Musicals


The Folk Prophet
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3 hours ago, LDSGator said:

@The Folk Prophet-what are your thoughts in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical? The one from the 70’s. 

Do you mean Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory the movie, or is there a musical that I'm not familiar with?

Apparently there's a 2013 musical that premiered on the West End. I'm not familiar with it.

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On 9/18/2021 at 12:57 AM, mordorbund said:

How about movies turned into musical plays?

Have any been adapted well? Any of Dreamworks or Disney productions?

Others such as The Producers, Rocky, Spamalot, or Legally Blonde?

I like Beauty and the Beast. I love the addition of If I Can’t Love Her. Gaston’s Me song is fun. Human Again can be cut as far as I’m concerned though. And Be Our Guest is well executed as a larger than life dance number (with such costuming!).

I also enjoyed The Lion King. The puppetry is great! He Lives in You is a great addition to the music. I’ll admit that there’s a number of songs that don’t contribute to the narrative, but I chalk that up to world building.

My kids enjoyed Aladdin but I would rather just watch the movie again. They added three sidekicks and, in Disney fashion, made them the comic relief. But Genie is already there and he is THE comic relief, so the three goofusses got tiresome quick. None of the new songs really did it for me, and they added Bollywood dancing but kept the same music so it just looked out of place for me. And the showstopper Prince Ali seemed small scale because it struck me obvious that the cast cycled through multiple times to simulate a long parade.

Prince of Egypt has been put on the West End (Broadway UK). It’s written by the same fellow that did Wicked (but he also did Godspeed, Pippin, and Pocahontas, so…). One of my biggest problems with the original was that the plagues did not go on long enough. The song should emotionally wear you down (or Pharaoh at the very least) and it was cut short while I was still jamming. I hope he’s extended that song. I’ve heard Footprints in the Sand and I enjoy it. So I’m tentatively hopeful for the stage version (also, how you gonna part the sea? Please tell me you’ll flood the stage!)

Oh yeah, somebody mentioned Something Rotten. If you’re thinking about going to that you’ll probably enjoy Spamalot. It’s Monty Python’s Holy Grail on stage. They sing the love song fully self aware that it’s part of a musical, included the nostalgic Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, and added a surprisingly profound (and witty) song about being all alone collectively (and with squires at their side).

My brother’s a Beetlejuice fan so he’d probably enjoy the musical, but it’s not my cup of tea.

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We finished watching South Pacific again the other night.

I gotta say, I was a bit put off by the weird filming colors and soft focus edges and stuff. I mean I think I always am, but for some reason I forget after a time and so it always surprises me when I go back and watch it again. I get, sort of, what they were going for. I just think it failed. Otherwise, I'm not a fan of the baritone/soprano leads. I much prefer the tenor/alto lead set up. Or, if you pull my arm, tenor/soprano. Baritone leads...no thanks. Let the baritones be the bad guys. :D

Overall, though, I like South Pacific.

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13 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

We finished watching South Pacific again the other night.

I gotta say, I was a bit put off by the weird filming colors and soft focus edges and stuff. I mean I think I always am, but for some reason I forget after a time and so it always surprises me when I go back and watch it again. I get, sort of, what they were going for. I just think it failed. Otherwise, I'm not a fan of the baritone/soprano leads. I much prefer the tenor/alto lead set up. Or, if you pull my arm, tenor/soprano. Baritone leads...no thanks. Let the baritones be the bad guys. :D

Overall, though, I like South Pacific.

I like South Pacific because it is very adaptable for shorter local play productions. However, the movie is not one that I choose to watch very often.

I can't imagine Baritone Manilow as a bad guy though???

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Why wasn't Martin Guerre better?

It was, by far, the most anticipated musical for me ever. I was SO excited by it. And then... I mean...it was okay. I still love things about it. But overall, it just wasn't as good as Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's previous two (Les Miz and Miss Saigon). Yes, they tweaked it and re-released it. But they didn't fix the actual problem. They added new songs that were great. Sure. But they ruined the wonderful orchestrations of the first version by cheaping out on the second version. Overall, I like the original version better, but the re-work included Live With Somebody You Love and Justice Will Be Done which were both wonderful. I can only imagine if they'd had better orchestrations. But....

Anyhow, the actual problem... the story.

When I first looked up Martin Guerre when I heard that it was their next musical (because I'd never heard of Martin Guerre), I saw that the movie Sommersby was based on it. I loved that movie! So intense and emotional and powerful. Perfect musical material!

