A Cruel Legacy

By Kirsten Scott

There are things we hope our children will inherit, and things we wish they'd leave behind. I really wish I hadn't passed on my headaches and asthma to my son. But I'm thrilled that, thus far (knock on wood!), he hasn't picked up my bad back. Both my kids have their dad's body type, which means long legs and high hips. This isn't such a bad thing. They also both love to write stories and read. I'm taking credit for that one.

But here's one I hadn't expected. This Christmas, I discovered my daughter inherited my obsession with musicals.

It started a few days before Christmas, when she begged us to let her watch the movie version of Annie. This wasn't the one I remembered, with Carol Burnett playing a drunken Miss Hannigan.

This was a Disney version with a straight-haired Annie (can you imagine?) and Kathy Bates as the dastardly Hannigan. Despite these questionable changes, it was the same Annie. Same great story that sweeps you away just like a good romance. Same amazing kids belting out their parts like there's no tomorrow. (Ha ha -- there's always tomorrow!)

Same great songs you can't stop singing.

I shared this love of musicals from an early age. My favorite Disney cartoons always had music. Like Sleeping Beauty (I know you, I've walked with you once upon a dream...). Damn that Prince Philip could sing. I moved on from there to the great old Broadway musicals, like Guys and Dolls, and Anything Goes. I was a sucker for every Bing Crosby and Fred Astair movie I could find.

Here's a YouTube video from Guys and Dolls. It's Marlon Brando, folks. How can you not watch this?

I had two eighties musicals I also loved -- Grease II (no, I'm not kidding -- the one with Michelle Pfeiffer), and the Pirate Movie, which was a modern retelling of the Pirates of Penzance, with Kristy McNichols. Seriously. I watched these movies over and over.

If you disdain the Pirate Movie, try watching this clip. It's completely absurd. I love it as much now as I did then.

And if you've forgotten how fabulous Michelle Pfeiffer was, watch this. Oh, just watching this made me fall in love with Maxwell Caufield all over again. And can you believe Michelle's hair? Damn, I still want that hair.

I'm afraid I haven't see Glee, the new TV show everyone loves. I was working too hard this fall to watch it, and now I'm saving it up for the summer, when I can watch the whole season at once. But I know I'm going to love it. I can't wait.

So -- what's your favorite musical? Do you go old school, with Brando and Bing? Have any Eighties musicals in your closet? Do you watch Glee? And please, admit it, you love the Pirate Movie, right? Or Grease II? Hmmm? Anyone?