Musicals


The Folk Prophet
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17 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Okay, one more. Your thoughts on the Rocky musical? When I first heard about it, I thought it was a little silly. I can't imagine Rocky Balboa the character singing. But, to be fair, it has some decent songs. 

Haha. I thought at first you were meaning The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And I was thinking to myself..."Really, Gator....you can't guess what I think of that?"

As to the Rocky musical, I'm not familiar at all, other than I saw one little clip once where they were doing Gonna Fly Now. I have the same impression you had at first. Sounds silly.

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1 minute ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Haha. I thought at first you were meaning The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And I was thinking to myself..."Really, Gator....you can't guess what I think of that?"

As to the Rocky musical, I'm not familiar at all, other than I saw one little clip once where they were doing Gonna Fly Now. I have the same impression you had at first. Sounds silly.

Lololol. I knew you would think that way so I posted a song from the actual musical so you didn’t think I was playing games or being a jerk. Lol!!! 
 

But yes everyone, there is a musical based on the Rocky Balboa character. Not the other “Rocky” movie. 
 

 

Edited by LDSGator
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11 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

 

 

From the Rocky musical (obviously, lol). I’m not saying it’s legendary or iconic, but I think it really embraces and describes the character and his current life. 

I stand by my initial assessment after listening to this song. Silly.

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4 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Different tastes.

This.

There are a lot of musicals like this. They're manufactured. They take a property and convert it and it sounds like it's done by committee. Movies, of course, do the same thing. It's a cash grab. It's not high art. (Are any musicals "high" art? I think not...but you probably get what I mean.)

They're fine. I don't hate most of them. I didn't hate that song. I just don't like it. If I was invited to see it I'd probably enjoy it. But I wouldn't spend my own money to go see it. I wouldn't purchase the soundtrack, etc. This sort of thing is fine. But it doesn't fit into the circle of musical theater that I'm interested in. But I can see, and respect, that some people enjoy this sort of thing more than I do.

And, hey...as discussed previously...I don't like rap music either. some people live and die by it. To each their own, I guess.

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2 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

This.

There are a lot of musicals like this. They're manufactured. They take a property and convert it and it sounds like it's done by committee. Movies, of course, do the same thing. It's a cash grab. It's not high art. (Are any musicals "high" art? I think not...but you probably get what I mean.)

They're fine. I don't hate most of them. I didn't hate that song. I just don't like it. If I was invited to see it I'd probably enjoy it. But I wouldn't spend my own money to go see it. I wouldn't purchase the soundtrack, etc. This sort of thing is fine. But it doesn't fit into the circle of musical theater that I'm interested in. But I can see, and respect, that some people enjoy this sort of thing more than I do.

And, hey...as discussed previously...I don't like rap music either. some people live and die by it. To each their own, I guess.

Agree 100%. Perfectly said 

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11 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Speaking of Marni Nixon, The King and I. Another fine movie musical...that's somewhat flawed...but quite good.

Sorry for the self quote...but I was thinking about The King and I and had some thoughts. In part, I was looking at the songs online (probably Wikipedia or something) and noted that I actually don't really care for a lot of the music therein. It's.....fine. But nowhere near Rodgers and Hammerstein's best work. (Not their worst either.) In fact, the overall music in Flower Drum Song is significantly better imo. Not exclusively. And subjectively. But The King and I's music is...dry. It bores me. When I watch it I want to skip a lot of the music. I generally tune out mentally during a lot of the songs.

But as a show...it's very good -- whereas Flower Drum Song, as a show, is very bad. The King and I is moving. It has meaning. It's has great acting. It's a good movie. But the music is....meh.

A lot of musicals have moments of "meh" in the music. Gems where all the music is good are rare. But even more rare are musicals that I truly enjoy, but find the music throughout to be mostly "meh". The King and I is pretty unique in that regard, I think. Maybe I'll think of other examples.

That being said, if the King and I had incredible music along the lines of Roger's and Hammerstein's best (The Sound of Music, South Pacific), then it would be one of the best musicals around, instead of being kind of middle tier.

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@The Folk Prophet thoughts on Billy Elliot? First time I ever saw a Broadway musical back in 2011.

Forget gay undertones, that show was just flat-out gay.  With that said, it was fabulous!

