Musicals


The Folk Prophet
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On 4/26/2022 at 5:22 PM, mordorbund said:

I seem to remember the director of the 1961 version saying he changed the song order for reasons similar to what you’re describing. After the rumble it was supposed to be Officer Krumpke. The director decides it’s too silly. That just escalated their gang war to a precipice you don’t climb down from….. and they’re going to play dress up? So he puts Cool there instead.

So apparently we're both mistaken here.

In the original show the Rumble ends the first Act. The 2nd Act then opens with I Feel Pretty. It is true that Officer Krumpke is in the 2nd Act, and in the 1961 move it was moved before the Rumble, but just as in the new movie, I Feel Pretty followed the Rumble. However, it was an Act change, with intermission between, which works okay.

Interestingly enough, Somewhere was also a solo sung by a character named Consuelo with a Company dance behind it.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story

Act 1[edit]

  • "Prologue" – Orchestra, danced by Jets & Sharks
  • "Jet Song" – Riff & Jets
  • "Something's Coming" – Tony
  • "The Dance at the Gym" – Orchestra, danced by Jets & Sharks
  • "Maria" – Tony
  • "Tonight" – Tony & Maria
  • "America" – Anita, Rosalia & Shark Girls
  • "Cool" – Riff & Jets
  • "One Hand, One Heart" – Tony & Maria
  • "Tonight (Quintet & Chorus)" – Riff, Jets, Bernardo, Sharks, Anita, Tony & Maria
  • "The Rumble" – Orchestra, danced by Riff, Bernardo, Sharks & Jets

Act 2[edit]

 

I guess the point being that what Stephen Spielberg did is apparently actually more in line with the original show.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I used to love looking over song titles of new musical recordings. I also love putting together song titles early as it helps me with outlining the show, etc.,  So anyhow, who knows, maybe one or two of you will enjoy looking over this planned song list for one of the musicals I'm currently writing.

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  • 4 weeks later...
1 minute ago, mordorbund said:

He loves it….. second only to the Taylor Swift jukebox musical he’s crafting in his head.

Lol. That’s awesome. 

I’m in the middle on Cats. It’s not the best musical I’ve ever seen. And it’s not the worst either. I don’t really understand the hate, and yes, the original source material is better 

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On 6/13/2022 at 6:52 PM, LDSGator said:

@The Folk Prophet-do you have any feelings about the musical Cats? 

 

On 6/14/2022 at 2:32 PM, mordorbund said:

He loves it….. second only to the Taylor Swift jukebox musical he’s crafting in his head.

The musical itself? Or the movie?

So interestingly enough..... I rather enjoyed the movie. I know it's got issues. But....I dunno. I enjoyed it weirdly.

The musical itself...it's not great as a music experience. But not terrible. But as a show including sets and dancing and everything I get why it's fun and did well.

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  • 5 months later...

I saw Spirited last night.

Now THAT'S how you make a danged movie people!

I mean it wasn't perfect, which I'll explain. And people who despise musicals will, obviously, be put off by that aspect of it. But holy cow it was nice to finish a movie and feel satisfied and happy and emotional and uplifted and etc., etc. It's been so long since a movie really did that for me.

Was it entirely un-woke? No. Lot's of racial "diversity" in ways that felt very forced. And unnecessarily so. It was set up in such a way that diverse casting was entirely possible without the forced stuff. In particular when they go to 17th century England. It's just so stupid when they do that. And I'm pretty sure there was a gay couple that flashed across the screen at one point...though not so in your face that it HAD to be taken that way.

But the story/writing was SO well put together. Not perfectly executed. But pretty good. A few things I had serious problems with that are nonsense. (Like the idea that an otherwise well-adjusted, happy, kid who serves the community and stuff, with a great dad and so-forth, would kill himself because of a single mean post about him online. Good grief.)

But the story arch of the main characters (Will Ferrel and Ryan Reynolds) was done so well...and part of how they did that was......... MUSIC. Good golly musicals done right can work. As an example, Will Ferrel has a solo he sings in the start of the show and it does SO much to just bring you into his character, understand his motivations, and root for him. It's done so well.

