొంటూ కాసినో నుంచీ బయటపడ్డాను.బాలా మాత్రం ఒక్కసారే ఆడి డెబ్భై ఐదు డాలర్లు గెలుచుకొన్నాడు.నాకేమో డబ్బుల తో పాటు లాస్ వేగస్ అంటే ఇంటరెస్ట్ కూడా పోయింది.
ముందు దిసమొలల ప్రదర్శనలు చూద్దాం అనుకొన్నా గానీ, బాలా గాడు ఆమాటే ఎత్తలేదు. పెళ్ళి కాని వాడు వాడే కాం  గా ఉంటే,నేను బయట పడటం బాగోదని నేనూ  కాం  గా ఉండి పోయాను. ఇక ఒక క్యూబన్ రెస్టారెంట్ లో అరటి కాయ తో చేసిన పిజ్జా తిని పాసడీనా కి బయలుదేరాం బాలా నేనూ.
*******************
నాకు అమెరికన్ ఫార్మాలిటీస్  అర్ధం కాలేదు. ప్రతి రోజూ ఆఫీస్ లో ఎంటర్ అయ్యేటప్పుడు, గేట్ దగ్గర ఉండే సెక్యూరిటీ గార్డ్ “హాయ్, హౌ ఆర్ యూ డూయింగ్ టుడే”,అనేవాడు. అలానే ఆఫీస్ నుండీ ఇంటికి వెళ్ళేటప్పుడు,”హౌ వజ్ యువర్ డే?” అనే వాడు. కానీ అతని ముఖం లో మాత్రం “నువ్వేం చేసినా నాకేంటి?” అనే ఒక యాంత్రికమైన భావం కనపడేది. అటువంటప్పుడు ఫార్మాలిటీ కోసం ఏదో ఒకటి అనడం ఎందుకు? నాకు ఈ విషయం అర్ధం కాలేదు.బహుశా ఈ ఫార్మాలిటీ కి మూలాలు అమెరికన్ ఇండస్ట్రియల్ కల్చర్ లో ఎక్కడో ఉండి ఉంటాయి. నాకు అర్ధం అవ్వక పోవటానికి మూలాలు మా వెంకటాపురం లో ఉండి ఉంటాయి.
అలానే మేముండే అపార్ట్మెంట్స్లో ఒక ఇండియన్ ఫ్యామిలీ ఉంది. ఎప్పుడైనా వాళ్ళు ఎదురు పడితే నాకు ప్రాణం లేచి వచ్చేది.నేను పలకరింపు గా నవ్వి, హలో చెప్పేవాడిని.  వాళ్ళిద్దరిలో భర్త మాత్రం నా హలో కి సమాధానం గా తన పెదాలను బిగించి,కిందికి వంకర తిప్పెవాడు.  “నేను పలకరిస్తుంటే వీడు నన్ను అవమానిస్తున్నాడేమిటబ్బా!” అని అనుమానం వచ్చేది నాకు. తరవాత బాలా చెప్పాడు,” అమెరికన్స్ ఫర్మల్ గ హలో అని అలా అక్నాలెడ్జ్ చేస్తారని”.  ఫార్మల్ గా అంటే “నువ్వెవరివో నాకనవసరం” అనా అర్ధం?
****************
మా సేల్స్ టీం వాళ్ళు ఇండియాలో మా టీం గురించి క్లయింట్ కి బాగానే బిల్డ్ అప్ ఇచ్చినట్లున్నాడు. క్లయింట్ ఎక్స్-పెక్టేషన్స్  ఎక్కడో ఆకాశం లో ఉన్నాయి, మా టీం ప్రతిభ మాత్రం పాతళం లో ఉంది. నాకు మేము ఇండియా లో చెయ్యబోయే ప్రాజెక్ట్ గురించి తలుచుకుంటే చెమటలు పడుతున్నాయి.
నాకు సరళ మీద బెంగ బిల్డ్ అప్ కా  సాగింది.ఫోన్ లూ చాట్ లూ నా బెంగ ని తీర్చటం మానేశాయి. ఆఫీస్ లో కూడా ఇల్లు గుర్తుకొస్తోంది. ఇండియా వెళ్ళటానికి రోజులు  లెక్కపెట్టసాగాను. క్యాం కోడర్, కొన్ని పెర్ఫ్యూంసూ షాపింగ్ చేశాను.  బాలా అయిర్పోర్ట్ కి వచ్చి సెండ్ ఆఫ్ చేశాడు.
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మద్రాస్ “యార్ పోర్ట్” కి సరళా వాళ్ళమ్మా వచ్చి నన్ను రిసీవ్ చేసుకున్నారు.  ప్రయాణం చాలా నీరసం గానూ,చికాకు గానూ జరిగింది.  ప్లేన్ లో ఎంత అలిసిపోయానంటే, ప్లేన్ లో ఉన్న అందమైన అమ్మాయిలను కన్నెత్తి కూడా చూడలేదు. మరి వాళ్ళు అందమైన అమ్మాయిలని ఎలా తెలిసింది అంటారా? అది వేరే విషయం..నేను చెప్పొచ్చేదేమంటే,” నేను అందమైన అమ్మాయిలను అప్రిషియేట్ చెయ్యని ఒక అరుదైన సందర్భాలలో అది ఒకటి..     ఇంటికొచ్చాక జెట్ లాగ్  ( జెట్ లీడ్ అనాలేమో?) తీరడానికి ఒక రెండు రోజులు పట్టింది. ఇంకో మూడు రోజులు ఆఫీస్ కి సెలవుపెట్టి సరళ మీద బెంగంతా తీరిపోయేలా ఇంట్లోనే ఉన్నాను.

