TrivialPursuit said:

Prince arrives in Sheridan Wyo 4 the Under the Cherry Moon premiere

* one thing I love about Prince & the purple camp in Wyo is seeing how the vision the utopia the music reached beyond the regular or expected places and touched people in places non expected

Sheridan hadn't hosted such a dramatic event since 1865, when locals took on Arapaho Indians in a skirmish that preceded the Little Big Horn. By the time Prince pulled into town -- 11 days after Barber made her call -- Sheridan was ready.

The airport crowd let out a hoot when Prince's Learjet appeared as a dot in the Western sky. It landed and sat on the strip for a few minutes, the passenger door open. Then one tiny, high-heeled boot appeared. Then all 5'3" of Prince Rogers Nelson, decked out in a purple paisley silk suit, emerged smiling. He walked down a red carpet and threw his jacket over a fence to the crowd, then politely exchanged pleased-to-meet-you's with Sheridan's mayor, Max DeBolt, and other dignitaries. DeBolt, who takes every opportunity to plug Sheridan's tourist attractions (hunting and fishing), and neighborly life-style ("I think we had a thief here -- once"), was delighted with the hoopla. As Prince climbed into a gray-and-black limo, he said, to no one in particular, "I'm going to buy a house here."

Prince Charming
His movie's a smash -- in Wyoming

First you win a contest, then you win friends. That's how it happened for Lisa Barber, 20, a Sheridan, Wyo. motel chambermaid who last month dialed an MTV contest number and, by being the 10,000th caller, won a date with Prince and the opportunity to have his much-hyped new movie, Under the Cherry Moon, premiered in her hometown. Barber, a veteran contest entrant who had never won more than "a couple of Big Macs and a curling iron," was ecstatic. So were her friends, many of whom she had never met. Moments after her name was announced, callers from California to the Carolinas began ringing up to ask for one or two or 10 of the 200 tickets she'd been allotted for Prince's frontier fandango. Her mother, Elena Holwegner, fielded the endless requests with humor, if not compromise. Ring! "No, Lisa's not here," she fibbed to one caller. "You say you're calling from Maine? Sorry." Ring! "You say you want to come over and take pictures of me doing housework? I've got a better idea. You come over and do housework, and I'll take pictures of you." Ring! "Sorry, no more tickets. What? You say you have six days to live? Well, sorry to break the news, honey, but you'll be long gone before Prince gets here. What? You say you can hold on an extra day? Well, I can't. Sorry!" Click.

An article published in the Daily Beast over the weekend recounts the strange circumstances surrounding the premiere of Prince’s movie Under the Cherry Moon in 1986. A young motel chambermaid in Sheridan, Wyo., won an MTV dream date with Prince in her tiny hometown. “On TV, it seemed like a fairy tale. Behind the scenes, coke-fueled chaos reigned,” the blurb at the top of the story synopsizes. (It’s not Prince or the Chambermaid doing coke, for the record). Deep into the fascinating and lengthy story is a reference to Duluth.

Bobby Z, drummer for Prince’s backing band, the Revolution, reflected on the how the Prince premiere was essentially the biggest thing that ever happened to the small farming, ranching and coal-mining town of Sheridan.

“It wouldn’t have been the same if it had been in a bigger place — like, say, Duluth — because you really couldn’t take over the town like this has,” Bobby Z says in a quote attributed to the Minneapolis Star and Tribune.

https://www.perfectduluth...en-duluth/

Prince Charming
His movie's a smash -- in Wyoming

First you win a contest, then you win friends. That's how it happened for Lisa Barber, 20, a Sheridan, Wyo. motel chambermaid who last month dialed an MTV contest number and, by being the 10,000th caller, won a date with Prince and the opportunity to have his much-hyped new movie, Under the Cherry Moon, premiered in her hometown. Barber, a veteran contest entrant who had never won more than "a couple of Big Macs and a curling iron," was ecstatic. So were her friends, many of whom she had never met. Moments after her name was announced, callers from California to the Carolinas began ringing up to ask for one or two or 10 of the 200 tickets she'd been allotted for Prince's frontier fandango. Her mother, Elena Holwegner, fielded the endless requests with humor, if not compromise. Ring! "No, Lisa's not here," she fibbed to one caller. "You say you're calling from Maine? Sorry." Ring! "You say you want to come over and take pictures of me doing housework? I've got a better idea. You come over and do housework, and I'll take pictures of you." Ring! "Sorry, no more tickets. What? You say you have six days to live? Well, sorry to break the news, honey, but you'll be long gone before Prince gets here. What? You say you can hold on an extra day? Well, I can't. Sorry!" Click.

