Life Could be a Dream

I can’t say I am much of an event participant.   I like to go to shows once in a while, but I am also a little bit on the cheap side and the current admission prices limit what I do.  I see all my family and friends “live” to go see concerts of their favorite singers.  They brave waiting in line for hours on end and will save every penny, lie, cheat and steal to get the best tickets for some of these events.   My friends and family like all types of shows from Punk Rock to Opera and everything in between.  I have one set of friends who will drive over 300 miles to go to an Opera, and it was not a onetime deal, they do it on a regular basis. 

I enjoy the symphony once in a while and I did wait in line to buy tickets and thoroughly enjoyed an Elton John concert.  I also enjoyed a concert by Juan Gabriel in el Palenque in Mexico; Like the Elton John concert; those were unique events in my life.  My good friends in Mexico City (Ricardo and Itziar) used to take me to the Café Opera, a place where professional singers, not currently doing a show, would go and “practice” and entertain guests – a great place to go on Thursday and Friday evenings if you are ever in Mexico City. 

But the play I attended this weekend was by far one of the most enjoyable and emotional experiences I have had in a very long time.   It wasn’t the acting.  Although they were all professional actors with lots of experience, the plot did not lend itself to “Academy Award” acting.  It wasn’t the plot(s).  One of the subplots was a simple one:  Girl meets boy, boy from the wrong part of town, parents separate them, and they get together in the end and live happily ever after.  Not even the main plot was that earth moving:  Three recent high school graduates with no skills and no future, trying to make something out of themselves in life.   No, what made this play memorable was the time period the play takes place, early 1960s; how they were going to make it in life, form a doo-wop singing quartet and the terrific songs from the late 50s early 60s they were able to execute with the original sound!

The theater became a time machine for people my age who were in their teen years during that period;  when a big portion in the formation of your psychic was the music of that period, the play takes you back to your teenage formative years and the memories of coming of age floods your brain and you completely relive those years.  Many parts of the story are about the things teenagers used to dream of doing, and some actually did - become famous and successful as a singing group.   A period when one was emotionally and socially lost in the world and were willing to try just about any path life would take you with no inhibitions.  A period just before the social and sexual revolution of the mid sixties when social barriers began to break and everything seemed possible.  That was the period that people my age were transformed back to by this Play. 

The Play, of course, is “Life Could be a Dream” a 1960s doo-wop musical.  It is the story of the Crooning Crabcakes, who try to find their fame and fortune by entering a radio talent contest.  There doesn’t seem to be any deep meaning to this story other than the moral “follow your heart.”    It features a great number of classic late 50s and early 60s songs such as "Stay,"," "Runaround Sue," "The Great Pretender," "Tears On My Pillow," "Unchained Melody," "Earth Angel" and 23 others, all executed with the original feeling.  I don’t know if “you really had to be there” to enjoy this play, but it was great.

Here are a couple of original versions of the songs sang in the play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_ds7ZF8Xg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awc2iZURXc4