Places to Chat
Musicals?I c
Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
Musicals?I c
Musicals?
I can't be the only one here who loves them (though, granted, considering I intend to pursue them as a career, there's probably something of a difference in intensity), right? Because they are perfect.
Well, not perfect, but all the more lovely for their flaws.
My top five (at the moment) are as follows, in approximate order:
1. Anyone Can Whistle: because it's snarky and brilliant and I identify with Fay so hard and Hapgood is the most adorable love interest ever. Also, one of the songs ("Simple") is a 15-minute-long exercise in Insane Troll Logic which ends by trolling the audience. And it's one of the best things ever! The premise (corrupt town government fakes a miracle to spark a tourist boom and refill the city coffers; uptight psychiatric nurse bands together with a happy-go-lucky lunatic to prove the miracle is false but ultimately end up finding their own miracle). Themes touched upon include the difference between madness and simply doing things outside of the rigid box of conformity, gender confusion, and the function of belief and taking chances in relation to the human condition.
2. Wonderland: I have a soft spot for Alice in Wonderland and always have, and I adore Frank Wildhorn's music (occasionally bizarre choices for lyricists notwithstanding), so what's not to love? Add to this the fact that the villain (KATE. SHINDLE.) is the personification of Alice's fears, insecurities, repressed desires, et cetera and that the show as a whole is an extended metaphor for discovery of self and a gleefully unrepentant embrace of life? And with a wealth of little nods and callbacks to the source material buoyed by a remarkable feel for the original flavor? (Also, in the last month, I've written 50,000 words of Wonderland/Once Upon a Time crossover fic. No regrets)
3. Sunday in the Park With George: I saw the Chicago Shakes production of this back in November with Carmen Cusack and Jason Daniely. I'd already been in love with the film of the original production from the eighties, so I walked in with ludicrously high expectations and the expectation that they wouldn't be met. Then I started crying four songs into act one and didn't stop until the end of the play; I probably would have kept blubbering for a while afterwards, but I wanted to be able to tell the actors how wonderful they were at the stage door, so I stopped. Everything about it was just this amazingly, beautifully poignant statement about the reality of life and the similarities between the act of making art and simply trying to live in a way that is true to the self, even if you don't know who that self is.
4. Follies: This is another one that I've seen live, and I actually didn't care much for it until I saw it live. Its strength isn't with the story (there... isn't really a plot), but the atmosphere, which isn't captured well in recordings or scripts. But then you see it and it's this crumbly old theater, haunted by the ghosts of past performers, and then the show itself is this teeny little slice of the disappointing lives of those performers in the present. It's tragically beautiful, but it's the sort of mundane everyday tragedy that gets passed over and forgotten
5. Company: Like Follies, this is really more of a character study than a traditional plot. It's also interesting in that each vignette takes place out of chronological order, entirely in Bobby's head, as he reflects on his life leading up to the birthday party in the present, which frames both acts. It's got a cynical, snappy kind of humor and it's at once brutally honest and oddly hopeful about the reality of marriage and interpersonal connections. Particularly noteworthy is the 2006 revial with Raul Esparza. More recently there was a revival with the New York Philharmonic, which was exciting because of Neil Patrick Harris but brutally disappointing with Patti Lupone's utter failure to be a convincing Joanne (Barbara Walsh is Joanne. Period, end of story).
Others that I'm incredibly fond of include Legally Blonde (which is VASTLY superior to the movie in all respects; also, I'm 10,000 or so words into a Legally Blonde/Company crossover. It makes sense in my head!), Leap of Faith (basically an updated Music Man with RAUL ESPARZAAAAAA as a religious conman and a snarky sheriff love interest instead of a snarky piano teacher love interest. Also, Danny Stiles was in the ensemble and he hits a fantastic note in one of the songs, and I swear to god that man needs his own show), Matilda (ALL the Tony noms. All of which were deserved; also, there's a chance I'll get to see this in NYC next November!), anything Kerrigan and Lowdermilk touch (they're glorious), Addams Family (especially the touring production), Next to Normal, Aida (this was one of my first musical loves—and I still have a theatre-crush on Sherie Rene Scott), Little Mermaid (see previous note re: SRS), Bonnie & Clyde, Mary Poppins (the touring Mary right now? is like three years older than me. Wat. Also, she's the most Time-Lord-y Mary I've ever seen, and it's brilliant. Plus her chemistry with the current Bert is adorable), A Little Night Music, In the Heights, and Into the Woods. Among others.
