are "sung through" musicals dead?- Page 3

[jpbran]

Posted: 4/10/14 at 4:56pm

Several mentions of double-CD cast albums made me try to remember if "In the Heights" is mostly sung-though. Can't remember for the life of me, though it does have a double-CD.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:55pm

I recall IN THE HEIGHTS having quite a bit of dialogue.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 12:38am

^ OP: Hopefully. Those are called operas and I'm partial to music theater.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 8:16am

Yeah, In The Heights is basically a traditional book musical…it just has over eighty minutes worth of music.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 10:22pm

I'm glad to see this thread revived. Much of it focuses on ALW and some of his "sung-through" musicals. I haven't watched my Blu-Ray of "Love Never Dies" lately, in part because I'm thinking about writing a phan-phic novel of "The Phantom of the Opera," as if there weren't enough of them already, and I don't want my sequel segment influenced by LND. Nonetheless, if I recall correctly, LND has a significant amount of dialogue.

Are a few lines of dialogue, in other people's views, enough to eliminate a musical from being considered "sung through?" If so, POTO is not actually sung through: there's a dialogue exchange when Raoul and Christine reconnect in her dressing room after her debut performance; the Phantom asks, "Did I not instruct that Box 5 is to be kept empty for my use?"; Carlotta tells Christine, "Your part is silent little toad," and the Phantom answers her; the Phantom says, "She is singing to bring down the chandelier;" and, before the performance of the Phantom's opera, Raoul, the managers, the police officers, and the Phantom discuss whether and when to shoot. I can think of several other pieces of dialogue, as well. Nevertheless, the show is, of course, primarily sung.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 9:05am

The auction is all dialogue, and there is a substantial amount of dialogue before Think of Me. Sunset Boulevard also has a large amount of dialogue interspersed throughout the show. I would never have thought to refer to those shows as sung-through.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 3:28pm

I would... There are examples of operas as well that have some bits of dialogue (and I am not speaking of works like Carmen which were written in a very musical "dialogue/song" format.)

[justincharacter]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 3:57pm

I recall the Australian production of LND having more dialogue in Act II than Act I. It is mainly sung through with short stints of dialogue during the first few minutes when Christine arrives, the arrival at the hotel, and right before "Dear, Old Friend" in Act I . The London production had way more dialogue. The Prologue that was in the London production for example, had a good amount of dialogue in it. I personally thought it was just Webber trying to write another auction scene
Updated On: 4/13/14 at 03:57 PM