Friday, 12 April 2013
Putting time to Good Use
While putting yet more sleeplessness last night to good use by doing a little tidying and a lot of searching for Ginger recordings, i'd give an awful lot of my Ginger Collection to hear the Conoco Listener's Hour with Ginger singing the hits from Girl Crazy circa 1931, its been on ebay a couple of times, come on who bought it?!!! While i didn't find that i did come accross a few Fred and Ginger pics i hadn't seen before (and these seem to be getting rarer!)
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Sleeplessness (again)
Well what better way to get through insomnia than a little posting, last night it was discussing Ginger on facebook :-)
Currently job hunting although its not going very well right now, my ideal job would involve Ginger and Fred research in some capacity, from the current angle i can keep dreaming :/
I for once last week saw a couple of Westend musicals that were not Top Hat! I saw the aclaimed A Chorus Line which i enjoyed very much, which also got me thinking how little the world has really changed, from Stage Door (30s) to A Chorus Line (70s) to the current day
I also caught The Tailor Made Man in it's world premier just before it finished in London, i enjoyed it so much on the Thursday afternoon that i bought tickets for the final performance on the Saturday evening. The musical set in the late 1920s onwards is about the Actor William (Billy) Haines and his releationship with Jimmie Shields and their long term friendship with Marion Davies. I'm sincerely hoping that the last hasn't been seen of it. One of the songs 'Design' had a mention of Ginger and Fred (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI5TUWMK-GI) and I was thrilled to see a copy of an old magazine (although which one i completely forget except i think it was Picture 'something') with Ginger on the front :-)
just noticed that while these two photos appear to have been taken in the same place wall paper has appeared, the second photo i found yesterday looking for photos from 'Tender Comrade' and just noticed i have another, of course when i googled 'Follow the Fleet' i found no trace of any photos of that dress, my own collection was more useful, i love the 'clips' at the top, they seem to have been in fashion
Currently job hunting although its not going very well right now, my ideal job would involve Ginger and Fred research in some capacity, from the current angle i can keep dreaming :/
I for once last week saw a couple of Westend musicals that were not Top Hat! I saw the aclaimed A Chorus Line which i enjoyed very much, which also got me thinking how little the world has really changed, from Stage Door (30s) to A Chorus Line (70s) to the current day
I also caught The Tailor Made Man in it's world premier just before it finished in London, i enjoyed it so much on the Thursday afternoon that i bought tickets for the final performance on the Saturday evening. The musical set in the late 1920s onwards is about the Actor William (Billy) Haines and his releationship with Jimmie Shields and their long term friendship with Marion Davies. I'm sincerely hoping that the last hasn't been seen of it. One of the songs 'Design' had a mention of Ginger and Fred (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI5TUWMK-GI) and I was thrilled to see a copy of an old magazine (although which one i completely forget except i think it was Picture 'something') with Ginger on the front :-)
Friday, 8 March 2013
They Can't Take That Away From Us
Sure i should be sleeping or something, but having decided to make a new youtube video it got me thinking a little towards the content and do people really think it was the best of ideas
before you all think i'm mad or something, the new video puts together two clips, one of Fred singing to Ginger in 'Shall We Dance' and secondly of Fred and Ginger dancing in 'The Barkleys of Broadway, the song of course is the Gershwin Classic 'They Can't Take That Away From Me'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuufFgAMkGE
I'm in the camp that still bemoans the fact that they missed the chance to dance to it in 1937, although that Ferry did look a little cramped! (incidently anyone know what/who's car they used?!) there sadly is not enough of Fred and Ginger dancing in that film (who's idea was Harriet Hoctor anyhow?..) but aside from the clear nostalgic value if the suggestion had come from anyone but Ginger would they really have reused it just to make up for missing the chance to dance to it 12 years earliar...
Please don't misunderstand me i love that they danced to it in Barkleys and to me it proved that whatever happens the magic of Fred and Ginger can't be taken away from us but i just wondered what everyone else thought :-)
before you all think i'm mad or something, the new video puts together two clips, one of Fred singing to Ginger in 'Shall We Dance' and secondly of Fred and Ginger dancing in 'The Barkleys of Broadway, the song of course is the Gershwin Classic 'They Can't Take That Away From Me'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuufFgAMkGE
I'm in the camp that still bemoans the fact that they missed the chance to dance to it in 1937, although that Ferry did look a little cramped! (incidently anyone know what/who's car they used?!) there sadly is not enough of Fred and Ginger dancing in that film (who's idea was Harriet Hoctor anyhow?..) but aside from the clear nostalgic value if the suggestion had come from anyone but Ginger would they really have reused it just to make up for missing the chance to dance to it 12 years earliar...
