More Musicals!

Listening to new musicals while I work is always a great thing.

Curtains was great when David Hyde Pierce was singing, and had some other very nice moments, but on the most part it was kind of… meh. I’m sure it’d be fun to be in/watch, but it’s not one that really sticks with you.

La Cages aux Folles was wonderful, even if it makes me feel bad for liking it because it beat Sunday in the Park with George at the Tonys… It was deserving, though, even though I would have given it to Sondheim (big surprise).

You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown was nice…? Kinda? Maybe? I guess… To be honest, I got halfway through and then had an urge to listen to Sweeney Todd. Which I then did. And it was awesome. I may go back and listen to the second half of the album, or I may just listen to more Sweeney.

You’re always safe with Sweeney. The musical, not the person, I suppose.

Drowsy Chaperone

My brother, my girlfriend and I have just returned from seeing a production of The Drowsy Chaperone.

We all love the theatre and we’ve been getting more and more involved in the local theatre community – especially the theatre company which produced Drowsy (I’ve been privileged to work with this company before, in a production of Sweeney Todd, and I’m desperate to work with these people again). It was my brother who insisted, when the show was first announced, that we go see it (he’s a big fan of Sutton Foster and loves the soundtrack of the show – of course we were going to go). My brother and I have a system in that if he recommends we go see something and it turns out to be awesome, I commend him on his ‘good call’.

I can’t remember the last time I didn’t commend him.

The Drowsy Chaperone was fantastic. It took me actually seeing the production as a whole for me to really appreciate the show. Having listened to the soundtrack a few times, I enjoyed the music, but I didn’t really get into it. I feel completely differently now.

The key is The Man in the Chair – the main role who ties the entire show together and makes it brilliant. His commentary on the events we are witnessing, all the while revealing small snippets of his sad, lonely life, give the show a comedic and sympathetic centre. It’s a brilliant role, and it was brilliantly acted in this particular production – in fact, all the roles were incredibly well cast. The singing was great, the dancing was spectacular and the cast just oozed fun, enjoyment and a feeling of excitement that captured the entire audience and had everyone laughing from beginning to end.

Every time I see a theatrical production, I think to myself: I’m in a band now, and I want to be in a band in the future. I want to tour the world, spreading our music to all corners of the globe. But, at the end of the day, I’ll always end up back on stage. I don’t think there’s any question to that. Sooner or later, I’m going to end up in yet another musical.

I honestly can’t wait.

The NPH

Neil Patrick Harris is an incredibly talented man. Incredibly, incredibly talented. I can’t stress enough how talented he is. Multitudes of talent.

If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan. I first was introduced to The NPH the same way that a lot of my generation was, through How I Met Your Mother, where his character, Barney, exploded with popularity and almost became the focus of the show, over the main character. A lot of this was due to NPH’s performance, which I am sad to report has gone unrewarded by the Emmy voters – he’s been nominated many times, but always lost to someone else; a travesty! A travesty, I say!

Anyway, while I love Barney Stinson and I think he’s amazing, what really impresses me about Neil Patrick Harris is his prowess in musical theatre. He is, essentially, a triple threat. He has a beautiful voice, is a terrific actor and can dance a bit too – and I just love it when he steps out onto the stage.

I was watching him in Company last night, and he simply stole the show – he was an excellent Robert and carried himself brilliantly throughout the entire production. He’s also the only person I can hear when I think of the Balladeer from Assassins – he is absolutely perfect in that role, and I desperately, desperately want to see a video of that production, if only one existed… Not to mention he does a very good job as Toby in Sweeney Todd.

But what I really love is his version of ‘Finishing the Hat’, from Sunday In The Park With George, which is sublime. It’s so pure, emotive and beautiful, I’ve been captivated by it ever since I heard it.

It seems as if NPH isn’t going to be happy until he’s appeared in every Sondheim production ever, and I’m not complaining about that at all. My brother and I think that, after How I Met Your Mother ends, he’ll return to Broadway for a stint or two (because, you know, my brother and I have access to the inner most thoughts of The NPH). Really, that’s what we hope he does. He really knows how to work the stage – which is why he’s been asked to host to Tony Awards several times, each time doing a fantastic job.

