Back on March 8th, one of my pastors gave a sermon about the loaves and fishes. After reading Mark 6:32-44, the pastor referred to the actions that seemed impossible. How could five loaves of bread and two fish feed 5000 men, not to mention women and children, with plenty left over? I’ve heard dozens of sermons on the topic, but this was a good one, truly.
Nevertheless, what sneaked into my mind was the song “Impossible/It’s Possible” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein television production of Cinderella. You may or may not know that there is a live 1957 version of Cinderella, starring Julie Andrews. I finally saw it on DVD, probably sometime in the early 2010s.
The one I remember, though, is from 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren. There’s a scene in which Cinderella daydreams about going to the ball. Her fairy godmother (Celeste Holm), eventually joined by the title character, sang Impossible/It’s Possible. I saw that production broadcast so many times that the darn lyrics are stuck in my brain.
But the world is full of zanies and fools
Who don’t believe in sensible rules
And won’t believe what sensible people say,
And because these daft and dewy- eyed dopes
Keep building up impossible hopes,
Impossible things are happ’ning every day!
Incontrovertibly true
So I told the pastor, who is a big fan of musical theater, that I was thinking about that song during the sermon, and then I shared the lyrics. A friend who was nearby said, “You have a LOT of stuff stuck in that brain of yours!” This is incontrovertibly true, and denying it would be foolish.
I remember this in part because I had a big crush on Lesley Ann Warren at the time. But Impossible/It’s Possible is not even my favorite song in the show. That would be In My Own Little Corner:
In my own little corner,
In my own little chair,
I can be whatever I want to be.
On the wing of my fancy
I can fly anywhere
And the world will open its arms to me.
The 1997 adaptation, starring Brandy and featuring Whitney Houston as the fairy godmother, was impressive. But it’s often the first version of a musical or song that sticks in the brain and/or the heart.
Listen to: