track 35: Santa Fe

Late 1993 or Early 1994. I was working part-time at Toys R Us and needed to get insurance. I needed a checking account to pay the monthly fees. I wrote my very first check at work to buy a copy of the Disney musical Newsies on VHS. I'd been eying the video for a while, even though all I had heard about the movie was that it was a musical. In fact, it was one of the last big musical movies to be made until Moulin Rouge in 2001. However, there was this guy on the cover...



I loved it. I tracked down the CD soundtrack, which at the time was a bit of a mission. It had yet to become the Gleek cult classic that it is now. My favorite song was Christian Bale's solo, "Santa Fe." When I took an acting class at MDCC, our first assignment was to prepare a song to sing in front of our classmates. I picked "Santa Fe." Which was a nice change from the 900 girls singing "Part of your world" from The Little Mermaid. It's hard to hear that song today without rolling my eyes and grimacing. I even had the Newsies poster on my wall.



But most importantly, I discovered that Christian Bale was not just a cute actor, but an awesome one. I became addicted to watching his films, to the point of interrupting Christmas tradition by going out to see Little Women when it opened on Christmas Day in 1994. I'd become such a huge fan of Christian's that as soon as I got my first computer and hooked up to the internet, one of the first things I did was visit his website, where I met other fans. This is how I ended up meeting Lisa, who became one of my closest friends. (A few years later, we'd actually meet Christian when he appeared at an awards show in Orlando) So picking up that random video because of its cover pretty much changed my life.



The movie also featured a group of actor/dancer/singers who would appear on a great sketch show called "Roundhouse" that followed "Ren & Stimpy" on SNICK! Eventually I'd even start up a webpage for one of these guys, David Sidoni, who became an AOL acquaintance/unrequited crush and went on to host shows for Nickelodeon before becoming a hardworking husband/proud papa.

It was really the first instance of me being a fan of something that led to connections and friendships. I'd experience that a lot once I became involved in the Indigo Girls fan community a few years later.

Click here to read my PICTURES & FRAMES Spotlight on Christian Bale for more of my life as a Balehead.