I just hope that one day, he has a Tony Award with his name on it, because as far as I’m aware, he more than deserves one.

Top Seven Favourite Musicals

I love musical theatre. I love making lists of the things I love. You really should have seen this coming.

I wanted to write a Top Ten list for today’s post (and the one I’ve got tucked away, ready to be posted… don’t feel like posting that yet) and I’ve been listening to musicals a lot lately – especially Number 6 – so this just made sense. But… I can’t really decide on numbers 8-10, so I’ve only got a definite seven so far.

Now, I’ve only selected stage musicals, not film adaptations, because that would be an entirely different list. And these are all musicals that I’ve either seen on stage, or seen filmed productions of (filmed versions of the stage show, as opposed to filmed films… okay, I’m confusing myself now.)

Here are my Top Seven Favourite Musicals!

7) The Lion King
Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi

This is the only one that makes it onto the list based mostly on the staging. I love the music – both the original ones from the film and the new ones for the stage – and I love the story, but the staging is incredible. The puppets are amazingly designed and operated in such a fashion that you forget there are even people operating them. And the sets are so intricate and beautiful, they just took my breath away. I’m a sucker for Disney, but this was definitely worth seeing live. Absolutely incredible.

6) Company
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by George Furth
This musical has really grown on me. My opinion of it started at ‘passable’ to ‘pretty decent’ and now it’s at ‘I can’t stop listening to it’. Sondheim is incredible – his work is so intricate and original, it astounds me some of the things he comes up with. It also amazes me the hell he puts his performers through. The song ‘Getting Married Today’ is possibly the hardest piece of music I’ve ever heard for a vocalist, and it blows me away every time I hear it. I’ve seen a couple of filmed versions of the stage show, my favourite is the Neil Patrick-Harris version, but I recommend the Raul Esparza version (almost) just as much.

5) The Book of Mormon
Music, Lyrics and Book by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Robert Lopez
This is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard/seen. The music is incredible, the lyrics are hilarious and the script is sharp and surprisingly heartwarming. Parker and Stone are intelligent guys, they really know what they’re doing, and to add Lopez to that team – responsible for the awesome Avenue Q – and you’re almost guaranteed a success. To be honest, I thought it might be reasonably offensive, but instead of taking pot-shots at the Mormon community, it’s actually quite tender and sweet, and doesn’t condemn religion or those who don’t worship any dieties. It’s simply divine.

4) Les Miserables
Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg
Lyrics by Alain Boubil
Books by Clause-MIchel Schonberg and Alain Boubil
I think this is a musical that every music-theatre fan has to love, and with very good reason. It’s a monster of a show that’s excellent from start to finish. It’s considered a classic for a reason – the characters are dynamic and conflicted, the music is incredibly moving and it’s just all-round fantastic.

3) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
This is the darkest, most twisted musical I’ve ever heard and I love every second of it. I saw the film first and really enjoyed it, but there is so much more to be gained from seeing the full, unabridged stage show. Especially if they get the blood to work. Being Sondheim, the music is outrageously difficult and convoluted, but that just makes it even better! On a personal note, I was honoured enough to be involved in an amateur production of Sweeney and it was one of the greatest experiences in my life, thanks to the incredible cast and crew.

2) The Producers
Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
I know that I saw stage shows before I saw Mel Brooks’ masterpiece, but this is the first one I can remember really falling in love with. Every joke hits home, every song is sublime, I remember watching this in rapturous awe (after not being too sure about going to see it in the first place – don’t mention the war, and all that). But Brooks is a genius, and if anyone can make me want to see a musical about Hitler, it’s him. Absolutely fantastic.