For Prince -- who, when it comes to publicity, is usually about as visible as a microbe and only slightly more talkative -- the sojourn to Sheridan seemed to serve two purposes. After years of performing in bikini underwear and a raincoat and singing such single-entendre hits as "Head" and the incest-themed "Sister," he is, say pals, concerned that the public hasn't seen enough of the happy-go-lucky, Little House on the Prairie side of his personality. "He's perceived by the media as a bad boy, a rude boy," says his friend and protégé, singer Sheila E. "He is very conscious of his reputation, and I think he's making an effort to turn it around. Basically, he's an easy-going guy." Says Lisa Coleman, keyboardist with Prince's band, the Revolution, "He's so consumed by what he's doing that sometimes he has not noticed what is happening to his public image. He realizes it now."

The other reason Prince is courting publicity is that as Cherry Moon goes, so may go his movie career. If Moon succeeds, he'll be seen as a screen phenomenon; if it fails, his first movie, the $80 million-grossing Purple Rain, may be seen as a fluke. Adding to the tension is the fact that the new film, a black-and-white fantasy romance set in the South of France, is pure Prince: He stars in the movies, conceived the plot, handpicked the cast and took over for the original director, Mary Lambert, after she left because of "artistic differences." He also reportedly refused Warner Bros.' entreaties to inject conflict into the script, saying that atmosphere and music would keep the audience entertained.

Sheridan hadn't hosted such a dramatic event since 1865, when locals took on Arapaho Indians in a skirmish that preceded the Little Big Horn. By the time Prince pulled into town -- 11 days after Barber made her call -- Sheridan was ready. The pro-Prince contingent gathered at the airport, carrying signs (WELCOME TO SHERIDAN. WE'RE PROUD OF OUR TOWN. GOT ANY EXTRA TICKETS?) and hoping for a glimpse of the would-be minimogul. Others, less enthralled, could be found at the coffee counter in Ritz Sporting Goods, where rancher Dugan Wragge noted, "This town's known for fishing lures. We don't care about no boy who wears tight pants and struts around like a woman." Ventured another customer: "I'm going to paint a fence. If Prince wants to help me, that's fine." A third recalled that when he first learned of Prince's impending arrival, it set him to thinking about a visit Queen Elizabeth made to Sheridan in 1984 to look at equestrian stock: "I told my wife, 'This is real nice. First his mother, and now him.'"

Meanwhile, back at the small cottage behind her mother's trailer home, Lisa Barber fretted like a prom queen should. Prince's staff had cured one headache by providing a black-and-white outfit that would match the evening's decor. "I was real worried about what I was going to wear," says Barber. "I usually shop at K Mart." Prince also sent over a hair stylist and a makeup artist. After that, Lisa has nothing to do except sit perfectly still until date time, 6 p.m.

Her guy pulled up, 15 minutes late, at the wheel of a white Buick convertible with personalized license plates that read LOVE. Eschewing the gravel driveway, he vaulted the chain-link fence and knocked on the door. "Hello," he said, kissing her hand. "My name is Prince. Ready to have a good time?" Unfazed by the fact that her date was wearing more makeup and -- thanks to a midriff-baring shirt -- showing more skin than she was, Barber answered in the affirmative and took her seat in the car. Preceded by Sheridan's female riding troupe, the Equestri-Annettes, and trailed by a posse of costumed cowboys, the couple cruised to the Centennial Twin theater, where 800 enthusiastic but inexpert stargazers waited. Singer Joni Mitchell entered unnoticed; crooner Ray Parker, Jr., a newspaper reported, was misidentified by some as Lionel Richie. "We cheered for anyone who was dressed weird or who was black," says one Sheridian.

Inside, Prince sat with Barber in a back row. He did not buy her any Raisinets or popcorn but otherwise behaved like a perfect gentleman. "Well, there was one time during the movie when he played with my hair and he put his arm around me," says Barber. "But that's all he did. Honest." And did Prince, rock's reigning purple enigma, actually engage in conversation sometime in the evening? "Oh, yeah," says Barber. "I asked him how he liked it here. He said it was real pretty and that I was lucky to live here. In the car he asked me what the best radio station was, and when he turned to it, the deejay was talking about him. He said, 'If I had a phone in here, I'd call him.'" At Cherry Moon, she says, "I told him I liked the movie. [Prince's co-star and sidekick] Jerome Benton asked me if I liked to fish but I told him 'No way.'"