Please don't misunderstand me i love that they danced to it in Barkleys and to me it proved that whatever happens the magic of Fred and Ginger can't be taken away from us but i just wondered what everyone else thought :-)
Friday, 1 March 2013
Top Hat on Stage
Yes that show again!! I went again yesterday afternoon specially for the matinee as they had a question and answer session with Irving Berlin's daughter Linda Emmett after the show which came included with the ticket, being me I wasn't going to let such an opportunity pass by!!
I can't say I learnt much from the Q&A Session, except that I know more about Irving Berlin than I realised haha! Although I was unaware that he headed an army unit for 'This is the Army' in Italy during ww2 after D.Eisenhower saw the show in London and gave the go ahead to go and perform for those fighting on the front line (I'm also not entirely sure how I never knew he wrote that song, i've loved it for longer than I can remember!)
I will admit i didn't actually ask any questions, however when Follow the Fleet was mentioned with 'Get Thee Behind Me Satan' being one of Linda's favourite songs I did venture the information that of course that song was originally written for Ginger to sing in 'Top Hat' which she didn't know, so nice to think that she learned something!! I then mentioned about how when 'Follow the Fleet' was released in the UK in 1936 the word 'Satan' wasn't allowed to be used and so the word was cut from the song creating some very wierd cuts and can be viewed in the extras on the UK dvd release.
This led to her reminiscing of the first time she saw Top Hat on screen, in Paris before ww2 and then having the privilige of seeing it after it had been restored again in Paris, sounded amazing i'd love to see Top Hat (and indeed all of Ginger and Fred's movies) on the big screen!
Someone addressed me afterwards as 'The Irving Berlin Expert', I was kind enough to reply no, just Fred/Ginger related information!!
It was also the first time I'd seen the new cast, although Gavin Lee who replaced Tom Chambers as Jerry was off sick with a chest infection so they had the fabulous Alan Burkitt who also understudied Tom and who is an amazing dancer, I saw Alan play Jerry last year on the recommendation of one of the stewards and he is definitely my fave 'Top Hatter'!! Kristen Beth Williams (seen till recently in 'Nice Work if You Can Get It' on Broadway) was really good, but i'll hold passing judgement until I have seen her again, at least another 3 times as that's how many times I saw Charlotte Gooch who she replaced! (I saw Summer Strallen in the role 10 times..)
I was disappointed to find yet again that information about Ginger's film debut year was incorrect, however they have promised to correct it on the reprint, I also mentioned it to Kenny Wax, the show's producer and he said that he'll see Ted Hartley who wrote the article that includes the incorrect info in the next week or so and get it changed. I was kind enough to suggest that Ted Hartley may have been referring to Ginger's debut year of dancing on screen with Fred as the article is entitled 'RKO's Happy History with Top Hat' although if so it still needs clarification! Its about time Ginger was given the full respect and credit that she deserves after all and I find it sad that its not always the case
I can't say I learnt much from the Q&A Session, except that I know more about Irving Berlin than I realised haha! Although I was unaware that he headed an army unit for 'This is the Army' in Italy during ww2 after D.Eisenhower saw the show in London and gave the go ahead to go and perform for those fighting on the front line (I'm also not entirely sure how I never knew he wrote that song, i've loved it for longer than I can remember!)
I will admit i didn't actually ask any questions, however when Follow the Fleet was mentioned with 'Get Thee Behind Me Satan' being one of Linda's favourite songs I did venture the information that of course that song was originally written for Ginger to sing in 'Top Hat' which she didn't know, so nice to think that she learned something!! I then mentioned about how when 'Follow the Fleet' was released in the UK in 1936 the word 'Satan' wasn't allowed to be used and so the word was cut from the song creating some very wierd cuts and can be viewed in the extras on the UK dvd release.
This led to her reminiscing of the first time she saw Top Hat on screen, in Paris before ww2 and then having the privilige of seeing it after it had been restored again in Paris, sounded amazing i'd love to see Top Hat (and indeed all of Ginger and Fred's movies) on the big screen!
Someone addressed me afterwards as 'The Irving Berlin Expert', I was kind enough to reply no, just Fred/Ginger related information!!
