Influence is a tricky topic. There are influences you can point to; influences you can identify; influences that sound cool (ah, yes, the poetry of Verlaine); but perhaps most intriguing are the influences lost to the realm of your unconscious. A trait, tic, or love you’ve somehow inhaled without the memory of inhaling it.
I really enjoyed this discussion about influences. Your question got me thinking about what my earliest influences were...the very first one that comes to mind was the visceral thrill I had at watching the Universal horror film THE WOLFMAN as a 9 year old boy on television...it changed my life!
I'm a bit confused by "the first musical" reference. The first movie I ever saw was "Lawrence of Arabia". The first half anyway -- I was about 3 and dozed off at intermission. Had a case for O'Toole ever since.
The mysterious Substack algorithm let me know you were here.
Just reread "The West End Horror" last month, and once as I was picking someone up from the airport, I got stuck behind McDowell and Steenburgen's limo.
The Beatles, the Beatles and the Beatles.
I really enjoyed this discussion about influences. Your question got me thinking about what my earliest influences were...the very first one that comes to mind was the visceral thrill I had at watching the Universal horror film THE WOLFMAN as a 9 year old boy on television...it changed my life!
I remember The Wolf Man!!
I'm a bit confused by "the first musical" reference. The first movie I ever saw was "Lawrence of Arabia". The first half anyway -- I was about 3 and dozed off at intermission. Had a case for O'Toole ever since.
The mysterious Substack algorithm let me know you were here.
Just reread "The West End Horror" last month, and once as I was picking someone up from the airport, I got stuck behind McDowell and Steenburgen's limo.
The Beggar’s Opera qualifies as the first musical in the sense that it was a play interspersed with songs - as opposed to an opera, usually all sung.
Ah! So it was.
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-Nicholas
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