Saturday, May 4, 2013

No Time At All -- singing along with Pippin (Part 1)

The producers of cast album of the new Broadway revival of Pippin have put out a call for fans of the show to sing along with Andrea Martin on the cast album. This is the kind of thing that I would normally see, think, "That sounds fun," and then never do. But in this year of saying YES to things that I think will bring me joy, I clicked on the SIGN ME UP link, and immediately started to worry that I was already too late to get chosen. A day passed. Another. But then it came. The email I'd been hoping for.

Hello Jenny Levison!

Start practicing! You have been chosen to attend the very special recording session of 'No Time At All' with Andrea Martin and Stephen Schwartz and sing on the New Broadway Cast Recording of PIPPIN!


And so yes, I started practicing. In my bedroom, in the shower, in the garden, over breakfast. It's been completely fun. It reminds me of, well, it reminds me of myself when I was a kid. I used to spend hours on the living room floor, in front of the record player, singing along to my favorite musicals, imagining the sets, the action, the choreography—all from the photos on the covers of the record albums.  I might be older, I might have seen a musical or two, but it still feels the same to listen to a recording, and imagine myself in it.

[BERTHE]
When you are as old as I, my dear
And I hope that you never are
You will woefully wonder why, my dear
Through your cataracts and catarrh
You could squander away or sequester
A drop of a precious year
For when your best days are yester
The rest'er twice as dear....

What good is a field on a fine summer night
When you sit all alone with the weeds?
Or a succulent pear if with each juicy bite
You spit out your teeth with the seeds?
Before it's too late stop trying to wait
For fortune and fame you're secure of
For there's one thing to be sure of, mate:
There's nothing to be sure of!

Oh, it's time to start livin'
Time to take a little from this world we're given
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all....

I've never wondered if I was afraid
When there was a challenge to take
I never thought about how much I weighed
When there was still one piece of cake
Maybe it's meant the hours I've spent
Feeling broken and bent and unwell
But there's still no cure more heaven-sent
As the chance to raise some hell

Everybody....

[ALL]
Oh, it's time to start livin'
Time to take a little from this world we're given
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all....

Now when the drearies do attack
And a siege of the sads begins
I just throw these noble shoulders back
And lift these noble chins
Give me a man who is handsome and strong
Someone who's stalwart and steady
Give me a night that's romantic and long
And give me a month to get ready
Now I could waylay some aging roue
And persuade him to play in some cranny
But it's hard to believe I'm being led astray
By a man who calls me granny

[ALL]
Oh, it's time to start livin'
Time to take a little from this world we're given
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all....

Oh, it's time to start livin'
Time to take a little from this world we're given
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all....

Sages tweet that age is sweet
Good deeds and good work earns you laurels
But what could make you feel more obsolete
Than being noted for your morals?

Here is a secret I never have told
Maybe you'll understand why
I believe if I refuse to grow old
I can stay young till I die
Now, I've known the fears of sixty-six years
I've had troubles and tears by the score
But the only thing I'd trade them for
Is sixty-seven more....

Oh, it's time to keep livin'
Time to keep takin' from this world we're given
You are my time, so I'll throw off my shawl
And watching your flings be flung all over
Makes me feel young all over

[BETHE AND BOYS]
In just no time at all....

(And also, in case you were wondering, the meta message of the song is not lost on me and my 'take life by the balls' approach to this year.)

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