1) Jesus Christ Superstar
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
I’m not religious, I don’t believe that Jesus was the saviour of us all, and if I had to pick a favourite character from the Bible, it’d be Judas – because of this musical. I love every single second of every single piece of music in this musical, and there’s really no way I can explain that aside from ‘it’s pretty friggen’ awesome!’ I think it’s a fantastic story with fantastic characters who are all singing fantastic songs. I don’t feel like I’m doing it justice because this section explaining why I love it is so bland and unoriginal – but it’s true! I just love it completely! It’s brilliant!
(Also, on other personal note, the first proper amateur production I was in was JCS and, like I said before, it was one of the best experiences in my life. Incredible experience. What I’m trying to say is, get out there and do musical theatre!)

So, there you have it, my top seven musicals (for the record, 8 and 9 would probably have been Wicked and Avenue Q respectively, but I can’t think of a number 10, and 9 is a stranger number than 7…). That said, I do feel like I need to see and listen to more musicals, so if you have any to recommend, please don’t hesitate! And if you have any favourites you wouldn’t mind sharing with the rest of the class, that would be fantastic too!

On a slightly different note (but not really) we watched the Tony Awards tonight, so expect tomorrow’s post to be concerning that – unless something cool happens to me tomorrow (but I’m working, so I really doubt it…)

American Psycho

Rumour has it that they’re making a musical version of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel, American Psycho. There are some sentences that probably shouldn’t exist, and I think that’s one of them.

Apparently, the people who wrote the music for Spring Awakening, which is awesome if you don’t mind me saying, will be writing a quite ‘electric’ score for the Psycho musical and it’ll also be a bit of a blood bath.

So I’m imagining some sort of electronic Sweeney Todd – and at the same, I think that this will either be fantastic or a complete disaster. I mean… crazier things have worked, haven’t they? Look at most of Pixar’s work – on paper, they sound rediculous, but they work like a gem. On the other hand, this is a book about insanity and mass-murder… people have qualms when they turned it into a film, so how is it going to work on stage? Perhaps people said the same thing when they heard about Sweeney Todd but that turned out to be one of the greatest musicals ever (it’s hard to go wrong with Sondheim, I think). I think until it actually happens, we have no idea if it’s going to be a flop or a hit.

But this has got me thinking (as most of these posts will do), is there something worse that could be turned into a musical?

My first thought was something superhero based, but there have been superhero musicals before. Spideman: Turn Off The Dark was on Broadway in the past year; even if it was a failure, it still made it. Not to mention Team Starkid’s Holy Musical B@man which parodied  the Batman/DC Universe – it was low budget, but that’s part of Starkid’s appeal, and I enjoyed it – so it is possible to do a superhero musical.

Then I thought about anime, or cartoons in general, but that hasn’t stopped many Disney films from being adapted onto stage – The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid to name a few – or the previously mentioned Spiderman.

But what about a musical adapted from something so ridiculously cartoon-y, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? I mean, the whole point is that there’s a definition between a real human and the toons, and that would be incredibly difficult to reproduce on stage. Especially when it comes to characters like Jessica Rabbit, who are human toons – how could you distinguish between the two? It would have to be with costumes and make-up; perhaps all the human characters could be dressed very plainly and the cartoons very colourfully, and the same with the make-up too. That could work, especially when it comes to sets – the difference between the real places and Toonland could be incredibly striking and effective, especially with a huge chorus of toons singing along.

It’d be terribly difficult to cast Judge Doom, though – I mean, who would have that kind of range? I’d love to hear him sing a villain song in his normal voice, and then an ominous reprise at the end of the musical, only two or three octaves higher.

I suppose that you have the potential to turn anything into a musical, if you thought hard enough. I mean, they made Shrek a reasonably successful musical, that essentially means anything’s possible.

Now that I think about it, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? would be excellent fodder for a musical… I really want to see this now!

What about you, Blog-in-ators? What’s the strangest/weirdest/most unlikely musical you’d like to see made, and how would you do it?

My second choice would be a musical version of anything done by Quentin Tarantino, written by Quentin Tarantino. I’d love to hear the stunning, award winning ballad, ‘I Just Shot Marvin In The Face’.