Perform at the Opera House.
He was amazing. For two solid hours he sang everything from Sondheim to Kermit (I thought of you, Bevis, when he sang "Its Not Easy Being Green"!) and told us lots of funny stories in between.
One of the many stories he told us was about his father, who was a fan of the musical Mame and its star, Angela Lansbury. I won't repeat the full story here, because I couldn't do it justice... needless to say his father was obviously a huge fan. The upshot of the story was that Mandy's father died at the age of 53. Some years later, Mandy met Angela Lansbury and was having an amazing conversation with her, when it struck him that it was the wrong person having the conversation - it should have been his father. His father was such a huge fan that he would have been in his element having a conversation with Angela Lansbury.
Before Mandy even told that story, I was sitting in my seat at the Opera House, watching someone whose amazing talent I was introduced to by my dad (who was a big fan of his) and thinking "gee I wish dad was here with me - he would be loving this".
So when Mandy told that story I was really affected.
Its times like today I really, really miss my dad. Even though its been 12 years since he died, I still feel angry at the unfairness of it all. I just get so mad that he and I were both robbed of sharing wonderful experiences like the one I had today.
I especially think my dad would have loved Mandy's final goodbye (after a standing ovation and second curtain call). He struck a pose at the front of the stage and uttered those wonderful words:
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You kill my father. Prepare to die.
Bloody brilliant.
5 comments:
AND your boys won this weekend.
I know! I was very excited about that.
AND its my birthday tomorrow.
BUT, I woke up this morning with the flu but couldn't take a sickie because I'm the only one working today.
Grrrr.
Ah M, life's so bloody unfair. (Has it really been 12 years? Wow where has that time gone?)
A huge happy birthday for tomorrow. Big baby kisses from Jamie.
K
Hey hey! I would have loved to see Mandy perform for two hours! you were very lucky indeed.
I saw him on Rove and although he was a bit unsure about Rove's humour and a couple of Australianisms, he was still a delight to watch. I especially loved that Rove got him to perform his Princess Bride line and talk a bit about making the film. It's genius, that movie.
I'm also very touched that you thought of me when he sang 'It's Not Easy Bein' Green'! Not that it's too much of a stretch, I suppose, but still. :)
Sounds like you're having a few good days to celebrate your birthday (apart from the flu thing).
Happy B'day for tomorrow, chicky.
Yes, happy birthday again (but this time on the actual day).
May the day bring you many lovely newborn twins to hold (your own or other peoples' -- the choice is yours) and happy thoughts on saving three other peoples' lives by giving blood.
Or something.
And no, I still haven't seen your bit in the ad.
grumblegrumble
Post a Comment