Singalong Showtunes

Memorable melodies. A theatrical flair. A note only a Broadway star could hold. It's showtime, baby! This week we're puttin' on the ritz and singing along to our favorite showtunes. Join us in the chorus line, won't you?

SONGS:

Big Spender from Sweet Charity (Original, Broadway cast 1966) 

Cats Memory Reprise (Original Broadway cast 1983) 

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

Big Spender Scene from Sweet Charity Movie (1969)

The Rich Man’s Frug from Sweet Charity Movie  

Beverly D’Angelo performing Big Spender in National Lampoon’s European Vacation  (1985)

Shirley Bassey: Big Spender (1967 - Live Performance: 1971)

Peggy Lee: Big Spender (1966)

Queen: Big Spender Live (Night at the Odeon - Encore - 1975)

Cy Coleman talking about Collaboration with Dorothy Fields on NPR (1999)

The Fosse Woman: Analysis of Femininity, Aesthetics, and Corporeality by Dara Milovanovic (2018) 

Missy Elliott: Big Spender (2002)

Freeway Ft. Jay-Z: Roc-A-Fella Billionaires (2007)

'Memory' Elaine Paige | Cats The Musical (1999)

Echoes Phantom of the Opera Comparison

CATS: The Jellicle Ball Broadway Montage

Paris is Burning (1990)

Chasity Moore Ballroom Wiki 

NYT: I Was Broadway’s First Grizabella. I Couldn’t Have Imagined the New ‘Cats.’

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at stereothematica@gmail.com! We will write back! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Hi, I'm Christina. And I'm Christine. Welcome to Stereo Thematica. Music is how we connect with the world and with each other. When I moved to Texas, Christina and I started a weekly game. One theme, two songs.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

That game grew into deeper conversations about each other and about the music that shapes us.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Each week we share our pics, swap stories, and dig into tracks you might love or never expect. Christina. Hi, Christine. Hey there. It's our 60th episode. 60? Yeah. That's a nice round number. Yeah. Any thoughts? This means we've officially been podcasting for over a year, but I'm looking at the calendar and we have been podcasting for almost a year and a half.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Yeah. That's we we've had a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_03 0:50

We take this here and there. Yeah, of course. We're allowed. Self-care. We got it. But here's another cool thing. Yeah. We just had a big milestone. What is it? 5,000 downloads.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Oh wow. You like us. Thank you. Um, that's very exciting. And yes, our 60th episode is also, Christina, our season finale of season two.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Yeah. Any closing finale thoughts as we wind things down for this season?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

I think, you know, we're not taking a break because we've had a few breaks already. So we'll we'll be starting up next week with the new season, season three. But I think I don't know. I like to have these little bit of closure. And I think um we gotta thank everybody for for listening. We we love you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

We love you.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

We really do. Yeah. And we always welcome your feedback, you know, email, Instagram. If you're a hate listener, reach out. We'd love a fight.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

God, I I've been begging for one. I've I've got, I'm not gonna lie, maybe a few. Maybe a few, but I could always use more.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Well, let's let's get to it before all our listeners turn to nemesis.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

I'm prepared.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

So, okay, special 60th episode, season two closer. I wanted a special theme, and I figured I'd pander to you.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

I love to be pandered too.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Thank you. Yeah. Okay, so given my track record, I should first ask you was the theme sing along show tunes clear to you?

SPEAKER_03 2:26

You know, it's funny that you asked that because like looking at it written out, it should be like, oh yeah, duh, like a show tune, like literally something from a Broadway show or something like that. But in my head, I was like, what if what if I just picked a song that I always sing along to?

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

And not it, not necessarily a show tune. So I almost went down that path because either I'm willfully stubborn or stupid. I don't know. Or I can be confusing in my themes. Maybe. I think that happens a lot too. That does happen sometimes, but this one should be pretty obvious.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Okay, okay. I'm glad. I'm glad. I mean, I think also with my I I send you my pick, so that could kind of like set the tone, ideally. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

However, sometimes you've sent me some pics, and I won't I won't give away anything in advance, but like sometimes you sent me a pick that I'm like, oh, this is one theme, but you've taken it into a way where it could be interpreted, and I'm not gonna go till no pop. I'm just saying, you are a mystery. Six episodes in still a mystery.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, I'll take it. Okay. So, listeners, to be clear, this is not just a song from a musical you love, but a song from a musical you love to sing along to because the song has that certain singability, but also because the memories it elicits make you want to be a part of that world. Now, that part is a little new. I'm adding that on, Christina. I didn't, I don't think I explained that part. No, you didn't.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

