The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I just went down a Sondheim rabbit hole because of looking up the image for the famous painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." 

The original Broadway cast for Sunday In The Park With George is of course iconic, featuring Bernadette Peters and probably my favorite male vocalist of all time, Mandy Patinkin. 

But I stumbled across this duet that was recorded in the midst of the pandemic, and I have to say I'm really surprised at how well Jake Gyllenhall sings the part of George.  He sounds almost identical to a young Mandy Patinkin, it's remarkable.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON5-DLX829M

Edit: I should add that Annaleigh Ashford carries this song and has an extraordinary voice, but I was already well aware of her singing chops, she's a regular on Broadway who has won a Tony.

I could go for days on Sondheim.

My 16yo daughter's concert band is playing a medley from Into The Woods.  Of course she is familiar with it, because I'm an awesome dad who made sure she was raised knowing all of the best musicals.

But I was surprised when she told me most of her band peers have no idea what it is.  Just tonight they got together to watch the movie version, because so many of them were clueless.

It's pretty densely packed with great songs, but I have to say this one really cracks me up every time:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmixlJ79ZF0

Bernadette Peters is just masterful in pretty much everything she's ever done.

I saw Don McLean (who wrote this song) perform this in Vegas back in the 80's

couse he sang it solo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IufSaUazsBg

My 14yo son has never really been as interested in pop/rock music, as my 16yo daughter.  I've commented how she loves all of the 80s music that my i s c & a aggie wife and I have exposed her to, and those still remain among her favorites in all of her playlists, but she also loves to explore musically, and go down rabbit holes when she hears any song new or old, that interests her, to see what else that band has to offer.  She likes pretty much all forms of music, though rap is probably her least favorite.  She's always whistling or singing a song, she's always blasting music from her room or her car.  Basically, she's a music-lover in the exact same way I was at her age (and still am, for the most part).

My son, on the other hand, has never expressed a whole lot of interest in music.  He'd rather play video games or watch tiktok videos or get on his bike and hang out with his friends.  He rarely plays music from his room, rarely sings or hums anything.  He just doesn't seem to "feel" music the way his sister and my wife and I do.  Which is fine of course, not everyone has to feel and express themselves in the same way.

However, he does pick up on a particular song every now and then, and then he really focuses on it.  Several songs that my daughter tells me are regulars on tiktok, but also some random ones.

For example, when we first saw the Captain America movie, there's a scene where Steve Rogers dances with Peggy Carter.  It's an old World War II era song since that's the setting for the movie, and it's one I've known forever, it's a standard, a classic.  But for some reason it really registered with my son, and it's one of the few songs he'll hum, or whistle, or put on the stereo to play.  And now that he plays trumpet, he's figured out how to play it, and so in the midst of him practicing for whatever concert or solo he has coming up, it's not uncommon to hear him bust into this song for a few bars, just to keep himself engaged and entertained.

That song, is "It's Been a Long, Long Time"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chs2bmqzyUs

That's a cool story and a great piece of music.
Those big-band tunes from World War II are true classics. "American Patrol" by Glenn Miller might be my favorite.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAVejLjXVdw&pp=ygUcYW1lcmljYW4gcGF0cm9sIGdsZW5uIG1pbGxlcg%3D%3D

I also love Tommy Dorsey's take on Rimsky Korsakov's "Song of India."


https://youtu.be/9yRIUuUJpJM