Heading back to a lesser-known Christmas song -- albeit one from a well-known show -- this is "12 Days to Christmas" from the musical She Loves Me by Harnick and Bock. It's based on the same Hungarian play by Miklos Laszlo.that the classic movie, The Shop Around the Corner is based on, as well as You've Got Mail. I like this particularlar video because it includes not just the song, but also the dialogue that goes interspersed between it -- the song is actually a sort of "montage" to show the passage of time as George tries to build up his relationship with Amalia, knowing that he's her pen pal, but she doesn't know yet. And then the video also continues with the culmination of it all (perhaps my favorite part of the show) and then the curtain call. This comes from the 1993 Broadway revival which starred Judy Kuhn (one of my favorite Broadway actresses) and Boyd Gaines -- who some may recognzied from a lot of appearances on Law & Order. The camerawork seems to be done by someone in the audience, so it's a little sloppy at times -- except that it's fairly well done and the sound is excellent, so it might have been a sort of unoffical "approved" video. Or not. One note for clairification's sake. A little before the 6-minute mark, Boyd Gaines begins singing something that might seem out of context. In fact, he's quoting from his most-recent pen letters to her, which is his way of finally letter Amalia know who he is. This is the part, with a bit of counter-point singing, that I especially love. (When they made You've Got Mail, I didn't think there was any way they could duplicate such a lovely moment -- and the Nora Ephron's credit, she did, using "Over the Rainbow" so effectively.) So, here's "12 Days to Christmas"...17 days to Christmas.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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