Xana-doooooooo!!!!!!!

After standing for 2.5 gruelling hours in the chilling New York cold, when I finally reached the ticket counter, I got to know that there were only partial view tickets available for "Chicago" and all tickets for "The Chorus Line" were sold off. In the split second that I had to make a decision, my mind stopped working, and I asked for tickets to 'Xanadu'. I hadn't heard much about the show, had not read any reviews, and didn't even know what the mysterious sounding title meant.

I did some research on the odd-ball sounding title of the musical, before the show began. What does Xanadu mean?

I learnt that Xanadu was the name of a real ancient Mongolian city, known for its splendor. Xanadu, also Zanadu, Shangdu was the summer capital of Kublai Khan's Mongol Empire, which covered much of Asia and also encroached upon eastern Europe. The city was located in what is now called Inner Mongolia, 275 km north of Beijing.

The reported splendour of Xanadu later inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge to write his great poem Kubla Khan and caused Xanadu to become a metaphor for opulence. Xanadu is remembered today largely thanks to this poem, which contains the following often quoted lines:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

In popular and modern culture too Xanadu is referenced many times in numerous works

1) Xanadu is home to the comic strip character Mandrake the Magician, created by Lee Falk.
2) Canadian rock band Rush has a song called "Xanadu" on the album 'A Farewell to Kings' which incorporates lines of Coleridge's poem.
3) The 1980 musical film Xanadu is considered a cult film. It featured music by Electric Light Orchestra and John Farrar who wrote most of Olivia Newton-John's hits from the film. The film's title track, "Xanadu", was a major hit for the Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John, along with the songs "Suddenly" (John Farrar) and "Magic" (John Farrar). However the movie was a major dud.
4) It is the name of Charles Foster Kane's Mansion in the Classic Movie Citizen Kane (1941).
5) Episode 70 of the Pokemon anime series features a greenhouse called Xanadu Nursery.
6) The Xanadu Project is a planned shopping, sport, and entertainment complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Begun in 2006, when completed, it will be the world's largest mall, consisting of over 4.8 million square feet of construction.
7) Uncle Scrooge and his nephews visit Xanadu in a story written and drawn by Don Rosa.
8) Xanadu is the name of a very reflective region on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

As I began reading more and more, I realized that the Broadway show 'Xanadu' was derived from the 1980s movie by the same name. The 1980s movie was reviewed to be neither beautiful, luxurious, nor a hit, contrary to what the name suggests. Interesting! I was surprised why any producer would be willing to be bet their many millions of dollars at the cheesy film to have a second life on stage. One of the reviews for the movie that I read started with the title screaming 'Xana-don't. It is regarded as one of the single worst films of all times - ever in history. So I was amazed as to what had come upon the makers of the Broadway show to pick up a work this wretched. I am just surprised what kind of person sets out to make a stage version of this bad movie. Definitely someone who has the courage of his conviction and isn't afraid of the numerous questions that might be asked. Whatever the thought process behind picking up this story, after seeing the stage version, I can confidently say it actually works. I did not think that it was brilliant or a masterpiece (it pales in critical comparison to my last broadway show 'Spring Awakening' - I hope to write more about that later). It is actually 90 minutes of pure, unadulterated, intelligent fun. The play keeps the basic plot from the movie. A muse descends from heaven and inspires an artist to build an ultimate artist studio - a disco where everyone roller skates. To get that to somehow work on stage, the producers brought in a Tony nominated playwright whose job it was to make the cheesy movie seem tasteful for the stage. And of course even before they started working on the stage version, they did have one big thing rooting for them in their favor - the music from the movie.

I read some more on the success of the songs of this movie after getting back from the show and I could definitely see that Olivia had several breakout hits including the title song 'Xanadu' and 'Suddenly'. As horrendous as the film was (you can actually watch some clippings of it online, thanks to Youtube), the sound track was quite popular. Actress Kerry Butler (beautiful and oh-so-graceful) now gets to sing Olivia's songs from the movie. And yes, Kerry was quite good, and in fact much more than good with the Australian accent and the roller skating dance sequences. And that's also in part what works in favor of Xanadu-the stage version, it makes fun of the movie (My hugely critical friend scritic says this is an often employed ploy by producers to make fun of the very source from which they have derived their work since it insulates their work from the very same criticisms that the source was subjected to - but what the heck, it still is funny!), it makes fun of the 80's, it makes fun of Broadway and its huge successes (Lord Lloyd Webber does get a humorous mention and so does the world's largest running musical - Les Miserables), and it also makes fun of itself (Note the pot shot the script makes as the casting-double stinginess of the producers). And the audience loved all of it. Most definitely the audience comprised largely of out of city tourists who did not come expecting Shakespeare, they just wanted to have fun...And fun Xanadu is. So even if it isn't Shakespeare, maybe the stage production can just put the 'do' back in Xanadu.

Reference: Some information for this post is referenced from Wikipedia.

Happy Birthday to me!

Another year. Another birthday. A slow start to the day. Some many phone calls. Couple of gifts. A feel good factor. But a fear lurking in mind, just two words to be heard, 'Old-er' and 'Loneli-er'. As the day progresses ahead, some more phone calls. Plans made for dinner with friends in the evening. As evening approaches, all dressed up in the birthday cheer, I step out. Fun dinner with friends. Gifts some more. And then it's the time to disco. Hit the club, booze some, dance some, booze some more, dance some more. Time flies. Birthday ends. Well almost!

My story begins where my birthday ends.

It was a fun birthday. As fun, as fun could be. I couldn't have asked any more for my first birthday in an alien country. God bless friends, 'coz without them I would be agonizing over my loneliness on my special day.

I carried my gifts and walked to the subway station to catch a train back home. I was laden with gifts. As I got down the stairs of the 42nd Street Subway station, I could hear a sweet melody wafting through the air.

"Stromin my pain with her fingers
Singin my life with her words
Killing me softly with her song
Killing me softly with her song
Telling my whole life with her words
Killing me softly with her song"

Beautiful. The vocals were amazing. And the range captivating. And the guitar accompaniment was even better. Must be some really talented street musician, said my mind. I moved towards the direction from where the sounds were born.

A tall, lean, heavily dressed black man was playing the guitar and singing the song. His wiry strands of hair were falling all over his face as his face contorted with the emotions. The music being produced there at that moment, needed to reside on a disc and not simply drown away in the cacophony of the train noises. But sadly, that's the way it was.

He was surrounded by a group of around 7 people, excluding me. His captive audience of those 7 people included 2 couples, and then three single guys. Both the girls leaned on to their respective partner's shoulders, enjoying the sweet melody, feeling love only like how young, carefree souls can. You could feel the romance in the air, just at that moment. Of the remaining three single guys, two of them were swaying to the music, and the other one was seeming unfazed by the music, but you could still make out from his face, that his ears were rapt in attention.

And then there was me. I rested my gifts on a seat nearby, but still held on to the bouquet. I began swaying to the music too.

The song ended. His captive audience broke into a heartfelt applause.

Next song.

"When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me"

Ah! Ben King!

Midway through the song, the musician tried some antics. He began stopping midway through the song asking the audience to fill in the lyrics for him. It worked at times where the lyrics were memorable. The song was even better than the previous one.

The song ended. Applause again!

I took some money and proceeded to his guitar bag which was lying on the floor of the platform, to collect his moolah. I dropped the bills in there. That's when he looked up to me and said "Thank you, Sir!"

Him: Gentleman, I see you are coming from a party.
Me: Yes
Him: And is it a special occasion? I can see a bouquet...
Me: Oh Yes! Its ma birthday today.
Him: Oh wonderful.

And then he strummed his guitar strings into a familiar beat.

And he began singing -

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you

By the second line, his captive audience of 7 people had also joined him. There was mild clapping of some hands along with the song too.

Happy Birthday, dear ......

I could see 16 eyes thrust on my face.

I volunteered, "Joe"

Happy Birthday, dear Joe
Happy Birthday to you...

And then the beat intensified. The music envigorated its pace, and the people began singing faster once more the same 4 lines.

It was beautiful. My heart melted. There were tears in my eyes. I was afraid that they would roll over, and I would seem so sissy. But truly it was a moment worth cherishing.

The song ended. Everyone clapped loudly. Some couple of other strangers who weren't involved in the singing too came and wished me.

It was just perfect. When random strangers like these can care to make your birthday special for you, that's when you realize that there is still hope, love, care and humanity in this world. That's when you realize that the world is still just fine.

If there was ever any case for the yummiest, creamiest, temptiest icing on the cake, then this had to be it.

