Roald Dahl, Sandy Wilson, Telly Savalas and me

Still on songs (and ones from musicals in particular)...

In London the other week we took the young one to see the relatively new “Matilda the Musical”. It's a Royal Shakespeare Company production and it has been getting great press (it started in Stratford-upon-Avon but moved to London's West End at the end of 2011). Our girl loved the original Roald Dahl book and the excellent Danny DeVito movie so it seemed like a good choice of treat while we were down in the big city. Here's probably the stand-out song/tune from the beginning of the second half:

So did we like the whole thing? Does it deserve all the awards it won last week (at the Oliviers)? Well, yes... on the whole we did enjoy it... though if I was being totally honest, I'd have to say that quite a lot of it was a bit frantic for me (and I don't think it's just that I'm over 30). The songs were very good but I wanted to be able to hear them and often it was all so fast and manic that I just couldn't make out all the words (children's naturally high voices don't help with this either of course). Tim Minchin wrote all the songs for the project – hear him talking about the process  below (and remember we played his lovely Xmas song back here):

I like him more and more. I did have a few other little gripes with the show though (like, is it only me who gets uncomfortable when the stupid, horrible parents have OTT cockney accents and the lovely bookish daughter sounds, well, a lot more middle class and a lot less regional... though of course we only saw one of the four girls being Matilda in the current show). I'd say this production is largely made with kids in mind (that's obvious, I suppose and probably as it should be) but still... we parents are still there... and we think about these things (and we pay for the tickets...).

All that said there were some cracking dance numbers, the kids were all formidably good and I really did like most of the songs (there's a good one using the alphabet but that only works with the visuals on stage too). Maybe it's partly being in London that makes me feel weary and not up to the manicness.

On a completely different note I was asked a while ago to speak/read poems at the conference of a local group here called Angus Gold (all to do with activities/courses for the 50+ age group). The theme of the day was the health benefits of continued learning and so I sorted out a few poems I thought might fit the bill. Another song from a musical kept coming into my head though... this one from Sandy Wilson's “The Boyfriend” (girl and I watched the 1971 movie a little while back – it stars Twiggy, see photo above). This was the song in question:

So for the conference event I rewrote the lyrics to match the day (as below). Some bits are straight out of the song – others a bit more tweaked. I read it out in a kind of talking/singing style (think Telly Savalas “If a picture paints a thousand words...”) and it really went very well. People joined in and everything. Here's my version:

Never too late

It's never too late to see what's new

You never know what might be for you

It's never too late to learn something

Boop-a-Doop, Boop-a-Doop, Boop-a-Doop 

It's never too late to turn a page

We're always about more than our age

It's never too late to learn something

Boop-a-Doop, Boop-a-Doop, Boop-a-Doop

If they say you're past new tricks

You should answer "Never!" 

The magic comes as you try out

Another fresh endeavour



The best of us can run and run

There's no such thing as too much fun

It's never too late to learn something

Sez who? Sez me 

Sez you? Sez we. 

Sez both of us together



It's never too late to restart you 

With art or Spanish, tai chi too

It's never too late to learn something

Whack-a-do, Whack-a-do, Whack-a-do

It's never too late to burn so bright

To dance or cook or even write

It's never too late to learn something

Whack-a-do, Whack-a-do, Whack-a-do
 

The younger people of today 

May live on their computers

But some of us know files from docs 

And how to reboot routers


It's never too late to fill your mind

To speed up not be left behind

It's never too late to learn something


It's never too late to roll that stone

To master all the gadgets on your phone

It's never too late to learn something 

Vo-de-o, Vo-de-o, Vo-de-o

It's never too late for storytime

Rhythm or reason, even rhyme

It's never too late to try something

Vo-de-o, Vo-de-o, Vo-de-o 


The modern courses that you see

Are often most confusing

Assertiveness, time management,

Who knows just what you're choosing


It's never too late to open doors

The choice is wide and it's all yours

It's never too late to learn some

Never too late to learn some

Never too late to learn something


RF 2012


It was fun to be back on a high stool, peddling some poetry again.

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