It was also the first time I'd seen the new cast, although Gavin Lee who replaced Tom Chambers as Jerry was off sick with a chest infection so they had the fabulous Alan Burkitt who also understudied Tom and who is an amazing dancer, I saw Alan play Jerry last year on the recommendation of one of the stewards and he is definitely my fave 'Top Hatter'!! Kristen Beth Williams (seen till recently in 'Nice Work if You Can Get It' on Broadway) was really good, but i'll hold passing judgement until I have seen her again, at least another 3 times as that's how many times I saw Charlotte Gooch who she replaced! (I saw Summer Strallen in the role 10 times..)
I was disappointed to find yet again that information about Ginger's film debut year was incorrect, however they have promised to correct it on the reprint, I also mentioned it to Kenny Wax, the show's producer and he said that he'll see Ted Hartley who wrote the article that includes the incorrect info in the next week or so and get it changed. I was kind enough to suggest that Ted Hartley may have been referring to Ginger's debut year of dancing on screen with Fred as the article is entitled 'RKO's Happy History with Top Hat' although if so it still needs clarification! Its about time Ginger was given the full respect and credit that she deserves after all and I find it sad that its not always the case
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Hollywood Costumes Exhibition
To quote Huey, It's February already?!?!!
January was a wild whirlwind of final uni assignments and theatre trips amongst other things (trips to Paris come to mind)
The amongst other things also included a trip to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to check out the Hollywood Costumes Exhibiton that was residing there from October to January, I would have loved to have seen it much sooner than i did but it proved very popular and booked out much quicker than I anticipated, thanks to having to fit so many other things in, I realised it was January or never and i knew i'd be cursing myself for ever if i missed it! I'd hoped originally to see it on the 10th of January but it sold out between me checking it and then deciding to book my train ticket first.. (I spent a lovely afternoon at the Maritime Museum while my bf was in meetings however!) so i booked for the 15th Jan and combined it with the evening showing of Cabaret (limited season at The Savoy Theatre).
Small tip however cold it is outside wearing full skiwear to museums is not a good idea!! I had several issues getting accross London thanks to an accident on the Underground and was already warm when I reached the V&A where they had the heating on full, fortunately despite my ticket stating that if you were late the museum had the right not to let you into the exhibiton, they were understanding, they did point out that 45 minutes was perhaps not enough time and offered to let me change my ticket but as i'd come solely to see Ginger's dress from 'Lady in the Dark' I was fine with the time available to me :)
The exhibition was spread out over three rooms, split into different sections, some themed, others not. My memory of what other costumes were in the exhibiton is limited, although I did stop to look at a few including a scene of 'Royalty' that included one of Katharine Hepburn's costumes from 'Mary of Scotland' (the movie that Ginger wanted to do), i also saw the dress Marilyn Monroe wore in 'The Seven Year Itch' in the scene where she stands above the subway grate, the blue checked dress Judy Garland wore in 'The Wizard of Oz', the outfit Kate Winslet wears at the beginning of Titanic and the outfit Leonardo Dicaprio was wearing, an outfit from The Artist worn by the female lead (I noticed this specially because they had a mini exhibition on 'The Silent Movie' all apart from The Artist were made in the 1920s), Barbra Streisand's gold dress from 'Hello Dolly' and several other dresses worn by actresses that I'm familiar with from the 1930s but can't remember the names of or the names of the movies.. I was able to buy a book for the exhibiton in the shop afterwards but the exhibition had a strict no photography or sketching rule.
The piece de resistance for me in the exhibiton was the red dress with the mink that Ginger wore in 'Lady in the Dark' according to the display at $35,000 it is the most expensive costume made in Hollywood History, according to everything I've found on google this still stands :)
For some odd reason and I can't work out why considering its a colour movie and all I only have b&w photos of Ginger in the dress, the movie poster however does show it in colour :)
N.B The shoes are reproductions of the original
January was a wild whirlwind of final uni assignments and theatre trips amongst other things (trips to Paris come to mind)
The amongst other things also included a trip to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to check out the Hollywood Costumes Exhibiton that was residing there from October to January, I would have loved to have seen it much sooner than i did but it proved very popular and booked out much quicker than I anticipated, thanks to having to fit so many other things in, I realised it was January or never and i knew i'd be cursing myself for ever if i missed it! I'd hoped originally to see it on the 10th of January but it sold out between me checking it and then deciding to book my train ticket first.. (I spent a lovely afternoon at the Maritime Museum while my bf was in meetings however!) so i booked for the 15th Jan and combined it with the evening showing of Cabaret (limited season at The Savoy Theatre).
