Mirkwood Reflections

Since watching Oklahoma! (1999) this past weekend, I have recommended it to several people and the response is usually something like, "There's a new Oklahoma! ?" Well, 'new' is a relative term, but since the film version most people are familiar with is more than fifty years old, it seems appropriate here. Yep, FIFTY. The Shirley Jones movie came out in 1955, folks. That's been a few years. More than time for a remake, I think. I was already aware of this production since I'd seen a little bit of it on PBS's Great Performances a few years back. At the time, I was put off by the fact that it was NOT a movie adaptation, but rather a filmed stage production. The audience is sometimes visible, even purposefully visible. The sets are typical, although nicely conceived, theater sets - painted backdrops, simple props, etc... At the time, this turned me off and I didn't watch much of the show. (I've read recently that this production was actually fil

I've been on a kind of musical kick lately, sorta jump-started by watching the High School Musical trilogy. I moved on to Oklahoma (1999) and Hairspray (2007) and probably will keep on going. If you know me, you know I'm nothing if not obsessive. lol So, I went searching for a good list of the best musicals. It was harder to find than one might imagine, but here's a list of the top 100 as chosen by the UK's channel 4. (None of the ones I've mentioned so far are on the list.) That list was not easily copy/pastable, so I found another source for that and here's their introduction to the list: "From the start of the new millenium, UK television channel, channel 4, ran a series of programs which ran through the top 100 of various genres, including films, film stars, war movies and musicals. the program was aired in 2003 and was made up of viewer votes bo

Mariel suggested this week’s question Book Gluttony! Are your eyes bigger than your book belly? Do you have a habit of buying up books far quicker than you could possibly read them? Have you had to curb your book buying habits until you can catch up with yourself? Or are you a controlled buyer, only purchasing books when you have run out of things to read? Well, yes, I definitely buy more books than I can read. In the past, I have occasionally tried a moratorium on book-buying, but it doesn't work too well for me. Books are too tempting! I also buy books for my children - probably more than they can (or want to) read. Since I usually buy my books used, at least it isn't a terribly expensive habit.