Can't you hear me S.O.S.

Background:

The 2008 hit musical Mamma Mia! Is a refurbished musical based off the 1999’s successful pop group ABBA. The musical takes place on a Greek island called Kalokairi, where a 20-year-old bride-to-be Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried) is preparing for her wedding. She gets a revelation after she finds her mom’s old diary that gives juicy details of whom her father might be. Not sure whether Bill, Sam, or Harry is her father she sends all three invitations to her wedding without telling her mother Donna (played by Meryl Streep). The musical is filled with Sophie and her bridesmaids trying to figure out the answer of who is the father, and trying to keep all three guys away from her mother, meanwhile Donna and her friends are trying to figure out why the three men are here. A twist appears when Donna realizes she still is in love after twenty years with her ex lover Sam. There is one particular scene where Sam accuses Donna for not stepping in to stop this wedding. During the conversation both realize they still love each other. Not saying all they need to say both try sending out S.O.S. signals to alert each other of their feelings. The song entitled “S.O.S” documents their conversation.

SAM:
Where are those happy days?
They seem so hard to find
I try to reach for you
But you have closed your mind
Whatever happened to our love?
I wish I understood
It used to be so nice
It used to be so good
So when you're near me
Darling can't you hear me?
S.O.S
The love you gave me
Nothing else can save me
S.O.S
When you're gone
How can I even try to go on?
When you're gone
Though I try, how can I carry on?

DONNA:
You seem so far away
Though you are standing near
You made me feel alive
But something died I fear
I really tried to make it out
I wish I understood
What happened to our love
It used to be so good

DONNA & SAM:
So when you're near me
Darling can't you hear me
S.O.S
The love you gave me
Nothing else can save me
S.O.S
When you're gone
How can even I try to go on?
When you're gone
Though I try, how can I carry on?
So when you're near me
Darling can't you hear me
S.O.S
And the love you gave me
Nothing else can save me
S.O.S
When you're gone
How can I even try to go on?
When you're gone
Though I try, how can I carry on?
When you're gone
How can I even try to go on?

Dilemma:

Have you ever been in a situation that needed rescue? A prime example deals with a relationship that slowly dying due to lack of understanding and communication. Mamma Mia, tells the story of an old relationship needing rescue. Donna and Sam after being apart for twenty years, reunite only to realize they both have feelings for each other. In the song S.O.S. when looking at the lyrics Sam starts off trying to find the words to tell Donna his feelings towards her. He sings “They seem so hard to find. I try to reach for you, but you have closed your mind.Whatever happened to our love? I wish I understood, it used to be so nice, it used to be so good. So when you're near me, darling can't you hear me? S.O.S… When you're gone, how can I even try to go on? When you're gone, though I try, how can I carry on?” Donna answers “You seem so far away, though you are standing near. You made me feel alive, but something died I fear. I really tried to make it out, I wish I understood. What happened to our love, it used to be so good.” Sam and Donna are practically spilling their hearts to each other only problem is the other doesn’t hear it. Anyone who does not have great communications skills in their relationship will not last or be reunited.

Don't Rain on my Parade!!

In the 1969 hit musical “Funny Girl”, is the story of girl named Fanny Brice (played by Barbara Streisand) growing up in poverty in New York’s Lower East Side. She dreams of having the opportunity to become a Ziegfeld star. In her debut performance in Vaudeville, she runs into a mysterious man by the name of Arnstien. As the years go by Fanny’s career takes off as well as her feelings for Arnstein. After one weekend where he admits he loves Fanny right before she leave for her tour. Fanny realizes she loves him and takes a leap of faith to blindly follow him on a gambling cruise. Right before she runs from the train station to catch the cruise she has to tell her tour members and her boss she is quitting. As she begins to tell them but before she can get a word in, they cut her off and tell her she is crazy for such a reckless decision.Fanny answers all of them in her song “Don’t Rain on my Parade”, where she states

Don't tell me not to live
just sit and putter,
Life's candy and the sun's
a ball of butter,
Don't bring around a cloud
to rain on my parade.
Don't tell me not to fly,
I've simply got to
If someone takes a spill
It's me and not you.
who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?
I'll march my band out,
I'll beat my drum,
And if I'm fanned out,
Your turn at bat, sir.
At least I didn't fake it.
Hat, sir, I guess I didn't make it!
But whether I'm the rose
Of sheer perfection,
Or freckle on the nose
Of life's complexion,
The cinder or the shiny apple of its eye.
I gotta fly once,
I gotta try once,
Only can die once, right, sir?
Ooh, love is juicy,
Juicy, and you'll see
I gotta have my bite, sir!
Get ready for me, love,
'Cause I'm a "comer,"
I simply gotta march,
My heart's a drummer.
Don't bring around a cloud
To rain on my parade!
I'm gonna live and live now,
Get what I want--I know how,
One roll for the whole shebang,
One throw, that bell will go clang,
Eye on the target--and wham--
One shot, one gun shot, and bam--
Hey, Mister Arnstein, here I am!
I'll march my band out,
I'll beat my drum,
And if I'm fanned out,
Your turn at bat, sir,
At least I didn't fake it.
Hat, sir? I guess I didn't make it.
Get ready for me, love,
'Cause I'm a "comer,"
I simply gotta march,
My heart's a drummer.
Nobody, no nobody is gonna rain on my parade!