And how did the all-important Sheridan critics react to Under the Cherry Moon? The first review came from a young woman who, when Prince's tightly suited form first appeared on the screen, yelled out "Nice butt!" After that things got a little less precise. "I liked it, but I didn't get it," said one local, whose opinion was echoed by others throughout the evening. "It was great!" offered another. "Like one long rock video! But I didn't really figure out what was going on." The next day, when Cherry Moon opened at 941 theaters around the country, paid critics began weighing in with reviews that made the townfolk seem kind. The New York Times called Prince's character a "self-caressing twerp of dubious provenance." The Washington Post said that in black-and-white, "Prince begins to remind you of something your biology teacher asked you to dissect." USA Today, at least, pointed out that Prince's principal draw isn't his dramatic skill: "Fewer people saw [Purple] Rain for the acting than saw Old Yeller for the sex." In its first weekend, the film grossed $3.1 million -- about the same as Walt Disney's new movie The Great Mouse Detective.

That was in the future, however, and there was still joy in Sheridan as the movie crowd spilled out of the theater and into a party at the Holiday Inn. At 10 p.m. Prince climbed onto a specially built stage and unleashed 45 minutes of radioactive funk. "He's incredible," said a surprised Lillie Belle Johnson, 66. "I never realized what we were missing." With uncharacteristic informality, he and his band members mingled with the locals and made small talk about movies and trout. Cherry Moon might have gone over like wheat rust, but you couldn't tell that from the crowd's mood or from the mouths of Prince's entourage, who were hard-pressed to find fault with their mentor. "I thought it was the perfect thing for him to do," said bandmate Lisa Coleman. "Purple Rain was a heavier film; this is lighter." Casey Terry, lead singer in the Prince spin-off group Mazarati, pronounced him "scintillating to work with. If you can't handle his energy, you're up a creek." Said Cherry Moon co-star Kristin Scott-Thomas: "He was a joy to work with." Seconded Jerome Benton, who has worked with Prince as a roadie, backup singer and actor: "He's a genius. I won't ever leave, unless he couldn't use me. I like being under that protective wing."

Lisa Barber also enjoyed her time under the protective wing. When the party ended, her date made sure she had a ride home in a limousine. "I'll have lots of memories, but I know he'll probably never see him again," she said of her beau, who gave her earrings and a gold necklace as keepsakes. "I'll never take them off," she vowed. Looking back, she says the only good flaw in a perfect evening involved a misunderstanding over some costume jewelry Prince had impulsively asked to borrow. "He was a dream date," says Lisa, "even if he didn't give me back my pearls."

--Written by Culter Durkee, reported by Cathy Free and Jeff Yarbrough

As the sun began to dip over Bighorn National Forest, His Royal Badness hopped behind the wheel of the Buick, threw an arm around the awe-struck Barber and set off for the town’s main commercial artery. To get there, the couple joined a procession of limousines, following the hooves of the Equestri-Annettes, a nine-woman horseback team attired in matching red riding coats with MTV bumper stickers affixed to their backs.

Wally Miko Weaver Greg Safford

Sheila E @ the car in white

"I thought it was the perfect thing for him to do," said bandmate Lisa Coleman.

"He is very conscious of his reputation, and I think he's making an effort to turn it around. Basically, he's an easy-going guy." Says Lisa Coleman, keyboardist with Prince's band, the Revolution, "He's so consumed by what he's doing that sometimes he has not noticed what is happening to his public image. He realizes it now."

Gregory Eric Leeds Miko Weaver & Atlanta Bliss ie Matt Blisten

But according to those in Barber’s orbit, the contest winner had already been ineluctably changed by her brush with His Royal Badness. For weeks afterward, the premiere remained the talk of the town. Barber rode in a local rodeo parade where she was applauded for attracting so much attention—and Big Media marketing money—to Sheridan. And friends and co-workers began to remark upon her newfound confidence and physicality. “She’ll never be the same,” Helen Austin, the housekeeping supervisor at the Sheridan Center Motor Inn, told the Star Tribune. “Before, she was shy, polite and a loner. Now she’s out to touch everybody.”

MTV & Warner Bros. World Premiere
Under the Cherry Moon movie premier 7.1.1986
Holiday Inn Sheridan Wyoming

MAZARATI also performed at the opening

01. Players' Ball [uncirculated audience recording]
02. I Guess It's All Over [uncirculated audience recording]
03. 100 MPH

Prince & the Revolution

1. Raspberry Beret
2. Delirious
3. Controversy
4. Mutiny

5. Do Me Baby
6. Purple Rain

Added Coleman: “Prince read that and got really pissed off. He was worried, like, ‘What if kids read this and think it’s cool to drink beer?’ At this point, Prince was very caught up in becoming the kind of mainstream star that even grandmas loved, and he felt that this didn’t fit that image. And so he fined Wendy. Docked her pay.”

