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Dad Diary

On Watching "Beauty and the Beast": 


Susie was transfixed. She did not speak for ninety minutes. 


During the title song, she gestured frantically at the screen, as if to say, I've been waiting for this. And I admired Jerry Orbach (Broadway's original Billy Flynn, opposite Chita Rivera). 

Also, I enjoyed the tension in "Something There," the way Belle's inner conflict is underlined via ranting syntax:

There's something sweet, and almost kind...
But he was mean, and he was coarse and unrefined...
And now he's dear? And so unsure?
I wonder why I didn't see it there before....

After the movie, my daughter demanded to wear her various princess gowns. And I was driven back to James Marshall, whom I have cast as Howard Ashman's artistic soulmate. Like Ashman, Marshall is a fan of irony and subtext. The hippos are always exchanging covert glances, visibly biting their tongues.

Did you know that Ashman also contributed lyrics to "Oliver and Company"? I can't believe I had missed this. The world still holds wonders. 

I have a prediction about where Susie and I may be headed next.






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