And I noticed that just when you were sharing this. I was like, love it. Immediately makes me think of Little Mermaid, part of their world.

unknown 4:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Also a musical.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Oh, okay. So, you know, I think people have heard us joke many times about your fondness for musicals. And generally speaking, I think people know that I'm not a fan, especially in like the more recent cases. I think you're not either.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

I feel like we both don't really like Hamilton or Wicked is well, I've never seen Hamilton and I never want to. But I will say I have seen Wicked. Okay. I mean, it's just it's oh my god, I'm sorry, it seems really annoying. But I have seen Wicked, I did cry, and I do sing some Wicked songs kind of a lot. I have not watched the movie.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

I'm sorry. Terrifying point. No, it's okay. I'm not it does seem like an annoying musical, but guess who else is annoying? This gal.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

No, I I will yeah. I'm sorry, I was presumptuous there. That's okay. Well, in preparation for this episode, I realize there are actually a lot of musicals I like and even love. They're just not like the musicals of today, I think. And they're mostly about performance, with the exception of the sound of music, and that has music in the title, so that kind of still fits my logic. But I wasn't gonna pick favorite things or something from thoroughly modern milieu, which is another one I really love. I have the record for that. That was like a big one from my childhood. I don't think I know that one. Oh, okay. Well, I'll I'll share some songs with you. I think you'd like it. Okay. Julie Andrews. Oh, okay. You're probably not.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

I don't like Sound of Music, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Oh, okay. See, for me, that was like a big, like, that was like a just a movie from my childhood. So I have memories from that. And I hear you. Yeah. But I decided to ask Siri to play some classic musicals while I was driving to jog my memory of all there is out there. And I'm skipping through most of them, as you can imagine. Like anything after 1985 is so boring to me. But you know, there's there are a few that I forgot. I love like Aquarius from Hair, Tell Me More from Greece, Hard Knock Life from Annie. Any of these?

SPEAKER_03 6:28

Oh, I mean You dig in? I I definitely know them all. I do I can't even tell you how many times I watched Grease as a child. Yeah. But I'm not lying. I was I just got so distracted because I just imagined you driving going, Siri, play a show tune.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

I kind of don't I don't say Siri, but I just I go to Apple Music and I I push the button and I say, play classic musical.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

And you have to do it like really enunciated and whatever. No, exactly. That's exactly how I do it. I like my version better, but yeah, no.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

But okay, so I'm I'm listening to these and like, oh, this is nice. I like this one. And and then a spoonful of sugar comes on, you know, from Mary Poppins. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. A classic. And I just start crying. Oh, no. Like it's a full-on emotional recall. I'm a kid again. And there's that excitement of hearing the song. And it's just like it fills me with such intense feelings.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Oh. Yeah. That's cute.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

But I have to say, Mary Poppins, Spoonful of Sugar, not my pick. But it was close. Were you a fan of the whole Poppins thing?

SPEAKER_03 7:36

You know, I remember watching it when I was little and feeling pretty stressed out by that movie. You know, I feel like there was some lying, some deception. I don't know. And now I honestly, did you watch you watched the rest in development, right? Yes, not all of it though. Oh, I remember when um Tobias Funke is Mrs. Featherbottom or whatever. It's like a terrible Mrs. Doubtfire knockoff. Yeah, I kind of. He makes a little reference. It's like, when you take the icing, helps you take the magnification. So that's what I think of. Sorry. Not even the original anymore.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

No, that's cute. And and of course, there was a remake of Mary Poppins. But recently? Yeah, I think so. Then you just stop remaking it. Yeah, I know. Anyway, so I keep listening. I'm like, no, I'm not gonna choose that one. And and then a song comes on that I learned as a kid.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

The miniature walked in the joint. I could see you were a man of distinction. A real big spender.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Good-looking, sorried. That's Big Spender from the 1966 Neil Sai musical sweet charity based on Fellini's 1957 film, Knights of Kiberia, with music written by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Christina, any thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Okay. Never have seen this musical. I know. I haven't seen a lot of the old ones, I guess. Like that must be something because of my age or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

But um well, it's not like I was born at this point.

SPEAKER_03 9:21

No, I didn't think so. But I did watch the video.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Very, very fun. Yeah. I like this song too, of course.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Good. So the IMDB one-line plot summary says it's about a luckless taxi dancer in New York City who seeks a better life and finds love along the way. What's a taxi dancer? A dancer for money. They'll do whatever you want them to do.