That being said, I'd rate the music as....... good. Like 7-8 out of 10 maybe. I realize that it's a bit subjective. I'm not a huge fan of Pasek & Paul's stuff (Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, A Christmas Story: The Musical, La La Land). They're style's a bit too contemporary for me. That being said, contemporary works here better than it does in, say The Greatest Showman, because this one's set in contemporary times. But still...not my primary preference. But that being said, it was, as I said, good. Catchy stuff overall. And for some I'm sure the music would be a 10. But nothing, music-wise, by itself really sent chills down my spine, so to speak. It was good. Just not PHENOMENAL. Taken as a whole, however, the music was SO effective. By "as a whole", I mean when you put in lyrics and usage. As to working for the story, it WORKED and it worked very well. One particular part had me bawling like a baby. Now, granted, I do that with movies pretty easy (though not very often with the movies they're making now-a-days...which partially explains my enthusiasm for this one), so I'm not suggesting others watching it will all have the same reaction. Without going into spoilers, the message and execution was handled in a way that really moved me, and made me not only feel strongly for the characters, but also related to my own life, and my love and gratitude for my Savior (which wasn't what the show was going for...but I relate everything to that, so.....)

Toward the end of the show I was thinking to myself, "Man oh man, they HAVE to end it such-n-such away. Please don't subvert my expectations! Do this right!" And then....to my amazement....they DID. Haha! SO SATISFYING.

So it wasn't a twist ending, or subversive, or surprising, or the like, since they did exactly what I hoped they would. But it was satisfying. It made me happy. (Not that everything in the show was exactly what I expected. A few interesting things actually.)

That being said... the idea and direction of the ending was done just right...but the execution of the ending was...a bit clunky. Which is too bad. Not terrible. It just could have been done better. And then there were a few issues in the show that bothered me a bit, morally speaking. Some implied sexual stuff, some language, and the like. I wish they'd kept that out. Kept it truly family friendly. It would have been stronger overall as a show that way. 

So overall I'd rate the show as a 7-8 out of 10 too (right along with the music). A few tweaks to the way they handled a few things and improved music and it'd easily be a 10 for me. Alas...

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So I saw Encanto finally yesterday and...

I was shocked by how not good it was. I mean...whatever...it was fine...for the kids I guess. But it was so not good. I keep using the phrase "not good" because I don't want to say it was terrible or awful or something. It was...fine. It just wasn't GOOD and I was shocked by it. Because I expected it to be really good. The music was blah. Which shocked me too. I had heard the music was great. It wasn't. And, it mostly felt forced and useless to moving the story forward...not that that mattered because..... What story? What was the point here? It made no sense. What was the catalyst for the light going out? Why didn't Mirabella get a door? What, exactly, fixed everything in the end? Why did they even really get the candle in the start? Who or what gave it to them? Was there actual meaning behind it? Why them and not someone else?

image.jpeg.2c89be4b42c9d95257ce482952c3993e.jpeg

Answers to these question remained as elusive as half the mysteries of Lost. I mean, I get that they tried to make the point that we need to accept each other as we are. Be nicer to each other. Don't be judgmental. Okay. But I kept expecting something meaningful and exciting to happen and then...randomly...the magic's back, everything's good...all is well....

Honestly it just felt like a let down because I expected something better. I mean I always kind of felt like Frozen's resolution was weak sauce too... But at least Frozen felt momentous and adventurous in having Kristoff racing across the breaking ice to get to Anna before it abandoned all that for its nonsense ending. It felt like a good ending even though it wasn't. This one didn't even have something exciting like that. They just built the house and...re-magic!

Like I said...it's fine. The kiddies liked it. It's fine. Whatever. 

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

What story? What was the point here? It made no sense. What was the catalyst for the light going out? Why didn't Mirabella get a door? What, exactly, fixed everything in the end? Why did they even really get the candle in the start? Who or what gave it to them? Was there actual meaning behind it? Why them and not someone else?

Heh.  My wife and I loved it, because it hit home in many, many ways.  I'm guessing you missed that the whole story was straight out of our own LDS church doctrine on the family.

It's a villain redemption story about a tyrannical matriarch who abuses and sacrifices her offspring (and grandkids) in any way she must, in the name of keeping up appearances and preserving the family's standing as community leaders.  Mirabella did get a door - the front door to the whole dang house - and her special gift is the power to heal a fractured family by exposing the evil actions of the matriarch and bring stuff to the surface so it can be dealt with.  The candle was the patriarchical light of Abuelo Pedro, holding the family together despite his death.

Why them and not someone else?  Because the movie would have had to be about those other people instead.  The candle and gifts are just analogies for the bonds that tie families together, and the gifts we all possess.  (You might want to re-listen to some of the songs and think about what's meant behind the lyric the stars don't shine, they burn.)

