A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1982) – Balladeer’s Blog’s 2024 edition of my annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this EXPANDED look at the great Thea Musgrave’s opera version from Granada Television video in 1982.
Musgrave was British and in my opinion she was one of the few masters of opera from the late 20th Century. I’ve previously looked at her operas about Mary, Queen of Scots, Harriet Tubman and Simon Bolivar.
As for her Christmas Carol opera, the world premiere of this most accessible of Thea’s works was on December 16th, 1981 at the Norfolk Center Theater. That Norfolk, VA production was by the Virginia Opera Association.
Later the opera debuted at the Royal Opera House in the U.K. and at the State Opera House in Australia. Continue reading
Covering the myths and deities of the various peoples of Madagascar is a pretty sizeable job to undertake. I decided to use the same approach I’m using with the Americas and take things on a tribe-by-tribe basis. 
SILENT MOVIES ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS – On Easter Sunday I reviewed silent films that were relevant to the holiday. The movies dated from 1898, 1899, 1903, 1906, 1912, 1916, 1917, 1923, 1927 and 1928. Click 
THE LEGEND OF FRANCOIS VILLON – The life and legend of this 1400s poet and outlaw from France. Follow his saga as a lauded poet who was often on the run in between crimes. Click 
SPACE MONSTER WANGMAGWI (1967) – A South Korean attempt to jump on the Godzilla and Gamera bandwagon as invading aliens unleash their enormous monster called Wangmagwi on the world. Hilariously bad. Click 
Balladeer’s Blog continues its look at the Forgotten Television item 
MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN (1964) – An example of Hicksploitation. H.G. Lewis of all people wrote and SANG for this movie. A country western singer, tired of the artificial feel of mainstream Nashville music, spends some time with his North Carolina relatives to soak up some authentic atmosphere. 
FIRST QUARTERFINAL – The BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS traveled to play the INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WILDCATS. The Ravens were surprisingly dominant over the favored Wildcats, keeping them off the scoreboard until the 4th Quarter. BC was up 17-0 by Halftime and won the game by a final tally of 20-9. 
SECOND QUARTERFINAL – In this game the GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS took the field against the visiting NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS. This unusual affair saw Grand View out in front 7-0 to end the 1st Quarter and 17-0 at the Half. Seventeen to nothing held up as the final score as well. 
CHAMPIONS Vol 1 #1 (October 1975) 
the 3 Ghosts … 
FURIOUS (1984) – The Rhee Brothers star in one of the most joyously bad and disjointed martial arts movies of all time. 
AUSTRALIA’S SUPERHEROES OF THE 1940s & 1950s – An examination of Atom-Girl, the Grey Domino, Jet Fury, the Blue Ghost, the Vesuvian and many more 
IT’S HOT IN PARADISE (1960) – This is a film about hot nightclub ladies and their schmoozing manager getting stuck on an uncharted island after a plane crash. They learn that a now dead mad scientist made the place his lair and his experiments spawned dog-sized spiders whose bite transforms people into half-assed human-spider creatures. 
THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ (1904) – We’ve all been exposed to countless variations of the adventures of Dorothy Gale and company in Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Therefore I’m starting my reviews of the Oz books with the second in the series – The Marvelous Land of Oz. 
The nasty old witch is unfazed and further proves she’s not scared by sprinkling the pumpkin-headed figure with a magical Powder of Life. The powder brings Jack Pumpkinhead to life but he’s very naive and ignorant.
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