This isn’t a little-known holiday song – actually, it’s a very well-known one. But I’m including it in our Holiday Music Fest for other somewhat lesser-known reasons. And that requires a story. In the past, I wrote here about the TV series, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The show got cancelled recently after two seasons, but due to massive fan support, the Roku Channel ordered a movie, which reunited the entire cast and premiered in 2021 – and which the Roku Channel made free to stream by everyone, whether subscribers or not – Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas. (Up in the air is whether Roku will order future movies, or even bring back the series. Though so far they haven't.) The premise of the series is that for whatever reason, the main character Zoey (played wonderfully by Jane Levy) has developed the ability to hear what people are thinking at particularly emotional moments in their lives, which they express through song, what she refers to as "heart songs." And she's grown to hate her "power," as she calls it. It's not only intrusive in her life -- having people break into passionate songs, often with full choreography, that no one else can see -- but also she's realized that whatever is going on in that person's life, she has to help resolve it, or the songs will continue until she does. As for this song, it comes at the very opening of the movie. She’s in a mall with her friend Mo, explaining why Christmas this year is so difficult for her, because it’s her family’s first since her father passed away. (Which was a major storyline in the second season.) And so, she isn’t in the Christmas spirit at all. In order to be understanding, Mo says she’ll do her best to put aside her own feelings and be low-kay, so as to not cause any problems for Zoey. And so, the two of them walk through the holiday mall all quiet and matter-of-fact. But of course, no matter how much her friend is sedate on the surface, Zoey can hear her heart song – and those of everyone else in the mall. Which leads us to this song. But – almost more than all that is something that stands out seriously impressively, even if unobtrusively unless you’re looking for it. And it’s that the huge, extravagant production number that goes all over the mall, up and down the levels…is all done in just one take! Any mistake or error in the meticulous timing, hitting their marks exactly, and they’d have to do it all over again. And just to give themselves an even bigger challenge (beyond filling the number with lots of little kids who have to get their timing right), the very end of the lavish scene deals with properly balancing a bunch of Christmas gift packages. If just one of them fell over (and one almost does)…yes, back to the start and do it all again. And after all that, they still have to get the very last, difficult shot right! It's a seriously impressive undertaking. And all the more so when you realize that they had a short production schedule -- including only four days to rehearse the dancing for all the songs, and there were at least half a dozen songs in the movie, probably more. It wasn't just a case of "Okay, we have to learn this one production number only in just four days and get it right." (Incidentally, the way you can tell this is the opening, is because the show always begins with Zoey frustrated over something, and blurting out a swear word…that gets cut off by the title of the show slamming in.) Minor fun fact: another nice thing to look out for is that around the :25 second mark, you'll see a white-haired woman in an untucked, brown shirt and black baseball cap dancing around Mo. That's the show's choreography Mandy Moore. (No, not the pop singer-actress. Same name, different person.) For those who want to see the full movie (for free), you can stream it here. And now, onto the one-take wonder. It's worth watching a second time (or more) to catch all the people getting in place, spotting the details even in the far background, and seeing all the meticulous movements of how they pulled it of –
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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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