The Democratic Party in Wisconsin hosted an online reunion of the cast of "The Princess Bride", and they read the script as a fundraiser for the party. Wisconsin is one of the crucial states that carry the deciding electoral votes for this year's Presidential election, and the cast gladly gave up their time to reunite. This probably would have been much more difficult if we weren't all staying at home due to the pandemic, so there's one thing to be grateful for at this time.
Felt Westley wanted to watch, too, so I perched him atop my sofa so that he could witness all of the fun.
The show didn't start right at 4pm CDT, and I wondered if my conversion of time from CDT to PDT was incorrect. I even googled it. But they were just running late and finally started. Patton Oswalt hosted, with Jason Reitman playing the narrator. Rob Reiner said that all of the cast that was still alive would be doing the live reading. Then just moments later, someone else is shown as playing the kid. Ummmm....Rob? Just because Fred Savage is a Republican doesn't mean that he's not alive. APPARENTLY, Fred was celebrating brother Ben's 40th birthday instead.
Anyway...my thoughts about the live reading and the panel discussion that followed:
- I tried to refrain from saying some of the lines, but I just couldn't help myself.
- What a bummer that Josh Gad's audio went out and we didn't get to hear the peanut line!
- Mandy Patinkin had THE SWORD and I about lost my mind. I didn't get a chance to take a picture during the sword fight, but here he is, looking for Westley.
- I love the way Josh paid homage to Andre the Giant by speaking in his accent.
- Carey Elwes wore his PPE mask, but I didn't get a picture of it. Heroes wear masks, y'all.
- Robin Wright is still so Buttercup. So lovely and calm amid the antics of everyone else. Here is the moment after the fall down the hill.
- And then there was Billy Crystal. Hilarious as ever, he even made a backdrop for the online session, making it look like he was in his cottage. Also, he wore the hat!
- I can't imagine Carol Kane as anything other than this character, even though I've seen her in other projects. I'm glad she was there, too.
- Oh, and of course I loved the scene between Mandy and Christopher Guest! Iconic! I wish the audio had been better, though. Sorry that it's crooked.
I really enjoyed the discussion they all had afterward. I knew some of the stories already from reading Elwes' book, "As You Wish". I remember meeting him and the guy taking our picture took so long that Carey joked around with him. I sure didn't mind having his arm around me for longer, as he squeezed my shoulder when we both laughed. Swoooooon!
What an awesome thing to come out of this whole pandemic. I'm looking forward to seeing the West Wing folks act out one of their shows in play form on HBO Max, and I also hope I can still watch the Veep reunion. Thank you to Rob Reiner and the cast of "The Princess Bride" for doing this for one of my all-time favorite movies!
