tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post6607959242107821638..comments2024-01-24T01:27:11.111-05:00Comments on Café Muscato: Heaven Much BetterMuscatohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04657061324487851341noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-58084443829095703602015-07-17T15:35:46.773-04:002015-07-17T15:35:46.773-04:00Happy, happy anniversary, dear Muscato & Mr. M...Happy, happy anniversary, dear Muscato & Mr. M! Sounds like a delightful way to celebrate.<br /><br />My husband and I are coming up on two years legal and will be together twelve years next week. <br /><br />I don't have speakers at work so I can't wait to get home tonight and watch the Divine one on the You Tubes. I'll of course be sharing it with my mister as he likely knows every word of all her early albums. <br /><br />We recently caught Bridget Everett at Joe's Pub. There have been numerous comparisons to Midler during her Continental Baths days. Ms. Everett was bawdy, vulgar, outrageous, hilarious, and turned to soulful and tender on a dime. It was a brilliant live performance. I'm looking forward to see how it translates to other media and to see where her career goes. Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01851297819829806798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-30972176999313721152015-07-13T14:58:21.979-04:002015-07-13T14:58:21.979-04:00I have to assume it was worth it, still, to hear A...I have to assume it was worth it, still, to hear Albanese. My only fully staged Butterfly was with Scotto, sadly a good while after she really ought to have tried it. I don't demand verismo acting and have nothing against the old-fashion diva style - but it does require a bit more than a shred of voice and some temperament...Muscatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657061324487851341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-63173823140998720202015-07-13T14:41:53.078-04:002015-07-13T14:41:53.078-04:00My first exposure to in-the-round was at Melodylan...My first exposure to in-the-round was at Melodyland in Anaheim, CA, well before it became a church. Licia Albanese sang Butterfly, and the Japanese exchange student in my class could barely contain her amusement at the very un-Japanese acting. Of course, the gut-chilling gasp from Butterfly when she sinks the knife into her abdomen was somewhat diluted because half the audience could see what was happening behind that screen. Now I feel old. Not too old, though, to wish you and the Mr. a very happy anniversary and many, many more!Piet Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-46640480494039891532015-07-13T11:17:35.663-04:002015-07-13T11:17:35.663-04:00Those in-the-round venues must have been murder fo...Those in-the-round venues must have been murder for tours of all kinds not designed for them. I first saw Carol Channing in <i>Dolly</i> at the Valley Forge Music Fair, and it was clear that she just decided to do what she does, and devil take the hindmost, with the rest of the cast struggling just to keep up (she spent all of the title number going up and down each of the many aisles, with waiters trailing in confusion behind her). Roberta Peters, by contrast, did <i>The Merry Widow</i> standing stock still and staring at the conductor, in the apparent hope that her colleagues would waltz around her enough to make it look like a staging.<br /><br />And I just don't understand why Midler never did "Bang You're Dead" in the studio.Muscatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657061324487851341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-80073649755754263472015-07-13T10:37:55.393-04:002015-07-13T10:37:55.393-04:00Anniversary greeting to you fine fellows!
I, too,...Anniversary greeting to you fine fellows!<br /><br />I, too, had the entire album committed to memory (48 hours after buying it brand new), for I had just seen this tour live at Shady Grove Music Fair in Gaithersburg. If remembered at all by the Divine One, that show is probably not remembered in the fondest of terms. You see, Shady Grove was a venue in the round; a fact that became clear to Herself only upon arrival. So with hardly any time at all, the entire show had to be restaged (omitting those wonderful set pieces) to play to an audience that surrounded the stage. Needless to say, we got an astonishing show in spite of the limitations. And needless to say we were treated to such unscripted sentiments as, "Welcome to Shitty Grove! This place has all the fucking charm and finesse of a Ramada Inn".<br /><br />p.s. So glad to hear you single out "Bang You're Dead". It is my favorite of the album and I've been known to drag the record out (yes I still have it) to play that track alone. Philip Mershonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05641146738422887485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-21975363370782567852015-07-13T08:25:37.020-04:002015-07-13T08:25:37.020-04:00Indeed - this was actually the version I was aware...Indeed - this was actually the version I was aware of first, and it was a surprise later on to discover how... <i>languid</i> the Jean Terrell-led Supremes original is.<br /><br />And the turkey was, I have to admit, rather a triumph.Muscatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657061324487851341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-52214374760418070972015-07-13T02:55:04.668-04:002015-07-13T02:55:04.668-04:00It was (inevitably) Miss Midler - her 1984 "A...It was (inevitably) Miss Midler - her 1984 "Art or Bust" tour video rather than "Live at Last" - who provided inspiration for my future life. Miss Vicky Edie's wheelchair-dancing creation "Dolores Delargo, the Toast of Chicago" coined a <i>nom-de-plume</i>, and the rest is history... Jx<br /><br />PS Happy anniversary!Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15501010362663971583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7218985326921858943.post-85956648817303329362015-07-13T01:25:12.474-04:002015-07-13T01:25:12.474-04:00It al sounds heavenly, especially the turkey ragou...It al sounds heavenly, especially the turkey ragout.<br /><br />And that cover of Up the Ladder has to be the briskest turn that tune ever got.mrpeeneehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13361948301941861890noreply@blogger.com