And in honor of even MORE Jewish comedy coming to theaters near you
"Put Your pain in the Hands of a Jew" (here with stand-up comedy tribute)
As I'd been mentioning, I'd been so looking forward to seeing Helen Reddy in a legit theatre again, glad it was just postponed a week and that all is OK. She did a club in NYC in the spring, but there was something about seeing her on a real theater stage. To me, she epitomizes what this era needs - being able to have control and put it all aside, and triumphantly return when she felt the time is right!
LOOKING BACK:
ECONOMIC PARODY MATERIAL, TRIBUTE TO HELEN REDDY'S CATALOG
AIG - AN 8-MINUTE MINI-MUSICAL / featuring a Helen Reddy parody-tribute mix:
I AM LEHMAN, LEHMAN BABY, AIG AGAINST THE WORLD, AIN'T NO WAY TO TREAT ED LIDDY
I NEED ME A LOAN (tune of the Helen Reddy pop hit LEAVE ME ALONE)
AIG AGAINST THE WORLD (excerpt from the 8-minute musical, this video was excerpted in a Jeanne Moos report 3/17/09 on CNN's American Morning Situation Room and AC 360)
Why Helen Reddy songs for this subject? To me, it's because Helen Reddy was key to my musical growing up, and then in the 21st century the great lady became an example of a person who very much set aside material aspects of fame to just concentrate on living her life, making her a source of admiration to me once again. (She had taken up a new career as a hypnotherapist.) Then when the audience demanded she return, she is these days making a joyous comeback. I had also been inspired along the way by her remarkable performance on Broadway in BLOOD BROTHERS, and an album she had made in the 1990's with the extraordinary performer-turned-successful producer Bruce Kimmel.
Somewhere in there, the work Helen Reddy did in her biggest hey-day became very much a part of my associations with the positive aspects of conversing and commenting on this current turning point in 2008-2009. The universality of Helen Reddy's gifts and spirit, as well as the material Helen Reddy had gravitated towards, became an important part of my conveying what I wanted to convey on a subject that felt very important from a storytelling point of view. Lots of different writers being parodied, but I hope it feels all of a piece, and that everyone recognizes it as honoring Helen Reddy as she comes back after being a "pensioner" for a while. .
The "AIG videos (tributes to Helen Reddy catalog)" were #2 and #10 respectively on Prof. David Albrecht's Top Ten on BAILOUTS & POPULAR CULTURE
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