Musical Madness - Part 2!
/Now that we've covered that the boyfriend's fave musical is Camelot, last week I showed him my favorite ...
The Pirates of Penzance! (the movie version)
I have seen this movie many, many times. And I have put "With Cat-Like Tread" on mix tapes. And my family has tried (in vain, obviously) to mimic Kevin Kline's crazy leaping dance in this clip:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1r_KUjRRxM]
Showing it to someone, though, was weird. I was suddenly really self-conscious and aware of just how long some of the songs were (especially Mabel's) and Dennis wasn't too keen on there being so much singing. He kept asking, "What is this, an opera?"
The movie makes some sense but not really. A band of sweet-natured, gullible pirates have to give up their youngest member, Frederic, on his 21st birthday (when he's old enough to opt out of his pirate servitude). He promptly starts looking for chicks. Unfortunately, his nursemaid Ruth, who's also lived with the pirates this whole time, has been deemed WAY TOO OLD for hotsie totsie Frederic. Instead, he'd rather climb up a hill and lust after the first group of maidens he happens upon. (Don't worry about Ruth - she gets upgraded to a pirate, too)
Then there's a lot of confusion, a lot of tricking of the pirates with big hearts, and then my favorite part - when Frederic hears he's been born on Leap Day.
So get this - instead of being 21, he's just 5! Love it. The best part is, Frederic TOTALLY BUYS this as valid, and re-joins the pirates. Then some other stuff happens, but ultimately there's a lot of fight/singing. Which is the best kind of singing.
This musical (besides being my fave) is perfect to watch this leap year. G'wan, put on some spandex pants, make your hair really curly, and hunker down to see Kevin Kline and his amazing legs. Oh, and a bunch of people singing REALLY FAST.