Small tip however cold it is outside wearing full skiwear to museums is not a good idea!! I had several issues getting accross London thanks to an accident on the Underground and was already warm when I reached the V&A where they had the heating on full, fortunately despite my ticket stating that if you were late the museum had the right not to let you into the exhibiton, they were understanding, they did point out that 45 minutes was perhaps not enough time and offered to let me change my ticket but as i'd come solely to see Ginger's dress from 'Lady in the Dark' I was fine with the time available to me :)
The exhibition was spread out over three rooms, split into different sections, some themed, others not. My memory of what other costumes were in the exhibiton is limited, although I did stop to look at a few including a scene of 'Royalty' that included one of Katharine Hepburn's costumes from 'Mary of Scotland' (the movie that Ginger wanted to do), i also saw the dress Marilyn Monroe wore in 'The Seven Year Itch' in the scene where she stands above the subway grate, the blue checked dress Judy Garland wore in 'The Wizard of Oz', the outfit Kate Winslet wears at the beginning of Titanic and the outfit Leonardo Dicaprio was wearing, an outfit from The Artist worn by the female lead (I noticed this specially because they had a mini exhibition on 'The Silent Movie' all apart from The Artist were made in the 1920s), Barbra Streisand's gold dress from 'Hello Dolly' and several other dresses worn by actresses that I'm familiar with from the 1930s but can't remember the names of or the names of the movies.. I was able to buy a book for the exhibiton in the shop afterwards but the exhibition had a strict no photography or sketching rule.
The piece de resistance for me in the exhibiton was the red dress with the mink that Ginger wore in 'Lady in the Dark' according to the display at $35,000 it is the most expensive costume made in Hollywood History, according to everything I've found on google this still stands :)
N.B The shoes are reproductions of the original
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Happy New Year (read in Swedish Accent)
Happy 2013, hope everyone had a decent holiday period!! I know i did, the 10 days in Switzerland flew by amazingly fast (not that it felt like that all the time lol) and i'm going to Paris with Ian on friday so even more to look forward to :-)
Assignment time is on me again (the last run now!!) so just a few favourite photos from some movies that people might just be familiar with ;)
Never realised how many of my favourite shots are actually publicity photos!
I'm going to the Victoria and Albert Museum next Tuesday afternoon to see the Hollywood Costumes exhibition, i was hoping to go tomorrow but it inconsiderately sold out before i could book, after i'd booked my train ticket of course! I'm going to see Cabaret afterwards so will hopefully be a good day, sadly the exhibition is strictly no photos but i presume as its a travelling exhibition (and apparently well known) that they do a catalogue or similar, hopefully they have something i want a lasting reminder!!
Assignment time is on me again (the last run now!!) so just a few favourite photos from some movies that people might just be familiar with ;)
I'm going to the Victoria and Albert Museum next Tuesday afternoon to see the Hollywood Costumes exhibition, i was hoping to go tomorrow but it inconsiderately sold out before i could book, after i'd booked my train ticket of course! I'm going to see Cabaret afterwards so will hopefully be a good day, sadly the exhibition is strictly no photos but i presume as its a travelling exhibition (and apparently well known) that they do a catalogue or similar, hopefully they have something i want a lasting reminder!!
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Happy Holidays!!!!
Firstly Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it and Happy Holidays for anyone who doesn't!!!
Secondly, i'm not sure where the time has gone it doesn't seem that long since i last posted, was quite a shock to read the actual date.. Between Uni, Anneliese, Ian (not so new boyfriend) and everything else (like seeing Top Hat and turning 26) time seems to be going much quicker than i anticipated!
Hope everyone is enjoying the festive season, i'm looking forward to spending christmas and new year with family including going to Switzerland on the 27th, skiing for 10 days! Anneliese included :)
One of my friends very kindly photoshopped the 'Roberta' pic to put me in instead of Ginger :D nearest i'll get to Fred ;)
Better job than i could have done!!!
Little Christmas Cheer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOTiMFd--lw
I've been getting christmassy watching Holiday Inn, being a fan of Fred and not of Bing i prefer that to White Christmas!!
Secondly, i'm not sure where the time has gone it doesn't seem that long since i last posted, was quite a shock to read the actual date.. Between Uni, Anneliese, Ian (not so new boyfriend) and everything else (like seeing Top Hat and turning 26) time seems to be going much quicker than i anticipated!
Hope everyone is enjoying the festive season, i'm looking forward to spending christmas and new year with family including going to Switzerland on the 27th, skiing for 10 days! Anneliese included :)
One of my friends very kindly photoshopped the 'Roberta' pic to put me in instead of Ginger :D nearest i'll get to Fred ;)
Little Christmas Cheer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOTiMFd--lw
I've been getting christmassy watching Holiday Inn, being a fan of Fred and not of Bing i prefer that to White Christmas!!
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