Disney Musical May 30 - Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly 

Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast 

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise

 Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong

 Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast

 Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast 

"Off to the cupboard with you now, Chip. It's past your bedtime. Goodnight, love."

No surprise Angela Lansbury nailed this whole thing in a single take. She was simply that good, in both voice and music. You didn't get much better than her.

(All images property of their respective owners.)

Emma Thompson, with all due respect, came nowhere close. The 2017 waltz was nice enough in its own way, but far from spectacular. I'm still partial to 1991. Goes to show some things don't need a second take. They just don't.

And now there's only one slot to go. I made sure to pick a good one!

Disney Musical May 10 - Be Our Guest

Ma chère Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents: your dinner! 

Be...our...guest!
Be our guest!
Put our service to the test!
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie
And we'll provide the rest

Soup du jour
Hot hors d'oeuvres
Why, we only live to serve
Try the grey stuff, it's delicious!
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes!

They can sing, they can dance
After all, Miss, this is France
And a dinner here is never second best
Go on, unfold your menu
Take a glance and then you'll
Be our guest
Oui, our guest
Be our guest!

Beef ragout, cheese soufflé
Pie and pudding, en flambé
We'll prepare and serve with flair
A culinary cabaret!

You're alone and you're scared
But the banquet's all prepared
No one's gloomy or complaining
While the flatware's entertaining

We tell jokes! I do tricks
With my fellow candlesticks
And it's all in perfect taste
That you can bet

Come on and lift your glass
You've won your own free pass
To be our guest
If you're stressed,
It's fine dining we suggest!

Be our guest!
Be our guest!
Be our guest!

Life is so unnerving
For a servant who's not serving
He's not whole without a soul to wait upon
Ah, those good old days when we were useful
Suddenly those good old days are gone

Ten years we've been rusting
Needing so much more than dusting
Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills
Most days we just lay around the castle
Flabby, fat and lazy
You walked in and oops-a-daisy!

It's a guest!
It's a guest!
Sake's alive, well I'll be blessed!
Wine's been poured
And thank the LordI've had the napkins freshly pressed

With dessert, she'll want tea
And my dear, that's fine with me
While the cups do their soft-shoein'
I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing

I'll get warm, piping hot
Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot?
Clean it up!
We want the company impressed!

We've got a lot to do
Is it one lump or two
For you, our guest?
Be our guest!
(She's our guest!)
She's our guest!
(Be our guest!)

Be our guest!
Be our guest!
Our command is your request
It's been years since we've had anybody here
And we're obsessed

With your meal, with your ease
Yes, indeed, we aim to please
While the candlelight's still glowing
Let us help you, we'll keep going
Course...by...course!

One by one 'til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!"
Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest
Tonight you'll prop your feet up
But for now, let's eat up
Be our guest!
Be our guest!
Be our guest!
Please, be our guest! 

Here's a little fun fact: they were initially going to sing this song to Maurice, when he first stumbled upon the castle. Then the Beast would have stormed in at the end and locked the poor terrified man up. 

Then a friendly critic suggested on the side, "Wouldn't it be better if they sang this to Belle?"

Since it's a pretty epic number, it kind of makes sense that they'd play it for a character who plays a more significant role in the story. Right?

I certainly think so.

Happy 2020!

Hello again, mateys! New day, new decade, still same old me!

Hope your New Year is off to a good start, or at least decent. Mine's definitely been decent. For one thing, I had the day off from work; now that the holidays are over, business is quieting down and so my hours will be reduced a bit. That's fine, provided I don't have to work one measly day in the week. I well remember working a morning shift at WinCo last year and quietly griping, "It should be against the law to go to work this early right after New Year's."

Today, I took advantage of my free time to make some art. So here's my first completed piece, as a little personal commemoration:

Pretty fabulous job if I do say so myself. Took me most of last night and most of today to finish it, but well worth it.

On the side, I have a few Sharpie drawings that I was inspired to draw after "Inktober." After drawing this girl...

...I decided I wanted to draw her again. I might save her for a story; most of my stories have at least one character that loves to get wet, along with at least one major swim scene. You could say water is my signature, like how Hayao Miyazaki (whose movies, I'll admit, I've yet to watch all the way through) is known for flying.

(Yes, she's in a freshwater pool this time. This is how she "trains" herself, and she still loves to feel the water all around her.)

Speaking of my stories, yes, I'm going to dedicate 2020 to some more serious writing. They say you should take your time with a novel, but you don't want the project to drag on forever, either. So we shall see how far I go with Terence and Reid's stories, and other stories besides.

And speaking of books, I do resolve to do some more reading this year: a minimum of 50 books. After all, they say the best writers read as often as they write.

Also, in lieu of a long list of resolutions, I use a theme. I was inspired by one lady I saw on the news a few years back; she picks one word to revolve her whole year around, and I decided to take a leaf out of her book.

Last year, the theme was "Finish," which means I resolved to finish more of what I started. I'm always fantastic at beginning things but horrible at finishing them, and not just where my stories are concerned.

The year before that was "Create." I think you can figure that one out. 

This year, the theme is "Love." Therefore, I resolve to fill this entire year with love: love toward God, love toward others, love toward myself. Goodness knows this world could always use more love.

Here's to the next chapter of our lives, mates. Tally-ho!

By the way, it's hard to say what officially inspired me to take up writing, even as a hobby, but I'm quite sure the "Stories" sequence from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas had a great deal to do with it. The movie as a whole is okay (not fantastic, not horrible), but this sequence is quite charming.

(Screenshots courtesy of Disney Screencaps.)