#129 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Saturday August 28)
Good morning and Happy Weekend!
It’s Saturday, so time for music and poetry. Note that the poetry is short this week because the music samplings are so long!
MUSIC
Today, the focus is on dance numbers from musical theatre. Mark Greenfield produced what has to be nearly-definitive list of iconic dance numbers. I present it in its entirety for the sheer enjoyment it will evoke this weekend for those who pick a few and watch the videos. While I may quibble over the lack of inclusion of a number or two (like “La Vie Boheme” from Rent), it’s worthy of inclusion in its entirety:
1. “One”
From A Chorus Line
Ensemble
2. “Audition”
From 42nd Street
Ensemble
3. “All That Jazz”
From Chicago
Ensemble
4. “An American in Paris Ballet”
From An American in Paris
Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron and Ensemble
5. “CarouselBallet” (aka Heaven’s Ballet and Louise’s Ballet)
From Carousel
Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild (with New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XXW1MLZ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B06XXW1MLZ&linkCode=as2&tag=newyorthe-20&linkId=040e5df35887cc3f113cb071b31cf737 (best with Tiler Peck and the NY Phil; from 1:45:00; worth $2.99)
(without Peck but free)
6. “Dancing in the Dark”
From Dancing in the Dark
Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse
7. “Shall We Dance?”
From The King and I
Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr
8. “Make ‘Em Laugh”
From Singin’ in the Rain
Donald O’Connor
9. “I Like Myself”
From It’s Always Fair Weather
Gene Kelly
10. “It’s the Hard Knock Life”
From Annie
Aileen Quinn and Ensemble
11. “We Are What We Are”
From La Cage aux Folles (original production)
Ensemble
12. “Human Waterfall”
From Footlight Parade (Busby Berkeley)
Ensemble
13. “Step in Time”
From Mary Poppins
Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and Ensemble
14. “America”
From West Side Story
Debbie Allen and Ensemble (Broadway revival)
15. “Bottle Dance”
From Fiddler on the Roof
Ensemble
Just one additional note: Mark revised this from an earlier version, deleting the following to add a different Gene Kelly selection…
“Singin’ in the Rain”
From Singin’ in the Rain
Gene Kelly
POETRY
Nothing Gold Can Stay
By Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Happy weekend,
Glenn
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