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ – ఒకటవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -రెండవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -మూడవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -నాలుగవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -ఐదవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్  వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ -ఆరవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ – ఏడవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ – ఎనిమిదవ భాగం

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-9

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-10

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-11

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-12

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-13

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-14

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-15

ఒక తెలుగు సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ఇంజినీర్ కథ-16

ఇంకా ఉంది…

Ne me quitte pas…

- Jacque Brel

Eu só espero que meus antigos professores de francês não vejam isso, pois, como parei de praticar a língua há alguns meses, erros podem ter ocorrido.

La poétique du cabaret

.

Nous sommes tout seul

Dans cette table, dans cet bar;

L’homme chubby regarda le ciel

Avec un rêveur.

.

Il, qui plante les fleurs prolixes,

Est en face de moi.

Les cigarretes brûlent, brûlent,

Et se defaire sur le cendrier

.

Pendant qu’il parle sur la beauté de chanterpleurer:

“C’est magnifique, je pense, la capacité

De chanter avec le face mouillé,

Mais avec une voix claire.”

.

J’étais sur le point de m’élever

Et partir san payer l’addition

Quand il a commencé a parler

De la Poésie.

.

Je suis resté, regandant l’hômme,

Qui, bien inutile pour la plupart des choses,

Avait une raison cristaline à ce sujet:

“La vrai beauté de La poésie

(dit-il entre les joues roses)

Est sur la liberté de création!

.

‘A bas les puristes!’

Vive le vers blanc puissant!

Sans rime, sans compteur, sans rigueur formelle;

Solement avec l’éssence de la mélodie!”

Aos que não sabem, fica aqui um claro exemplo do que é o chanterpleurer (cantar chorando):

Nota: Os pontos entre as estrofes são apenas para conter a fúria do wordpress contra a estrutura poética.

 Show Tunes Of The 1920’s Vol. 2 by Various Artists

2009 (25 tracks, 1:16:04)

cabaret/cast recordings

sing it.

last night kyle showed me this cute little bar in the west village called marie’s crisis.   it looks like the basement of a restaurant with just a piano set up in the foyer but every night there’s a piano man who plays show tunes, BY HEART.  sunday night there’s a charmer named jim who’s been playing there for 21 years.  of course everyone is encouraged to sing along and most of the time that works out just fine (unless you’ve had one too many of the very strong drinks and end up butchering everyone’s favorite cabaret tune- but i guess that’s part of the charm)  also, who made a cameo but malan breton from project runway season 3?!  i didn’t really know who he was either but he sang “people“ from funny girl and nearly made me pee my pants. apparently he’s also a performer-hello!   i mean, he had to untie his bow tie before he started singing.  that’s shit is for realsies.

click to see his looks for spring 2010

The Opera Misfits will perform baroque style opera and burlesque!  ”Join us for a fabulous evening of operatic hijinks and shenanigans! Operadisiac, Seattle’s only opera singing burlesque troupe, joins forces with burlesque whirlwind Iva Handfull, “Baroque dancer” Ines Andrade, and yodeling jazz maniac Rattlesnake Dick. Rob Morgan from The Squirrels is our illustrious MC. Warning: attendance will forever change the way you view opera, for better or worse! 21+ only with id. Drinks will be served to you in the theater, how about that!” Buy tickets in advance at Brown Paper Tickets or at the door for $15.

