Random Thread & The Interchangeable Inside Joke

[AmandaSparks730]

Before you met me, I was a wreck
But things were kinda heavy, you brought me to life
Now every February you'll be my valentine, valentine

Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I, we'll be young forever

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream
The way you turn me on, I can't sleep
Let's runaway and don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I, we'll be young forever

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream
The way you turn me on, I can't sleep
Let's runaway and don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream
The way you turn me on, I can't sleep
Let's runaway and don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

My heart stops when you look at me
Just one touch, now baby I believe
This is real, so take a chance
And don't ever look back, don't ever look back

I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Aragnal;gna.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

So...many posts...to go...

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Singing, long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming long live the look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day we will be remembered

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Baby, you're a fireworkkk.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is a musical written for television, with music by Richard Rodgers and a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based upon the fairy tale Cinderella, particularly Cendrillon, ou la Petite Pantoufle de Vair, by Charles Perrault. The story concerns a young woman forced into a life of servitude by her cruel stepmother and self-centered stepsisters, who dreams of a better life. With the help of her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella is transformed into a Princess and finds her Prince.

Cinderella is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical written for television. It was originally broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957 as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, who played the title role. The broadcast was seen by over 100 million people. It was subsequently remade for television twice, in 1965 and 1997. The 1965 version starred Lesley Ann Warren, and the 1997 one starred Brandy, in the title role. Both remakes add songs from other Richard Rodgers musicals.

Cinderella has also been adapted for the stage.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Act I
In the village square, a Herald proclaims: "The Prince Is Giving a Ball" to celebrate the Prince's 21st birthday. The ladies of the kingdom are thrilled at the prospect of meeting him. Cinderella, whose beloved father has died, takes care of the home of her ill-tempered and selfish stepmother and stepsisters. She carries all of their shopping parcels for them, and when they return home, all three order Cinderella about. Left alone in her corner near the fire, she dreams of living an exotic life as a princess or anything other than a servant ("In My Own Little Corner"). Meanwhile, the King and Queen get ready for the big celebration ("Royal Dressing Room Scene") and the servants discuss the planning for the feast ("Your Majesties"). They hope that their son will find a suitable bride, but the Prince is a bit apprehensive about meeting all the eager women of the kingdom. The Queen is touched by overhearing the King's discussion with his son and tells him she loves him ("Boys and Girls Like You and Me" [sometimes omitted, and not sung in any of the telecasts]).

As Cinderella's stepsisters get ready for the Ball, hoping that they will catch the Prince's eye, they laugh at Cinderella's dreams. Finally they leave, and Cinderella imagines having gone with them ("In My Own Little Corner" (reprise)). Cinderella's Fairy Godmother appears and, persuaded by the fervor of Cinderella's wish to go to the Ball, she transforms Cinderella into a beautifully-gowned young lady and her little mouse friends and a pumpkin into a glittering carriage with impressive footmen ("Impossible; It's Possible") and she leaves for the Ball.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Act II
Cinderella arrives at the palace at 11:30; before she enters, her Godmother warns her not to stay past midnight. The Prince has been bored by the attention of all the young ladies with whom he has had to dance, including the stepsisters. Cinderella's grand entrance immediately attracts everyone's attention and intrigues the Prince. They dance together and instantly fall in love ("Ten Minutes Ago"). Seeing the Prince with a petite beauty (whom they do not recognize), the stepsisters ask why he wouldn't prefer a substantial "usual" girl like them ("Stepsisters' Lament"). The Prince and Cinderella dance and find themselves with a private moment, and he declares his love for her ("Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"). As they share a kiss, the clock begins to strike midnight, and Cinderella flees before the magic wears off; but in her haste, she drops a glass slipper.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Act III
The next morning, Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters reminisce about the Ball and find that Cinderella is very intuitive about what it must have been like going to the Ball ("When You're Driving Through the Moonlight") and dancing with the Prince ("A Lovely Night"). Meanwhile, the Prince is searching for the beauty with whom he danced, and who fled so quickly from the Ball. His Herald tries the slipper on all the ladies ("The Search"). At Cinderella's house, the slipper will not fit any of the ladies. Everyone tries to steer the Prince away from the servant girl, Cinderella, but she is not home; she is in the Palace garden. The prince returns to the Palace dejected by his lack of success. Prodded by the fairy godmother, his Herald tries the slipper on Cinderella. It fits, and the prince recognizes his beloved ("Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (reprise)). Cinderella and the Prince marry, and all ends happily.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

The original version contained the following songs:[3]

Act I
"Overture" (instrumental)
"The Prince Is Giving a Ball" (Herald and Chorus)
"Cinderella March" (instrumental)
"In My Own Little Corner" (Cinderella)
"Royal Dressing Room Scene" (King, Queen, Chef, Steward)
"In My Own Little Corner" (Reprise) (Cinderella)
"Impossible; It's Possible" (Cinderella and Fairy Godmother)

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Act II
"Gavotte" (instrumental)
"Ten Minutes Ago I Saw You" (Prince and Cinderella)
"Stepsisters' Lament" (Stepsisters)
"Waltz for a Ball" (instrumental and Chorus)
"Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (Prince and Cinderella)