For those of you who aren't in the know, Martin Guerre is the story of an imposter. It's based on a real individual. After the real Martin Guerre left his wife and son, someone showed up claiming to be him. He lived with Guerre's wife and son for three years, but then was eventually discovered. The real Martin Guerre retuned for the trial, etc.

Here's the wikipedia on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Guerre

*SPOILERS: The movie, however, left people in the dark over whether the man was an imposter or not (though it implied he was), and he died in order to save all the good work he'd done, the honor of his wife, etc. And that sacrifice was what made it powerful.

The musical followed the truth a bit more, I guess, and you knew the man was an imposter the entire time. And it just wasn't that powerful. Man I wish they'd just done Sommersby set to great music. I mean, sure, call it Martin Guerre. But...there you go.

Anyhow, still a loved show of mine. Particularly the original. I mean I only know it from the cast recordings, and because it wasn't popular enough there was never a complete recording, which is unfortunate. My wife actually got to see it in London when it was on originally. She speaks fondly of it.

I'd still call Martin Guerre a good show, overall. I'd still say it's one I like a lot. There are some really great numbers in it too. That's as comparted to their fourth effort, The Pirate Queen, which just stunk up the universe.

I really wish they'd write another one. They, apparently, having had the mega-huge success with Les Miz and huge success with Miss Saigon, and then faltering with Martin Guerre and taken a huge old face plant with The Pirate Queen, decided they'd done enough and have no new ambition. That's too bad. Rogers and Hammerstein had some less successful shows. They just kept on writing. I sure wish Schönberg and Boublil had done 10 or so instead of 4. But it seems not meant to be. Maybe they secretly have one last triumph up their sleeves. I doubt it. I mean their last work was 2007. Seems clear they quit.

Edited by The Folk Prophet
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Waiting to comment until my review was published. 

 

Dear Evan Hansen.

Why does this even exist? 

The premise - a kid allows the parents of a suicide victim to think he and the deceased were friends - is horrible, and the work tries to justify what goes on. 

The film adaptation is even worse, as some of the songs hit the metaphorical brick wall of what the recording equipment could handle and so you get bad audio effects going on. 

Just... wow this one was bad.

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On 10/2/2021 at 12:37 PM, Ironhold said:

Waiting to comment until my review was published. 

 

Dear Evan Hansen.

Why does this even exist? 

The premise - a kid allows the parents of a suicide victim to think he and the deceased were friends - is horrible, and the work tries to justify what goes on. 

The film adaptation is even worse, as some of the songs hit the metaphorical brick wall of what the recording equipment could handle and so you get bad audio effects going on. 

Just... wow this one was bad.

I find Dear Evan Hansen one of the most relatable musicals to me.  I'm somewhat aware of how socially awkward I can be and I could see myself doing something similar in high school given those unique circumstances.  And I think the music is excellent.

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1 hour ago, dprh said:

I find Dear Evan Hansen one of the most relatable musicals to me.  I'm somewhat aware of how socially awkward I can be and I could see myself doing something similar in high school given those unique circumstances.  And I think the music is excellent.

The high school I went to was so toxic that I was once accosted in a bathroom by a campus security officer. 

He thought we were alone, so he went off on a tangent about tequila. Based on the nature of his rant and how he was walking, I'm thinking he either came to work drunk or came to work hung over. 

Individual teachers, faculty, and staff tried to take care of us kids, but the head principal was dangerously out of touch with reality and so many others who worked there were unfit for their jobs. So I don't have a lot of fond memories of high school, and as a result things like this movie just don't sit right with me. 

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20 hours ago, dprh said:

I find Dear Evan Hansen one of the most relatable musicals to me.  I'm somewhat aware of how socially awkward I can be and I could see myself doing something similar in high school given those unique circumstances.  And I think the music is excellent.

I just watched the preview and I'm intrigued.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This thread has ranged all over, so I think it's okay to ask this one. I recently saw that they are releasing a musical "Cyrano" based on the old Cyrano de Bergerac play. From what I understand, this particular musical was released on stage a few years ago (2018?) by Erica Schmidt with the title role going to her husband, Peter Dinklage. The twist (that intrigues me) is that she uses Peter's dwarfism instead of an oversized nose as the physical trait that causes Cyrano to avoid professing his love for Roxanne. Has anyone seen the on-stage play or heard anything good or bad from it? I've seen mixed reviews, leaning positive.

