#love changes everything

This medley was the encore from a 2023 concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in which Hugh Panaro sings “Love Changes Everything,” from “Aspects of Love,” Scarlett Strallen sings “Unexpected Song,” from “Song and Dance,” and Dee Roscioli sings “I Don’t Know How To Love Him,” from “Jesus Christ Superstar.”  The composer of all three songs is Andrew Lloyd Webber.

“Broadway Legends,” Hugh Panaro, Scarlett Strallen, and Dee Roscioli with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Ted Sperling, conductor. 

Sunday, November 12, 2023, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, Maryland

No matter how much Charles had begged Camilla to spend Christmas with him, though he knew it was impossible, she had spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her parents before she’d travelled back to Bolehyde Manor on Boxing Day when her parents went to see Annabel and her little wholesome family. Camilla, of course, had been invited too, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to cope with the family bliss at Annabel’s house. She was happy for Annabel, of course, but it would be too much to take, especially with Andrew’s birthday coming up the next day. Christmas had been more of a torture anyway and she was glad to escape the baubels, the trees and the herold angeles everywhere. Her house wasn’t decorated for Christmas at all, a harsh contrast to the glitter and gold and the ethereal legions of angels that had been everywhere last year. Though she’d been heavily pregnant and barely able to move at all she’d decorated even the smallest corner of the house last year. Baby’s first Christmas was supposed to be perfect after all. But now the rain pouring heavily outside matched her mood far better. She had tried hard to put on a happy face for her parents and Mark, but it had worn her out. And she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to live through tomorrow. The thought of Andrew’s birthday almost made her sick. Just why was he not allowed to turn 36? Why did he have to play the hero again and be killed? What utterly sick game was the God above playing? It had not always been easy with Andrew, his affairs had silently killed her, but why, just why, did such a horrible thing happen? What had little Tom done to deserve this? What had she done to deserve this? 

She was missing Charles, too, and a part of her had wished they’d be able to spend Christmas together. They’d spoken briefly on the phone on Christmas Eve and she regretted having declined his offer, or more his plea, to be able to see her on Boxing Day. Maybe he would still come like the last time she’d forbidden him to come on Tom’s birthday? But time passed and there was no Charles, so she just played with Tom and wrapped herself in a blanket in the living room once she had put him to bed.

The darkness outside came early and the raindrops on the window looked like ink-spiders. God, this really didn‘t feel like Christmas at all. Over and over she pondered if she should try to ring Charles but then again it was only half past four, though outside it looked like witching hour. Oh well maybe she just shouldn’t be so grand, she decided. With quick steps she walked to the hall where the telephone was standing and dialled the direct line to Charles' room which he had given to her in wise foresight. In nervous anticipation she dialled wrong two times before she was lucky and the call got through.

“Hello?“ asked a young voice that definitely wasn‘t Charles‘. Somehow the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite recall of whom it reminded her.

“Ummm… hello… I’d like to speak to Cha… umm, the Prince of Wales, please.“

“Sorry, Miss, you missed him. He left quite some time ago… to see his new girlfriend.“ The boy made a retching sound and suddenly it dawned on Camilla who it was.

“Edward?“ she asked, ignoring the clenching of her heart. Was she the new girlfriend? Or did Charles, indeed, have someone new? Deep down her Camilla knew that this wasn't how Charles would handle this, but the years with Andrew had traumatised her and of course she knew that Charles had to date other girls as well. He had to find a wife, someone worthy to bear an heir.

“On the phone, Miss,“ the eleven-year-old replied, clearly not remembering her voice.

“This is Camilla, we used to do two or three go-kart chases a few years ago.“ Camilla smiled, living from that memory. The memory seemed to be from someone else’s life, not her own. A life that was light and carefree and the only trouble in the world was which party she was going to go to the next day.

“Oh right!“ There was a sound of enlightenment in his voice. “I d-” there was a rustling and some voices in the line and suddenly Edward seemed to be eager to hang up the phone. „Merry Christmas, Camilla!“ he said and hung up before Camilla had the slightest chance to reply. 

That had been a lovely surprise, but it hadn’t really helped her find out if she was going to see her prince today or not. Charles would surely have told her about a new girlfriend, so it was almost safe to say he’d be here anytime soon. It was a four hour drive from Sandringham to Bolehyde Manor and probably even longer today with that bloody rain. Why on earth did it not come down as snow? It surely was cold enough outside. With her heart feeling at least a little lighter she made herself a hot chocolate with two shots of rum. It would surely warm her up from the inside as well.

An hour later she heard a car rolling over the gritty grounds and her heart made a jump. This had to be Charles! With her plushy slippers on she made her way to the entrance hall and before Charles could ring the bell Camilla opened the door and it only took Charles a second to get to her and fling her in his arms. What a man he was! Camilla didn’t know quite how he did it, but he always knew exactly what to do (well… mostly…).