Es curioso comprobar que en las películas más premiadas del cine, la banda sonora siempre esta presente entre los diferentes galardones. Y es que la música caracteriza a cada uno de los elementos de la película y sin ella no significaría lo mismo.

1939
LO QUE EL VIENTO SE LLEVO
No se si sería el viento o la lluvia, pero el caso que esta película lo que se llevo fue diez Oscars de la Academia de catorce nominaciones a las que optava. La composición de Max Steiner para “Lo que el viento se llevo” fue nominada a la mejor música original, pero desgraciadamente ese año “El mago de Oz” se llevo la palma en esta categoría.

1959
BEN – HUR
Esta película conquisto once Oscars de doce nominaciones, superando el record de “Los mejores años de nuestra vida” con ocho estatuillas de nueve. Entre los Oscars obtenidos, Miklos Rozsa, fue premiado por la mejor música original de Ben Hur. Pero también le concedieron en el mismo año un premio BAFTA y un Globo de Oro por mejor película dramática y de aventuras. ¡Desde luego supero todas las espectativas!

1961
WEST SIDE STORY
La adaptación cinematográfica de la historia de “Romeo y Julieta” de William Shakespeare consiguió nada mas y nada menos que diez Oscars de once nominaciones. Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal fueron los responsables de la estatuilla por la mejor banda sonora en una película musical. Los Globos de Oro también quisieron premiar a West Side Story con un globo a la mejor película: musical. Esta película alcanzó tal éxito que aun sus melodías se recuerdan hoy en día en teatros de todo el mundo.

1972
CABARET
Se conoce que West Side Story abrió las puertas del éxito para películas de género musical como “Cabaret”. Basada en la novela “Adiós a Berlín” de Christopher Isherwood, fue ganadora de ocho de diez nominaciones por parte de la Academia, un Globo de Oro y un BAFTA por mejor película de género musical.

1987
EL ÚLTIMO EMPERADOR
Basada en la autobiografía de Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, siguió los pasos de “Gigi” (1958) e hizo pleno en todas las quinielas de los Oscars, ya que ganó en las nueve categorías en las que estaba nominada. Además consiguió 4 Globos de Oro y un BAFTA.

1997
TITANIC
La verdad que la gran producción de James Cameron, basada en el desastre del transatlántico RMS Titanic, no se fue a pique como el barco, sino que se convirtió en una de las películas más taquilleras y más premiadas de la historia del cine. Once estatuillas de catorce, cuatro Globos de Oro, diez nominaciones en los premios BAFTA y un premio SAG.

2003
EL SEÑOR DE LOS ANILLOS: EL RETORNO DEL REY
Se dice que a la tercera va la vencida, y justo haciendo honor al título, han retornado como reyes para conquistar once estatuillas de once nominaciones. Además le concedieron cuatro Globos de Oro y dos Grammy, entre otros. De este modo la tercera saga de la triología de “El señor de los anillos”, sigue siendo junto a “Titanic” y a “Ben-Hur” las más premiadas de la historia de los Oscars.

 Show Tunes Of The 1920’s Vol. 1 by Various Artists

2009 (23 tracks, 1:15:22)

cabaret/cast recordings

As a cabaret singer, I have learned that researching a song enhances not only my understanding of the song, but also my emotional connection to it.  When I know about a song, its meanings and origins, I feel pride of ownership for my personal understanding of the song as well as a deeper connection to the community of singers and story tellers who came before me and those who sing it now.

The book “Jim Along, Josie, A Collection of Folk Songs and Singing Games for Young Children,” Compiled by Nancy and John Langstaff, has a slightly different set of lyrics (see yesterday’s post which includes these alternate lyrics).  In this book, the song is called “The Mockingbird (Hush Up, Baby)” and sites that it is “From ‘English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians.’”

The book “I Hear America Singing,”  collected and arranged by Kathleen Krull, calls the song “The Mockingbird Song or, Hush, Little Baby”  The citation is for “Appalachia/Alabama” and also says “Popular in the South in Pioneer days, this descends from an old English nursery rhyme.”

Peter Yarrow, in his note about “Hush, Little Baby” in his book of “Sleepytime Songs,”  suggests that the appeal of this song is the deep sense of comfort in knowing that no matter what happens, no matter what goes wrong, the child will be loved and cared for.

I read in a number of places online, that one indication that the song lyrics are American, is that Mockingbirds are native to the American Continent.

Many traditional lyrics change vastly over time, as suits the people in the times that they sing them.  If you are not singing along with the book, it is perfectly valid to make up your own lyrics to the tune and sing those to your children.

The origin of this tune seems to be unknown.

Lena Grove stole hearts left and right, and just like last time, I had a couple folks tell me later they’re either in love with her, or are still in love from the last time.  On a side but related note, because Windows can’t make an operating system that can’t run for 5 minutes without crashing, I’ve been working on this blog post for three days, and, well, there’s a lot worse things in the world I could have been looking at that than a photo blog of last session.  Alexis is in Phoenix at the moment doing whatever people do in Phoenix, grilling armadillos and whatnot, so it’s up to me write this post with little to no adult supervision.  This means, 1) there’ll be more typos than usual and 2) someone somewhere will probably be offended shortly.

Anyway, let’s get this going.

Lots of sketches got sent in this time around.  This first one is from Michelle Murphy…

Our first contest was the opposite hand contest, where “if you’re right-handed, you draw with your left, and if you’re left-handed you draw with your right, and if you’re ambidextrous pretend you’re not so you don’t make anyone cry.”  Russell made up some mystery shots for the two winners; he actually messed up the first set and made us drink the horrible concoction . . . don’t ever say Team Sketchy isn’t willing to take one for the team.  If you thought we were a little more tipsy than normal by the end of things, you were probably right.

Near as I can tell, no one sent any opposite-hand drawings in from that contest, unless they were cheating, which I doubt, since the crowd looked to be a good, wholesome sort.

That last photo MIGHT be the judging of the opposite-hand drawing contest.  Hard to tell though.

This next sketch is from Steve Peters, he and Andrea Grigoropol (you’ll see her stuff in a minute) drove all the way down from Philly just to see Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore.  I can not tell you how much that tickles us.  Unless they’re spies from the Philly Dr. Sketchy’s.  Advance scouts for some sort of Dr. Sketchy’s gang turf war if you will.  If that’s the case, if they’re making a move on our corner, well, we ain’t scared of Nicola Black’s posse.  Just in case though, if some of you could pack your heat for the next couple sessions, we should be alright.

That’s a joke.

It just occurred to me this IS Baltimore, somebody might take me seriously.

Michelle Murphy next . . .

Brian Dugan

And here’s Andrea Grigoropol from Philly . . .

The first contest was a special request from Lena – she wanted the best interpretation of her as a zombie, the winner getting 1000 Pinup Girls by Harald Hellmann, Charles Martignete, Louis Meisel from Atomic Books.

A whole bunch of folks gave her their drawings at the end of the night, which we were lucky enough to get a chance to scan.  Unfortunately, that means we don’t have the names of the artists.  If you see your sketch, email us, and we’ll be happy to tack your name under it.  On the off chance two people claim a drawing, the two can come to the next Dr. Sketchy’s (this Monday with Sugar Ann Spice!) and settle it with a rousing bout of fisticuffs during a break.

ANYWAY, these first two are from that stack.

(I had some trouble with the scanner on this one. . . that’s only half of it.   The scanner just ain’t big enough.)

(edit: This following drawing is by Diego Molano.)

Another Steve Peters . . .

Brian Dugan

The next contest was the random noun contest where folks in the crowd shout out a random . . . well, noun.  Obviously some drinks had started to make themselves known since we somehow ended up with “Mexican wrestling badgers”.  No, I don’t know either.  I don’t even know what a badger looks like.  I can’t even imagine trying to draw one with a Mexican wrestling mask on.  The crowd definitely had my sympathies, though they did bring it on themselves I suppose.  The prize was Miss Mindy’s Sassy Paper Doll Bonanza by Miss Mindy from Baby Tattoo Books.

This first one is Andrea Grigoropol again, at least I think it is.  It has AG on it and was in Lena’s stack.

Brian Dugan

Another unnamed . . .

A couple more sketches to finish us out . . .