Dilemma:

Have you ever made a decision that others just can’t understand? Have you acted on that decision? Fanny after years of never fitting because of her lack of physical endowments, her usual sense of humor, and quirky personality. After some time she finds a career where she can use her strength of humor to make a name for her, instead of people laughing at her she turned the tables so they laugh with her. As her career grew you found the gift she always longed for which was love. A power that takes over you and changes the way you think, feel, and act. When she acts on her decision to peruse love, the ones around her “bring a cloud to rain on her parade” so to speak in which they tell her how foolish she is. Fanny tells them in her song for those not to bring down her new found happiness, nor instruct her how to live her life. We can all relate to Fanny’s song. So often do people bring negativity around us about our decisions that we so choose. There are times where advice can be taken, and there are times where you have to take a leap of faith and follow your own instincts.

Papa Can You Hear Me??

     How far would you go to achieve your dreams? What bridges and obstacles will you go through to have at least one chance? In the 1983 musical entitled “Yentl.” Directed, co-written, co-produced, and starring Barbra Streisand. Is the story of a young Jewish girl growing up in Poland in the 20^th
century. Despite her culture’s traditions and laws against women being educated and reading the holy books, Yentl learns in secret by her private teacher/father. After the sudden death of her beloved father. She decides to leave the town she knows to pursue a dream of studying and obtaining knowledge. In order for her to learn she must first disguise herself like a boy, calling herself by the name of her late brother, Anshel. Seeking to get admitted to attend her dream schools called Yeshiva: a place for her to study the texts of Torah, Talmud, and the other holy books. After getting admitted she is truly tested trying to keep her identity a secret when she falls in love with a man named Avigdor. She then questions what is important a family or her dream. In the song “Papa Can you Hear Me?” The song Yentl sings right after she disguises herself like a boy and leaves home. Her first night away she spends the time by herself in an empty field. Looking up at the sky, she becomes overwhelmed as she questions what she should do. Feeling so alone she begins to pray to her Father in heaven, explaining her concerns her dreams. She begins to say a prayer in which she sings.

Dilemma:

How do you cope with losing the one person alive that truly understand you? You feel instantly alone, confused, and scared. Some react by denial, some by acting out, some depression which is common reactions. Then there are those who cry out to their beloved deceased, asking for guidance and reassurance. Yenlt alone in the field begins to talk to her father. She begins asking “Papa, can you hear me? Papa, can you see me? Papa, can you help me not be frightened?  Looking at the skies I seem to see. A million eyes which ones are yours?” She then goes on explaining to her father her current choices in life. She then states she remembers all he ever taught her. Later she ends “Help me to face what lies ahead? The trees are so much taller and I feel so much smaller; the moon is twice as lonely and the stars are half as bright...Papa, how I love you...Papa, how I need you. Papa, how I miss you…Kissing me good night...” Alone in the field and alone in the world she cries out a prayer to her father, asking for support. We can all relate to Yentl’s situation of calling out to ones we lost asking for guidance to get us through the day or not.



Yentl: (PRAYER)
Oh God-our heavenly Father.
Oh, God-and my father
Who is also in heaven.
May the light of this
Flickering candle
Illuminate the night the way
Your spirit illuminates my soul.
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you see me?
Papa can you find me in the night?
Papa are you near me?
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you help me not be frightened?
Looking at the skies I seem to see
A million eyes which ones are yours?
Where are you now that yesterday
Has waved goodbye
And closed its doors?
The night is so much darker;
The wind is so much colder;
The world I see is so much bigger
Now that I'm alone.
Papa, please forgive me.
Try to understand me;
Papa, don’t you know I had no choice?
Can you hear me praying,
Anything I'm saying
Even though the night is filled with voices?
I remember everything you taught me
Every book 1've ever read...
Can all the words in all the books
Help me to face what lies ahead?
The trees are so much taller
And I feel so much smaller;
The moon is twice as lonely
And the stars are half as bright...
Papa, how I love you...
Papa, how I need you.
Papa, how I miss you
Kissing me good night...

Cause everything is Rent!

