Why We Don't Live In A Musical
Once or twice Jim has asked "why don't we burst into song and dance like that?" while watching a musical. Allow me to explain:
This evening Dad and I were watching Oliver Twist. Bill Sykes (BOO! HISS!) turned up on screen. "Is that his Nancy on his knee?" he asked. "Yeo ho," I replied,
Here's what should have happened (link):
[1]
This evening Dad and I were watching Oliver Twist. Bill Sykes (BOO! HISS!) turned up on screen. "Is that his Nancy on his knee?" he asked. "Yeo ho," I replied,
And his arm around her waist!And then we stopped, unable to remember what happens next[1]. I've never been in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta as I have an awful singing voice; my Dad played a pirate (in the first part) and a policeman (in the second) in The Pirates of Penzance, but that would be over 40 years ago. Neither of us has sat down and memorised The Mikado. So essentially, we don't spontaneously burst into song and dance routines as we haven't practised and rehearsed enough to improvise.
Here's what should have happened (link):
[1]
Chorus: Then man the capstan — off we go,
As the fiddler swings us round,
With a yeo heave ho,
And a rum below,
Hurrah for the homeward bound!
With a yeo heave ho,
And a rum below,
Yeo-ho, heave ho,
Yeo-ho, heave ho,
Heave ho, heave ho, yeo-ho!
Comments
Now, this sort of thing is what I feel ought to happen whenever I go shopping. I don't know what I'm doing wrong that it doesn't.
(I'm pushing the analogy, but I'm told that Gilbert and Sullivan were popular and continue to have fans in India, and it's not impossible that early Bollywood Musicals were influenced by G&S productions)