Switched to Because You're Mine after the cartoon ended. I go further into the first of three vehicles for Philadelphia tenor Mario Lanza I'll be doing this week at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Spent most of the morning - and actually, a lot of the day - working on the flashback sequence of Maplepunzel. Hope Springs was once a beautiful, culturally-obsessed country of theaters and artists. Scott and Betty are deeply in love, and he wants to run away with her to Yorkalia, where he'll start his own business and she'll write without Hilary's interference.
Hilary and her financier Rollie Pruitt stop him before his plans get far. Pruitt told Hilary Scott stole money from businesses in Hope Springs. Queen Hilary banishes him for the theft. He returns to Betty the evening of her engagement party, but Hilary told Betty about Scott's theft, and she slaps him instead of listening. She'll go through with the engagement to the frequently absent Prince Victor, even though deep down, she still cares for Scott. He watches her run upstairs in her lacy white and pink gown, but Hilary's guards throw him out.
Pruitt, however, is working for Pavla, who has promised him a beautiful bride of his own (Maple) in exchange for getting rid of Scott. She transforms Hilary's guards into monsters and the members of her court and prominent citizens of Hope Springs at Betty's engagement ball into woodland animals. Her monsters attack Hilary as she prepares Betty for the party. Pavla uses Hilary's own hand mirror to curse them into the things they fear most. Hilary is now the ugly old crone she fears being, while Pavla steals Betty's voice and turns her into a pet deer and Hilary's only remaining possession besides the mirror.
Switched to the first CD of The Monkees deluxe 2-disc set during lunch in honor of songwriter Bobby Hart, who passed away a week ago. Hart was one half of the songwriting team of Boyce and Hart, who were the initial writers for The Monkees project. The vast majority of the songs on the Monkees' self-titled album were written by them, including "Let's Dance On," "Theme from The Monkees," and the hit "Last Train to Clarksville."
Headed out to the Thomas Sharp School after the CD ended. We started out in the school's tiny library, thanks to the school band rehearsal in the gym/cafeteria running overtime. The kids loved it when I read Arthur Writes a Story (since I'm currently writing one, too) and the Little Critter story Gets Lost for them. I got a big crowd around my table who wanted to hear about Arthur's writing project and Little Critter being lost at the mall.
After snack time, I spent the rest of the afternoon helping out with the older kids. For once, there were more of them than there were of the pre-schoolers. I made sure they all went to the bathroom and washed their hands (and that the boys were actually doing those things and not messing around). After that, I did art with the older girls while the little kids were outside, running around on a cold, windy, gray day. I drew the scene I just wrote of Betty turning Scott away after he admits he lied to her about where the money for their escape came from, then a scene I have planned for later, where Maple cries onto the blinded Victor and restores his sight.
Made a brief stop at the Speedy Mart on the way home. I hadn't really done much of anything today besides write and thought I deserved a treat. Enjoyed a Prime drink (Nightmare!) and a huge, moist chocolate-chocolate chip muffin that was really tasty.
When I got home, I resumed writing. Watched The Sting in honor of Robert Redford, who passed away today. Small-time con man Johnny Hooker (Redford) joins up with the more experienced Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) to take down Irish mobster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) after he has Johnny's former partner Luther (Robert Earl Jones) killed. They join with Henry's sarcastic girlfriend Billie (Eileen Brennan) and a team of experienced con-artists to create a fake horse betting scam that will lure Doyle in and take him down once and for all.
Soon as the movie ended, I put the soundtrack on. The movie and the soundtrack are two of my all-time favorites. The Sting was one of the catalysts behind a major revival of ragtime in the 70's. Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" became a huge top-10 hit more than 60 years after it was written, and it's still associated with the film to this day.
Finished the night with More of the Monkees. Although Boyce and Hart would continue writing songs for the Monkees until well into the early 70's, this was the last time they produced their album. Their version of "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" was the big hit here. The dark ballad "She" was their other major song on the album, though the two-disc version I have also includes their "Words."
(Oh, and it started showering shortly after I got home and has rained lightly off and on ever since.)
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