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Act III
"When You're Driving Through the Moonlight" (Cinderella, Stepmother, Stepsisters)
"A Lovely Night" (Cinderella, Stepmother, Stepsisters)
"The Search" (instrumental)
"Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (reprise) (Prince)
"Wedding" (instrumental)
"Mother and Daughter March" (instrumental)
"Never In a Thousand Years" (eventually omitted from the production)
In some productions, additional numbers added include, "Loneliness of Evening" (cut from South Pacific and introduced in the 1965 broadcast), a song for the prince; and "Boys and Girls like You and Me" (cut from Oklahoma! and subsequently other shows), for the queen and king (in the Royal Dressing Room Scene), which appears in the show's published vocal score.[4][5][6] The 1997 TV version added, among others, "Falling in Love with Love" for the Stepmother.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

1957 original production
The original 1957 broadcast was directed by Ralph Nelson with choreography by Jonathan Lucas and starred Julie Andrews as Cinderella and Jon Cypher as The Prince. It also featured Howard Lindsay as The King, Dorothy Stickney as The Queen, Edith Adams as the Fairy Godmother, Kaye Ballard and Alice Ghostley as stepsisters Portia and Joy, Ilka Chase as the Stepmother, and Iggie Wolfington as The Steward. Betty Noyes played a mother in the ensemble who sings a brief solo, and Joe Layton appeared uncredited in the ensemble.[7]

On Sunday, March 31, 1957, at 8:00pm Eastern time, Cinderella was broadcast live in the Eastern, Central and Mountain time zones in both black and white and compatible color; the West Coast received a delayed black and white only broadcast starting at 8:00pm Pacific time. Beyond the United States, it was carried by CBS affiliates in Canada, Mexico, Cuba and the U.S. territories of Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. It was produced for $376,000, which was very expensive for its time, and was heavily promoted by its sponsors Pepsi-Cola and the Shulton Company (then maker of Old Spice).[1]

 

[AmandaSparks730]

1965 version
After its success as a stage production, the network decided another television version of Cinderella was needed. The 1957 premiere had been broadcast before videotape had been perfected, so only one performance could be shown. CBS mounted another production in 1965 with Richard Rodgers as Executive Producer. This re-make did not use the original script, but instead a new one closer to the traditional tale commissioned by Rodgers (Hammerstein had died in 1960) and written by Joseph Schrank, although nearly all of the original songs were retained and sung in their original settings. A new sequence opens the story, in which the Prince stops at Cinderella's house with his retinue for a drink of water after returning from his travels. Cinderella, home alone, and not knowing who the handsome traveler is until a page utters the words "Your Highness", kindly gives the Prince water from the well. Shortly afterwards, the Prince sings "Loneliness of Evening", which had been composed for South Pacific in 1949 but not sung in that musical. Cinderella sings In My Own Little Corner before there is any mention of the prince giving a ball. The names of the stepsisters were also changed from the original production, and the Royal Dressing Room Scene was omitted.[1]

The 1965 version was directed by Charles S. Dubin with choreography by Eugene Loring and recorded on videotape (at CBS Television City in Hollywood) for later broadcast. The cast featured Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon as the King and Queen; Celeste Holm as the Fairy Godmother; Jo Van Fleet as the Stepmother, with Pat Carroll and Barbara Ruick as her daughters Prunella and Esmerelda; and Stuart Damon as the Prince. Lesley Ann Warren was "introduced" in the title role. The film also features rare on camera appearances by dubbers Betty Noyes and Bill Lee, who play a couple that briefly sing about their daughter (played by Trudi Ames).[8] The first broadcast was on February 22, 1965, and it was rebroadcast eight times through February 1974.[1]

 

[AmandaSparks730]

1997 version

Cover from a DVD of the 1997 versionThe 1997 television re-make of the musical, the only one of the three versions shot on film, was adapted by Robert L. Freedman and directed by Robert Iscove, with choreography by Rob Marshall, and was produced by Whitney Houston and Debra Martin Chase for Walt Disney Productions. It was part of a revival of The Wonderful World of Disney series, on Disney-owned ABC, and aired on November 2, 1997. This version featured a racially diverse cast, with Brandy as Cinderella, Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother, Bernadette Peters as Cinderella's stepmother, Paolo Montalbán as the prince, Whoopi Goldberg as the queen, Victor Garber as the king and Jason Alexander as Lionel, the herald.