SPEAKER_03 9:47

Okay, Tina Turner.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Okay. A taxi dancer? I've never heard of this.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Yeah. Sorry, I'm so young. It's it's old timey language. All right, sorry. The stage version, which we're listening to, featured Helen Gallagher and Thelma Oliver. But the film version, the one I saw as an impressionable seven or eight-year-old, stars Shirley McLean as charity. And of course, it was directed and choreographed by the legendary Bob Fossey. Nice. Now, this particular scene that you're referring to comes pretty early in the film. It's in a dance hall where charity works, but McLean isn't even in the scene. And like, I'm not even a Fosse expert, but this number is considered one of his best among Cell Block. Tango from Chicago and Mine Air from Cabaret. But Sweet Charity was nominated for nine Tony Awards, and Fosse won for choreography, which really is to die for. We've got the hip rolls, the shoulder isolations, body contortions. Cheetah Rivera and Paula Kelly lead what feels like the most campy of camp performances. And it's it's just also over the top. The camera angles, the putting out of cigarettes, the dead-eyed dancers. I really like the dead-eyed dancer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

I mean, I can imagine being really confusing, like as a child. Yeah. Like, what the frick are they doing?

SPEAKER_00 11:10

No, it's so strange. So, like as a kid, I'm very confused, but at the same time intrigued. And I'm seeing all this on a very small black and white TV. Yeah, the famous TV that I was like watching all this stuff on as a kid after hours. But the music, you know, it feels very sexy, as you've all heard, but the performance is really kind of confrontational, I think. Like, there's zero flirtation. I don't even fully understand what sexy means at this point in my life. But in a weird way, the scene is kind of shaping that understanding.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

So let me go right to the point.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

I don't pop my cork for every dissertation, of course, by Dara Milovanovich called The Fosse Woman. And she talks about how Fossi's choreography exaggerates femininity to the point of becoming commentary. And this performance totally exposes how femininity is constructed and exaggerated. So I don't know, that resonated with the adult version of me, I guess the current version. Looking back at the girl version watching the movie, being a kid is kind of like living in a fever dream.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Like, right? Everything just feels exaggerated and things happen and you absorb them and then only later they start to make sense or not. Like, I imagine, yeah, you've clearly have had similar experiences.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

Yeah. But it's funny you say that because like the fact that I didn't even think about this, of course, because I didn't know, but like, okay, so Fosse is like hyper exaggerating femininity. You're a kid, you don't know. Like, you have everything that you've seen in your personal life, and then you see this stuff on screen, and you're like, well, that's just a different version of life. Yeah. So we don't get that it's commentary when we're children. No, not at all. That's like, okay, that's how it is.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Yeah. And that's why it feels like this like crazy dream that doesn't like make sense, but then you're like, this is just the way things are, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 13:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

I don't know. It's it's fun to think about those those formative years. Totally. And the things that you that are like bombarding your brain. But okay, so fast forward then to 1985 and National Lampoons European vacation. Now I'm 12 at this point, 1985, and the song shows up again. Did you see this movie? I honestly don't think I did. Okay. So Chevy Chase is Clark Griswold, and he's he just got this camcorder, and he walks into the bathroom where his wife, Ellen, played by Beverly D'Angelo, has just taken a shower. She's in a towel, and he pushes her to perform the song she used to do in college. And of course, she resists, oh, Clark, no. And he begs, and then she gives in after he says, I'll erase it. So famous last words. Yeah. Anyway, later in Europe, the camcorder gets stolen, and suddenly she's on a billboard in Italy as La Donna nella doccia, wet hot wife, as they translated. That is messed up. But actually, it's like the whore in the shower.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

This is like early exploitation. Yeah, no, totally. But okay, so I remember watching this with my parents on VHS and feeling so uncomfortable. But like also, I was really excited because, like, oh my God, that song. It's that song again. So, like, this memory from a few years earlier is coming back to me, and like I just love the song, but now it's feeling dirtier because like I'm older, so I'm starting to get what what's going on in life. But like, I I'm not saying I got the exploitation of Chevy Chase here, like what he was doing, but but I kind of it felt wrong, like especially watching it with your oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:35

Yeah, yeah, it's awkward.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Yeah. So I don't know. I must have re-watched this movie a lot because when the song comes on, Apple Music that day when I asked Siri, Siri to play the classics, I know the lyrics. Like I I I sing along with Abandon, and like I just realized one thing kind of embarrassingly, but there's this lyric in the song that I thought as a child was sortified, which isn't a word, you know, to be sorted, that's what I thought it was as a child. Sortified. Actually, so refined.