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Published: Thursday, July 3, 1986
Section: FTR
Page: 13A

NERVY PRINCE RETURNS WITH A STYLISTIC SMASH

It takes a lot of nerve to set a picture on the French Riviera and then shoot it in black and white.

And Prince, bless him, has a lot of nerve.

"Under the Cherry Moon," his second film (the first, "Purple Rain," won him an Oscar and grossed more than $80 million), is a stylistic smash.

Its substance leaves something to be desired, true. But fine-looking fun backed by choice music by Prince and the Revolution is quite enough to guarantee most audiences a couple of good hours.

BASICALLY, "Cherry Moon" is the story of a gigolo who falls in love with an heiress and gives it all up for love.

Shot in France around Nice and Cap d'Antibes, some of the world's priciest and most beautiful scenery backgrounds this story of nightclub pianist Christopher Tracy (Prince), his best friend Tricky (Jerome Benton) and a couple of Miami boys in Nice for a little discreet gold-digging.

When Tricky spots a newspaper photo of Mary Sharon (Kristin Scott-Thomas) -- and the story of her 21st birthday inheritance -- he and Christopher crash the party. After that, it's a battle of love, with the couple opposed by Christopher's favorite client (Francesca Annis), Mary's nervous mother and nasty father, and the combined forces of Nice's police and coast guard.

PRINCE IS apparently as hardheaded as filmmaker Barbra Streisand about getting his way. When original director, Mary Lambert, left the picture a few weeks into the shooting, Prince took over her chores. After the film wrapped, unhappy with some of the scenes, Prince returned to Nice and reshot them. He has done respectable work: He finished the picture; he produced an entertainment that, while limited, is as good as much of the stuff cranked out by longtimeprofessionals, and he got to do it the way he wanted.

But, you may ask, can Prince act?

Not yet, at least not on a regular basis. But whenever he's not pouting or vamping a la Valentino, he's infinitely better than he was in "Purple Rain."

The look of the picture is its biggest strength -- contemporary, yes, but with a distinct feel for the '40s. For that, audiences can again thank Prince, who had the good sense to hire cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, a Werner Fassbinder graduate who worked with John Sayles and Martin Scorsese. Ballhaus also filmed Volker Schlondorf's stunning television version of "Death of a Salesman." Backing Ballhaus is production designer Richard Sylbert, the man responsible for the visual style of "Chinatown" and "The Cotton Club."

Kristin Scott-Thomas, the English actress plays the heiress Christopher tames (Prince has not yet entirely outgrown his bad-boy attitude toward women.). She does very nicely in her film debut, so long as she doesn't have to look dreamy and recite Christopher's poetry. And Prince's pal Benton is bearable, albeit slightly less than three-dimensional, as Tricky.

The plot gets embarrassingly over-dramatic near the end -- this isn't supposed to be Shakespeare, for heaven's sake -- but, all things considered, Prince deserves to take a bow. And, no doubt, he will.

1. Under the Cherry Moon Outro - Piano Instrumental (Intro Voice over)
2. An Honest Man - Piano Instrumental (Titles)

Once upon a time in France

there lived a bad boy name Christopher Tracey

Only 1 thing mattered 2 Christopher... money

the women he knew came in all sizes shapes & colors

and they were all rich, very rich

Private concertos kind words & fun is what he had 2 offer them

yes Christopher lived 4 all women

but he died 4 1

Somewhere along the way he learned the true meaning of love

♥

3. Christopher Tracy’s Parade (Nice)

When are y'all going to get a job?

Here.

I got a job.

Why don't you all get a job?

Mirror Mirror

7 fold
whose the sexiest

dressed in gold?

4. Incidental Strings (Mirror, Mirror, 17 fold)
5. Incidental Sax & Strings (That Bela Lugosi look)

Smile, Katy, you're naked.

I'll smile when you pay me the two months' rent you owe me.

Hmm?

Okay, you two, don't try anything funny.

Not this time, Christopher.

I want the money or I'll throw you both out onto the street.

Please, madam, look at these poor, innocent faces.

These mean streets are no place for a couple of fine, decent...

Hoodlums like us.

Please, Katy, search in your heart for some kindness.

Why don't you try searching in your wallet for some money?

That's right, cousin.

Give her that Bela Lugosi look.

Throw me onto the street, hmm?

Yeah, there.

Perhaps madame would like to conduct a search.

Hmm. I wonder where that came from.

Someone said, in reference to UTCM, that with all the peices in place (art direction, cinematography) Prince isn't a bad director.