Michelle Murphy

Andrea Grigoropol (next three)

Steve Peters

EM Kuker

And one more unnamed . . .

Special super-duper thanks go to Lena Grove of Baltimore’s Gilded Lily Burlesque who without none of this would be possible, to Russell of the Windup Space for putting one more nail in everyone’s livers, Jeff for talking all these nice pictures, Bill for taking video for the Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore documentary while simultaneously watching the door, and our generous sponsors Atomic Books, Artist & Craftsman Supply, and Baby Tattoo Books.

The next Dr. Sketchy’s is tomorrow, November 23rd, at 7:00 (doors at 6) at the Windup Space with Sugar Ann Spice!

If you haven’t already, check out the previous post to get a peek at Monday’s prizes!

]]> http://realtenerife.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/bitter-and-twisted-%e2%80%93-a-great-night-out-in-puerto-de-la-cruz/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:27:14 +0000 andymont http://realtenerife.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/bitter-and-twisted-%e2%80%93-a-great-night-out-in-puerto-de-la-cruz/

As usual, time was way ahead of schedule leaving us breathless in its wake.
Trying to herd visitors through the streets of Puerto de la Cruz on a Saturday night when there’s so much to see, was proving a difficult task. We’d been told that if we didn’t get to the Majestic before about 9.15pm we’d be hard pressed to get a seat and now a puppet show outside the church was threatening to keep us late.

We finally climbed down the steps into The Majestic at 9.35pm and made a bee line for an empty table slightly behind the mixing desk.
First thoughts on perusing the room were that we’d wandered into a Saga outing. Most of the tables were occupied by a mix of British ex-Pats and holidaymakers, most if not all of retirement age and beyond. I was beginning to wander if this might have been a mistake but I couldn’t see bingo cards anywhere and anyway, we’d already given our order to the ‘personality’ waiter who was mincing about the place like Alan Cumming on speed.

Nicely set up with our drinks in our comfy seats and an only slightly impaired view of the stage for me, the evening began with a short quiz to identify world airline logos and then it was time for the house lights to go down and the footlights to come on.
For the first half of the show Bitter and Twisted (John Sharples and Barry Pugh) took us on a simulated flight around the comedy world of airline attendants which included free peanuts for all (none of that no-frills nonsense on Majestic Airlines), several stunning costume changes and multi-lingual, word-perfect miming.

After the interval the regular Bitter and Twisted Show got into its routine with a level of professionalism and hilarity that has us all howling with laughter and wiping the tears from our eyes. Particularly memorable were the Miss America and Amy Winehouse sketches but the icing on the cake was the uproarious rendition of It Should Have Been Me which is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

In between shows there was banter with the audience, a raffle and a live rehearsal by John of a new song entitled Saturday Cowboys, a beautiful reminisce about a boy’s obsession with the movies before the age of video and the Internet. I was very tempted to go back the following night to see its inclusion in the show.

There’s no charge to get into the Majestic; drinks are amazingly good value; the atmosphere is friendly and fun, and Bitter & Twisted are quite simply fabulous.
We couldn’t believe it when we looked at the time and it was 1.30am. The entire evening had passed in a whirl of laughter, false eyelashes, sequins and wondering if the waiter would make it through the night without a visit to the Coronary Unit.
I can’t recommend it highly enough. Go!

The Majestic is on Calle Cardogan (off Calle Valoise) in Puerto de la Cruz and the Bitter and Twisted Show is on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights from 8pm.

I’ve finished the cancan boots for the Cabaret musical! 12 pairs of sexy, above-the-knee black patent and box leather laced boots for the girls in the musical. I’ve tried on a pair and it looked gorgeous on my feet. I’m still making Sally Bowles’ pink patent and black patent leather sexy mary jane’s. Premier will be 5th December!

A nyíregyházi Kabaré előadáshoz elkészültem a tánckar kánkán csizmáival. A jelmezeket Lakatos Márk csinálja, és vele beszéltük meg a koncepciót. Fontos volt, hogy minél eredetibbnek tűnjön a csizma, a korabeli hangulat hangsúlyozására, fülledt és erotikus legyen. A kánkán csizmák fekete box és lakk bőr kombinációjából készültek el, elöl természetesen végig fűzősen, belső oldalon cipzárral, a gyors öltözések miatt.