SPEAKER_03 16:12

Yeah. So refined. Don't you think they were saying it weird, like New England?

SPEAKER_00 16:16

I don't even think they were saying it. I just think I was a kid and didn't know any better.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Oh, that happens a lot. Or maybe I was projective.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Exactly. So I don't know. It's funny how my kid brain made it dirtier than it was. Sortified.

unknown 16:35

I know.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Oh, I love it. Well, I feel like you have many show tunes you'd love to sing along to, and I'm very curious to hear the story behind your pick.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

And I can't wait to tell you. I literally, listener, I've been waiting to talk about this to Christine for weeks. And I absolutely know this is the most pandering thing you've ever done for me. And I thank you for it. Because it's fun and musicals are fun, you have to admit it. Even though I don't actively seek them out these days, I mean, kind of sometimes more on that soon. There's a lot, like you said, the ones that you watch when you're little and it just sticks with you forever, right? And like I am curious because like we do have a little bit of a generational difference. Like when I was a kid, there were so many Disney movies that were musicals that of course, like I watched them because I was a child. Like, and some of them were even a little bit before my time, like, or a lot before my time, like Peter Pan. I used to watch that so much, or like what other oh, Labyrinth.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Well, that's a musical. Yeah, that counts. It does, but my pick for today is one of those move uh musicals, not a movie, that I saw when I was little and it stuck with me forever because my grandparents lived in Louisville, Kentucky, and we went to see a production of Cats There with my mom and my sister. And you know, no shame on Louisville, but I don't think they're like exactly known for their Broadway scene. I actually have to assume this was like a traveling Broadway cast or whatever, and it it must have been in the mid-90s. No, but it made such a big impression on me, and the song that still sticks with me to this day is memory.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

Turn your face to the memory open up into in.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

I can't say anything about his character, but he knew how to write a goddamn musical. True or false?

SPEAKER_00 19:15

I okay. True, undefeated.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

Okay, I'm pandering. True. Okay, thanks. Did you know Cats was the number 11 highest grossing Broadway play of all time? I didn't. Who were all the freaks going to see? So many freaks, Christine. Oh my god, they're out there looking at their little humanoid cat freaks on stage. At least it's not Starlight Express. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Phantom, which is my absolute favorite musical, of course, no question, hands down, is the number three highest-grossing musical of all time. And the reason why I didn't pick Phantom for this episode is because I actually couldn't just pick one song.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:57

That's how crazy I am. Yeah. I would be singing them all. I do have a quick aside. Did you know that Weber's been accused of plagiarism?

SPEAKER_00 20:05

I feel like I've heard this before, and maybe you've even mentioned it before.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

I don't think I knew until I was prepared for this episode. Like I actually was a little bit surprised to find that out and a little disappointed because you know, don't meet your heroes, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

But okay, here's here's the plagiarism accusation that really stood out to me. It's a Pink Floyd song from 1971 called Echoes. Are you familiar with this song?

SPEAKER_00 20:31

I am familiar with the song. It's like a 20-minute song.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

I I had never even heard it before. Pink Floyd. I mean, who we're like classically huge fans of.

unknown 20:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

Okay, but like I had never heard this song before. And if I had heard it, I know I would have remembered because Weber, he freaking did a note-for-note ripoff of the iconic pipe organ riff from Phantom of the Opera. Okay. Like you listen to the Pink Floyd song and you're just gonna hear Phantom. Like, yeah, but they did it first. Okay. So what were you thinking, Weber? You freak. Like, don't copy people. Like, you're gonna get found out. The dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun. Yeah. Phantom.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

I feel like that's just like pretty standard. No.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Wrong. Moving on. Okay. I will you have to listen to the comparison. Yep. And I will share it with everyone. Okay. And the other funny thing about singing along to the show tunes, Showtunes Sing Along, is I picked this song, Memory, even though I legit cannot sing along to this song. Huh. You like a challenge. That's why. I do love a challenge, as you know. However, I can't hit those notes. Like it's just it's unrealistic. Like, even I and you know, I'm not afraid to sing like, no, no, I know it doesn't sound like Mothery Heights. Yeah, don't forget. Never forget. But uh I don't have the range. Okay. And that's too bad. But two, I will start crying.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Oh, really? In the midst of singing. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

Like I literally was watching the video of the 1999 performance by Elaine Page, which I'll link in the comments. I turned on the closed captions so I could sing along, like with the lyrics and everything, and I just couldn't do it. I was like, my eyes were welling up with tears. Sad. Like pathetic, not sad.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

Like, it's sweet. It's it's not, but that's the thing, it is bringing you into that world. So maybe you don't want to be a part of this crazy cat world.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Fair enough. But something, the emotional world, I guess. Oh, and it was I'll tell you more soon. But like when I said I didn't seek out musicals anymore, I have an asterisk next to that statement because about a little less than a month ago, I went to see a musical on Broadway in New York City. I've been waiting to hear about this. I know, and this is the moment I've been saving. It was called Cats, The Jellicle Ball, and it's okay, all the same music from Cats, except it's reworked with like a really new take on it. And when I told you, because I did tell you I was gonna go see this, I want to know what your initial reaction was.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Um that you're a freak, but also happy for you that you were able to see this because I I knew that this would bring you so much joy. So much joy. Yeah. And and just curiosity like, what is this going to like yield? What how is this going to change you? Are you going to be a different person afterwards?

SPEAKER_03 23:45

And I am. I'm so glad that you asked. But wait, do you remember? Oh, okay, in December when I was in Los Angeles, I was at an event where our mutual friend, Mariana, was at the table with me and somebody was like, Oh, I'm a Broadway casting agent. And he was like, I was like, anything we'd heard of. He goes, Do you like Andrew Lloyd Weber? And I'm like, Yes. And then he tells me essentially about it, and I'm like, that's right up my frickin' alley. Yeah. So lo and behold, the fact that I did have the opportunity to be in New York and like see it. Christine, I was so excited to see this that I literally cried while we were waiting in line really to go into the theater. I was so worked up. I was so excited. I was like, I'm literally standing there like a little kid going to the see the Beatles or something.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

That is that is adorable. I'm I'm curious. Did you go with your sister? Well, with my sister and with Andrew. Okay. So what was what were they thinking about your while living in life?

SPEAKER_03 24:45

She's not well. Um, I don't think they, I don't think I even expected myself to like have that big of a reaction. But I really was so pumped up. Like, like I said, we we went and saw cats when I was a little kid. Yeah. But what something I forgot, which my sister reminded me of because she has to have all the memories in our family, we had the cassette tape of the cats songs. And so we would listen to that a lot in the car. And I did forget. And then when I was watching this cat's the jellic ball, I was like, how do I know every word to every song? Yeah. And then, yeah, my sister was like, You have the cassette tape. And I'm like, Oh yeah, duh. I remember it, like with the jewel case and the liner notes and like looking at all the the titles and everything. So it was very much that like same reaction you had with spoonful of sugar. Like, I'm like, oh unlocked. Because I promise you, I don't sit around and listen to the cats soundtrack. Okay. Just a freak. Yeah. Okay. Just like it's inside me. But did Cats the Jellicle Ball deliver? Yes. Yes, it did. It was so fun. They just took it, they breathed life into a classic. And I just want to clarify a couple of points here because I feel like you and some of our other listeners might be really curious. Jellicle cats is a term that came from T.S. Elliott's book, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Are you familiar with this at all? Okay. And that's basically Andrew Lloyd Weber took that book and, like, almost, you know, chapter for chapter, made his musical cats based on this book, which is like just a weird, it's a weird book. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

That's kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Yeah. But the new musical, Cats the Jellicle Ball, puts the spin on that. So so sorry. I don't want to talk about this forever, but like the cats and cats are all waiting to go to the jellic ball, like in the original one, which is too hard to get into. But this new iteration, I had no idea about the name of the thing. I know. It's like I sound like I have just taken a large like bong rip, and I'm like, so then the cats, they're going to this gel. You sound like a cat lady. Uh-huh. A hundred percent. And this the new version, it's when they've taken this basically play on the term ball, and it puts the New York ballroom spin on it. Do you know what I'm talking about when I say like New York ballroom? Okay. Like vote. Yeah, exactly. So that's what's so fun about this is that, like, so the cast was entirely people of color. There were like a lot of queer LGBTQ performers, and it's like very much not your like stuffy, I will say, like, predominantly white audience. Like people in the crowd were hooting and hollering. They had their big fans, they were like clacking them and like just they encourage you. They're like, you don't need to just sit in your seat. Like, so I was also like, woo, like, yes. Like, people were really loving it. And Christine, I cried again when I mean multiple times. Yeah. But the DJ in Cats the Jolical Ball was one of the original cast members. He's like going through this like crate of records and he's like picking up Diana Ross and Donna Summer. And then he picks up the Cats record. Oh my god, are you crying? No, I'm not, but I loved it. He opens it and then he blows and glitter comes flying out. And I'm like, like, oh my god, that's for us. So I'm that's that's so lit up. I'm so happy for you that you got to experience that. Super fun. And like speaking of ballroom, I think it's really important to give them like a lot of credit. Um, I'm gonna link to the documentary of Paris is burning. Have you seen that? Yeah, so good. I didn't realize it came out in like 1990.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Yeah, I saw it when it came out in the theater. Really?

