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Jun 7, 2022·edited Jun 7, 2022

The best podcast yet! I watched a lot of old black and white movies on TV when I was in the jammy feet stage...so Karloff as Frankenstein and Shirley Temple made a big impact on me...Cagney in Public Enemy, Bette Davis in All About Eve, and Clara Bow in the silent film IT which has more energy than those early talkies did. For the stage, I was speechless after seeing Ralph Fiennes in Hamlet.

A side note: I really enjoyed your recent book review in the WSJ on Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward.

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Well, my mom took us to see Sound of Music at Radio City Music Hall - from the balcony, no less, Rockettes and all.

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ok, Ty. Put me in the "I can't believe you never saw this" camp. But I take your explanation. Guess because of being a theatre kid, many of the boys I hung out with were singing along. And I staged Sound of Music (among other musicals) in my rec room --employing my little brother and his friends in my productions. Glad you finally made it to Funny Girl, which I rewatched last summer with a close girlfriend (we loved it again!). I am going to think about the 'footie pajama' theory (TM) and more about if there are actors who could simply not be replaced in a role without fundamentally changing the movie. Thanks for this pod. I loved the discussion.

kal

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I saw Funny Girl as part of the first season of Bryant Park movies a million years ago. The theme that summer was movie classics and Shane was first. I remember lots of unfortunate audience laughter when the boy cries at the end, telling Shane not to leave. I didn't know much about Funny Girl but I liked watching the very gay crowd settle in before the movie began. Then partway through the movie the mood around me changed. You know, that kind of stirring and rustling that triggers your NYC spidey sense? Just as I started to get a little nervous -- what was going on, was someone hurt? -- Streisand started singing Don't Rain on My Parade. Yeah, it was a great number.

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Don't totally dismiss the current production of Funny Girl. The tap dancing is fantastic. This was the second musical I saw this year where the best part was the tap dancing. Flying Over Sunset was the first. When I was at the footie p.j.s age I saw The Sound of Music at the Music Circus in Cohasset. I remember the singing children in middy blouses.

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