Lol I really did enjoy it. And that’s coming from a guy who was anti-musical prior to having watched Billy Elliot as the first Broadway show I attended.

Prior to Billy Elliot, I didn’t like musicals much at all. I had only seen low-production musicals, plus, as a kid, I found any kind of musical to be obnoxious. 

Now I thoroughly enjoy going to Broadway shows and musicals, although I’ve only been to about 4.

Edited by clbent04
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So because I've been so into musical talk lately, I decided to purchase the 6-movie pack of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals on VUDU. (We own Oklahoma! and South Pacific on disc...but the other 4 we didn't own yet.)

It included one show I'd never seen. State Fair. So we watched it last night.

So the short review is: moderately fun but empty.

I really enjoyed one thing about it. The verse with the pig singing in the opening song. That's awesome! Haha. I actually really liked the opening number overall except that it was so short. I really wish they'd developed it into a big number with chorus and maybe even dancing and stuff.

Other than that...meh on the music. And super meh on the story. And meh on the acting.

It was SO old fashioned. And I'm saying that as a relative idea. Old fashioned for Rodgers and Hammerstein. Old fashioned music. Old fashioned acting styles. Old fashioned camera angles. I mean it felt like watching something from the 40s more. And old fashioned in the structure and musical style.

You see...for those who don't know...Rodgers and Hammerstein revolutionized musical theater. Primarily in 2 ways. There weren't the first ones to do these two things, but they unquestionably made them mainstream and popular and changed musicals forever moving forward. What were these two things you ask?

1. They incorporated the music into the plot instead of just using supplemental fluffy meaningless songs.

2. The wrote shows that had dealt with dark and difficult dramatic subject. Rape, murder, racism, war, slavery, etc.

(There's a theoretical 3rd. They didn't write their shows around star power.)

Anyhow...State Fair did neither of these two things. The music was supplemental, fluffy, and meaningless, for the most part. And the subject matter was light and fluffy too. (Granted...probably had more depth than Flower Drum song...another Rodgers and Hammerstein that didn't follow the two above ideas fully either. Well...the songs were more incorporated into the show mostly for Flower Drum Song. So.....??? The plot was worse. But I digress....)

The music wasn't terrible -- except the opening solo by the female lead which wasn't my favorite it was moderately listenable if you don't mind oom pa pa type fluffy waltzes.

But, yeah.... I'm not sorry we got it with the pack. We paid $60 for 6 shows (I probably should have waited for a sale...but.....) If I'd just purchased the 3 of the 4 I didn't own separately (excluding State Fair) I would have spent $45. $55 including State Fair. With the $60 I got digital copies of the two I owned on disc too. So that's worth the $15 to me. Call it $5 a piece for the three.

Do I recommend State Fair? Not really. But it was okay. It's the only show they wrote for a movie instead of as a stage play. It's a remake of another movie. And it was very successful following on the heels of Oklahoma! But I think that's the primary reason it was successful.

Edited by The Folk Prophet
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3 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

So because I've been so into musical talk lately, I decided to purchase the 6-movie pack of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals on VUDU. (We own Oklahoma! and South Pacific on disc...but the other 4 we didn't own yet.)

It included one show I'd never seen. State Fair. So we watched it last night.

So the short review is: moderately fun but empty.

I really enjoyed one thing about it. The verse with the pig singing in the opening song. That's awesome! Haha. I actually really liked the opening number overall except that it was so short. I really wish they'd developed it into a big number with chorus and maybe even dancing and stuff.

Other than that...meh on the music. And super meh on the story. And meh on the acting.

It was SO old fashioned. And I'm saying that as a relative idea. Old fashioned for Rodgers and Hammerstein. Old fashioned music. Old fashioned acting styles. Old fashioned camera angles. I mean it felt like watching something from the 40s more. And old fashioned in the structure and musical style.

You see...for those who don't know...Rodgers and Hammerstein revolutionized musical theater. Primarily in 2 ways. There weren't the first ones to do these two things, but they unquestionably made them mainstream and popular and changed musicals forever moving forward. What were these two things you ask?

1. They incorporated the music into the plot instead of just using supplemental fluffy meaningless songs.

2. The wrote shows that had dealt with dark and difficult dramatic subject. Rape, murder, racism, war, slavery, etc.

(There's a theoretical 3rd. They didn't write their shows around star power.)

