Celebrate Musicals Week Tag

Well, here it is, Monday night.  I should be working on my art lesson for the kiddos tomorrow, or packing for Ladies Retreat on Thursday, or making the girls' lunches...

But hey, I've always been great at shrugging aside responsibility for more fun activities. :}  I'd read the announcement about "Celebrate Musicals Week" over at Yet Another Period Drama Blog (hosted by Miss Dashwood) and was super excited.  I'm a HUGE fan of musicals.  In fact, as I've mentioned before, I think that life would be a lot better if we all broke into spontaneous song and dance every once in a while. ;)

So of course, when I saw there was a tag in celebration of the week, I just had to participate. :)

To see the original tag on Miss Dashwood's blog, you can click HERE.  And to see all the details of "Celebrate Musicals Week", you can click HERE.  

Our assignment was to choose one musical to focus on for the entire week.  I had a pretty tough time choosing which one to do, but after much deliberation, I finally chose "Beauty and the Beast".  Heh heh.  Are you really that surprised? ;)  I actually was leaning more towards "The Phantom of the Opera" at first, but I thought this one would be more in keeping with my blog theme. :)

So, on to the tag!

1.  What musical did you pick to "spotlight" this week and why?

          I chose "Beauty and the Beast" because it's one of my favorite movies AND my favorite musicals. :)

Susan Egan and Terrance Mann in the title roles.

2.  How did you discover the musical you picked (hereinafter referred to as "your musical")?

          Well, I saw the movie when it came out in theaters in 1991 (I was ten at the time).  I can't remember when I first heard about the Broadway production...probably from a Disney preview or something.

3.  If you had to pick three favorite songs from your musical, which ones would they be?

          I really like "Human Again", especially because of the adorable dialogue in the middle of it. :)  I enjoy "A Change in Me" for the most part...it's great that Belle gets a couple of nice solos in the Broadway version.  I also love "If I Can't Love Her".  Just like Belle, the Beast gets a few extra solo numbers, which I think is fantastic.  But honestly, I love pretty much all the songs in this one. :)   

4.  What's your least favorite song from your musical?

          Probably "Maison de Lunes", but it's not like I hate it or anything. :)         

5.  Who are your favorite characters (choose up to three)?

           1. The Beast because you really get to see even more into his character in this production.  I love the story element they added where throughout the entire play he's trying to get up the nerve to tell Belle he loves her.

           2. Belle for the brave, sweet woman she is and the loving relationship she has with her father.

           3.  Wardrobe because she makes me laugh. :)

6.  Which versions of your musical have you seen/listened to, and which is your favorite?

          For the movie, I've seen the original theatrical release, the 10th anniversary release (in the IMAX theater), the 20th anniversary theatrical release (basically so I could see "Tangled Ever After").  I've seen the play done professionally at two different theaters and I've also seen a local high school version.  And I saw the made-for-TV production of "Beauty and the Beast:  A Concert on Ice".  It featured songs and script from the play with famous ice skaters skating to the music. 

          There was also a rather random non-Disney musical version that I remember seeing at our local Civic center when I was in about the 5th or 6th grade.  I have a few brief memories of that production. :}   

7.  Is this your favorite musical of all time?  If not, what is?

          It's one of my favorite musicals of all time.  I'm also a big fan of "The Sound of Music", "Fiddler on the Roof", Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella", "Singin' in the Rain", and "The Phantom of the Opera".  Oh, and I like most of the musical version of "The Scarlet Pimpernel", too. :}

8.  Which cast album/musical soundtrack in your collection do you listen to the most?

          Recently, I've been quite hooked on the new Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella".  I already had the original songs memorized, and now I've almost got the new additions down. ;)

          I use Rhapsody.com for most of my music now, so rather than listening to an entire soundtrack, I have a playlist with my favorite musical theatre songs on it.  There are songs from "Oklahoma", "South Pacific", the Broadway production of "The Little Mermaid", "Phantom", and more! :)

9.  What is your favorite costume from your musical?

          Definitely Belle's ballgown. :)

Terrance Mann and Susan Egan

10.  If you could change anything about your musical, what would you change?

          Honestly, nothing.  Maybe a few less innuendos between Lumiere and Babette, but other than that, nothing at all. :)

11.  Which role(s) would you most like to play in any musical, if you had the opportunity to do so on stage?

          Well, I'm getting past the age to play Belle or Christine Daae (and I don't have the range for Christine anyway).  I'd love to play Maria in "The Sound of Music".  Except I still can't dance, so even that role wouldn't really work for me. ;)

Susan Egan and Terrance Mann

12.  If you could choose one performer to play any part in your musical, who would you choose and which part would you have them play?

          While he hasn't always made good choices in his personal life, my favorite Beast has always been James Barbour.  He's got this amazing richness and depth to his voice that I love.  I loved his portrayal in "Beauty and the Beast:  A Concert on Ice".

James Barbour as the Beast

13.  Do you consider yourself a musical theatre fan in general or do you just like a few musicals?

          I really enjoy musical theatre, but I'm pretty selective about which plays I watch or soundtracks I listen to, especially since I'm particular about content.  A lot of musicals have at least one song or one part that I don't care for.  I totally love stories with random song and dance numbers in them, though.  So I guess I'm a selective musical theatre fan. ;)          

14.  Are you tired of the word "musical" yet?

          Not possible. ;)

15.  Turn your music playing device on shuffle (or utilize Pandora if you don't have one) and tell us the names of the first three show tunes that come up-no cheating!  How do these rank on your favorites/most-listened-to list?