Happy Birthday to me!

Words from the wise

'What works longer than a Duracell? Child-labor. Child-labor works longer than a duracell. How do I know? I learnt it from the Chinese. We need to learn from the Chinese how to respect our women and the children. They built the Great wall of China using their children. Their kids can just go on and on and on. The women strap the kids to their shoulders and they just work on and on. Yes that's true. Child labor works longer than a Duracell.'

'Gay sex is a lie. Sex should result in procreation. Show me one gay guy who's made kids by having sex. No, you can't. So gays don't have sex. They just make out. And there is nothing wrong in that, I say'.

'Marriages were made by women. When women find that they cannot kick the ass of their man anymore, they marry them. Lady, why do you cry when burying your husband? You are the one who murdered him. He was much happy before he met you. It's true, Marriages just take the love out of a relationship.'

'The government is lying when they say that they have Global warming in control. They want to have your ass baked. And then when your ass is baked, you all will be always up and alert at work, and not rest there at your offices like fools. That's the government's way of increasing your productivity.'

Source: A mad & homeless man on the 5th Avenue subway stop. He was mumbling away these quips loudly without caring about being politically correct. Amusing!

And then it snowed!

Coming from India, growing up in the tropics, I always fantasized snow. And Bollywood played a major role in misshaping my fantasies about snow. The beautiful snow capped Swiss valleys in the lovezy-schmaltzy laden Yashraj movies impressed indelibly on my mind as a child that snow is pure and romantic. That when you feel love, you run to the snow covered Swiss Albis mountain range, where your love is so strong that you do not even feel the freezing sub zero chill in a skimpy saree. And you sing beautiful romantic numbers. Love conquers it all.

This belief of mine held true for 27 long years of my life. Snow is beautiful, snow is romantic.

And then I landed in New York City.

Today having lived in NYC for more than 9 months, and having seen the reality, I beg to differ.

Today was the first snowfall of 2007.

I woke up and began checking my mails. A while later Mario woke up and looked outside the window, and he exclaimed 'Hey! Its snowing!' I rushed to the window to see beautiful fragments of white fluff flowing in the air and settling ever so gently on the streets outside my house. They had formed a white layer on the cars parked on the streets. The Superintendents of the residential buildings around were busy blowing up the snow and cleaning the streets outside the apartments to ease the movement of people on the streets.

'It's beautiful...Oh! I love the snow', said Mario.

'It's your first snow here', I told him. 'Twice, thrice more and I am sure you will change your mind'.

I was sure of that. It snowed the very second day I landed in the US, and looking outside the house, I could just think that it was extremely beautiful. And then I began to commute to places in the snow and all the beauty, grace, fun and romance that I had associated with the snow, just evaporated into thin air.

NYC where I have lived for some time now has four distinct seasons, so snow will always be a part of my NYC life as long as I am here. I certainly enjoy that first fall of heavy, thick flakes. The sky is dusky and a hush comes over the world. Before the plows come to make it mucky slush, before the dogs stain it yellow and the school kids ruin your backyard with footprints, snow is a lovely experience. Then comes the endless shoveling of driveways and brushing off of cars, followed by the patches of black ice hidden under deceptive white fluff. Ugh. This happened twice, and I’m over snow now.

And it's so cold that you have to wrap yourself up in layers and layers of clothing. All those additional layers are so inconvenient that you feel like a tight sack and your body movements feel so restricted that you avoid trying to bend down to tie the show lace which came off. And then you walk some and you trip some and end up embarassing yourself.

And you cannot wear anything else other than your winter snow boots outside. God forbid, if you do, and unnoticingly stamp into a pool of slush, you will be pulled down by your soggy shoes all day. And then you also have to handle those smelly wet socks. And pray also, if you do, that you do not slip and fall. Coz if you do and make a fool of yourself in front of strangers, it's still bearable. What's more dangerous is the propensity for a slip like that to cause physical damage.

Now having seen the best of both worlds, I feel that Snow in NYC is just similar to Rains in Mumbai. Stay home with your cuppa masala chai and some freshly deep fried hot onion pakoras, with a wonderful book in hand, and lounge on your balcony and have a view outside of the Mumbai rains. It's great. That's when it feels perfect to hum your lovely old school Bollywood romanticisms. Those very same tunes which were shot in the picture perfect snow covered Swiss Albis ranges.