The Sound of Musicals

Earlier this year I expressed my exuberance for the new Fox series, Glee. It's hard to figure out what I like most -- drama kids singing Journey, or Jane Lynch doing what she does best -- but if any of you missed the season pilot and premiere last spring, you can head on over to Portland Center Stage tonight for a Glee Party and screening on the mainstage. The Fox marketing machine has even provided PCS with a pizza allowance, so come join in the fun. Tonight (Monday) at 6PM.

I have a "friend" who has always mis-sung a certain lyric in Don't Stop Believin'. Unacceptable, since the song has recently become the most downloaded iTune of all time. So in case you are watching and planning to sing a long with the show's finale tonight, study up:

Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere

Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere

A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching
In the night
Streetlights, people
Livin' just to find emotion
Hidin', somewhere in the night

Workin' hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice
Just one more time

Some will win
Some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

(Chorus)

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights, people
Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlights, people

Now apparently Detroit doesn't really have a south side (that would be Windsor, Ontario) and that irked more than a few Michiganites? Michiganians? Michiganders, but Steve Perry usually changed the lyric anyway to whatever city the band was playing in that night. The amazing rock anthem-slash-pop-ballad wasn't always a #1 hit, though. Among the first writing collaborations between singer Steve Perry, guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, it was released on Journey's 1981 album "Escape," which in turn was named for an Atari video game of the same name. Don't Stop Believin' peaked at No. 9, while Who's Crying Now and Open Arms both rose higher on the charts that year. But DSB has had a much longer afterlife, resurging several times in the '90s and 00's including (most recently before Glee) as the centerpiece to the final scene from The Sopranos.

So let's just sing it correctly, shall we?

Just curious...

Have you by any chance become strangely intrigued as I have with the new series Glee, which premieres tomorrow night on Fox?

At first I thought the whole thing looked a little too High School Musical 90210 for my taste (he said while watching American Idol). And then I wondered if I was just secretly suppressing all the joy and pain of my own high school drama experiences.

But then I saw clips that seemed to capture the whole rivalry thing with the jocks and cheerleaders, and I'm thinking maybe it's like Bring it On in a bad/silly fun kind of way. And then I see Jane Lynch and a few scenes with charismatic actors and potentially compelling plotlines I'm thinking damn, this thing might actually be good. And silly fun. And nostalgic. So now I'm like totally watching it tomorrow night.

Is there anybody else I can compare notes with on Wednesday morning?

This is not a paid advertisement, I swear.

Some Statistics + The Power of Music

Last month, my colleagues and I managed to put up 26 posts on this blog. I say "put up" because maintaining this blog is a lot like putting up canned peaches: Hot, steamy work with a risk of botulism, but with results that are oh so sweet when the root cellar is otherwise full of turnips and you have a hankering for pie.

That's 26 posts in 30 days ... or a batting average of .866 ... or a post just about every 28 hours. If our average post was a mile long (it wasn't), we would have run the equivalent of a marathon (we didn't, but I'm just saying).

In April, the cruelest month, we fell short of our record month, November 2008, with its 29 posts. Of course, November got a boost with 16 of the 26 posts in our “Election Soundtrack” series. Oh, that was fun!

Now I'm starting to wonder if we can reach a one-a-day average in May. That would be 31 posts this month. I don't know if my colleagues and I are up to the challenge. We have an unspoken policy of never letting each other know when we're planning to publish a new post. That way, if any one of us is captured and subjected to extreme interrogation techniques, he or she won't be able to betray the others. It's a security measure, plus it minimizes the amount of communication we have to do.

My main point--assuming you're wondering--is that posting something every day may require us to lower our standards. You may have to accept posts that are, frankly, space fillers. For instance, gratuitous posts with YouTube videos purloined from someone else's blog.

Here's an example to illustrate, using a video that juxtaposes the title scenes from “Diff’rent Strokes” with new music ... to striking effect.

Is it live, or...

I admit, I Netflix. And I Facebook. And I Twitter. All of those nouns that have become verbs; I do them. So I'm part of the virtual world, home entertainment world, e-world. But I'm also part of the group of people who attend live performances; in fact, I know I'm an anomaly in that while I have not been to a movie in a movie theater in at least 18 months, I've been to at least three or four live performances per month in that same time. And while I do use Netflix, my current movie has been on my coffee table for about six weeks. So much for the "bargain."

You get the picture: I have a distinct preference for a live experience when it comes to my entertainment. I have a TV; I watch it. It's a 19" Magnavox, boxy little number. But I don't find it all that compelling.

Anyway...I think I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday. I was over at a neighbor's house for morning bagels and coffee, and we started watching GPS on CNN. And we watched it on a HUGE HDTV, with amazing sound, and using TIVO. Holy cow...

Have you seen Fareed Zakaria in HDTV? And heard that voice in enhanced sound? And skipping all commercials?

Now, I watched some of the election debates at the same neighbor's house, but I obsessed on things like the wrinkles in Joe Biden's shirt, and how you could see each one. And a little on his shiny teeth.

But Fareed...that's a completely different plane of experience. Those eyes...

My conclusion? The live performance experience is, in fact, threatened by home theater. No question. When Fareed is on, that is.