I'm ambivalent about movie musicals. Some of them are good (Sweeney Todd); others are pretty but vocally lacking (Chicago), some are pretty but vocally lacking and don't make the stage->screen transition well at all (Les Miserables). On the other hand I'm a huge fan of filming live productions, professionally for preference but I enjoy plenty of bootlegs too.
Anyone else care to join in my fangirlishness?
submitted by TNÖ, age 19, Deep Space
(May 2, 2013 - 12:05 am)
(May 2, 2013 - 12:05 am)
I went to see The Lion King recently and it was spectacular! The music was great, not to mention the above and beyond costumes!
I also liked Beauty and the Beast, The Westside Story, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat, Oklahoma and the Little Mermaid.
I saw The Lion King in Appleton, WI, a few weeks ago! If you can only see one show in your life, this is it! Music, costumes, effects, just spectacular, and I've seen many shows.
Admin
(May 2, 2013 - 2:24 pm)
I saw The Lion King when I was about seven in London—I mostly remember being terrified of the giant projected Mufasa head. That, and Shadowland, which for some reason left a searing impression on me. That was also the first show I ever really noticed the use of lighting, which sort of clued me in to the joy of the technical aspects of theatre.
Although honestly, The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney-On-Broadway show, and I think it's a shame that it did so poorly.
(May 2, 2013 - 6:12 pm)
@Admins
That is where I went too! I went on the 19th and got a bag with the lion head on it.
We went on April 13. We didn't buy any souvenirs, but we had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant about a block from the theater before the show. When the final applause died down, everyone seemed to be so spellbound and in awe that they left the theater in silence. . . .
Admin
(May 3, 2013 - 1:39 pm)
I totally agree about Anyone Can Whistle (although my mom hates it. She can't get past the absurdity of the people in the asylum being referrred to as "Cookies," even though I've told her it's supposed to be absurd.), Wonderland, Sunday, Aida (although while "Every Story Is a Love Story" is certainly pretty, I don't like the implications), Matilda, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, and ITW. The others, I unfortunately have not yet seen or heard, although I've been meaning to listen to almost all of them. Unfortunately, I have only seen one live production of anything because I don't look into things and have only even been interested in musicals for about a year (It was a college production of Little Women, which I actually thought was way better than the book, which I never really liked).
Well, I've heard part of Follies. I couldn't really get into it. I haven't heard the whole score, though.
As for movie musicals... Outside of Disney, I've only seen Les Mis (which I mostly agree about, although it depends on how recently I've listened to another recording, preferably the 10th Anniversary one), Gigi (which was not bad, but the music was too predictable--all of it was too predictable--and the characters weren't developed enough, and... meh), and The Sound of Music. As for the latter, I was too young to remember properly now, and I didn't really understand it at the time, either (I was really little, so for instance, I interpreted, "The hills are alive ... with songs they have sung..." literally), but just a couple of days ago, I was listening to the recording, and I love it, although I think the version with Rebecca Luker is even better. I want to see it again as soon as possible.
The Lion King wasn't my favorite Disney on Broadway production, but I did like it a lot.
Speaking of Disney stage musicals, apparently, there's a stage version of Aladdin, of which the libretto isn't available (and I don't think the entire score is, either) unless you've seen it in person, and it's coming to Broadway. I have mixed feelings. So far, I've loved every stage adaptation of Disney movies that I've seen, which I think is all of them except High School Musical (which I do suspect would be an exception), but they added in songs that were cut from the movie, and I feel like some of them were cut for a reason. For instance, they added back "Bakbak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim." I feel like saying that their "one Arabian dream" is "to stay this lazy and play like crazy," which this song does, makes "Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat," sound like Blatant Lies. I don't see how they can make that work, although you never know.