It's when he's left to his own devices (Graffiti Bridge) that he's in trouble.

Mary Lambert laid that foundation for Moon.

CynicKill said:

Someone said, in reference to UTCM, that with all the peices in place (art direction, cinematography) Prince isn't a bad director.

It's when he's left to his own devices (Graffiti Bridge) that he's in trouble.

Mary Lambert laid that foundation for Moon.

I think if Prince directed musical scenes/band scenes and left the rest to Mary that would have been a perfect work

6. Incidental Sax & Strings (Bath phone call)

Fascist.

How much is lady in white worth? $3 million.

Got it in her divorce settlement.

I'll settle for that.

We going to marry her?

Ain't it about time we go for the big macaroni?

Mmm, I like her, but I'm looking for a bigger brand of macaroni.

Take a look at this and see if it whets your appetite.

Mary Sharon.

Her father owns half the ships on the Mediterranean.

He's got to be worth a billion, easy.

He kicked a billion asses to get it, too.

And that says what?

That says she gets a $50 million trust fund when she turns 21. - Which is today.

No. Let's go.

You going to marry her?

Mmm. For $50 million I would seriously consider it.

But guess what. I take 30% commission. Yes?

Mary Sharon. I wonder what tune she'd dance to.

Just one moment.

I'll see.

Mrs. Wellington.

The lady in white.

Mrs. Wellington, he'll be right with you.

By the way, my name is Tricky.

Tricky, put the phone down.

I never dance before midnight.

But if you insist...

What? Right now?

I mean, here on the phone?

All right.

As you wish.

Hold on.

Uh-oh.

Here we go.

I am nothing without your touch my love

I am nothing without your kiss

2 spend each night

in your arms, my flower

Is this man's idea of bliss

2 not hear your voice each day

Is 2 die 7 times by God's wrath

If I was anything other than human

I'd be the water in your bath

Till then, my love, ciao

Who needs money, when U have youth?

Can you believe Isaac Sharon threw a party long-distance for his daughter?

And didn't even bother to come.

Quel scandale.

He's probably too busy bribing another government official.

Johnny, you can be so catty sometimes.

And I wasn't even trying.

Shall we follow the animals?

Yes.

7. Do U Lie? (Mary’s party)
8. Planet Rock (Party Jam)
9. Incidental Drums (Christopher & Mary’s eyes meet)

10. Mia Bocca: Intro (Mary reappears)
11. New Position (Party Conga)

Good evening.

Nice toss.

And nice party.

Yes. Pity you weren't invited.

I was in the neighborhood, and, uh...

And you got lost.

And I thought this would be fun.

Thanks for the present.

Awfully sweet of you.

Aw, tarot cards.

Want me to read your fortune?

I bet you'd like to do a lot more than read it, buddy.

The name's Christopher, buddy.

I always thought these things were baloney.

Just tell people what they want to hear and they're happy.

Would you like to meet my mother?

Mommy, dear, Mrs. Wellington,

I'd like you to meet my new friend, Christopher, um...

Madam.

Christopher.

He's dying to tell you all about yourselves with these beautiful tarot cards you gave me,

Mrs. Wellington.

Uh, do you do this professionally, Christopher?

I only do things for fun.

12. Happy Birthday (Jonathan calls)
13. Incidental Strings (Mary & Christopher)

14. Do U Lie? – Piano Instrumental (Mrs Wellington’s phone message)
15. Incidental Organ (Christopher & Mrs Wellington)

ISAAC: I called u all night last night, now where were u?

PRINCE: With me.

ISAAC: I hate this damn machine.

PRINCE: Me too!

ISAAC: U arent there are u? U arent seeing another man by any chance?

PRINCE: Yes..yes.

ISAAC: Cuz if u are, I'll kill him!

PRINCE: He's a little possessive...dontcha think?

iZsaZsa said:

So many great avatar pictures on this threads.

I C U using the lady 2 the right

16. I Wonder U (Mary thinks of a retort)
17. Alexa De Paris (Dance on the veranda)
18. Do U Lie? – Instrumental (Isaac’s car at Mrs Wellington’s)

I want a girl who's smart, a girl who can teach me things.

I hate stupid women.

You know why?

You marry a stupid girl, you have stupid kids.

You don't believe me?

Follow a stupid kid home and se if somebody stupid don't answer the door.

I love this thread, Oldfriends --- I don't have time to read through it all right now but I'm coming back to read all of this- looks interesting. I like that you pull up these great pieces of Prince memories I love that he had his stylists fix the winner of the contest up "Prince style"