Anyhow...State Fair did neither of these two things. The music was supplemental, fluffy, and meaningless, for the most part. And the subject matter was light and fluffy too. (Granted...probably had more depth than Flower Drum song...another Rodgers and Hammerstein that didn't follow the two above ideas fully either. Well...the songs were more incorporated into the show mostly for Flower Drum Song. So.....??? The plot was worse. But I digress....)

The music wasn't terrible -- except the opening solo by the female lead which wasn't my favorite it was moderately listenable if you don't mind oom pa pa type fluffy waltzes.

But, yeah.... I'm not sorry we got it with the pack. We paid $60 for 6 shows (I probably should have waited for a sale...but.....) If I'd just purchased the 3 of the 4 I didn't own separately (excluding State Fair) I would have spent $45. $55 including State Fair. With the $60 I got digital copies of the two I owned on disc too. So that's worth the $15 to me. Call it $5 a piece for the three.

Do I recommend State Fair? Not really. But it was okay. It's the only show they wrote for a movie instead of as a stage play. It's a remake of another movie. And it was very successful following on the heels of Oklahoma! But I think that's the primary reason it was successful.

Shot in the dark-start a Youtube page devoted strictly to musical history. That was very enjoyable to read, I learned a ton. 

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10 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Shot in the dark-start a Youtube page devoted strictly to musical history. That was very enjoyable to read, I learned a ton. 

Haha. I'm just repeating what I read on wikipedia.

Edit: Well not the review part. Just the history stuff. 

Edited by The Folk Prophet
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On 8/27/2021 at 11:58 AM, dprh said:

I can understand the criticism.  I struggle with listening to most country music, really just prejudices carried over from my youth.  If there was a country musical (is there one?) I'd have no interest in it, regardless of how popular it was.

That would be 9 to 5. If you hate Roger Miller country (he did the music for Disney's Robin Hood) you could also try hating Big River (the Huckleberry Finn story).

 

 

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2 hours ago, dprh said:

Has anyone seen "Something Rotten" ? I've only listened to the soundtrack.  I really enjoy most of it.  

Same, only heard the soundtrack though. 
 

Does anyone have a song they enjoy from a musical they don’t really like? For me it’s Corner of the Sky from Pippin, a boring musical asIde from that song. 

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1 hour ago, mordorbund said:

That would be 9 to 5. If you hate Roger Miller country (he did the music for Disney's Robin Hood) you could also try hating Big River (the Huckleberry Finn story).

 

 

We saw Big River at the Hale a couple years ago.  Music and plot were forgettable; but the sets were remarkable—the entire stage lifted up to reveal a water-filled tank, with the two leads paddling a raft around it and at one point interrupted by a full-on rainstorm.

And in @LDSGator’s vein:  the only song I remember from that musical is “Worlds Apart”, which struck me as pretty and poignant.

Edited by Just_A_Guy
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4 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Same, only heard the soundtrack though. 
 

Does anyone have a song they enjoy from a musical they don’t really like? For me it’s Corner of the Sky from Pippin, a boring musical asIde from that song. 

 

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3 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Does anyone have a song they enjoy from a musical they don’t really like?

I don't like Carousel. The whole "he hits me, but that's just his way of showing love" leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I'm glad it produced "My Boy Bill" (Billy's Soliloquy) and "You'll Never Walk Alone". 

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8 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

But I'm glad it produced "My Boy Bill" (Billy's Soliloquy) 

Particularly when performed by someone like Mandy Patinkin:

Edit: I realized listening to this that there's 3 swear words in it. Though they're not, you know...super severe words.... be warned. Oh, and one maybe Lord's name in vain...depending on whether you read it as a sincere plea or not. Considering the character's character, I'm going with in vain.

 

Edited by The Folk Prophet
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Speaking of Mandy Patinkin and musicals not particularly loved but some songs that you do:

Secret Garden with the songs A Bit of Earth, Lily's Eyes, Quartet, and Hold On.

Edited by The Folk Prophet
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1 hour ago, The Folk Prophet said:

and Hold On.

Another tacky self quote...but....

This song is potentially fantastic. But I have yet to hear it EVER performed well. Not once. Every version of it I've ever heard is ruined by the performance.

WHY!

It's irritating.

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