The hit song "Falling in Love with Love", from the Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse, was sung by Peters as the Stepmother. "The Sweetest Sounds" from Rodgers' No Strings, was also added, sung by Cinderella and the Prince. "There's Music in You," written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the 1953 film Main Street to Broadway, was sung as the finale by the Fairy Godmother. The production won two awards in 1998: The Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Award and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program.[1]

 

[AmandaSparks730]

When Whitney Houston signed on to the film, she was listed as producer and in the role of Cinderella. However, she later asked Brandy to audition for the role of Cinderella, saying "I'm already 33 years old, and I want you to play Cinderella". Brandy only agreed to do the part if Houston played her fairy godmother, because she was her "idol".[9] Changes to the Hammerstein plot in this version include the following: The Fairy Godmother begins the story, explaining that nothing is impossible. Disguised as a peasant, the Prince (feeling isolated in the castle) wanders in the marketplace (worrying his herald, Lionel), meets Cinderella, and they find each other charming. At the ball, embarrassed by questions about her family and background, Cinderella escapes to the garden in tears, where the Fairy Godmother appears for moral support. After her stepmother returns from the ball and is particularly cruel, Cinderella packs her belongings to run away from home. Her Fairy Godmother advises her to share her feelings with the Prince. After trying the slipper on all the other maidens, the Prince and Lionel overtake Cinderella on her journey to freedom. Meeting her gaze, the Prince recognizes her and places the slipper on her foot. At their wedding, the Fairy Godmother blesses the couple.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Stage productions
The musical was first performed on stage at the London Coliseum, together with a 1958 holiday pantomime adaptation of Cinderella that also used songs from Me & Juliet. Harold Fielding produced this version, which opened on December 18, 1958 and played through the holiday season. Yana, played Cinderella[1] Also appearing were Bruce Trent, Jimmy Edwards, Tommy Steele and Betty Marsden.

Stage versions began to appear in U.S. theatres by 1961.[1] The New York City Opera produced the musical in 1993 and 1995, with the Fairy Godmother being played by Sally Ann Howes and the Stepmother played by Nancy Marchand and Jean Stapleton. It revived the production in 2004 with Eartha Kitt as the Fairy Godmother and Dick Van Patten as the King, among other television stars.[10]

A United States tour played from late 2000 through 2001 and starred Kitt as the Fairy Godmother, with Deborah Gibson and later Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Cinderella, Paolo Montalbán as the Prince, and, in a casting twist, a gender-bending Everett Quinton playing the Stepmother.[11]

A 30-week Asian tour of Cinderella starred Lea Salonga and Australian Peter Saide. The production was directed by Bobby Garcia, with costume design by Renato Balestra. Sets were designed by David Gallo and lighting design was by Paul Miller. The tour started in Manila, Philippines in July 29, 2008. The show then went on to several cities in China, including Xian, Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Gunagzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. It then toured in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan.[12] A cast album was issued in 2008.


Promotional poster for Tokyo productionAn all-female production of the musical in Japan in 2008 featured J-Pop group Morning Musume and veteran members of the Takarazuka Revue The production ran 33 times, from August 6, 2008 to August 25, 2008, at Shinjuku Koma Theater. The lead roles of Cinderella and the Prince were performed by Morning Musume members Ai Takahashi and Risa Niigaki.[13][14]

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Act One

In the town square, the Herald announces fabulous news, "The Prince is Giving a Ball." Girls and women all over town are wishful or wistful when they hear the news that the Prince is seeking a bride. Cinderella's stepmother and her daughters, whiny Joy and dull Portia, are no exception.

The girls and their mother have just returned from a shopping expedition, with finery for the ball. All three give orders, which Cinderella scurries to satisfy, before her stepmother dismisses her. Cinderella listens from her small chair by the fireplace as her stepmother informs Joy and Portia that even if neither marries the Prince, she expects each to marry someone. The girls are frightened by her sternness and argue with each other as they retire to get their beauty sleep.

Cinderella can't imagine how her two stepsisters can be grouchy with all their new, beautiful things. Alone in her chair after the others have gone to bed, she pretends that she is a princess or heroine from some exotic story. ("In My Own Little Corner")

 

[AmandaSparks730]

The King and Queen are in their dressing room arguing about the upcoming ball in their son's honor. He thinks it's an unnecssary extravagance. She is determined to host a stylish affair. The chef and wine steward arrive to present a proposed menu. ("Your Majesties") The rest of the staff parade gourmet goodies and decorations past the King and Queen for their inspection.

The Prince arrives as the Queen is off tending to details. He seems to share his father's reluctance about the ball. He confides that he has no intention of marrying any of the girls at the ball. The King counsels him to at least act enthusiastic, for his mother's sake. When the Queen enters, the Prince pretends to be looking forward to the ball and even volunteers to help with preparations. The Queen pretends to believe all this. The Prince is momentarily panicked, until he spies his horse being brought from the stable, an excuse to get out of it. The Queen is touched by the King's concern for her feelings and tells him she loves him. ("Boys and Girls Like You and Me")

 

[AmandaSparks730]

The day of the ball arrives. Joy and Portia fuss and order Cinderella about. At last they leave and Cinderella resumes her daydreaming about attending the ball herself ("In My Own Little Corner, Reprise"). Cinderella's Godmother, sensible with no hint of magic, appears at the window and suggest Cinderella run away. ("Fol de Rol and Fiddle de Dee") Cinderella won't leave her Stepmother, of course. The Godmother comes into the sitting room for tea. Cinderella tells her Godmother about her daydreams and wishes, including her fantastic wish that a pumpkin would turn into a carriage to whisk her away to the ball and that her Godmother might be a Fairy Godmother. The Godmother laughs and tells Cinderella it's "Impossible!"

Cinderella continues to wish, and the Godmother works her magic, changing the impossible into "It's Possible."