Nice

[rejectomorph]

A balmy day has given way to a cool evening and a chilly night is coming, and I couldn't be more delighted by this sudden return of pleasant spring weather. The crickets' chirps have slowed from the fevered pace they took on during the recent hot spell, lending the night a relaxed air. A cool breeze from the yard brings a sweet whiff of gardenia, while the crescent moon settles among the pines in the west.

Soon I will have to close the windows. Not only will tonight get chilly, but tomorrow will be cooler than today was. Clouds are expected for the next two days, though rain is unlikely. It's supposed to warm up Sunday, but next week it will get cooler again, at least for a while. July still looms, and is unlikely to be as kind as June has become. But for now I'm content to enjoy the mildness and I wont worry about next month.

It looks like I won't be going shopping tomorrow, but Sunday probably won't be terribly hot so it's not a big deal. I'll miss the Friday sale on cakes, but that's probably for the best. I've still got pie to get rid of, and if there was cake too I'd surely overdose on sugar. Cakes will be on sale again soon enough.

I think I got about enough sleep last night, and didn't get up too early today, so I should be able to stay awake past midnight tonight and then get to sleep again without much trouble. I always feel better when my sleep schedule is something close to normal. It's never completely normal anymore, but I'm thankful for the small favor of near-normal anyway. And now it's time for my belated dinner, and probably a movie on television. Thanks, June.

Comments

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you got a cooling spell! Normal sleep would be so wonderful. (I never get any these days.) What movie was on?

[rejectomorph]

There were movies all night, and I can't remember which was on when I turned the TV on, but I think it was Annie Get Your Gun. I know I fell asleep with the TV on and when I woke up they were running Pal Joey. Mmm, Rodgers & Hart.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

Is that the one with Lola getting whatever Lola wants? I don't know if I've ever seen it! Annie Get Your Gun. on the other hand, is Doris Day, right?

[rejectomorph]

"Lola" is from Damn Yankees (Adler & Ross) and thus dates from the 1950s. The movie version of Pal Joey was made in 1957 (with Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Rita Hayworth) but the stage musical debuted in 1940. The two standards that came from the original show were "(If They Asked Me) I Could Write a Book" and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."

For the movie the producers dug into the Rodgers & Hart songbook to add several standards, including "My Funny Valentine", "I Didn't Know What Time it Was", "There's a Small Hotel", and "The Lady is a Tramp". That was probably done at Sinatra's insistence, so he'd have more good numbers to show off with.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

Aha! Thank you! I never saw Damn Yankees either. *g* (It'd be easier to tell you which musicals I did see! Uhh, Oklahoma mostly. *g*) The version of "Bewitched" I've heard most on oldies radio is by Margaret Whiting, I think. But I could be mistaken.

Sinatra could be remarkably effective as an actor, but I'm sure the show-off was strong in him in every venue. :D

[rejectomorph]

Yankees is one of the few major musicals I haven't seen, though I have seen parts of it a couple of times. Most of them (including Oklahoma) I've seen multiple times.

I think just about everybody has recorded "Bewitched." Ella did a long version, over six minutes I think, that was on the Rodgers and Hart Songbook album.

Did you know that Gene Kelly created the role of Joey in the original Broadway production? One of his earliest successes. The supporting cast included Van Johnson and June Havoc (Gypsy Rose Lee's sister, and thus the model for "Baby June" in the musical Gypsy.)

I probably know way too much about musicals, especially for somebody who can't sing.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

Baby June! Yes, I remember knowing that she was Gypsy Rose Lee's sister. They made a movie about Gypsy. ....Natalie Wood? That'd have been miscasting, for sure.

Gene Kelly was odd to me. He was handsome and could sing and dance like a dream, but there was also something aggressive about him, unlike Astaire, who was all suave diffidence. Maybe it's natural to prefer one style over the other.

Gerry and I saw the first of the That's Entertainment compilations in 1974 when we were in Europe. It was a thrill on the big screen, with all those stars doing their thing. I loved watching Astaire dance in the dark with Cyd Charisse. (If that wasn't in the film, it shoulda been.)

It was funny: I saw Oklahoma in the big old "picture house" on Main Street in my dinky hometown during one of its shortlived periods of running movies. One of the high school classes had, iirc, sponsored the showing, and the whole town showed up. By the time the movie was halfway over, every time Curly or Aunt Eller would open up their mouth to sing, the crowd would groan, "Oh, not again!" I think the concept of "musical" was foreign to the town. :D

[rejectomorph]

Oh, and the movie of Annie Get Your Gun starred Betty Hutton in the title role (Ethyl Merman originated the role on Broadway.) It was originally to be played by Judy Garland, but she had one of her breakdowns not too far into filming and had to be replaced. Hutton did a good job, but I'm sure it changed the tone of the movie.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

Poor Judy Garland. Just today at Tumblr I reblogged a photo of her looking young and healthy, and I wrote in the tags that the studio killed her with diet pills (i.e. speed). It's a shame. She lost her voice so young but kept on singing. I remember how wobbly she sounded on her tv variety show later on.

Betty Hutton was such a mugger. Likable as all get-out, but a mugger. She lacked the vulnerability and slight pathos of Judy. Wasn't Hutton more in the style of Merman than Judy would've been?

[rejectomorph]

Hutton was kind of a rustic version of Merman, and thus a good fit for the role of Annie Oakley. I still wonder what Garland might have have brought to the part, though. It would have been interesting to see a less brassy and confident Annie than either Merman or Hutton played (more life-sized, rather than larger-than-life.)

[rejectomorph]

Oh, dear, I wrote "Ethyl" Merman. Poor Ethel, reduced to moonshine by me and spell check.