No really - if you missed that Abuela was doing great evil, then go back and watch.  Here we see some of the greatest evil I've seen in a Disney villain - look at what she's willing to do to any of Isabella's children that don't fit her idea of good enough:

That's some Mother Gothel level evil, right there.  And she'll do it too - just look at what happened to Bruno.   I mean, we get Abuela's position - the candle not only protects her house and family, but the entire community from invaders.  But holy crap woman - that doesn't mean you sacrifice your own offspring for not being perfect enough.

Wife and I were impacted by that movie to the point of tears on the way home.  Because she grew up under the thumb of an abuela who sacrificed my wife for her own desperate desire to keep the community's respect.   Wife's abuela never bothered to forsake her evil and seek redemption.   Good for Senora Madrigal.  Glad she was able to pull her head out and repent, and be forgiven by the family.  Repentance and forgiveness rock when we get them in this life - especially when they are able to go hand in hand.

Heh- and one of our wedding photos shows when her Bruno showed up and the entire room gasped.  

Edited by NeuroTypical
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12 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Heh.  My wife and I loved it, because it hit home in many, many ways.  

It's a villain redemption story about a tyrannical matriarch who abuses and sacrifices her offspring (and grandkids) in any way she must, in the name of keeping up appearances and preserving the family's standing as community leaders.  Mirabella did get a door - the front door to the whole dang house - and her special gift is the power to heal a fractured family by exposing the evil actions of the matriarch and bring stuff to the surface so it can be dealt with.  The candle was the patriarchical light of Abuelo Pedro, holding the family together despite his death.

Why them and not someone else?  Because the movie would have had to be about those other people instead.  The candle and gifts are just analogies for the bonds that tie families together.  (You might want to re-listen to some of the songs and think about what's meant behind the lyric the stars don't shine, they burn.)

No really - if you missed that Abuela was doing great evil, then go back and watch.  Here we see some of the greatest evil I've seen in a Disney villain - look at what she's willing to do to any of Isabella's children that don't fit her idea of good enough:

That's some Mother Gothel level evil, right there.  And she'll do it too - just look at what happened to Bruno.

Wife and I were impacted by that movie to the point of tears on the way home.  Because she grew up under the thumb of an abuela who sacrificed my wife for her own desperate desire to keep the community's respect.   Wife's abuela never bothered to forsake her evil and seek redemption.  

Heh- and one of our wedding photos shows when her Bruno showed up and the entire room gasped.  

Just for the sake of clarity, my post was a first impression. I can and would defend a lot of what I thought, but I expect I missed some things here and there. One of the issues with it was that A. I legitimately had a difficult time understanding all of the dialogue because of the stronger accents here and there and, B. The lyrics to the songs were, in my opinion, overdone and hard to understand in a lot of places as well. So there well may be things that I missed.

That being said, I still maintain the overall view that it was weak sauce. I don't discount that it resonates with people though. That doesn't make it objectively strong. I remember when I saw Karate Kid III in the theaters when I was a teen and it resonated with me SO much. Why? Because I kept messing up as a teenager, and Daniel messed up a lot in that movie. So it hit home. Does that make Karate Kid III objectively a well done movie?

Like I said before, I got the messages. I just didn't find the execution done very well. I didn't dislike it. I just expected it to be done better. But since I bought it, so the kids'll probably watch it again and again, I'm sure I'll revisit my thoughts and, perhaps, gain a greater appreciation. We'll see.

On a side-note, related to gaining appreciation, the music in Frozen II is one case for me. When I first saw/heard it I thought it was fine, but not as good as Frozen. But over time...I've gained appreciation. The music in Frozen II is really, really good. Maybe the best music in any animated film ever. Sure there's one-off songs here and there that are as good or better. But as a whole show of tunes....so well done.

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23 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

No really - if you missed that Abuela was doing great evil, then go back and watch.  Here we see some of the greatest evil I've seen in a Disney villain - look at what she's willing to do to any of Isabella's children that don't fit her idea of good enough:

That's some Mother Gothel level evil, right there. 

Seriously....I need closed captioning or something. I can't follow what she's saying. What does she say that's Mother Gothel level evil?

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Guest Godless
6 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Seriously....I need closed captioning or something. I can't follow what she's saying. What does she say that's Mother Gothel level evil?

I'm guessing it's the fact that she basically chose Isabella's husband for her. I haven't watched it in a while, but IIRC, Isabella was interested in someone else.

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13 minutes ago, Godless said:

I'm guessing it's the fact that she basically chose Isabella's husband for her. I haven't watched it in a while, but IIRC, Isabella was interested in someone else.

Hmm. If that's the case, I'm a bit surprised @NeuroTypical finds that evil in that (maybe I'm confused) I'm fairly sure he's, at times, argued in favor of the benefits of arranged marriages.

