Monday, November 17, 2008

Movie Musical Joy

Friday night was family date night. The five of us ventured to the local theatre to see High School Musical 3, a movie all of us have eagerly been anticipating since its release.

(More accurately, my husband did not necessarily share in our enthusiasm and desire to see the movie, finding it difficult to voluntarily pay for any type of movie that involved spur-of-the-moment ballads or choreographed dance numbers.)

For some odd reason, I find it enjoyable to watch scenes in a movie where characters can break into song at any moment. Impulsive songs that burst through the mouths of characters in movies like Grease and Footloose bring me an untold joy difficult to articulate with ordinary sentences. I know all of the words to every song and have been known to mimic the dance routine to the song “Greased Lightning”. To this day, if I hear the song “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” I think fondly of Kevin Bacon and his bold, youthful quest for a high school dance. Oh, the joy.

High School Musical 3 begins with a basketball game with the state title on the line. The team is behind at halftime, but somehow, manages a remarkable comeback with pure athleticism and a toe-tapping song.

(As a side note, I played college basketball and often used this same approach during fierce match-ups and competitions. During close games, I would often burst into song, dribbling past my opponents while simultaneously grooving to each bounce of the ball, winning the game and the lead role in the school’s spring semester musical.)

(Wait a minute. I think that might be the storyline for High School Musical 4.)

Anyway, our family date was a lot of fun. The High School Musical cast brought their school careers to a close and I found myself secretly hoping that College Musical 1 soon follows. I even suspect that the graduation scene brought a tear to my husband’s eye. He claims that he was having trouble with his contacts, but I think he finally realized that spontaneous song and dance numbers in a movie are entirely believable.

Now, if I can just talk him into singing the duet “Summer Lovin” with me. One can always hope.

10 comments:

marriedsinglemom said...

If I start to spontaneously laugh during Sunday School you will know why.
Marty

Joni said...

MSM-
Maybe John could present the Sunday school lesson in musical format? Do you think it would be received well?

Sunday School, the Musical. Pretty catchy, huh?

georgiamom said...

I can see it now....John starts out in ballad form....lights dimmed...only the light from the power point...music speeds...than pop and lock.....than for the finale the choir comes in with robes on....

Wasn't it so much better than HSM 2?

Anonymous said...

Oh we love the High School Musical movies!I have a secret crush on Zach Efron. We have the playstation game where you sing all the songs from the movies- love it. Chris will hate me for saying this but he knows all the words and he gets really competitive when we play the sing along game. Maybe a little friendly "dad competition" will turn John over to the HSM side. (Also I too had a flashback to Footloose when I saw the movie.I remember when we all saw it in high school.I think we were on the front row - remember?)

Joni said...

GM-
I loved the HSM3 and am buying it for myself for Christmas.

I like your suggestion for Sunday School, only adding that maybe your G could "break it down" with his moves during the intermissions.

Would he be interested?

Joni said...

T-
I do remember. I think we chose the front row so that we had plenty of room to dance when we felt so inclined. : )

Not too old to learn said...

my sister and i have had the most fun on this website where you can superimpose pictures of you on the faces of the people from HSM. You can also superimpose your faces on a john travolta type - my kids were howling seeing their dad do the saturday night fever! Of course, he wasnt' home and we abruptly turned it off the minute we heard him come up the driveway! :-) http://sendables.jibjab.com/

here's the site

Joni said...

NTOTL-
That's awesome. I'm going to superimpose John's face over that of Zach's and send it to him for a little afternoon joy. Thanks for the idea!

Anonymous said...

my memories of "grease lighting" begin with you in 2000 in brevard, nc on top of a mountain in the snow during our first NOG. We thought we were so funny singing that song in a snowstorm! this entry makes my heart happy thinking about john tearing up at the end of the movie- i know what he's getting for christmas!

Joni said...

T-
If memory serves, we were singing VERY WELL. In fact, we may have to crank up that song when we tailgate in a few weeks. I'll teach John the dance moves before we come to Athens.