In a way, it's someone else's story...

My voice teacher just gave me lovely new song to work on, and I thought I'd share it with you :)

It's called "Someone Else's Story," from Chess (the musical). Really, the context is saddening, but the song sounds pretty. It's very easily sung (I think my teacher gave it to me as a break from all the more extensive songs I'm working on.), but it's fun because I get to show off some of my lower notes :) Anywho, enjoy!

Someone Else's Story

Long ago
In someone else's lifetime
Someone with my name
Who looked a lot like me
Came to know
A man and made a promise
He only had to say
And that's where she would be
Lately
Although the feelings run just as deep
The promise she made has grown impossible to keep
And yet I wish it wasn't so
Will he miss me if I go?

In a way
It's someone else's story
I don't see myself
As taking part at all
Yesterday
A girl that I was fond of
Finally could see
The writing on the wall
Sadly
She realized she'd left him behind
And sadder than that she knew he wouldn't even mind
And though there's nothing left to say
Would he listen if I stay?

It's all very well to say you fool it's now or never
I could be choosing
No choices whatsoever.
I could be
In someone else's story
In someone else's life
And he could be in mine
I don't see
A reason to be lonely
I could take my chances
Further down the line

And if
That girl I knew should ask my advice
Oh I wouldn't hesitate she needn't ask me twice
Go now!
I'd tell her that for free
Trouble is, the girl is me
The story is, the girl is me.

In which the Author learns why it is important NOT to make premature judgements.

Some of you may recall my ranting post quite sometime ago about the Phantom of the Opera sequel quite some time ago. (You can read it here, if you wish)

The story has developed a bit since that time. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess are set to play Phantom and Christine in the London premiere of Phantom: Love Never Dies, contrary to what I formerly posted. From the official website:

“LOVE NEVER DIES” continues the story of ‘The Phantom’, who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island, far across the Atlantic. Set 10 years after the mysterious disappearance of ‘The Phantom’ from Paris, this show is a roller coaster ride of obsession and intrigue...in which music and memory can play cruel tricks...and ‘The Phantom’ sets out to prove that, indeed, “LOVE NEVER DIES”.

Wikipedia adds that Madame Giry and Meg Giry accompany Phantom, but I would take that with a grain of salt, considering just about anyone could put something on Wiki.

Yes, I had a very extreme bias towards this show, and I'm still not happy that this could ruin the perceptions of some of my musical theatre heroes, but just yesterday... I found this. It's a clip of a song from the musical under scrutiny. Ramin Karimloo sang it at the press launch of Phantom: Love Never Dies. I'm trying to figure out how to post videos directly to my post, but til I figure it out (Or someone tells me [hint hint!!]), here is the link to Til I Hear You Sing from Love Never Dies. Grant it, it's kind of creepy that he is still obsessing over this woman (that could be his DAUGHTER [age-wise] if you think about it), but I have to admit... I was swooning by the end of the song.

AH, what's a girl to do?? I don't like the fact that this is associated with one of my favorite musicals in the entirety of the universe (why couldn't they just leave that out of it and make it with totally new characters??), but I loved this song and the man's voice! Have you ever heard anything more phenomenal?!?!

.:.:.:.

This is why we shouldn't judge. Most of the time, we are wrong anyways. And then admitting it is a big mess when we proud people want to hang on to our original bias. *siiiiiigh* (Goes to watch song again)

Musical theatre perhaps at its PEAK?? Official favorite musical in the entirety of the universe!

**Note, prepare for major rambling like you have never heard before!**

If I were to pick a single word to describe it.... I doubt I could actually decide. Maybe, "Beyond-wow" (The dash makes it one word ;) ), "thrilling," or perhaps, "Indescribable!!" Or, there's always the cliched "Wicked," that being the name of the object under scrutiny.

Yes, I had the wonderful experience of seeing "Wicked: the Musical" on stage.

What a darn gift!! So much I could say! It is my favorite musical in the entire world of musicals!!! The subtle hints toward the "Wizard of Oz" movie; ("Lemons and peaches and mango's, oh my!," "There's no place like home," etc.) The costumes-- oooooh, the costumes!! I could write an entire post going off in tangents about their costumes!! Galinda's sparkling ballgowns, Elphaba's discreet yet powerful black gowns, and the chorus' costumes - Each one seemed to tell it's own story!

