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Witchflower,
You're welcome 
posted by
myrrhage_
on October 9, 2004 at 11:15 PM
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Thank you
Both for the special insights and the kind words. What a wonderful memory of your grandfather.
posted by
Witchflower
on October 9, 2004 at 11:09 PM
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On James Whitcomb Riley,
I grew up listening to my grandfather read from a collection of Riley poems. Those are some of my most cherished memories. My grandfather is now buried not far from Riley's tomb.
Incidentally, according to folklore Annie was not a fictional character, although she had been fictionalized in the poem. Riley was a highly intelligent man, who was often described as being a simple country bumpkin due to his use of the vernacular.
This is an excellent blog, informative and well written. Kudos!
iSiSeyeS
posted by
myrrhage_
on October 9, 2004 at 11:00 PM
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Thanks for reading, roofpig13 and MiaElla. . .
I haven't seen
Cats, but here are more notes on it:
"Cats had one of the most expensive production designs ever assembled; it had no plot; all the characters were cats; and the lyrics were written by one of the more difficult poets of the 20th century. Most people in the theater industry thought it would be a huge flop. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote the music, had to mortgage his own house to get the project off the ground.
But it turned out that the cats Eliot had invented for his godchildren: Macavity, Mungojerrie, Rumpelteazer, Jennyanydots, Rum Tum Tugger, and the tawdry Grizabella, were extraordinarily popular. At the time, the musical industry was on the wane, and most musicals on Broadway were revivals. Cats proved that musical theater could be big business again, and it sparked a renaissance of new musicals such as Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, and Phantom of the Opera.
Over the course of Cats' eighteen-year life, more than 1.8 million pounds of dry ice were used during the show to create fog onstage, and 3,247 pounds yak hair were used for wigs. One of the musical's most popular songs, "Memory," has been recorded 180 times by different artists around the world."
I'm not big on musicals, unless it's Music Man, Eddie & the Cruisers, or Streets of Fire. You can see where my tastes lie.
Naughty MiaElla, I bet they love those stories. The scarier the better.
posted by
Witchflower
on October 7, 2004 at 9:59 AM
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I love poets.
They're are my favorite of all writers. ....oh, and I tell my niece scary stories to get her to behave...bad miaella...bad....lol.
posted by
MiaElla
on October 7, 2004 at 8:22 AM
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I've also heard from elitist theater people that Cats is one of the worst musicals ever (which would explain why so many people wanted to see it; it's the same mentality that makes really stupid movies top of the box office). I'm sure I'll end up seeing it eventually, as my wife is very big into musicals.
posted by
roofpig
on October 7, 2004 at 8:19 AM
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