"Ladies Who Lunch" sung by a guy?

[jagfkb]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:11am

Some one in my drama school presented this idea, and it's caused a slight controversy amongst the students. What do you think? Would it work?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:13am

In a production or just a concert setting?

[jagfkb]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:25am

Concert/ cabaret setting. We're all performing songs. I'm performing "Die, Vampire, Die" from [tos] and "Shipoopi" from The Music Man.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:27am

Then what's the big deal? There are actually a lot of male performers who I'd like to see sing it. If it's out of context and it'll work vocally, the idea doesn't bother me at all, but JMO.

Updated On: 3/10/09 at 11:27 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:27am

A terrible idea, because it completely loses the final irony: that the singer is singing about herself as well.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:28am

It would lose some of its punch if sung by a man. Joanne can sing the song because she knows these women. A man singing it would come across as unecessarily mocking, perhaps sexist.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:28am

Why not?
It's a twist.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:36am

Or you just assume he has assumed the character singing the song. I don't think it's a big deal.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:46am

As Gertrude Stein said,
"A drunk is a drunk is a drunk".

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:50am

I think it would work, especially if a gay man sang it, as he could easily run in this circle and be one of the "ladies". There is a nice double entendre as gay men sometimes use female pronouns for each other. It could be quite impactful and funny.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:53am

It could be really funny. I don't see the problem. Then again, I'm not a woman. But it's an observation of "those women." So why can't the observation be made by a man?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:56am

You mean like this guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxVX8BiwxCc

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:56am

Then again, I'm not a woman. But it's an observation of "those women."

- But as PJ said, in the end it's an observation of herself.

[wonkit]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:56am

I am not sure you want this song to be "funny." It is witty and bitter but since it is about dying it really shouldn't be "amusing." Whether it is sung by a man or a woman, I assume you want it to have the impact it was designed to provoke.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 11:57am

Or this guy--who is gay-bashed halfway through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QgoPRcFHxQ

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:01pm

The song elicits both amusement and sadness depending on the delivery. I think a guy could do it, either serious or more light. I dont think there is one way it is done, regardless of the intention it was written in. Thanks for posting that clip, Joey. That was interesting. :)

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:03pm

There you go. Because there are two versions on YouTube that don't meet with PalJoey's approval, your classmate shouldn't sing that song. Nor should anyone. Ever again.

HE HAS SPOKEN.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:07pm

Due to this young woman's rendition, the song is now offically banned from public performance anywhere.
And Pretty Women as well.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:13pm

Jeszis. Lighten up, Phyllis.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:18pm

As someone once said, "That's an insensitive response, to say the least."

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:20pm

Well, it's being performed in a cabaret by a singer, not an actor as Joanne. It doesn't need to have the exact intention as meant in the show. It is ultimately a comedic song. A darkly comedic one, but funny nonetheless. It's observational and I think, if done well, can be done by a man. There will be plenty of people with legit arguments saying otherwise, but in the end it's all in what you decide. No one will boycott. It is what it is.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:29pm

jagfkb asked for our opinions--he asked "What do you think? Would it work?" and some of us said yes and some said no.

How was I to know you perform it regularly and would take my answer as a criticism of your performance?

Is that why you made jagfkb's thread about PalJoey's "approval"?

ColorTheHours was able to refute my argument without getting personal: "...in the end it's all in what you decide. No one will boycott. It is what it is."

And the male performances of the song were posted simply because they are funny.

I'm sure your rendition of "Ladies Who Lunch" is riveting and includes multiple levels of irony. How could it not be?

Updated On: 3/10/09 at 12:29 PM

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:29pm

I can think of lots of male "ladies who lunch." Straight males at that. Marius Rusovici. That jackass from "The Hills." Brody Jenner.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:36pm

Please, it's not in my key. I've never performed that song publicly a day in my life.

Just because you have to make everything about you, doesn't mean I do as well, but nice try.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 12:41pm

Oh for crap's sake.