And, of course, the cast and the music. Wow. To put it simply, I cannot imagine a cast to work better together! There was such amazing chemistry between all of the characters! Ah, so much talent!!

OK, the music-- I can't even begin to describe.. I laughed delightedly at the lightheartedness of "Popular," and I got chill-bumps when I heard Marcie Dodd belting out "The Wizard and I." Then, there was the long-awaited for "Defying Gravity." Neither words, nor even youtube videos can ever do it justice. There is so much energy and passion in that song... I mentioned I got chill bumps in "Wizard and I?" My heart was pounding so fast at the end of the song, my mind racing with the sheer energy in the theatre... I honest-to-goodness thought I was going to defy gravity myself (Cheesy as it sounds, yes.)!

Oh, here is an amaaaaaaaazing gift God gave to me while we were there! During intermission, my friend and myself ran down the stairs to rent some binoculars to use during the show (This is the most inspired idea perhaps in the universe!), and ran back up the stairs. We then realized how amazingly these worked (seriously, we were in the balcony and, with these handy little devices, could see every single facial expression on the stage!- wow!), and were sent back down the stairs for another pair! (Note that I was still on a high from the last hour-and-a-half, and hadn't tired yet of the stairs) Once we were down to the lobby, and had the binoculars in question, I turned to my friend and suggested that, "Since we are already heeere, why don't we go to the orchestra level and see the stage from there!" Now my friends is a very level-headed person, and suggested we go back to our seats since intermission was almost over. A valid point. But, being a stubborn little moi, I said something to the effect of, "Come on! Intermission is FIFTEEN minutes!! It hasn't been that long!! Let's just go take a look and seeeeee, then we can go back up stairs!" She gave in.

We walked to the stage, so close that we could see into the orchestra pit and probably could have walked onto the stage if we had a mind to... when, all of the sudden, the lights dimmed. The show started. And we were not in our seats.

For ten blissful minutes, I watched the most thrilling musical closer to the stage than I ever thought I would be that night. How darned sensational!!!! It was a highlight of my night! ( After the aforesaid ten minutes, an usher realized our plight and escorted us out of the orchestra level. Or else, you can bet your best bucket I would have stayed there all night!!) But is God good or what?!

That is all I can say for the moment, as it is getting rather late, but I can most surely state that I will be on a major high from this for [at least] the next month!! As I told an usher on the elevator I took up, "Musical theater goes to my head like wine." (My level-headed friend gave me a warning look at this, so I stopped. Otherwise, I probably would have pulled an Anne of Green Gables, and went on with something to the effect of, "At least, that's is how I imagine it would be; your face is flushed, your head is reeling, your heart is beating a mile a minute ; everything is vivid and exciting, and you just want to drink it all in so that you never forget it!")

But goodness, how I ramble! I'm very sorry! If you really read all the way through this post, let me know, I may give you an award or something! I shall stop now, and bid thee farewell!! So long, dear readers!

Post title in process of being created... Once author is inspired with something that fits

Goodness!! I've hardly been a good blog keeper! I am distraught to a point you cannot even imagine over the fact that I haven't posted in several weeks!! I am quite sorry.

Now, I check in to share a couple splendid discoveries:

1~ I think I've shared this with you before, but it deserves repeating: Dipping warm chocolate-chip-cookies in hot chocolate is, in few words, the BOMB.com!!

2~ Not that this a particularly new discovery, but I've appreciated it a lot more than usual lately: Sun shine is wonderful. Period. That's one of the beauties of summer; almost every day (When it isn't SCALDING outside), you can step out into the glorious cheerful rays of the sun. It really helps to lift one's mood, just to step out there for a moment and tilt you face to the sun. (The refreshment is especially welcome when your family keeps the house at the approximate temperature of an ice-box, as does mine. I kid you not, I wear my fuzzy socks and a jacket[s] in the middle of July!!)

3~ Improv Everywhere. Oh my crunchy GOODNESS!!! These people crack me up!!! In their words (From the site):

"Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 80 missions, involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City."

