Rushed off to work after that. Thankfully after last week, there was no trouble whatsoever today. In fact, we were quiet for most of the morning. I spent the day pushing carts, sweeping, and gathering trash. We're between holidays, the kids began their first full week at school yesterday, and we're past the beginning of the month. Not to mention, the weather was gorgeous, sunny and dry, if a bit warmer than yesterday. It was no day for shopping. I was in and out after a quick stop at the pharmacy to pick up my blood pressure medication.
Stopped at Common Grounds Coffee House on the way home. I got to try their fall menu. The Pumpkin Spice Chai did taste like pumpkin, though it was once again a bit sweet. The caramel apple coffee cake had moist cake and a thick caramel apple crumb topping that was amazing.
Soon as I got in, I changed, took out the recycling, and went straight into La Bamba on Tubi. I go further into this searing biography of teenage Mexican-American rock pioneer Richie Valens at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Watched Match Game '73 while eating leftovers for dinner. I don't have a clue as to why Buzzr suddenly jumped all the way back to the week with Robert Culp, Pat Carroll, and Jack Klugman sitting next to his then-wife Brett Somers. Not that I'm complaining. Brett and Jack had some good moments sparring, and Carroll was a delight. I really regret that neither she nor Culp ever returned to any version of the show.
Finished the night working on my La Bamba review while listening to Miss Saigon. This 1991 rock opera retelling of Madame Butterfly reset the story in Vietnam in 1975, just as the Americans were pulling out of the country. The title character is now Kim (Lea Salonga), who is "bought" by Marine Chris Scott (Simon Bowman). He ends up genuinely falling for her, but they're separated before he can get her out of the country. By 1978, Kim is back working for "The Engineer" (Jonathan Pryce), a sleazy night club owner, and trying to get her son by Chris back with his father. Chris, however, has already married a respectable American woman, and she's not interested in taking in a foreign child.
This was the first cast album I bought on cassette around 1992-1993. I thought "The Last Night of the World" and "Why God Why?" were the most romantic songs in the world as a 14-year-old. Even now, listening to this still reminds me of those nights huddled in my bedroom, swooning as Kim and Chris promised eternal devotion and wondered how they found each other in the midst of chaos.
Truth be told (and part of the reason I eventually ditched the cassette), I don't think this show has really dated all that well. There is some really great music, and Pryce in particular is terrific as the Engineer despite the controversy in 1991 with him not being Vietnamese, but the story isn't an especially accurate reflection of that time period. Even now, the Vietnamese have trouble with how they're portrayed as either victims or villains here. The second half is bogged down in melodrama, and I don't think the music is as memorable, either, leading to a predictable tragic ending. You can tell this was made by the same team and composers who did Les Miserables. It shares that show's epic scope and often bombastic score.
I'm going to say your mileage may vary on this one. Pryce not being Vietnamese is less obvious on the original 1989 London cast recording, and his performance and those stunning ballads generally manage to drown out the mush in the second half. Worth checking out if you love Les Mis or other heavy European rock operas from the 70's and 80's.
No comments:
Post a Comment