I just read a post from a friend’s blog where she owned up to not only leaving the house in 2 different shoes yesterday but also not realizing it until 30 minutes later after she got out of the car and started down the sidewalk to a restaurant.
So, since we’re sharing…
Nearly 2 months ago, my dear friend/college roomie/mutual maid-matron of honor/best person ever Diane and I planned a get-together for this weekend. She was going to be in town for business, and we decided she’d stay here Saturday night and we would go to brunch and a show today, Sunday, for some girl time. Jesus Christ Superstar. Neither of us had ever seen it, but I’ve had the soundtrack for years and know all the songs. It’s even one of the CDs on my MP3 player that I listen to when I walk. I mentioned it to my sisters when they were in town, and my one sister remembered seeing it when it debuted at the Civic Arena (in Pittsburgh) 40 years ago!
We’ve been looking forward to it for so long. Di’s a singer and a Broadway lover, so had planned to download some of the songs as well. While we were at brunch at Kaya in the Strip, she explained that she and her daughter had watched a couple of the performances on YouTube, but she hadn’t gotten around to downloading any music. But me, I was ready. I knew all the songs.
So we get to the theater, and I start looking through the program. Hmmmm…why aren’t these songs the same? I know a few of them, but my favorite one from the soundtrack isn’t on here. Hey, a bunch of them from the soundtrack aren’t on here.
So I mention it to Di, and we wonder…Did I have a different version of the soundtrack? Was there a movie version and a Broadway version? Well, I had actually owned 2 versions of the album, and while the singers were different, the songs were the same. Maybe this show was a “revival” of some kind and they revised it somewhat?
We sat through the first act, and I said again…”Well, I knew a couple of the songs, but most were different.” We kept searching through the program to see if it said anything about it being a new version, but couldn’t find anything. How puzzling.
Second act, same thing — I recognized a couple songs, but overall, I was a bit disappointed not to hear my favorites. (Although the performance was wonderful — great singers!)
“Oh well,” I said, “I’ll check my CD when I get home and see if I can figure out what’s what.”
So we part ways. She heads to her parents’ house in Bethel Park and I drive home feeling sad our long-awaited, much-too-short visit was over. It’s 40 minutes later and I’m almost home when it hits me.
The CD I have on my MP3 player…that I had both albums to…and that I know all the songs to…is Godspell, not Jesus Christ Superstar.
Oh.
Nevermind.
A friend knows the song in my heart
and sings it to me when my memory fails.
~ Donna Roberts
Writing by Ear 