Sentimental Medley
A funny thing happened at TheatreWorks’ opening night of Upright Grand at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre. Before the show started, my dad turned to me and asked if a certain piece of preshow music was Hoagy Carmichael or not. I didn’t know, I said, because while I’m into old-time jazz I’m not much for schmaltzy stuff. It’s not schmaltzy, he objected—it’s sentimental. Then the play started. In the second scene, 12-year-old daughter Kiddo rolls her eyes at the song her dad, Pops, is playing, “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin, and she mocks how schmaltzy it is. “It’s not schmaltzy, Kiddo, it’s sentimental. There’s a difference.”