Anyway, my own recent obsession has been Der Glöckner von Notre Dame. It's Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, except in German, with an almost completely new libretto by James Lapine, which happens to be way darker (and also a lot better in my opinion, although YMMV). I don't speak German, but I found a version of the libretto from a workshop that isn't exactly like the final copy they translated but is pretty close, although it's missing 2 pages, so I can understand it. Also, the new songs! <3
(May 2, 2013 - 11:03 pm)
The "Cookies" thing is really her sticking point? In comparison to the unfettered absurdity of the rest of the show, that seems like an odd thing to get hung up on. But then I guess my dad refuses to like musicals because he thinks they all involve singing in elevators, for some reason (?), so who knows.
I tend to give "Every Story" a pass because I interpret "love" in this case as much broader than simply romantic love, in part because the climax of the show and 100% of Amneris's character development hinges on not only her romantic love for Radames but her queerplatonic love for Aida, and a patriotic love for her own country and her people. And I bring up Amneris because of the main three, she's the one who changes and grows the most and ultimately has the most control over the plot; I've seen the show live twice with different casts and both times it came off as really being more about her than Aida and Radames. Of course, that's probably not how it was intended, but I only believe in authorial intent when it suits me.
The musical version of Little Women is great! I've only listened to the OBCR, though, and granted a large part of why I liked it is Sutton Foster. The rest of the cast was kind of meh.
If you do get around to listening to all of Follies, listen to the 2011 cast recording; it's by far the best and it also has bits of dialogue so it's a little easier to get a sense of the atmosphere. Although as I mentioned in the OP, Follies is one of those shows that has to be seen to be properly enjoyed.
I've become increasingly annoyed with Les Mis in general of late, probably because of overexposure (my roommate LAAHVES it and refuses to acknowledge that it has flaws). So at the moment the only songs I'll listen to are Ruthie Henshall's "I Dreamed a Dream" and my own recordings of Andrew Valera being an awesome Javert.
I love listening to musicals in German—it's such a lovely language and at this point I can even understand some of it!—although I've heard of Der Glöckner von Notre Dame I haven't actually listened to it. But I'll have to, if only because James Lapine!
(May 3, 2013 - 1:51 pm)
I've been in three musicals, and you've probably only really heard of one of them. Bugsy Malone, Give My Regards to Broadway, and The Music Man. Bugsy Malone might have been my favorite, although The Music Man was fun, too. Maybe I liked Bugsy because I got to pie someone in the face, but it was so much fun anyway.
My Fair Lady is one of my all time favorites. The music... and the music... and the music... and everything else is amazing. Also, Rex Harrison is one of my favorite actors.
I like a lot of the Disney musicals. If our school ever does The Little Mermaid I will be so happy. Because Ursula has the best villian songs. One of my main problems with The Music Man was the lack of a villain song.
The NaNoWriMo musical. It's just on youtube, but I am in love with it.
Some of the songs from The Pajama Game are good.
The King and I.
Well . . . we got trouble . . . right here in River City is sort of a villainous song.
Admin
(May 3, 2013 - 5:27 pm)
Unfortunately, "I Want the Good Time Back" and its reprise aren't included in the high school version of TLM, even though they're probably the best songs in the entire show. Ursula is totally awesome, as are villain songs in general.
There's a NaNoWriMo musical? That's awesome. If we're going to mention geeky things that count as musicals in the broad sense but are not likely to ever be performed again, then Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog and Commentary! The Musical are amazing. There's also an extremely obscure Pennsylvanian musical called Water Bears in Space, which makes up for the actual music not being extraordinary by virtue of having the best premise ever and being utterly hilarious. It used to be on YouTube... and then it got deleted even though there was a link to the YouTube videos on the musical's offical website, which seems to me like a pretty strong indication that the people posting had permission, although I guess they didn't know that or didn't feel like telling YouTube or something.
I have not heard MFL or The King and I yet, but I have the soundtracks, so I expect I will soon.
(May 4, 2013 - 8:45 pm)
@ Admin:
I don't really consider Harold Hill to be the villain, even though he is a conman. I think that the closest thing to a villain song is Charlie Cowell's speech...
"You gullible green grass goats! Can't you see that you're being swindled out of your eye teeth this very minute? There's a burglar in the bedroom and your fiddling around in the parlor!" And it goes on like that.
@ TNO (with an umlaut):
That's weird, because my cousin recently did The Little Mermaid Junior, and that had Good Times and the reprise in it. Maybe they added it in later.
I don't think of Hill as a villain, either, but he was presenting Pool as a villain.
Admin
(May 5, 2013 - 7:35 pm)