As a Christmas present, last month we bought tickets to go see the Vienna Boys Choir with my mother in law, Helen, who is Austrian. Those who were the boys' choir at the time had sung at her wedding in Vienna, years ago.
We saw them last night, in a nearby small Georgia city that has a good arts council. They performed in an old high school auditorium. This must have been the most humble theater on their tour. But even standing on faded,scratched black platforms and accompanied by a less than stellar piano, they were young boys with angelic voices and had our hearts beating more strongly. Gillen's jaw was dropped for much of the concert. He was blown away. Jesse too.
Being in a high school, after the concert Gillen and Jesse asked if they could dance down the halls, like in the High School Musical movies. After their dance, on the way home, Jesse stated that he may want to go to high school as he could imagine being able to sing and dance with friends there. He earnestly tried to convince me that this really could happen.
If only life were like a musical. Everything would change. The dingy grey walls of a high school or office building would stand in stark contrast to the brilliant, alive sounds it encased and new paint, in bright warm colors, would be applied on a regular basis. Any personal conflicts would soon be remedied by the bonding wrought through having to 'shuffle, ball, step', turn, breakdance or leap, in unison. Men on the front lines of war, hearing the enemy singing would find themselves moving their hips to the music, their throats tightening as they related to the pathos coming through in the foreign battle lyrics.
I'm just saying we need more music and dance, and less self-consciousness. O.K. - And more talent. There you have it - my justification for breaking out into musical numbers as I go through my day. I'm not only insane. I'm inspiring myself to finally repaint the kitchen. If only I had the talent of the Vienna Boys' Choir, or Patty Lupone, or someone my kids idolize, like Hannah Montana.
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11 comments:
fantastic lyrics you have written for your musical on making love, not war. wonderful, ancient stuff... women luring men from bloody battle. check out the bible, the greeks, and surely all the other ancients.
Beautiful music, beautiful writing.
Have you seen Across the Universe? Great music and messages :) It's out on dvd this week ;)
I haven't seen that movie and wanted to - I'll put it on my netflix list right now!
Tamar, I loved that play about women luring men from battle - what was it? It was Greek...
Don't you love it when your kids have an image of what 'school' would be like?
After watching shows on TV about school, my kids say, "that doesn't look so bad!"
Their older sister is always there to say, "don't believe what you see, it's NOTHING like that."
Everything has advantages and disadvantages - nothing is perfect, right?
Love your picture of the koala - adorable.
Lysistrata, loosely translated to "she who disbands armies", is an anti-war Greek comedy, written in 411 BC by Aristophanes.
I enjoyed your musical description. I especially love the idea of as you sing, the colors changing.
Here, we live inside a musical -- singing about everyday activities (washing dishes, cleaning cat boxes, making dinner and everything else) keeps me entertained. As a younger person I was always fascinated with the musical concept...do the other people hear the songs? do they hear them as words? do they hear them as lyrics? do other folk sing (and we just don't hear them because they are peripheral to this story) in that realm? That may be why I so loved the Buffy musical episode ;)
Okay, this is the 4th reference in my life to Lysistrata in the past week. Usually when I find this sort of synchronicity, I have to delve deeper and discover why it keeps appearing in my life.
I sooooo wanted high school to be just like "Grease". We talk about this alot in our house...how things like love and school and sports are portrayed in movies, tv, etc. versus how they measure up in real lives. We get a big laugh when Hannah Montana says "I just wanted to go to school like normal kids...what was I thinking?" No kidding, right?!!??
Kimba, modernize "Lysistrata" and I'll direct it! I'm just saying... if it's come up three times.
Madeline...what an intriguing idea.
I love to sing and I have always maintained that life should be a musical!!
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