I Wish

From lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Into the Woods....

Cinderella sings:  I wish...more than anything...more than life...more than jewels....I wish to go to the festival!

Jack sings:  I wish...more than life...more than anything...more than the moon...I wish my cow would give us some milk.

Baker and his wife sing:  I wish...more than the moon...more than life...more than riches...more than anything...I wish we had a child...I want a child.

Jack's mother sings:  I wish...I wish my son were not a fool.

I wish my house was not a mess. I wish the cow was full of milk. I wish the walls were full of gold-- I wish a lot of things..

Little Red Riding Hood joins in: I wish.. It's not for me, It's for my granny in the woods. A loaf of bread, please-- To bring my poor old hungry Granny in the woods.. [Insistent] Just a loaf of bread, please..

Yesterday I rented the movie "Into the Woods" and

watched it with my two youngest daughters. I heard a

review of this movie on NPR four years ago and have wanted

to see it ever since. They raved about it. My only experience

with the show was as a college student on our campus stage

with some friends as actors in the production. At the time,

the dark second act really disappointed me, but now 25 years

later, the whole show was very understandable and good

art! Simply put, the characters each had a desire common to

humanity, their dreams came true by the end of the first

act, but during the second act everything went awry.

A good piece of art, the story exposes what we all want

as humans and are willing to sacrifice in order to get, sometimes

even worshipping idols to obtain what we want. In the

end, do the obtaining of our deepest desires make us live

"happily ever after"? Most often the reality of our selfishness

and the uncontrollable forces in our lives make a mess of our

dreams. Do watch this movie, especially if you love musicals.

Classical Music Goes to the Movies

I enjoy listening to classical music on Minnesota Public Radio while driving the minivan from place to place.  Twice in the past week, my kids have recognized pieces because of their interest in the comics, of all places.  Here is Charles Gounod's "Je Veux Vivre" from Romeo and Juliet sung by "Bianca Castafiore" in The Adventures of Tintin. A fantastic operatic piece!

Then driving the little ones to school yesterday, one of the girls shouts out that the song playing on the radio was called "The Barber of Seville Bugs Bunny!"  I had to laugh.  It was actually called the overture to The Barber of Seville by Rossini but you may enjoy "The Rabbit of Seville" by Looney Tunes here:

Gretchen's First Violin Recital

This was Gretchen's first year taking violin lessons (her second year playing).  She performed two pieces from the Suzuki book 2.  This is her second piece "Bourree" by G.F.Handel. What a smashing performance!