           This 2005 Tony award winning rock opera tells the story of a group of bohemians (somebody, often a writer or an artist, who does not live according to the conventions of society) and their tough year trying to survive modern day East Village( the lower east side) New York City. The musical is centered on to main characters Rodger (a struggling musician and former drug addict trying to rebuild his numb life) and Mark (a struggling film producer trying to achieve his first big break) both friends and roommates. This film shows his friends deal with love, loss, AIDS, and living in modern America. In the beginning of the musical shows a scene of Mark frustrated he decides to take a leap by filming a documentary of a bohemian’s life on the lower east side of new York for a year. As he begins to sing his roommate Roger gets news about their rent situation. The two meet up at the apartment which is in shambles due to the fact both men are poor. They then begin contemplating how they will pay their rent. They learn that either they pay their rent or their ex roommate Benny now known as Benjamin Coffin the III will evict them throwing them on the cold street. As his first real act of his new status as a landlord, but offers to only waver them if Mark silences his ex girlfriend Maureen against speaking out against Benny. Outside shows their returning ex roommate and friend Tom Collins coming to pay Mark and Rodger a visit when he gets robbed and beaten outside the apartment. Eventually the song grows louder and louder as all their neighbors go outside and yell at the man charging them for their ridiculous rent. All of this sums up in the musical in one song labeled “RENT”.

[MARK]
How do you document real life
When real life is getting more
Like fiction each day
Headlines -- bread-lines
Blow my mind
And now this deadline
"Eviction -- or pay"
Rent!

[ROGER]
How do you write a song
When the chords sound wrong
Though they once sounded right and rare
When the notes are sour
Where is the power
You once had to ignite the air

[MARK]
And we're hungry and frozen

[ROGER]
ome life that we've chosen

[TOGETHER]
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent

[MARK]
We light candles

[ROGER]
How do you start a fire
When there's nothing to burn
And it feels like something's stuck in your flue

[MARK]
How can you generate heat
When you can't feel your feet

[BOTH]
And they're turning blue!

[MARK]
You light up a mean blaze
[ROGER grabs one of his own posters.]

[ROGER]
With posters --
[MARK grabs old manuscripts.]

[MARK]
And screenplays

[ROGER AND MARK]
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent
The digital delay ---
Didn't blow up (exactly)
There may have been one teeny tiny spark
You're not calling Mark

[COLLINS]
How do you stay on your feet
When on every street
It's 'trick or treat'
(And tonight it's 'trick')
'Welcome back to town'
Oh, I should lie down
Everything's brown
And uh -- oh
I feel sick

[MARK]
[At the window]
Where is he?

[COLLINS]
Getting dizzy
[He collapses.]

[MARK AND ROGER]
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent

[BENNY]
Forces are gathering
Forces are gathering
Can't turn away
Forces are gathering

[COLLINS]
Ughhhhh--
Ughhhhh-- I can't think
Ughhhhh-- I need a drink

[MARK (reading from a script page)]
"The music ignites the night with passionate fire"

[MARK AND HALF OF COMPANY]
How do you leave the past behind
When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out
Till you're torn apart
Rent!

[ROGER AND OTHER HALF OF COMPANY]
How can you connect in an age
Where strangers, landlords, lovers
Your own blood cells betray

[ALL]
What binds the fabric together
When the raging, shifting winds of change
Keep ripping away

[BENNY]
Draw a line in the sand
And then make a stand

[ALL]
When they act tough - you call their bluff

[MARK AND ROGER]
We're not gonna pay

[MARK AND ROGER WITH HALF OF COMPANY]
We're not gonna pay

[MARK AND ROGER WITH OTHER HALF OF COMPANY]
We're not gonna pay

[ALL]
Last year's rent
This year's rent
Next year's rent
Rent rent rent rent rent
We're not gonna pay rent

[ROGER AND MARK]'Cause everything is rent

Dilemma/Analysis:

            Have you ever had to struggle in life for any particular reason? Whether it is location, finances, illness, or a depressed state of mind? Rent is the exact story of this tale, as Mark documents his friends and neighbors for one whole year living in the dumps of New York. This group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the thriving days under the shadow of HIV/AIDS, and the battle of drug addiction and trying to sober . This particular scene takes place in the winter as Mark and Rodger discuss how they are going to manage paying their rent. They begin to light candles and literally pulling off posters from the walls, gathering any articles of paper pretty much anything they can possible burn to give heat to their cold drafty apartment.

[MARK]
How do you document real life
When real life is getting more
Like fiction each day
Headlines -- bread-lines
Blow my mind
And now this deadline
"Eviction -- or pay"
Rent!


[ROGER]
How do you write a song
When the chords sound wrong
Though they once sounded right and rare
When the notes are sour
Where is the power
You once had to ignite the air

[MARK]
And we're hungry and frozen

[ROGER]
Some life that we've chosen

[TOGETHER]
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent

[MARK]
We light candles

[ROGER]
How do you start a fire
When there's nothing to burn
And it feels like something's stuck in your flue

[MARK]
How can you generate heat
When you can't feel your feet

[BOTH]
And they're turning blue!
[MARK]
You light up a mean blaze

In life we are all thrown obstacles as we try to live our lives. How many have ever struggled trying to get stuff tighter so you can move on in life. This can easily be related to young adults moving out for the first time, or those moving into the city to achieve their childlike dream. So much can happen over a year’s time. You try to make the best of your circumstance despite all odds.