Felpróbáltam a csizmát és az eredmény határozottan tetszik. A bemtutató egyébként december 5-én lesz a nyíregyházi Móricz Zsigmond Színházban, a koreográfiát Ladányi Andrea készíti, úgyhogy biztos érdekes lesz a.

The Mullum Music Festival is almost here!

Starting on Thursday 26th November till Sunday 29th November.

4 Days      8 Venues     50 Acts

Over 100 performances and workshops!

The Mullum Music Festival has a great website with all the Artists listed with buttons that go to their websites and YouTube videos so you can check them out.

Here’s a taste of what it had to say about the Opening Night Gala Performance:

“Every festival has it’s blue ribbon event. At Adelaide Festival it’s the opening night cabaret, at Melbourne Comedy Festival it’s the Gala Comedy night and at our very own Mullum Music Festival it’s the Opening Night Gala Performance.

The opening night is about short / sharp tastes of the festival and the line up is a snapshot of the diverse cross section of International, National and Local acts. This is a chance to catch the best of the fest, to see your favourite artist in a cabaret setting, collaborating and creating in the spirit of community created by that magical phenomenon we call ‘festival.’

With performances by Australia’s leading Jazz Vocalist Vince Jones, Lucie Thorne & Hamish Stuart, Sal Kimber & The Rollin Wheel, M Jack Bee, Ange Takats, Leah Flanagan, Domini Forster & some very special surprise guests.”

For more information about all the artists, events and to purchase tickets click here

The first of the fall’s big local Broadway Events occured last night at Hill Auditorium, presented by the University Musical Society at the University of Michigan — Patti Lupone in concert (“Coulda Woulda Shoulda”).

Comprised of songs she has sung in Broadway productions, songs she could have sung, and songs she made her own with a special twist, the two-hour evening was thrilling, entertaining, and reminded the audience just what a Broadway Diva Patti truly is.

Starting the evening off by shouting “Go Blue” followed by an anti-OSU slur, she had the crowd in the palm of her hand from the first moments — what followed was pure Broadway at it’s best. “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” continues to amaze, and a set in which she sang songs normally performed by men on stage was fun and edgy.

The years have mellowed Patti. Her stories between song sets are tamer, and less obscenity-strewn. I’ve seen her perform many many times live now — on stage in Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy, Anything Goes…on stage with her cabaret show at NYC’s Bottom Line on two occasions, and in several other performances in NYC. She no longer shares stories of intoxicated travels while performing on cruise ships. This is a more refined Patti — a Patti that has literally seen it all, and then some.

She’s been performing the Coulda Woulda Shoulda concert now since 2007, alternating performances with her Patti Live concert, and a shared evening with Mandy Patinkin. No matter which incarnation of her concert you see, she’s a force to be reckoned with, and remains one of America’s musical theatre treasures.

Ann Arbor was treated to a taste of what makes her special — and what makes Broadway special. I rode out a migraine through the show, because she is a diva not to be missed. Brava Patti, Brava. Oh, and I agree….the Buckeyes DO suck…

And that’s the view from Ann Arbor today.

 Gutenberg!: The Musical by Christopher Fitzgerald

2009 (25 tracks, 58:04)

cabaret/cast recordings

Quest’oggi si parla di tutti gli Spettacoli che il Villaggio Valtur di Agadir ha proposto nell’estate 2009.

Quelli che mi son piaciuti di più, Legend, Regia, il Cabaret e quelli che mi son piaciuti di meno, Le perle di Agadir, Humanus, Notre Dame de Paris.

E ovviamente si parla delle emozioni che ci hanno regalato i ragazzi e le ragazze dell’Equipe di Agadir, chi ci ha fatto ridere, chi ci ha fatto commuovere.
Loro: Andrea, Mimmo, Vito, Charlie, Nahid, NisRin, Karima, Adil, Davide, Khalil, Tony, Enrico, Sasà, Andrea, Giuliana, Francesca, Pedro, Mounia, Hassan, Mattia, Marco.

Per non dimenticare

Spettacoli Valtur Agadir 2009

click image to visit Polyvore for more details on this set and my other looks

I’ve been inspired by a few different things lately…  among them, Karen O (as always), a little dip back into Cabaret, skeletons, deer, sequins, studs, faux fur, and Bauhaus.

As the nights get colder and the days begin to gray, I find myself aesthetically drawn to dark themes, motifs from nature and how wolves can be juxtaposed with deer…  stylistically and metaphorically.