“Happy Christmas,” Charles whispered and placed a light kiss on Camilla’s nose.

“Happy Christmas, darling,” Camilla breathed back in return, wrapping her arms around him tightly. It felt so incredibly good to have him in her arms, but after a few moments she pulled away. “Come inside! You must be freezing!” With that she ushered him inside the living room. “Do you want to eat something? Or maybe drink? I’m sorry I didn’t bother to lighten the fireplace,” she bubbled, not quite knowing where it suddenly came from. 

Charles chuckled, she was just so adorable. “Darling, relax,” he told her and flashed a smile at her that turned her knees into jelly. Despite the circumstances Camilla found herself to be head over heels in love with the prince again, a thing that still felt unreal. Being with him made her forget the uneasy feeling she’d had the past few days and she didn’t think about tomorrow, which she dreaded.

“Right!” Camilla exhaled loudly, then laughed and flopped down on the sofa, pushing Charles down with her. “Thank you for coming,” she placed a soft kiss in the middle of his perfect mouth and cuddled against him. 

Charles smiled, happy that his appearance apparently made her very happy. “You didn’t seem surprised, though,” he mused and looked at her with a quizzical expression.

Hey anon, don’t thank me yet I have like 5 questions resting in my ask that I feel so lazy to answer 😭😭😭😭 I will get to them eventually but ty for these questions 🫶

Also to answer your question, you are not entirely wrong I would say he is stuck in the past for sure BUT he would love Suguru in any situation. Especially when ch 236 dropped and Gojo answered “If you were there to pat my back I would’ve been satisfied” imagining Geto among his students in his cult leader outfit, I just knew he had never stop loving Geto. Teen Geto was his first love for sure yeah but I think he reminisces more about his three years of youth than teen Geto.

To gojo, teen geto, adult geto, any geto would be Suguru. In jjk0 when he tells Yuuta that Geto was “his one and only” he uses present tense, that personally resonates to me as even in those 10 years they were separated and even though teen Geto and adult Geto might not even be the same person anymore, his love never deteriorated for Suguru.

First, it starts with Love Changes Everything. Its 2023 revival moves the song to the middle of Act 1 in order to have it sung by Michael Ball, which is a key error (Ball plays George in the revival, rather than Alex, who he originated in 1989). The song is here:

It’s quite literally a thesis on love, extraneous to the book - Alex’s naive thesis on love. What’s interesting is that it is only the first thesis on love we get. When we first meet George, Alex’s uncle, who lives hedonistically and flits between lovers just as Alex believes that Rose is his one true love, he sings this:

Life goes on, love goes free is George’s philosophy. Both of these moments are much more typical of a concept show than a book show, and seem indicative of Lloyd Webber (as book writer, though not lyricist) being inspired by the Prince era in the States, and in particular I would argue A Little Night Music, where songs like The Miller’s Son highlight philosophies of love to be analysed within the context of the show. What is interesting about Aspects is that neither Alex’s nor George’s philosophy remains unscathed. By the end of Act 1, George is married to Rose, and Alex reprises Love Changes Everything on the way to the army, to destroy himself in his loss of Rose. By the end of the second act, it is George who will have died, destroying himself over his possessive incestuous love of his daughter Jenny with Rose, and Alex who rejects both Rose and Jenny in order to flit like George did with his old lover, Giulietta. The final reprise of Love Changes Everything is crucial (and foolishly omitted from the 2023 revival!) as heard below:

Heard at 4:40 on the above track, we hear the final line twice: love will never never let you be the same. When Alex originally sang this, it was a naive take on the power of one true love. With all we know now, the song has totally changed its meaning - love has the power to bouleverse everything in your philosophy and turn you inside out, Alex into a hedonistic cynic and George a man who dies for love. The ability of the one song and lyric to develop like that over time is much cleverer than it is given credit for and one of the reasons I think it works much better in context.

Although Aspects has a quintet of lovers, the final one who experiences that true bouleversal is Rose. Rose does not outline a thesis in the same way, but she scorns Alex early in the show, telling him that if he can do one thing it is “just leave me”. Later, close to the end of Act 1, she begins to show her inability to be vulnerable when she tells George that he must promise to answer whatever she asks him with yes, and ends up marrying him. Both of these lyrical and musical motifs are repeated in the culmination of Anything But Lonely, where (from 2:44) we hear:

Rose: Just promise one thing.

Alex: Alright, what is it?

Rose: Don’t ask me questions; you must promise this.

Alex: I can’t; I must know what it is.

Rose: Don’t leave me!

Love Changes Everything (2020) — Ruelle

love bursts in and suddenly

all our wisdom disappears

love, makes fools of everyone

This song was so sweet! This is “Love Changes Everything” by Michael Ball as I see it because of synesthesia, a condition which causes me to see music visually! I love his voice so much!