Kicked off the day with early work. Though I did squeeze some returns in later in the day and gathered recycling and outside trash, I was mostly doing carts. It wasn't a bad day for it. When I got to work, it was sunny and windless, a perfectly normal day in mid-February. Even later, when it got cloudy, the wind was still gone, and it wasn't too cold for the time of year. Despite the decent weather, we were busy all morning. Most people are likely off this weekend for President's Day. The carts kept vanishing faster than I could gather them! Good thing I had a lot of help later, a teenage girl and two guys.
Went straight home after work. Thought I'd do something a little different after I changed and had a snack, especially since I wasn't tired enough for a nap. I did more Angry Birds Star Wars. Continued to make my way through the Death Star. Obi-Wan Birdnobi got an upgrade after his fight with Vader - his "Force" power that can knock over blocks is a little bit stronger. I also faced my first "boss round," a complicated one where you had to hit Vader on top of two of his "men" (green piggies in Imperial gunner helmets). There's a lot of having to shoot your birds through space bubbles that make them curve upwards or downwards...and often not where you want them to go.
I had so much fun, I didn't start writing until almost 5. Han joins the contest, along with many of the other men - and a few women - in Nottingham. Leia manages to charm her way into the royal box with Palpatine. Han wonders where Vader is - he's a crack shot with a bow and arrow - until Chewie tells him he saw him following Luke into the castle. Han sends his friend after the young man while he takes part in the contest.
Broke for dinner at 7. Had a couple of leftover chicken sausages with defrosted green beans and almonds. The top of one of my apples had gotten mushy. I cut it off, filled the cavity with butter, brown sugar, and spices, and had a delicious baked apple for dessert.
Finished the night with Dames at Sea. This off-Broadway parody of the Busby Berkeley-style backstage musicals of the 1930's gave Bernadette Peters her first big role as Ruby, the Ruby Keeler ingenue who eventually becomes a star. The music is pretty cute if you know anything about what they're spoofing. "Wall Street," the opening number, was obviously influenced by "We're In the Money" and "With Plenty of Money and You"; "Singapore Sue" parodies "Shanghai Lil" from Footlight Parade, while "Choo Choo Honeymoon" has fun with "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo." Peters gets my favorite number, the lovely "Raining In My Heart" when she thinks her sailor sweetheart is after the leading lady of the show being held on his battleship.
This apparently turned up on TV in the 1970's with Ann-Margaret as Ruby, Harvey Evans as Dick, and Ann Miller as the original leading lady Moana, and it finally made it to Broadway briefly in 2015. Neither seem to have made nearly as much of an impression as the original (though the revival did get a Tony nomination for choreography). Both lose the joke that this is a big musical being made on a small budget - the original off-Broadway show only used two pianos and drums backing a cast of six. I suspect the original cast album, which is fairly easy to find, should be all you need if you love the musicals of the 30's or Peters.
Oh, and the clouds that had lingered all afternoon finally burst while I was having dinner. It's been on and off for the rest of the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment