Tuesday, August 7, 2012

In the background of our lives....

I spent all my money and a lot of my time watching my oldest in dance class and in recital, so that means I heard a lot, and I mean a lot of SHOWTUNES !
I love showtunes so it wasn't a bad gig...Showtunes get you there quickly, and they're songs about things that happen in daily life...Like..."here I am peeling potatoes and What I did for love ! "
2 favorites are Chorus Line, and The Sting....the music provided by the darling Marvin Hamlisch, who just passed on.


 He was a rare and talented bird who won in all 4 categories of major US performance Awards: the Emmy® (4), the Grammy® (4), the Oscar® (3) and the Tony®. He is one of only 2 who have received a Pulitzer Prize (for A Chorus Line) for a play.

If you've never seen 1973's The Sting.....go see it now! (it's actually playing in Seattle right now!)
But it's available somewhere ...streaming...somewhere....
and it's another reason why the 70s were the best Decade Ever !! 
Marvin adapted Ragtime genius Scott Joplin's piano music....and brought it back to popularity in  America long after it was forgotten.
The soundtrack should be in your personal collection!







The movie stars
ray walston-image-5

photo of Redford and Eileen Brennan in costumes by Edith Head from this ebay seller





"Can't regret...Won't forget...What I did for Love..... "
Here's my favorite version of "What I Did For Love"...by Ethel Merman....luxuriate in the stunning piano and the orchestra that rises and falls and stuns you into submission....THAT'S Marvin Hamlisch, my friends.