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7 hours ago, MrShorty said:

This thread has ranged all over, so I think it's okay to ask this one. I recently saw that they are releasing a musical "Cyrano" based on the old Cyrano de Bergerac play. From what I understand, this particular musical was released on stage a few years ago (2018?) by Erica Schmidt with the title role going to her husband, Peter Dinklage. The twist (that intrigues me) is that she uses Peter's dwarfism instead of an oversized nose as the physical trait that causes Cyrano to avoid professing his love for Roxanne. Has anyone seen the on-stage play or heard anything good or bad from it? I've seen mixed reviews, leaning positive.

I saw the preview. I thought the music therein didn't particularly suit my tastes. But that's a one pass preview that didn't include much music. So I'll have an open mind. 

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I've only read the first page of replies, but I thought I would comment on musicals:

I'm not sure what my favorite is, but I enjoy Phantom, Les Mis, Sound of Music, Oliver!, Evita, and Annie. I can't think of any others at this moment. I really enjoy Phantom, Les Mis, Sound of Music, and Oliver! I want to say my mom started me with musicals, but I've seen musicals my entire life. My mom did, however, introduce Les Mis to me. It was one musical where all the songs were good with only one standing out: "Master of the House."

With Phantom, the title song stood out. I didn't like the movie version, because they cut the main musical number short. That song is the best part of the play, and they cut its length. I couldn't get into it. The Les Mis movie is great. For that one, they sang live, so the soundtrack had all the background noises. Brief spoiler ahead: I'm glad they took out the back-breaking sound in the soundtrack. It made that scene more intense and more painful. The end credits music wasn't in the soundtrack, however.

"Sound of Music" is an interesting one, especially "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." Things are much different regarding the roles of men and women. It's also difficult to pick a favorite song. I'm reminded of "Wind It Up" by Gwen Stefani, and she samples music from "The Lonely Goatherd." I digress.

I don't know what to say about Oliver! One thing I noticed is that "Who Will Buy?" is longer in the movie, and they never released a full soundtrack version of that song. There are some extended bits in that sequence that I'm glad isn't in the soundtrack. There's an extended release of "The Sound of Music" that I got as soon as I saw it available. I don't know if there's an extended release of the original "Annie," but there are many more movies that have extended releases. That list is off-topic.

Oh, Annie is interesting. For some reason I don't remember, I hated "Tomorrow" when I first heard it in second grade. Of course, when I said I hated it at school, people would sing the song more. However, there are two songs that I don't like from the movie, and I deleted them. I forget the titles, but I believe one was "Little Girls," the one sung by the scammy orphanage leader, Miss Hannigan. I definitely don't remember the other title, but it was the song when Miss Hannigan and the other two conceive of kidnapping Annie to collect a ransom. I saw the movie briefly and saw the ending to "Little Girls" and realized how much I hated the song and that I forgot I deleted it.

My wife got me interested in Evita. How Madonna got cast as Evita is something of a mystery, although she lost a lot of weight for that role. The only song that stands out is "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," one that Donna Summer covered. I haven't seen the movie in full, however. She also likes Chicago, and I haven't heard the soundtrack or seen the movie all the way through yet. I do remember not liking the Queen Latifah version of "He Had It Coming," but I believe I changed my mind.

My mom enjoys "Fiddler on the Roof" and "West Side Story," but I haven't heard the soundtrack or seen the full movie before. I didn't get into them as much as others. The only Rogers and Hammerstein musical I like is "The Sound of Music." I haven't really seen the others.

Oh, that reminds me of Judy Garland. I just can't get into liking her music. I actually feel sorry for her, because the studio overworked her to the point of exhaustion and blamed her for the exhaustion. All she wanted to do was entertain people, but other people made that difficult for her. Her most famous song, I would guess, is "Over the Rainbow" from "Wizard of Oz." I've heard many cover versions, including one by Sowelu from Japan. It's a great dance version, but I don't have the soundtrack to "Wizard of Oz." I haven't really wanted to get it, either.

Finally, I'll talk about Shirley Temple. My favorite movie of hers was "Heidi." It's not a musical, but my mom and my sister loved her other movies. I believe her most famous song is "Good Ship Lollipop." I haven't watched any of her other movies all the way through, but I sure loved her version of "Heidi."

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  • 1 month later...
19 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Sorry bud. Thought of this thread when I saw it. The word “legendary” is over used, but if it’s not used on him….

 

I'm not really even a huge Sondheim fan. But it's still sad he died before the new West Side Story movie premiered and I know he was working on a new musical. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

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