singer auditions -- 'yesss ... scary'

of course the singer try-outs was a great scene

jennifer tilly was marvelous in it
giving it that sort of judy holliday-ish ditzy
inadvertant sexkitten slant
ms tilly really bought into the part and sold it too

as jack kicks off the suicidinally saccharine 'candy man'
tilly's blanche 'er monica moran takes off into song

she throws her arms skyward as if to literally
become airborne on the wings of candy man's
barf inducing but admittedly buoyant melody line
- actually she's mimicking the sunrise (i think anyways) -

20 seconds of this is more than enough for beau/frank
and he signals so w/ a 'thank you miss moran that's enough'
but blanche has become monica moran and is immersed
in her beautifully inept choreographics and vocals

and it's a few more seconds of showbiz before monica snaps
out of performance enough to hear frank's repeated commands
to quit
'thank you miss moran ... miss moran! ... miss morannnn!! BLANCHE!!!'

embarrassed at losing herself in the moment
tilly/blanche/monica giggles and wraps an arm inside
the front of her agora sweater
and apologizes to frank/beau for not hearing him
saying, 'sorry i get so caught up in it sometimes ... it's scary'

to which frank can only agree with a widened eyes he replies
'yesssss <then raised eye brows> it is'

it's a wonderful take by beau in a scene made vibrant by jen tilly
a cherry on top of the whip cream
gives me a laugh every time (oh for a dvd's pause replay button)

i guess too short a role for jennifer tilly to have garnered oscar
consideration but certainly long enough to provide quite
a memorable acting job

and beau bridges certainly should have gotten a nomination
for his older brother frank baker so focused on the
'business of show'

just a gem of a scene in a jewel of a film full of them

thanks for the read if you've stuck it out til here