          I don't really have the time or capability to do this, so I'm just going to skip this question. :} 

Terrance Mann and Susan Egan

Well, that was way more fun than what I was supposed to be doing! ;)  Thank you to Miss Dashwood for hosting this fun tag.  I'm not sure I'll be able to participate in the other expected posts (I'll be out of town and without WiFi for half of the week), but I enjoyed doing this part! :)  

If I can, I'll try to do at least one more BatB post, but I can't promise anything. :)

Be sure you all head over and check out the "Celebrate Musicals Week" for yourselves! :)

As for me, I'm off to make sure I know what I'm drawing for art tomorrow! :}

Beast'sbelle's Playlists

As most of you know, I used to have a playlist on the blog before Mixpod.com shut their website down.  A few of my blog readers suggested doing a post with all of my playlist tracks in it, which I thought was a great idea.  I thought it would be an even better idea to link it to my pages up top so you can find it easily.  So in the future, you'll find a link to this post on the "Beast'sbelle's Favorites & Playlist" Page up top. :)

Unfortunately, I waited a little too long to do this post, so I've forgotten a lot of the tracks I had on there. :}  I figure this will be another "in progress" page.  I'll add more songs as I think of them. :)  If there's one in particular that I didn't add and you'd like to hear it again, leave me a comment.  Here are the ones I can remember for now:

Former Blog Playlist Tracks:
-Song of Hope Duet from Lord of the Rings the Musical
-The Road Goes On from Lord of the Rings the Musical
-Now and For Always from Lord of the Rings the Musical
-One Fine Day by Hayley Westenra
-The Flower Duet by Charlotte Church
-Main Aagar Kahoon from Om Shanti Om
-Aankhon Mein Teri from Om Shanti Om
-Tere Liye from Veer-Zaara
-Frank Churchill Arrives  from Emma (1996)
-The Dance from Emma (1996)
-End Titles from Emma (1996)
-Main Titles from Emma (2009)
-The Last Dance from Emma (2009)

After I started this, I thought it would be fun to share some of my other favorite songs.  The following songs are divided by category. :)

Housecleaning Music:
These are songs that are a little more upbeat that help me fold laundry, do dishes, sweep, or anything else that requires a bit of physical exertion.  Of course, sometimes I have to remind myself to focus and not get too distracted dancing to the music (in my own awkward, uncoordinated way!), especially when I'm listening to the Bollywood tracks! :}  [Note:  some of these songs come from movies that I don't necessarily completely recommend, but the songs themselves are fun and enjoyable.]

-The Medley from Mujhse Dosti Karoge
-The Cat and the Moon from Lord of the Rings the Musical
-Lodi from Veer-Zaara
-Saj Daj Ke  from Mausam
-Haule Haule from Rab Ne Bana di Jodi
-Koi Ladki Hai from Dil to Pagal Hai
-Soni Soni from Mohabbatein
-The Cowman and the Farmer Should be Friends from Oklahoma
-Comme Facette Mammeta  by Mario Frangoulis (you can't help but feel happy when you hear this song!) ;)
-Any bluegrass music :)

Story Writing Music:
These are songs I listen to while working on my books.  They are often songs I've picked because they have a message or theme that fits into different parts of the story line.  Either that, or they are chosen to help me feel specific emotions.  For example, when I'm writing a sad scene, I listen to sad music to help me feel what my characters are feeling.  [Once again, some of these songs come from movies that I either haven't seen or can't recommend, but serve their purpose for my story.]  Here are a few of my favorite story writing tracks:

-Non ti Scordar di Me  by Russell Watson (couldn't find his version, but here's Mario Frangoulis' version.  I prefer Mario's voice, but I just love the instrumental part of Russell's version!  It's much more haunting.)
-All Love Can Be  by Charlotte Church (this one is set to pictures, and some of them are an odd choice...especially the walrus towards the end!) :}
-Remember Me by Josh Groban
-My Immortal  by Evanescence  (I'm not a fan of all of their stuff, and I don't care for the version of this song with the electric guitar.  I also would not recommend listening to a sad song like this all the time, but I use it to get me in the right mindset for the sadder parts of my stories.)
-The Swedish Rhapsody by Hugo Alfven
-Dulaman by Celtic Woman
-In Her Eyes by Josh Groban
-Any instrumental Celtic music
-anything by Hayley Westenra
-The entire "Let My Life be a Light" CD  by the Wissmann family (this link has one of my favorite songs from the CD)

Christian Music:
Here are a few of my favorite more contemporary Christan songs that I enjoy (well, as contemporary as I get...my music tastes are pretty conservative). ;)

-How Deep the Father's Love for Us performed by Fernando Ortega
-In Christ Alone performed here by Keith and Kristyn Getty (my favorite version is the one done by the Wissmann family)
-Calvary's Love performed by Steve Green
-Children of the Living God performed by Fernando Ortega
--I Will Carry You by Selah
-Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman


Hymns:
I grew up (and am still attending) a very conservative church, so I've had years of listening to the great old hymns of the faith.  I love these hymns because of their depth and because of the amazing stories that are behind them.  I was able to find several of my favorites to share with you:

-It is Well With My Soul by Horatio G. Spafford
-My Savior First of All by Fanny Crosby
-Take My Life and Let it Be by Frances Ridley Havergal
-I Will Sing of My Redeemer by Philip Bliss
-Sweet Hour of Prayer  by William Walford
-Have Thine Own Way by Adelaide A. Pollard
-Just As I Am by Charlotte Elliot
-Face to Face by Fanny Crosby (couldn't find this one on YouTube)

Like I said, this is a list that will grow and change with time, so keep checking back for updates. :)