OK, I’ve mentioned in the past my love for a Canadian TV series, Slings and Arrows, that follows a fictional(ized version of the Stratford Festival) theater group and its serio-comic trials and tribulations over the course of three seasons. The first deals with a production of Hamlet, the second with Macbeth, and the third? You guessed it, King Lear.
The actress playing the actress playing Cordelia is a very young Sarah Polley. She, and the rest of the cast, is simply awesome. I love that show.
Part of its charm is its opening credit music. Each year, two of the veterans of the “company” are at a bar piano singing a song about that year’s play. Well, here’s the Season 3, Lear-y version:
You used to be king but now you’ve been had;
Alone with your fool, you think you’ll go mad;
It’s nice to take a walk in the rain.
A stomp through a storm is what I’d advise;
When people you trust tell nothing but lies
And kidnap your friend and gouge out his eyes,
It’s nice to take a walk in the rain.
You say your daughters are evil plotters;
A pitter-patter shower will keep you sane;
When all has been said and all have been slain,
It’s nice to take a walk in the rain for several hours,
Helps to have a howl in the rain without your clothes on,
Nice to take a walk in the rain.
- Music and lyrics:
Lisa Lambert, Bob Martin,
and Greg Morrison
It’s currently available only on Amazon (I think), but it’s worth a rental (if not a purchase)!