10-21-2011, 12:01 AM
BUSBY BERKELEY
I
just ordered the Busby Berkeley collection Vol 2. I didn't remember I
had volume 1 until...well...it just came to me and I looked for it and
THERE IT WAS!
Last night I watched the movie 42nd Street, a Busby
Berkeley classic. It's an interesting portrayal of what it was like to
put together a show of that nature right after the stock market crash
that resulted in the American Great Depression. The director is supposed
to be the most famous musical director alive and yet he is miserable
because he should be super-rich but, thanks to Wall Street, all him
money is gone. The stress is literally killing him and HE HAS TO HAVE A
HIT!! This musical, called Pretty Lady, absolutely MUST be a hit!!
It's
interesting to consider those Busby Berkeley dance numbers. I now feel
what makes them so incredibly special is that those people were
DESPERATE! They were literally dancing for their lives. They were the
best and most all the rest were out of work. So when you see a Busby
Berkeley dance number you are seeing the don Juan principle of dancing
as though it is your last dance on Earth; as though the sword of Death
is hanging over their heads and about to fall. To top it of there don't
DARE show how desperate they are. Their smiling faces tell the story of
success. After all, THEY were the ones who got the jobs so they at least
had something to celebrate and be happy about, right?
The
director within the movie is indeed a tortured genius. I'm willing to
bet he represents how Busby Berkeley must have been in order to get
those kind of impeccable performances out of the dancers he hired. I
mean, those dance routines are 'out of this world'. They are
unbelievable. One can only wonder about the day when the boy Busby
Berkeley first looked through a kaleidoscope. It must have been like
seeing God to the young Busby. There was his destiny in a toy; a destiny
that he would bring onto the big screen with live dancers; living human
kaleidoscopes in the forms of a dances.
Busby Berkeley, wherever you are, you are still inspiring me. Thank you!!!
BUSBY BERKELEY:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... keley&aq=f
I
just ordered the Busby Berkeley collection Vol 2. I didn't remember I
had volume 1 until...well...it just came to me and I looked for it and
THERE IT WAS!
Last night I watched the movie 42nd Street, a Busby
Berkeley classic. It's an interesting portrayal of what it was like to
put together a show of that nature right after the stock market crash
that resulted in the American Great Depression. The director is supposed
to be the most famous musical director alive and yet he is miserable
because he should be super-rich but, thanks to Wall Street, all him
money is gone. The stress is literally killing him and HE HAS TO HAVE A
HIT!! This musical, called Pretty Lady, absolutely MUST be a hit!!
It's
interesting to consider those Busby Berkeley dance numbers. I now feel
what makes them so incredibly special is that those people were
DESPERATE! They were literally dancing for their lives. They were the
best and most all the rest were out of work. So when you see a Busby
Berkeley dance number you are seeing the don Juan principle of dancing
as though it is your last dance on Earth; as though the sword of Death
is hanging over their heads and about to fall. To top it of there don't
DARE show how desperate they are. Their smiling faces tell the story of
success. After all, THEY were the ones who got the jobs so they at least
had something to celebrate and be happy about, right?
The
director within the movie is indeed a tortured genius. I'm willing to
bet he represents how Busby Berkeley must have been in order to get
those kind of impeccable performances out of the dancers he hired. I
mean, those dance routines are 'out of this world'. They are
unbelievable. One can only wonder about the day when the boy Busby
Berkeley first looked through a kaleidoscope. It must have been like
seeing God to the young Busby. There was his destiny in a toy; a destiny
that he would bring onto the big screen with live dancers; living human
kaleidoscopes in the forms of a dances.
Busby Berkeley, wherever you are, you are still inspiring me. Thank you!!!
BUSBY BERKELEY:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... keley&aq=f