A Room In Oaklyn

To be honest, I spent most of the day at work. It was busy on and off all day. The sky was a bit overcast and it was cool when I came in at 10. However, by noon, the sun was out, and the temperatures had soared into the lower 80s. Not surprisingly, there were several call-outs this evening, and I ended up staying an hour later. Even with a manager coming in for my break not long before I left, I was still really tired.

Went straight home after I finally finished my shift. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt, made a simple omelet and green beans for dinner, and watched The Boy Friend. Ken Russel's 1971 version of the 50s British stage hit retains the 20s setting (I'm guessing somewhere between 1928 and 1930, from the costumes and the references to "song and dance movies"), but makes the original story of shenanigans at a girls' school in Nice into a Busby Berkley take-off with the cast of a small-time musical trying to impress a visiting Hollywood director. The show is strictly low-budget, but everyone, from the Hollywood impresario to the show's director to the costume assistant who took over for the ailing leading lady, can't help but imagine what they could all do with a Berkley-sized budget...

Actually, what they could do with a Berkley-sized budget is make a series of strange-but-charming numbers that have nothing to do with anything. The songs somehow become backgrounds for kaleidoscopic musical interludes ranging from Berkley girls-in-geometric-forms romps to a ballet based on Greek tragedy in a real forest. While not as inherently strange as Russell's later Tommy, it doesn't work that well, either. Some of the numbers (like the Berkley-esque "I Could Be Happy With You" and the bawdy "It's Nicer In Nice") are fun and really cute. Others (the outdoor Satyr Ballet, the elves-and-fairies segment of "Room In Bloomsbury" that looks like something from a bad live-action kids' show) are just plain odd.

Shame this wastes some nice performances, including Twiggy as the Ruby Keeler-esque kid thrust into the spotlight and Tommy Tune as an American tap dancer appearing as one of the schoolgirls' beaus. Russell might have been better off just filming the show as it is. From what I've gathered, it remains an oft-revived stage favorite in England to this day.

I went for a walk to WaWa after dinner. It was a little cooler by this point. There was a really nice breeze that kept it from feeling as hot as it could have. The streets were teeming with people washing cars and mowing lawns. Groups of kids moseyed along, chatting or texting their friends. Kids rode bicycles or scooters. People pushed toddlers in strollers or walked their dogs. The trees here are just starting to bloom. Flowers in soft shades of pink, white, purple, and green perfume the air. Gardens are brightened by daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths.