Golden Days and Fair Ladies

Daylight Savings really messed with my head. I didn't get up until past 11! Brunch With the Beatles was half-way through highlighting songs the Beatles released in the spring. Among the ones I caught while I was writing in my journal were "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and "The Long and Winding Road."

I tried calling Mom after my breakfast of Applesauce Pancakes with strawberry-orange sauce. Got Dad; they had Skylar and were busy. I finally did get to chat with her later. Not much going on in her neck of the woods, other than she's been dealing with my sister and her kids a lot. I'm just plain tired. My legs are killing me. My knees are sore. I don't mind the extra hours...but I'm not used to them. It's a literal pain to be standing up for as much as 8 hours a day.

Spent the rest of the afternoon making the bed, vacuuming, and running more musical CDs and LPs that were seen in Hollywood and on the stage. I listened to the original Broadway cast of Annie a while back; gave the soundtrack a go today. I've always considered the big-screen version of Annie to be underrated. While some of it is nostalgia (this was one of the first live-action movies I saw in theaters), there's still a lot to like. A great cast that includes Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks, dancer Ann Reniking as Grace Farrell, Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, and Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters as her shady brother and his girlfriend have a blast with some nice numbers. I'm especially partial to Peters, Curry, and Burnett rocking "Easy Street," the orphans' version of "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," and Reniking's "We've Got Annie" with Warbucks' staff.

Annie wasn't the only musical movie that had a hard time living up to its fabled source material. My Fair Lady is still one of Mom's favorite movies. The girls and I loved it just as much as kids. I'm not as crazy about the film today. As good as Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison are, they're surrounded by a stagy, lumbering production. I've come to prefer the original 1956 cast, with Harrison and a sparkling Julie Andrews as Eliza. Beauty and the Beast reversed the problem; this time, a stage production had to live up to a wildly popular film. While I still like the movie better, there's some good music here, too, including a brooding ballad to define the Beast, "If I Can't Love Her."

Operettas weren't immune to transfer difficulties. The Student Prince was a smash hit on Broadway in 1924 and had done well as a silent with Ramon Novarro in the title role. The 1954 film was originally supposed to feature Mario Lanza, but Lanza's ongoing problems lead MGM to replace him with Edmund Purdom and use Lanza's vocals.

I just got out for work on time. Good thing I did. Work was really busy right  up through when I left. I'm guessing a lot of people took advantage of this weekend's gorgeous weather to have birthday parties and impromptu barbecues.