SPEAKER_03 28:41

Yeah, it's so cool. It was a really powerful and like moving, beautiful documentary and like a snapshot into this subculture that they I think really did a good job of honoring with this new play. And I love it. I'm almost wanting to see this. You I mean, I don't I don't know if you would like it, but like it's fun. Like at the end of the day, it's just fun. Yeah. So good lord, back to my song pit memory. So, like you called me a cat lady, but when I was little, I really loved cats. Like, we had a cat named Tugger, which is was named after one of the cats in the musical. And I think there's probably this, like, some part of this like super sad song that struck a chord with me as a child because the singer, the cat, is Grizabella, the glamour cat, who's previously been described in the play as having a torn and stained coat and the corner of her eye twist like a crooked pin. So they're not really respecting their elder female feline the way that the male elders in this play are celebrated, but that's another story. And sorry for the spoiler, but since the musical's been out since the 80s, I'm gonna go ahead and say Grizabella does get her flowers. She gets selected to be reborn and have a different jellical life. So in The Cats Remix, which is what I'm gonna call the new version of the play since it's long title, I love that the woman that they chose to play, Grizzabella, is her name's Chastity Moore, is a black trans ballroom legend. So I read this awesome New York Times op-ed by the woman who actually played the first Grizabella on Broadway, Betty Buckley, and she loves that the show is involved into something she never could have imagined, really.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:45

And of the song Memory, she said, at the song's core is a simple plea of longing to be seen again, to be recognized and to be welcomed back into the circle. It's fitting to me that she be celebrated again at Cat's the Jellicle Ball. This time, performers kept at the margins can step into the spotlight, not as an ornament, but as a force reshaping the stage itself.

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Chills. I love that. It's really cool. It makes me like it more. It makes I mean it makes me more curious about cats, the musical, and and especially this um jellical ball.

SPEAKER_03 31:19

Yeah, it's fun. Love it. I just I just want to sing.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

No, I I'm so I'm I don't like that song, but I love the story.

SPEAKER_03 31:30

I mean, I understand why you don't like it, and I'm not saying it's like a masterpiece or anything.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

It's a bad song, but you brought life to it. You brought a new life to it that I definitely appreciate and and now will maybe even think differently when I hear it.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

Nice. And I just want to say for the record, I did not watch the new movie, the Taylor Slip Jennifer Hudson. Oh, I did not and I will not.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Okay. But now I think it's time to shift gears a bit. I'm prepared. Okay. Um in response to recent events, Stereothematica is issuing a statement on the algorithm as a scapegoat.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

Can we stop pretending the algorithm is some evil force beyond our control? Y'all, we made it. If you're getting gross pimple popping videos, that's because at some point you indicated that you wanted gross pimple popping videos.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

If you're seeing Nazi propaganda, you probably watched one too many Joe Rogan clips, and now you're classified as fascist curious because maybe you are. Not our listeners, of course.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

The algorithm is not the enemy, it's our little statistical goblin trained on habits, optimized for engagement, and sometimes it actually delivers a really good song or two. And other times it's just terrifying.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Until we stop shopping at Amazon and scrolling like lab mice, this is what we get a darker side of ourselves. And please understand, this is not us wagging a finger, but merely holding up a mirror.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

Instead of yelling about the algorithm, maybe let's take a day off from our phones. Or at least an hour. Let's read a book or listen to a record or a CD without skipping a song.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Come to us for something fun. Or even better, share something fun with us. We're here for each other. Thank you for your support. Christina, next week we're starting season three. What do you have planned for us?

SPEAKER_03 33:32

Next week it's time to start a new chapter. Thanks for listening to Stereo Thematica. If you like what you're hearing, please consider a review, a rating, or why not share with a friend.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

And follow us, please, on Instagram where you can share your favorite showtune songs to belt out. We've also got an ever-growing playlist on Spotify linked in our show notes for your fun.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

And visit stereothematica.com for all the uh secret tidbits you might not see in the show.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

Thank you. We love you. Bye. Bye.