Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Tag: musicals

  • Pinball Wizard (Or Something Like it)

    Pinball Wizard (Or Something Like it)

    Today I got a chance to play on my favorite pinball machine for the first time in years. It is this machine:

    This is a machine based off of the Broadway Musical version of The Who’s Tommy.

    First you need to know that when I was eleven or twelve my older sister, Krystie, bought us tickets to the Broadway in Columbus production of The Who’s Tommy. I had never even heard the music and I was blown away by the production, the music, everything was just amazing.

    Later that year we went as a family to Cedar Point. My cousin, Lynsi, and I were given some money (I was given $40) and we were sent off to the arcade to play for an hour. As we walked in I saw it, a The Who’s Tommy Pinball Machine.

    Immediately I walked over and as soon as I could exchange cash for coin I began to play. I am not a pinball wizard, but I love to play and this machine played just the way I liked. And as you played and your score rose the machine would play snippets of songs from the musical.

    Before I knew it I had spent all $40 of my dollars on this machine. My mom came to find us and when she realized what had happened she forbade me from setting foot in an arcade again.

    Now, for most people they would understand that she meant I should never spend money on a game like that again, but my probably neurodivergent ass took it literally. So when my friends would go into the arcade in our local mall I would wait outside for them and read a book or something (I am an elder millenial so there were no smart phones then).

    When my mom found this out when I was 18 or so, she was horrified. She of course did not intend for me to literally never set foot in an arcade again. But, regardless of intention that is what I took from it.

    The Who’s Tommy is still my favorite machine ( The Addams Family is a close second) in spite of all the weirdness. I remain not great at pinball, but I still love it. And I can still sing the whole soundtrack to the musical. ❤️

    This machine was at the Main Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library on loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. My husband took me to play it today for my birthday. It was also the Big Book Sale at the Library so I bought a bunch of books too. A good day!

  • Rainy Day Musical Round Up

    I am a Musical Junkie! I love them so much. On rainy days I often listen to Musicals to cheer me up and wake me up. Here are some of my favorite musicals in no specific order. Some I love for the music, some for the production. Some I have seen performed, and some I have only experienced the soundtrack. Have a Broadway Day!!

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    How do you feel about musicals? Do you have a favorite?

  • Thank You For The Musicals

    Thank You For The Musicals

    I have a confession to make; I am a theatre geek. I lettered in drama in high school. I was active in my schools drama club as well as many local community theatre programs. I had been a singer since I was a little girl, but I didn’t find acting until I was in sixth grade and they announced auditions for “Reader’s Theatre”.

    The idea of “Reader’s Theatre” was that high school drama club members would direct us in a presentation of a play that would be performed seated with a stand in front of us so all of the acting would be through voice modulation. In sixth grade I auditioned with several of my friends, and I was delighted when I realized I knew one of the directors as he was a friend of my cousin. I was accepted and found myself playing girl 1 in the first short “We Wanted a Hill” and Spring in another play who’s name I cannot remember. I was so excited and after performing I was one of our cast to be rewarded as All Star Cast.

    Damn that girl is proud of that trophy.

    I would do “Reader’s Theatre” for seventh and eighth grade as well. And I made All Star Cast both years. I played the Very Odd Mother in Cinderella Wore Combat Boots and The Evil Stepsister in another version of Cinderella. I can’t remember the title, but I know that one of my lines was to call Cinderella a “strumpety hussy.”

    I continued in drama throughout high school, and started working in community theatre. Some of my “acting credits” include Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Laury in Oklahoma, Ermengarde in Hello Dolly, Betsy in Godspell and countless chorus roles in The Wizard of Oz, Cabaret, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Green Heart and Once Upon a Mattress. I also did the occassional straight play, but my love was musicals.

    When I graduated from high school my original plan was to go to college for Musical Theatre, but life just didn’t work out that way. After a while I stopped doing community theatre due to one thing or another, and now it has been more than 15 years since I did a show. Sometimes I miss it so badly that my heart aches, especially when I see a particularly beautiful show. I still miss the warmth of stage lights, and the feeling when you really connect with an audience.

    Why am I telling you this? Well, I actually don’t know other than I compulsively requested 11 musical soundtracks from the library this week: Assassins, Waitress, Once on This Island, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Anastasia, Dear Evan Hansen, The Band’s Visit, Rocky Horror Show, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Maybe if I sing and dance around my house enough I can relocate the feeling I used to get. I can at least have fun trying.