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7 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Seriously....I need closed captioning or something. I can't follow what she's saying. What does she say that's Mother Gothel level evil?

 

7 hours ago, Godless said:

I'm guessing it's the fact that she basically chose Isabella's husband for her.

Oh wow.  I guess you have to experience such things yourself (or be close to someone who has).  Here's the dialogue:

Abuela: Dolores, do we have a date?
Dolores: Today.  He wants five babies.
Isabel: [Eyes grow big, and she sprouts flowers on her hair.]
Abuela: Wonderful!  Such a fine young man, with a perfect Isabella, will bring a new generation of Madrigal blessings.

Watch what Abuela does with the flowers, as she's talking about the new generation.

Surely I don't need to spell it out further?

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47 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

 

Oh wow.  I guess you have to experience such things yourself (or be close to someone who has).  Here's the dialogue:

Abuela: Dolores, do we have a date?
Dolores: Today.  He wants five babies.
Isabel: [Eyes grow big, and she sprouts flowers on her hair.]
Abuela: Wonderful!  Such a fine young man, with a perfect Isabella, will bring a new generation of Madrigal blessings.

Watch what Abuela does with the flowers, as she's talking about the new generation.

Surely I don't need to spell it out further?

So she wants a progeny that will be capable of carrying on the family gift...and she...plucks the different colored flower from her daughters hair implying.... Um.... well it's a Freudian nature subconscious hope for sure (seems like the kind of thing my mother-in-law would do...haha).... but does it actually imply evil? I mean she didn't have Mirabella killed or something.

I get that Abuela was too focussed on her progeny's "gifts". That message was pretty on the nose, after all. But akin to locking a kidnapped child in a dungeon to steal her power from the world selfishly for yourself, lying to said child about who they are, gaslighting them, and tricking them into loyalty through more lies, etc., etc. Mother Gothel level evil? Really?

It doesn't feel like Abuela is evil at all. A bit misguided, sure. Focused on the wrong thing? Sure. Insensitive? Yeah. Hurtful? Of course. But evil? I mean that sounds like every parent or grandparent in every family that ever was to me.

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  • 2 months later...
1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

@The Folk Prophet if I’ve already asked this I apologize,  but after a quick search I couldn’t find the answer. 
 

Do you have any guilty pleasure musicals you enjoy? Some that may not be “elevated” or even good, but you enjoy them anyway? 
 

this goes for everyone of course. 

Sure...maybe. It depends, I guess, on what one considers "elevated" or "good".

But certainly Martin Guerre falls into that category. If you go to movie musicals then The Happiest Millionaire fits.

There are others that, I believe, are elevated but not good that I still quite enjoy (as do many others, which is why they're elevated), such as Hello Dolly.

And then there are those that are elevated but not good that I don't care for, such as Carousel. Actually there are probably a host of these.

And then there are those that are elevated but only sort of good but elevated as if they're "the best" that I think are...fine. Such as Singing In the Rain.

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3 hours ago, LDSGator said:

Do you have any guilty pleasure musicals you enjoy? Some that may not be “elevated” or even good, but you enjoy them anyway?

The Music Man is thoroughly telestial in pretty much every way, but I still find it entertaining. President Monson appeared to have, as well. I often smiled and sometimes cringed when President Monson would quote lyrics from The Music Man.

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14 minutes ago, Vort said:

The Music Man is thoroughly telestial in pretty much every way

A con man repenting of his ways because he finds real love? A town forgiving him because of the good he actually brought? That doesn't sound telestial to me. ;) 

FWIW, (and, once again, it depends on what one means by "elevated", though I took @LDSGator's meaning as "popular" or "generally viewed as worthy of praise"), in my opinion The Music Man is a phenomenal piece of high art living in the rather low brow world where musical theater often lives. And it manages to do it without the "high art" uppity trappings of shows like Les Miz.

I would argue that The Music Man was both elevated and good.

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

There are others that, I believe, are elevated but not good that I still quite enjoy (as do many others, which is why they're elevated), such as Hello Dolly.

Hello Dolly is exactly what I was talking about. Maybe not the best musical of all time but one you enjoy. Great pick. 

 

30 minutes ago, Vort said:

The Music Man is thoroughly telestial in pretty much every way, but I still find it entertaining. President Monson appeared to have, as well. I often smiled and sometimes cringed when President Monson would quote lyrics from The Music Man.

 

2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

The Music Man

The Music Man is one of my all time favorites, maybe number one. Every single song is a gem. 

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