Raena and I were listening to the soundtrack of The Prince of Egypt the other day and she was surprised to see Michelle Pfeiffer’s name in the credits. Pfeiffer was the voice of Tziporrah, Moses’s wife, and she sang the beautiful When You Believe (duet with Sally Dworsky) in the 1998 Dreamworks animation. It is a song that gives me hope every time I hear it.
But it is not my song for today. I started telling Raena about how good a singer Pfeiffer is. In the movie Fabulous Baker Boys, she almost stole the show as Susie Diamond. Flanked by Jeff and Beau Bridges, all three actors gave outstanding performances in that movie , and Pfeiffer’s rendition of Making Whopee on the piano top was to die for (her first song in the movie, Ella Fitzgerald’s More Than You Know is also lovely). I watched Baker Boys for the first time in March 1990 in Adelaide with Matt, Bec, Bill and Richard. More than a decade ago, but it still feels like yesterday to me!
And that’s still not my first musical encounter with Pfeiffer. Rewind another 8 years or so to when Grease 2 was released. While we will always love Grease for the singing, the dancing, the pink ladies and the greasers, for ONJ, John Travolta and even Franki Avalon, Grease 2 also had a strong (weird) impact on us while we were growing up. When I say we I’m talking about me, my sister Susan, and my cousins Shereen and Shaun mostly. I remember Shaun being obsessed with my song for today, Reproduction, and I think he was still in primary school then!
It’s been so much fun watching it again at 42! And what a woman, what an actress, what a singer, that Michelle Pfeiffer. I remember thinking way back when I was 14, I want to be just like her when I grow up. Feels like yesterday.
Where do you find these clips? You’re right – Shaun pretty much memorized this movie and he must have been 8 or 9. YIKES!