Seriously: they are hysterical!!! I would so do something like what they do!! My favorite is the "Food Court Musical" A couple agents go undercover to start a musical out of nothing in an L.A. Food Court!! PWAHAHAHA!!!! A couple of my friends and I are starting to put something together like this, actually! For more splendiforousness, check out the website, http://improveverywhere.com/!

4~ One of my many new favorite quotes: "A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him in order to find her." I'm not exactly sure who said that first, but PWAAAA, isn't it wonderful!?! So true, and that is what I am trying every day to do!

Numero FIVE!!: I know I had one... waaaaaiitt, what was it???? GoodNESS, I can't stand it when this happens!! I think it was something to do with a musical...? Oh, yes, I finally got to listen to the entire Wicked soundtrack!!! YES!! It is amazing!! I knew several songs already, somehow, but then I borrowed the soundtrack from the library and realized I'd missed a couple... So of course now I'm singing them all around the house, driving my family to the point of critical insanity!!

[Speaking of Wicked, here is another instance of my being incredibly into my music (Recall my former post "Surely I'm not the ONLY one..."): My brother had kindly loaded a couple songs from said musical onto my ipod (as I'm too technologically inept to do such a thing), including "Defying Gravity." Soooo, as I was listening to it on my little musical gadget for the first time... shall we say I lost myself?? In short, I was brought out of my imaginary little world by the sound of my sister laughing hysterically at the sight of me standing on the couch, passionately singing along to the last part of the song. "So if you care to find me, look to the Western Sky..." etc. What can I say? It's the best part of the song. How could I not? *Sighhhh*


That is all for now; dinner is calling my name! But, indeed, I really will try to post more often! (I really mean it this time!! It's just that I don't want to bore y'all with writing that sounds forced...) So, cheerio dear friends and readers!

Surely, I'm not the ONLY one...

...who gets *extremely* into whatever song they are listening to at the moment. In my mind... how can you not? Especially if it's a very passionate song...


It's even easier (for me) if it's a Broadway song. Then you have the whole character there right in front of you, you know their situation; it's so EASY to put yourself into the place of the character!!


Sometimes it's a deeper, more melancholic song, you may find yourself tearing up a bit (O.K., maybe some slightly more sane people don't; but I am certainly cheesy enough to do thus. Like when I'm singing "Home" from Beauty and the Beast, I can't help but feel lost and a little hopeless, just wanting to go HOME! I don't really know where I am, I just wanted to save Papa!! Anyway... *cough*), and just feeling the longing the character would feel (Be it for home, for mother, for freedom, etc.).



Then there's the more upbeat songs that are just so fun to get in to!! For instance, right now I'm listening to "I Can Hear the Bells" from Hairspray, and I actually got up and started dancing-- because clearly the WEDDING BELLS were RINGING!!!!!!! He TOUCHED me!!!!! Despite what they say, this is CLEARLY the start of something!! -- I actually go on much longer in my mind than I type out, just so you know.

Even some non-Broadway songs are fun to get into, like "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. My favorite part is towards the end-ish, just before the key change:

"I grew tired of waiting, wondering if you were ever coming around. My faith in you was fading, when I met you on the outskirts of town. And I said 'Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone. I keep waiting for you but you never come! Is this in my head? I don't know what to think!' He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said [[this is my favorite]], 'Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone. I love you and that's all I really know. I talked to your Dad, go pick out a white dress; it's a love story, baby, just say yes!'"

Speaking of "Love Story," does anyone else think someone should tell Taylor Swift how Romeo & Juliet really ends?? I always thought that was kind of funny... I mean, I wouldn't *quite* want my love story to end that way...

Pwaaaaaaa, and [formerly] speaking of musicals... I'm planning to audition for a couple musicals in the some-what-near-ish future. It'll be my first musical audition, so if any of you have tips and/or song suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it-- especially the song suggestions. I'm a teenage mezzo-soprano [but not quite a belter--yet], if that helps a little. Thank you all so much!! I must go now. Cheerio!

Maybe my new favorite song in the universe...!

