Mercoledi Musicale

It has been said -  perhaps with a grain of truth - that I never saw a Christmas tree ornament I didn't like. This has led to a a stock of (garish) goodies for our Yule bush that has reached the point where we have to pick and choose - this year only 4 of our silver balls made the cut.  Now there are some ornaments that grace the tree every year because of  memories of people, places and Christmases past - that's a given.  Of course it doesn't help that our current tree is much smaller than the one we had back in the days of the big old Victorian house and grand Roman apartment.

Now means that there is an embargo on any new ornaments!  Yeah right, like that is going to happen in the lifetime of the reigning monarch!  Though I did say that the ornaments we bought in Copenhagen,  Helsinki and St Petersburg last year were the the absolute last!  Well okay I lied.

Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity will know that one of the great loves of my life is Angela Lansbury.  Not the Angela of Murder She Wrote but the Angela of Broadway musicals, stage plays and incredible film performances.  I've been in love with her since the first time I saw her on stage in 1966 at the Schubert Theatre in Boston.  I posted about that eventful trip back in 2008 and that miraculous moment when a beautiful lady in a backless gold lame jump suit with a trumpet in hand appeared at the top of a spiral staircase and led us in a musical celebration of "Today" and erased all the horrors of that weekend.

Well that lady is appearing this year on our Christmas tree.  When I saw this ornament at Broadway Cares I knew that just one more wouldn't hurt.  Its the last one I swear.  No I will not get the other Broadway Legends ornaments - sure I love Gwen and Bernadette (Julie - not so much) but I now have THE Broadway Legend on our tree - so that's it for ornaments!  Honest!  

And here's the lady herself as an unemployed and broke Mame - heralding the season with the late, and wonderful, Jane Connell, Frankie Michaels and Sab Shimono. 

One of the lovely things that date's this a bit is young Patrick's observation that it's a bit early to be celebrating Christmas as its only "one week past Thanksgiving Day" - hell these days with "Christmas creep" the decorations seem to go up just after Labour Day!  A modern revival would have to change the lyrics to "it's two months 'til Thanksgiving Day".

And as much as the recording captures the joy of that original production there's nothing like seeing the lady in person to show you what "star power" is really about:

We've all grown a little learner (okay maybe not), grown a little colder, sometimes a little sadder and definitely a litte older but we still need a little Christmas.

December 11 - 1934: Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the last time.