Song 192 - If you could see her from Cabaret

Saturday Sparkle this week comes from Cabaret and the song If you could see her through my eyes.  Sometimes music can capture a moment in time and history, which makes you shiver every time you hear the lyrics. Together with Miss Saigon, Cabaret and its subject matter make me remember how lucky I am.

Adapted from the 1939 book, Good Bye Berlin, by Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret debuted on Broadway in 1966 and found international fame with the film in 1972, which started the legendary Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowels. This film was the first film I remember being told that I was too young to watch. 

A good few years ago now, as I'm now age-appropriate, I saw Cabaret on stage in Edinburgh and was completely moved by it. One of the stand out songs for me from this musical is "If you could see her through my eyes". When Emcee sings it in the musical, he is, of course, talking about the underlying tension for anyone who was Jewish in Germany in 1939. He is trying to get people who he is singing to, to be more open-minded and not fall into the prejudices being portrayed by Nazi Germany. John Kaber and Fred Ebb created a number, which was funny and brutally honest at the same time. 

The powerfulness of the message is still very prevalent for today and for all of us. We don't realise that sometimes we are picking up prejudices that have developed because of something we have read or seen on the TV. To keep an open mind about life, for me, is being open to everything and everybody, and to give everyone a chance to find their place in the world that works for them.

Keep those minds open this Saturday sparkle.

To listen to the song - here's a clip from the film:
If you could see her through my eyes

Performed by Joel Gray

Song 190 - American Dream from Miss Saigon

Sparkle Saturday this week is taking us to Vietnam and the moving musical Miss Saigon and is a brilliant example of how some songs need to be seen within the context of the musical to understand their brilliance. I must admit when I first listened to the songs on the tape we had of this musical, I was a bit bored with it! Such a child that I was, however, when I saw this performed on stage I was blown away by the depth of this song. To be fair to my younger self, I probably didn't fully understand what happened in Vietnam when I first listen to the songs of this musical.

The American Dream comes right at the end of the musical and is an autobiographical account of Engineer's life and the life he hopes for in America. So much hope and so much promise, the song crescendo only to smash us down with the final scenes between Chris and Kim.  It is the power of storytelling at its finest.

Though it is not surprising that the team who brought us Les Miserables, Claude-Michel Schonbergh and Alain Boubil, could create a powerful and moving account of the destruction of the Vietnam War for the theatre for the people involved. There have been so many accounts of Vietnam on screen, in books and in music and this is one of the best.

For me, today I get to feel less guilty. I took my dad to Miss Saigon about 15 years ago but didn't take my sister and today, my sister and I are going to see the musical in Edinburgh. There is a twist in the tail as the tickets say restricted view (of course, the seats are downstairs!), hopefully, it won't be too restricted!!! Hee Hee, my sister might not be talking to me after today!

Listen here to the American Dream.