More than dining out and parties and travel and all the other things we’ve had to give up for the pandemic, it’s theater I miss the most. I’ve been playing show tunes nonstop for weeks, so I thought I’d go looking for some of my old favorite musicals on YouTube. Kids, I hit the motherlode.
I grew up listening to my parent’s records and watching the movies they loved. My father had loads of classical and jazz and swing, all of which I devoured and loved. But mom’s taste was different. She started going to Broadway shows in the 1940s and 1950s, and it was musical theater that inspired her. Mom had the albums from every show by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Meredith Wilson, and a slew of others.
I was able to find on YouTube a few of those original cast albums (and the Gigi movie soundtrack, because mom loved Louis Jordan). Mom and I played the records and danced around and sang at the top of our lungs. I really cherish those memories, and hearing these albums again made me feel like she was right here with me. And now, I’m missing more than Broadway…
Updated thanks to Jack Shalom!
Share:
My OBT 
September 6, 2020 at 8:55 am
My Dad, a right wing conspiracy theorist “pry my gun from my cold dead hands” type absolutely LOVED musicals and movie soundtracks. The film of the Broadway musical Camelot is actually responsible for my first name (Guenevere)–they were going to name me Bambi but they saw a better movie, thank heavens. How many times did we watch Meet Me In St Louis? Almost as many times as we watched Casablanca….
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 1:41 pm
How funny! I live that. I used to tell my parents (when I was very small and still believed in fantasies like fairies and theatrical careers) that I couldn’t decide between Gigi and Holly Golightly for my stage name.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 9:31 am
Oh I do believe I have sung and danced around the room to all of these .I only saw them on the big screen and not stage but my high school put on several of these and did a wonderful job of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 1:43 pm
We did some of these shows in high school, too! Had a great time. I’m not sure how good we were, but we thought we were amazing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 12:15 pm
Back in the old days, after a movie came out, I went hunting and was able to purchase the soundtrack on a 33 1/3 record (s). Then they started coming out on 8-track tapes. Today, I still purchase a few on DVD. I miss the old days. There were peaceful protests and not riots like today. With that background, there are still good soundtracks for sale. I loved all of today’s picks by Donna. — Hal
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 8:22 pm
Oh we used to do this when it was cleaning day – we’d play My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Porgy and Bess, South Pacific, Salad Days – and sing at the top of our voices while we cleaned. Fun!
Alison
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 7, 2020 at 12:14 am
Yes! Our living room and dining room had one mirrored wall each, and I have sense memories of cleaning day, singing along to records with my mother while trying not to choke on the Windex fumes!
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 7, 2020 at 2:42 am
A great list, but Donna please. There’s only one My Fair Lady and its this, the original with Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison:
And some may enjoy the original B’way cast of Carousel wit the great John Raitt:
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2020 at 11:37 am
Thank you for the link to My Fair Lady. I didn’t realize it was the wrong one. (I looked at the cover, the art was what I remembered, and I moved on!) I forgot all about Carousel!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2020 at 9:54 am
I had a lot of fun in Spring introducing my kids to musicals they had not yet seen using the movie versions. They were not impressed by West Side Story but the surprise hit was Fiddler on the Roof (one of my absolute favourites) which I had not anticipated they would like but they all loved it and have continued listening to the music voluntarily.
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 7, 2020 at 9:19 pm
I love that they loved Fiddler! That was another fave, though I didn’t hear it until high school.
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 8, 2020 at 6:31 am
It was one of my parents’ favourites so I don’t remember not knowing it. I’ve seen a few productions of it including one with Topol in the 1990s in Edinburgh.
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 8, 2020 at 4:00 pm
That must have been amazing! We saw a Broadway revival a few years ago, but I can’t remember who played Tevye.
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 7, 2020 at 6:17 pm
My mother’s love of musicals was installed in me and my sister. Those album covers of, especially, The Music Man and My Fair Lady are so familiar to me (I think my sister has them)! Just one more thing we have in common.
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 7, 2020 at 9:23 pm
The list of things we have in common is long and varied!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: 8 Years! | My OBT