Like most movies I like, one of the intertwining story lines was a love story. It was very sweet and rang pretty true to me because lest you think the classical music world is all, well, classic, I know it can be filled with drama, intrigue and deep romance. As a piano major in college, I saw lots of it and life can get amplified when played out against a musical backdrop.
All the principal characters in this story are well past their professional prime. Now that I have two feet firmly planted in middle age, I found myself thinking about what's left . . . will I look like them, sound like them, will I maintain my full faculties or become slightly--or a lot--forgetful. They all have music careers in common. And they all still make music. Alone and together. It made me miss making that music, more than a bit. I must get my piano tuned and make some time for practice. And I'm adding learning to play the cello to my bucket list.
The music making scenes reminded me so much of college. Of sitting alone in the practice room and stopping to listen to the other students closeted in their own little cubicles. Having concertos and soprano arias and horn trios and string quartets all producing a kind of cacophony that was confusing and yet made sense at the same time. Pretty much all the time--24/7 Bach and Beethoven, Vivaldi and Verdi. I never did practice enough (a result of being a double major and not fully committed) but I loved being in that building. When my kids were young and taking lessons at a local music school, I loved sitting in the waiting room for the same reason. All that disparate music wafting all around. It's a beautiful thing.
So my mom and I (and my dad was like this too) always have to stay for all the credits. I'm always curious about a movie's soundtrack and of course, the music credits roll last so I'm generally the last one in the theater. This movie, having special appeal for older folks, had a lot of older folks in the audience. It also had all the acting credits at the end so a lot of people were hanging around. There were also these interesting pop-up bios of the lesser characters who were actual old, retired musicians.
This is where the six degrees of separation comes in. My youngest brother moved to London for a year or two--about 20 years ago. One of his (expensive) hobbies is investing in theater productions, mostly on London's West End but he's been invested in Broadway too. He's been a part of Hair Spray, Legally Blond, Gypsy and several others. Right now, he's invested in Top Hat, a new musical based on the Fred Astaire movie. He does premiers and parties and meet and greets with actors, producers and directors. And sees a lot of theater. When he comes home for Christmas, we have the annual peruse-the-playbills evening (this year there were over 50). He's very fond of a couple of actresses in particular. He uses a photo of him and one of them, Sheridan Smith, as his twitter avi.
So the credits were rolling and I saw "Sheridan Smith" fly across the screen. She'd played the home's doctor--one of the only youthful rolls in the film. She's probably not so well known by the masses here since she's mostly done British stage and TV and I didn't recognize her until I saw her name. The awkward moment came when I practically yelled "Oh my goodness--that was Sheridan Smith! She's Paul's twitter avi." Of course, I had to explain that one to my mom then open my phone to show her. This is one of those stories that's only funny to me.
Lots to think about tonight . . . as usual, my thoughts roam from past to present to future at such a fast pace. I'm sure I should be dizzy much of the time. I have a friend who uses the word "astounding" a lot. Tonight I think I'm astounded at the connectedness of life . . . with time and people and places . . .
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| My brother & Sheridan Smith |
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