Not that "Weapon Of Choice" has any such acronyms in it, but you catch my drift?
Perhaps not quite yet.
Let's see if I can clear those up for you!
(smile!)
The seven musicians were from Florida State University (go, 'Noles!), Florida A&M University, Georgia State University, and Albany State University.
The instruments were, from left to right, piano, bass, drums, guitar, saxophone, trombone, and trumpet.
I had obtained a seat just three rows from the front and stayed there for the first two numbers.
How did I know they were rednecks?
His first words to his date were, "So, this is a jazz concert?"
Seriously.
He's the fellow in the hat holding the phone up while he records.
His date, in a long, blonde wig, was wearing more perfume than the law should allow.
Seriously.
Even disregarding the fact that they chattered back and forth during each number, the smell alone forced me to move.
That meant my camera was set on 'zoom' for the photos thereafter.
No worries, though, as the music was just as sweet in every corner!
Two Ben Tucker songs were featured - "The Next Time You See Me" and "Doublet" - as well as two from the emcee, Teddy Adams.
Plus, two singers from Savannah State University were included for two songs each, with Joshua Elijah giving us a love song, then "What A Wonderful World"!
The young woman sang "Strange Fruit" and a song by Samara Joy.
Both were excellent singers!
"Joy Spring" was the last song for me, though not for others at the concert.
The 30-minute late start (so they think they are the O'Jays? That's an inside joke with Harry, from the concert in Charleston that began almost an hour late!) meant I had to leave before the show was over, as I had an 8 PM event already scheduled!
A musical!!!
See those three fellows at the table?
That's Adam on the left, a music writer; Jerry in the middle, a designer, just out of the Army; and Henri, the sole Frenchman.
Poor saps, they're all in love with the same girl, a French dancer named Lise, with an Audrey Hepburn appeal.
To one of them?
Au contraire, mon frere!
She is writing to her parents, long gone.
She is in love she tells them, but she is promised to another.
Her foster parents want her to wed Henri, their son.
She wants to do as they wish, as does he, but...
she has met an American soldier and thinks he is the one.
What to do?
The show must go on!
So, she will dance to the music written for her by "An American in Paris" - that would be Adam!
And she would dance in the performance funded by her foster parents, even though she has decided not to marry their son - that would be Henri!
And she would pretend throughout the piece that her dance partner was the man she loved - that would be the other American, Jerry!
Ah, so lovely!
This scene immediately brought to mind the dance scene in the planetarium in "La La Land"!
That vast, blue, star-filled night...
her dress billowing and twirling...
his classic formal look...
my, oh my.
(smile!)
So, why did I claim this 2018 film of the musical to be an early offering by this year's Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival, even though it was viewed via AARP Theatre?
That's because Lise was Jewish, with her parents disappeared by the Nazis.
The foster parents who took her in pretended to be staunch fans of Hitler's regime, in order to protect her and themselves.
Delightful story!
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