Alright alright alright, so the candidate for this title changes on a weekly basis... What can I say? There's a lot of good songs out there! *Smileyshrug* Anyway, this song is from the Broadway version of "Beauty and the Beast," it is sung by The Beast (Speaking of whom, did anyone else ever feel bad that he didn't really have a name? Or does he have one and I don't know it. I mean, that's a case for low self-esteem right there; being called "beast" all the time...), and well... it's really sweet; it's called "If I Can't Love Her." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH1twHSdU6M

Chiiiiiiiiiiiillbumps... but then, I'm a Broadway dork, so maybe I appreciate these things in a different was than many.

As an after note, does anyone here, who has read "Waking Rose" (Regina Doman), feel that this could be sung from Fish's point of view, or at least that he could relate to it? I don't know. That's all for now :-)

Oh yeah; here's the lyrics :)

Beast:

And in my twisted face,

There's not the slightest trace

Of anything that even hints of kindness.

And from my tortured shape,

No comfort, no escape

I see, but deep within is utter blindness.

Hopeless.

As my dream dies,

As the time flies,

Love a lost illusion.

Helpless.

Unforgiven.

Cold and driven,

To this sad conclusion

No beauty could move me

No goodness improve me

No power on earth, if I can't love her.

No passion could reach me,

No lesson could teach me,

How I could have love her and made her love me too

If I can't love her, then who?

Long ago I should have seen,

All the things I could have been,

Careless and unthinking, I moved onward

No pain could be deeper,

No life could be cheaper,

No point anymore, if I can't love her.

No spirit could win me,

No hope left within me,

Hope I could have loved her and that she'd set me free

But it's not to be,

If I can't love her...Let the world be done with me.

What are they thinking?!

So I heard through the grapevine that Andrew Lloyd Webber is writing a sequel to the Phantom of the Opera. I didn't believe it at first, but then I did some research (I love google =D). Here's what I finally came up with.


Called "Phantom: Love Never Dies", the upcoming musical is loosely based off the novel "The Phantom of Manhattan" by Frederick Forsyth. Webber hopes to release it late 2009 with simultaneous openings in London, New York, and Asia. As far as I could figure, the plot was basically thus (And, for the record, made me want to gag):

After losing Christine, the phantom flees to Coney Island, and starts his own little show business. Still mourning the lost of Christine, etc, etc.
Meanwhile, Christine has become a very famous opera singer, but Raoul has expended the family fortune, through some means or other. Thus, Christine is obliged to except a high paying gig in New York (Coney Island, to be specific). When she goes to meet her new boss, who should it be but - flash of light, crash of cords - the phantom!! Ahem. So Christine has a child and the proverbial "they" in the show are trying to figure out who the father is; Phantom or Raoul.

Ugh.

I believe I heard Katherine Jenkins is starring as Christine. Phantom is either going to be played by Gerard Butler (who was the phantom in the 2004 film adaption) or Hugh Jackman, the star of Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, who has appeared on stage in Sunset Boulevard, Oklahoma! and The Boy from Oz, for which he won Best Actor in a musical Tony Award. "They" know who will be playing phantom, but they aren't saying. *scowl*

So I'm wondering whether to laugh or to cry at the thought. What are they thinking?

Random quote of the day...

Sorry for the randomness of this! But I'm trying not to go a week without posting. Wait, that's not proper english; double negative. How would I phrase that? How about: "I'm trying to post every week"? That sounds good. Anyway, I've recently been introduced to the "Wicked" soundtrack!! For those who don't know, "Wicked" is a new musical, set in Oz before Dorothy came. I'm actually not sure what the plot is, but I know that it's about Glinda and Elphaba (Later known as "the Wicked Witch of the West). I also know that the music is amazing. So now I'm always singing "Popular" and "Defying Gravity" at the top of my lungs, which I'm sure my family just loves!!! ;) I'll try and post something with a purpose soon, I promise! And til then,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

"So if you care to find me, look to the western sky! As someone told me lately, everyone deserves the chance to fly! And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free! To those who ground me, take a message back from me: Tell them how I am defying gravity! I'm flying high; defying gravity! And soon I'll match them in renown! And nobody, in all of Oz, no wizard that there is or was, is ever gonna bring me down!" ~ Defying Gravity - Wicked, the musical.