Come Saturday morning

Come Saturday morning, I find myself sadly reading about the death of Andre Previn. Which makes me think of Dory Previn, which makes me think of the song Come Saturday Morning, for which she wrote the lyrics, which makes me think of the movie The Sterile Cuckoo, for which that was the theme song, which makes me think of Liza Minelli, who starred in that movie.

The film is a tender coming of age story in which Liza plays a young woman who falls in love with a man who seems also to be in love with her. But then it turns out he’s more attracted to men than to women.

Liza then went on to superstardom in Cabaret, a musical drama set in Germany between the Wars in which she plays a young woman who falls in love with a man who seems also to be in love with her. But then it turns out he’s more attracted to men than to women.

During the years when both these films were produced and released, Liza Minelli was married to singer/songwriter Peter Allen. He seemed also to be in love with her. But then it turned out he was more attracted to men than to women.

Once, in my younger days, I took a girl I liked to a Peter Allen concert. At some point in the middle of the concert the young man sitting on the other side of me, to my great surprise, made a pass at me.

I thought it was very rude of him. Regardless of his theories about my preferences, it was obvious I was there with someone else.

Now, many years later, as I look back on the semiotics of all this, a different theory comes to mind. Perhaps that young man wasn’t insulting my date, but subtly complimenting her.

Perhaps that was just his roundabout way of suggesting that the young woman beside me was the Liza Minelli of our generation.

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