One of my favorite/regular wallper images is “Molly by the Sea” by Milo Manara.

Molly by the Sea

This drawing depicts a woman watching as a British ship of the line leaves port, heading off to war. She wades out into the water, raising her skirts. The image originally appeared in the magazine, “Heavy Metal.”

“Molly” wears a dress with a ruffled collar. The sleeves are unbuttoned, revealing a white shift underneath. Her shoes are likely back on the beach. Clearly she’s not wearing much under her shift. It’s a breezy day. Molly’s tussled hair and the soaring seagulls convey the feel of the wind.

The ship is a two-decker, “Third Rate” ship of the line. Third rate ships carried between 64 and 80 guns, with most of the British third rates carrying 74 guns. So, Molly’s man was part of a crew of 500 to 650 officers, sailors and Marines. The ship flies the Red Ensign at the stern. The red flag flying on the main mast may be the flag of a Rear Admiral. Ships of the line derive that designation from their ability to stand in a line of warships. Squadrons of wooden ships approached their enemies in a line. This limited their attack profile. As they closed with the enemy, the ships turned. They presented a “broadside” to the enemy, hopefully bringing as many guns as possible to bear. Hard work and discipline enabled Royal Navy ships to defeat their French and Spanish foes in the Napoleonic era.

Realism versus fantasy

Manara is a fantasy writer and artist. His art is often erotic and tantalizing. It’s no surprise he sees Molly as a wife or lover who wants her man to return safe from the wars. While so much of the grand and epic art of the Napoleonic period avoids eroticism, Manara offers it to us. Since so many Royal Navy sailors served involuntary, their women struggled to make ends meet. Press gangs snatched men off the streets of port towns. All Molly could do is hike up her skirt and remind her man what he has waiting for him.

Jesus Christ Superstar is a blast from my teen past.

Jesus Christ Superstar

We saw Jesus Christ Superstar at the Saenger Theater last night. It was the first time I’d seen the opera live. That made for some interesting thoughts on my part. Andrew Lloyd Weber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) wrote and scored a wonderful show. I can see these two having drinks or some such, talking about the success The Who had with “Tommy” just a couple of years earlier. The libretto was easy and well-read: The Gospels. It’s no surprise that they couldn’t find financial backing to do their opera as a stage production. Albums are cheaper, so off it goes. Sound familiar? Think Hamilton and oh so many productions in between.

Catholic school teens

By the time I got to Brother Martin as an eighth-grader in 1971, Superstar wasn’t on my radar. New Orleans was one of the cities presenting an unauthorized/unlicensed production of the show. Still, as an thirteen-year old, my focus was on the Fab Four/Wings, and a lot of Mowtown on AM-pop (WTIX). I can’t remember which of the girls from St. Angela made a pitch to base the music for a Mass around Rare Earth’s “Celebrate,” but that was as controversial as things got.

While “Superstar” exploded with the release of the album and opening of the production on the West End, another “Jesus” musical, “Godspell,” opened off-Broadway in 1971. Now, Stephen Schwartz was no slouch, going on to create Pippin and Wicked. Godspell also had the appeal of being “more Christian,” if you will, than Tim Rice’s lyrics. So, you saw Catholic high schools producing Godspell more and more. I bought both albums in the summer of 1974, when I worked at the Breaux Mart on Severn and had disposable income. That was when my Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) phase kicked into high gear, listening to Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer nonstop.

Later years

By my UNO years in the late 70s, Superstar was pretty much off the radar for me. Local high school productions of Godspell were commonplace by then, and I knew folks who did that show. That continued all the way to my band-parent days, when Dominican did the show and several of my kiddo’s friends were in the pit. When Superstar came to town, we usually passed, saving the money for other shows.

2023 tour

So, this season for “Broadway Across America” included the 50th anniversary production of Superstar. It’s part of the subscription. Why not? At this point in time, I didn’t have much in the way of expectations or demands from the production. My biggest curiosity going to the theater last night was, how were they going to handle the music? I kept coming back to Yvonne Elliman’s beautiful singing in the original cast album, and the strings kicking in on “Everything’s Alright.” They made it work.

Go see the show. It’s fun.

(Side note: For having never seen the show live, this soundtrack stuck with me lo, these fifty years. When the Magdalene sang “Everything’s Alright,” I had to remind myself I wasn’t at a Jimmy Buffett concert, and singing along like a Parrothead wasn’t appropriate.)