Maybe it is because Idina Menzel is
a Broadway actress. Maybe it is because
the songs - when you listen to the cd - sound like they were meant for
Broadway. Maybe it is the fact that
after seeing the movie my dad commented, “I won’t be surprised if Frozen ends up on Broadway.” But somehow, somewhere along the line time
completely collapsed and now the past comes rushing forth in tiny portals found
throughout the soundtrack. At very specific moments when Idina Menzel and
Kristen Bell are harmonizing the present melts away completely and I am
standing at sixteen in my best friend’s bedroom listening to the soundtrack for
Into the Woods for the three hundred
and forty-fifth time. Oh, how Libby
loved that play, and her love and excitement was so infectious that I easily
got swept up in it. Into the Woods for months was our own little world into which we
would retreat every morning before school and then again when we got home.
We didn’t see the play on
Broadway. We watched a taped version of
the play on PBS because our religion teacher at St. Francis Prep assigned
watching it for homework. I have no
memory of why the play was assigned or what sort of class discussion
followed. But none of that really
matters anyway. What matters is the added bond the play forged between two very
good friends. The night it was on, Libby came over to my house to watch
it. The moment it started, she sat
completely transfixed. She had never before
seen a Broadway show and at first she seemed shocked that the cow on stage
wasn’t real. The differences between
theater and film totally intrigued and captivated her but by intermission her
love of the theater had been solidified.
Not only that, she fell in love with the actor who played the
Baker. Pictures of Chip Zien suddenly
graced her bedroom walls alongside of posters and newspaper clippings of
Patrick Swayze and Bruce Willis.
Within days of having watched the
play, her mother bought her a cassette of the soundtrack which she played over
and over again to the point where we both had the words for all of the songs
memorized. But memorizing the songs
wasn’t the end of it. Spontaneously,
while walking down the street or making iced tea or playing catch she would
break out into song and begin acting out various parts of the show. I admit I was somewhat partial to the witch,
Bernadette Peters, and as a result I would fall in line with Libby pretending
that I was the witch, although I can’t sing to save my life. I suppose that’s one sure sign of a good
friend, someone who doesn’t judge even when the rest of the world would stuff
their ears with their fingers to block out the awful noise that somehow in your
own head passes for music. We had some
great times because of our love of Into
the Woods which now thankfully account for many fond memories of the
moments Libby and I spent together. Even
though her passion for the show eventually waned and her crush on Chip Zien
became overshadowed by an even greater crush on Davis Gaines after she saw the
Phantom of the Opera, today I cannot listen to a song from Into the Woods or even read a fairytale to my son without thinking
of her.
Into
the Woods was the last time I ever had the entire script a of a show
memorized, the last time I knew the songs so well I heard them in my dreams and
the last time I ever saw someone so animated with enthusiasm their eyes
sparkled each time a song played. The
last time that is until the Frozen
obsession reached my home. Yes, the
movie was spectacular – the best animated film I’ve ever seen – but my fixation
on the film has just as much to do with the link it offers to my childhood and
the friend who died too young. When I
see my son singing along to the opening song, “Frozen Heart,” and pretending to
cut through the ice I am a kid again myself pretending to cast a spell on Libby
in whatever role she happened to be mimicking at some moment oh so long
ago. After nearly a quarter of a
century, I once again nearly have an entire script memorized, the songs from Frozen
play continuously in my head even when the soundtrack is turned off and my
son’s eyes twinkle with delight every time I agree to put the movie on one more
time. Only now, when I try to sing along
my son will sometimes put his hand over my mouth and say, “Please stop. You
don’t sing well.” But he is right, so
can’t get too upset. So yes, I love the
movie but now you know a little more as to the reason why. It’s not just about a brilliantly crafted
story where love prevails; it is about a memory – a person, the sister I never
had. Yes, that’s it, that’s the key, the
prominent link between my present and past.
I did not have a sister, but I had Libby and while being immersed in a
movie about sisters, how can I not think of her?
Sometimes I wonder if Libby had
lived, would she have had children and if so would they have been around the
same age as my son? If she were around
today with young children, what would my
Frozen fixation look like? Would I
even have made such a giant subconscious leap from present to past? Or would her being alive have somewhat
altered my memories, my motives and my desire to hear the songs or watch the
movie again and again?
While writing this, I learned that
the movie version Into the Woods has
already been filmed and is due to be released on Christmas of this year. I’m not a big movie fan, but you can bet I’ll
be there in the theaters shortly after it gets released. And when I go, I have no doubt that Libby’s
spirit will find me and sit right down beside like Libby did all those years
ago when we watched the play for the very first time.
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