Happy Birthday Angela

5 time tony award winner angela lansbury turns 85 years young today and continues to entertain us.

a 'gypsy' vocal compilation

'everything's coming up roses' at the 1989 tony awards

from 'sweeney todd' angela and len cariou 'a little priest'

'the worst pies in london'

'by the sea'

thank you miss lansbury for sharing your amazing talents with us for decades in every entertainment medium possibe.


you are loved

Remembering Carole Lombard on Her Birthday

carole lombard was the zaniest film comedianne of all time. she died too young in a plane crash while selling war bonds during world war 2. she lives on film forever.

my two favorite lombard films

Happy Birthday Julie

some of my favorite julie films over the years. though i must admit the thought of watching 'mary poppins' ever again makes me gag!

Happy Birthday Angie

Happy Birthday Sophia

Song of the Day: "Hurricane"

dylan is a genius musically and lyrically. i know his vocals can put some people off lol. but he was one of the master musicians of the last century...may he continue to reign supreme.

dylan's 'hurricane' is a masterpiece combining music, lyrics and social enlightment in a single brilliant work of art.

Remembering Dorothy Loudon on Her Birthdate

the great dorothy loudon died too too soon. she was magic on the broadway stage. the dimming of her light on the great white way could and would never be replaced. thanks for the laughs and all the joy.


'fifty percent'

her hilarious 'vodka'

she was the epitome of a 'broadway baby'

from her tony winning role as mrs. hannigan in 'annie': 'easy street'

and two from 'sweeny todd': 'by the sea' and 'the worst pies in london'

Song(s) of the Day from Birthday Girl Lauren Bacall

lauren won the tony award as best actress in a musical for 'applause' and 'woman of the year' and deservedly so. lauren represents what a living legend really is and means. to her friends she is betty bacall. so happiest of birthdays betty. and keep on keeping on.

'woman of the year'

'the grass is always greener' with the hysterically funny and dearly departed marilyn cooper

the 'woman of the year' herself

and not only did she deserve a tony for playing margo channing but all the 'applause' that went with it

'but alive'

this scene and song won her the tony. this clip from the tv adaptation does not give justice to the live performance. but i'll take what i can get.

'welcome to the theater'

and when lauren as margo tells you to 'fasten your seat belts' you had best listen!

Happy Birthday Lauren

Remembering Claudette on Her Birthday

claudette colbert....france's greatest export to the states. claudette personifies what a film legend is. she spanned all of the movie experience. from silent films she easily and gracefully moved to talkies. from black and white she became more enchanting with the move to color. and from the big screen to the small screen she rounded out her career with the mini series 'the two mrs. grenvilles'. oh yeah there were the broadway triumphs too. claudette is gone to her peace but lives forever on celluloid. she won one oscar ('it happened one night') but deserved at least two ('since you went away').  i was first introduced to her work via 'since you went away' on television. it remains in my top ten of all time favorites. heck it also introduced me to the wonderful jennifer jones, joseph cotton, robert walker and guy madison. what's not to love!

her well deserved oscar was for 'it happened one night' and at 74 years old it is still one of the best comedies ever made. it defines classic film.

her 'cleopatra' still makes elizabeth taylor's look like a high school performance by an understudy.

'the sign of the cross' is still a risque romp filmed and released before hollywood had a 'standards and practice' rule.

'midnight' is another classic comedy. a wonderful romp really.

there are soooo many more but i'll single out 'the palm beach story', 'imitation of life' and 'three came home' also among my favorites.

so here they all are together. i'm rating them ****stars apiece as they all withstand the test of time. they need to be judged by the era in which they were filmed. they are classics all.

so thank you claudette for your grace, your charm and you forever enduring performances.

R.I.P.

Happy Birthday Jackie

Song of the Day: 'Ring Them Bells'

when liza was liza...'ring them bells'

Let's Talk About Kim

it appears to be time for a kim novak collection. and it is deserved. i love kim novak. was she the best actress ever? no. so what. she was a personality who could act. she was one studios answer to marilyn monroe. did she beat out monroe? no. was she a better actress than monroe? hell yes and most film historians agree. i'm a film historian and i sure agree. so there!

and did i mention she's a beauty.

the collection includes 'bell book and candle', 'jeanne eagles', 'picnic', 'middle of the night' and the truly awful 'pal joey'.

'pinic', and 'jeanne eagles' are among my favorite kim films. they would be joined by 'vertigo', 'the legend of lylah clare', 'bell book and candle' and the 'notorious landlady' in my collection.

but i also give you the following kim films that i like a lot. are they great films. hell no. some are good. some are campy. hell 'the legend of lylah clare' that i listed above is one of the campiest films ever. hey i'm gay. we love campy movies.

so give the collection a try. but avoid the bastardized 'pal joey' that went from a damn good broadway musical to a lousy frank sinatra ego trip of a movie.

i give you miss kim novak

Song of the Day: 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'

fall is upon the northern hemisphere and as the seasons change so do we all change...so i'm going to try and expand things here. so i'm going to give a shot at a 'song of the day'...all i can say is my musical mind and tastes are all over the place...eclectic. so you  will never know what's up next. music is my life. it is in me. it always has been. music, all music, needs to be shared. i'm a virgo thus i believe in sharing.

to start things off is the queen herself, miss aretha franklin, with 'bridge over troubled water'.

Dusty Springfield

Pet

i'm on a well needed solo vacation so i'm leaving you with the wonderful petula clark to add some sunshine to your life today.

La chanson de Marie Madeleine'



Medley from 1996



'kiss me goodbye'


the italian version:



with bobby darin:



my love



never on a sunday:



fool on the hill

Spring Music Fest: Audra McDonald

 audra mcdonald: actress and singer. multiple tony award winner. brilliant.

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Encore: Linda Ronstadt

with yesterday's posting of 'different drum' i got into a linda mood. 

these are some of my favorite ronstadt's that came during her 'golden' years. it's always great to revisit my musical past favorites.

early linda

My Favorite Linda Ronstadt: 'Blue Bayou'

Remembering Mae West on Her Birthday