Research Dossier

Lalo Cavali
STUDENT NAME: __________________________________________ C2
SECTION: ________

She Is Not Thinking of Me

SONG: ______________________________________________________________________

Gigi
SHOW: ______________________________________________________________________
(if applicable)

Recording(s) of this song you have listened to:

Louis Jourdan, from the 1958 movie; Daniel Massey, from the 1973 stage musical; Geoffrey Burridge,
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from the 1985 London production; Corey Cott, from the 2015 Broadway Revival.
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What you learned from the recording(s):

I love Louis Jourdan performance of the song, and even though he's talk-singing for most of the song, and he's not synchronized with the accompaniment,
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his acting choices are so specific regarding the fact that he's playing a character that is bored all the time. You can see that's he's wary of Liane's actions
song, so that's why I chose to incorporate most of his version in mine. There's an specific moment after a dance sequence where he's observing Liane
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dancing with a suitor, and he sharply changes his action after blowing a kiss to her, that I chose to use in my song. About Massey's version, I honestly
don't like it, and I think he distorted what this song's about, as he seems like he's having the time of his life while sing. I used, though, the very end part
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of his version, (...so untrue-la-la-la-la, she is not... oh, she's not... no, she's not... she is not thinking of me). Burridge's is an improved version of Massey's,
so I didn't take much out of it. Cott version is a modern version of Jourdan's. He uses the same lyrics from the movie, but at this time singing through the
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entire song, and sustaining the very last note.

What did you read to research the show, the period in which this song was produced and/or the period during
which it takes place?
I've read several reviews from the movie, and also from the recent Broadway revival. I also read some articles about
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how high society was back then, the history of the Maxim's of Paris, and also the origins of the "Cassoulet", the dish that
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Mamita cooks to Gaston when he comes to visit her and Gigi.
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What you learned from this research:

There are several reviews of the movie, but the most interesting thing about them is how contrastant they are, regarding
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that the movie is considered very controversial. While some defend the fact that the movie is a celebration of womanhood,
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others go on full raging accusations of pedophilia, especially regarding the song "Thank Heaven For Little Girls". I agree
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that for today, the lyrics are extremely creepy, and mostly because it's being sung by and elderly gentleman. All of them
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emphasize the transformation of Gaston from a bored to death playboy, to a loving and caring husband to Gigi, which
brings the element of redemption to a character that has being treating women like objects he can play and then discard.
What you watched (film, video, theater, etc.) to research this song and/or the period during which it takes
place:

I've watched the 1958 movie, clips of the 1949 French movie, some clips of the 2015 Broadway
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revival, and also the musical "My Fair Lady", which Gigi is vastly compared with.
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What you learned from the recording(s):

I did love the movie, I think it captures all that the 1900s were, especially at the scenes at Maxim's, where they really show
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a portrayal of how that era's high society was. Louis Jourdan's performance of "She is Not Thinking of Me" in the movie
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is what made me want to do this song, and even though he's talk-singing for most of the song, his acting choices are very
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specific. While Corey Cott's Gaston from the 2015 revival behaves mostly like a jealous rich boy that has been cheated on,
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and he need to "show" that to the audience. Also, watching some clips of "My Fair Lady", especially Henry Higgins' scenes,
helped me to understand a bit more of the manneirisms of men in the early 1900s.

A few interesting facts you learned from your research that you would like to share with the class:

I found a couple of very interesting articles about the controvesy of the movie theme. I've attached to
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my research, an article called "Should Classic Films Be Judged By Today's Cultural Standards?",
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written by Thelma Adams for the InsideHook, in 2017. It talks about how songs from the movie, like
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"Thank Heaven For Little Girls", when heard nowadays, can creep out even the most liberal of the
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readers. I also attached two reviews that have very contrasting opinions about the movie. When one
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defends it, the other destroys it. The defense on is from the blog Self-Styled Siren, when the other is
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from Gossamer Obsessions.

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