It's time to raise the curtain, it's time to light the lights...

Those who have been reading my blog should know that one of the great loves of my life is…”The Muppet Show”.

Yeah.

I was thinking about it this morning, and D and I were conversing about it on the way to the Metro stop. (BTW, I was glad we were discussing this instead of politics. It’s not good to discuss politics that early in the morning; I don’t care WHO you are.)

We were talking about the guest stars we liked, our favorite episodes, and it really brought back some good memories.

When you look back, they had some great guests: Phyllis Diller, Rita Moreno, Lena Horne (as a matter of fact, the first time I heard her sing was on “The Muppet Show”, and I’ve been a fan ever since), Shirley Bassey, Alan Arkin, George Burns…I could go on for days. But a few stand out as really imprinting themselves on my personality.

For example, one of the guests during the show’s run was Beverly Sills.

Let me rewind a bit – for those of you who don’t remember, variety shows were a staple of TV up until the early ‘80s. “The Muppet Show” fell into this category. Most of the guests were pop recording stars, comedians, dancers, actors from Broadway, etc. Not very many “serious” instrumentalists/actors/vocalists performed on shows like this.

So why did a Metropolitan Opera star pick out the MUPPETS? She could have stayed in her “groove”, but she didn’t. Why? Who knows? I’m just thankful she was on the Muppets because she was one of the people who inspired me to sing.

Granted, I don’t sing opera these days. I just can’t bring myself to believe it’s plausible for me. But when I was younger, it fascinated me. Those high notes. Those incredible runs – I’d listen and try to figure out where they could fit in a breath!

Back to Beverly. This particular episode had Kermit very very busy for some reason, and he asked Fozzie to introduce the first number. Fozzie tried to fake it, and he introduced this woman – a veritable CORNERSTONE of the opera world at that time – as “that great country and western singer, Bev Sills!”

Not many kids in my fourth grade class knew who Beverly Sills was, but I did. And the fact that Fozzie was messing up her intro so bad just made me laugh and laugh. She looked beautiful in a green/yellow evening gown, and she was a sport - she sang “When It’s Round Up Time In Texas” once through, and then in the BEST New York accent I ever heard, she growled, “I wanna talk to that bear!”

As if that sketch wasn’t funny enough, the final number was a medley of operatic songs that were skewered as only the Muppets could.

The name of the number?

“Pigoletto”.

You had your pigs dressed up as Vikings, Miss Piggy dressed up as Aida on an Egyptian barge, and I can’t remember what all. Ms. Sills was dressed in a GORGEOUS dress with a hoop skirt, carrying a fan, trying to finish her own aria and not succeeding until the very end – and of course, the Muppets threw in “God Bless America” as well. Ms. Sills even had a “diva duel” of sorts with Miss Piggy, and Miss Piggy lost but had to punctuate her final measures with a heartfelt “OH YEAH!” (That’s not often heard in the world of opera, BTW…)

Years later (after seeing that episode in reruns and LOVING it just as much), I was in my first semester of music school at the University of Iowa. I was in my voice seminar one day, and people were talking about which vocalist inspired them to be a performer themselves. Someone asked me, and I stated, “Beverly Sills”.

“Really?” this person replied. “What role inspired you out of all the ones she’s played?”

Sheepishly, I replied, “The Muppet Show”.

I could hear the nails in my “serious, professional singing career” coffin nailing the lid shut one by one.

That probably wasn’t the best example for me to give regarding Ms. Sills’ roles. However, as a (kind of) unpretentious, cranky, almost middle-aged lady I’m not ashamed anymore. I wish I could have told Jim Henson what a difference he made to a kid who lived in the sticks, never felt like she fit in anywhere, and was sad a lot.

Oh well…I can pass it on.

Sudiegirl