All Shook Up

[bobbysworld]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 7:33pm

I'm really starting to feel bad for musical theatre composers. Everything seems to be shifting toward musicals featuring great pop hits. Mama Mia...come on now!! Its not really a musical as much as it is a rock concert. I had a good time at the show, but these shows just don't have the same magic as an original broadway show. We Will Rock You and All Shook Up are opening, along with Mama Mia and Movin' Out. Movin' Out was a unique experience, which made it more interesting than the other shows. Even turning all these Disney films into musicals takes so much originality out of Broadway...all for the sake of selling tickets. I'm so thankful for the shows that come from original ideas.

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 8:00pm

Everything comes from something else. Music used to have something called quoting, and like quoting in English, it involves taking something someone else has written. The advantage of copyright laws is that they insure that composers can live. The downside is that it restricts them. It used to be a compliment to quote from an earlier composition and/or opera or whatever. Originality is NOT creating something completely new: there are 12 notes in the chromatic scale and very specific ways they go together. Originality is making something new out of something old. Every show has had a basis on something, some are just more obvious than others. AVENUE Q, one of the most creative and original shows on Broadway is based on SESAME STREET. WICKED is based on the book WICKED and THE WIZARD OF OZ. Broadway now has opera (and while you may not like it, Andrew Lloyd Webber is the reason that there is original opera), standard musicals, operetta, plays, musicals based on music of legendary stars (I didn't say good for a reason). We have to look at what's out there and see that there is a plethora of stuff, and each show offers something new. You might not like THE LION KING, but it's use of special effects is something completely new (even if they all have been used in a different way before). Look deep into something you don't like, and you'll almost always find some treasure (remember shows had to go through a lot to get to Broadway, so they're rarely complete crap). If something seems unoriginal, see how they take the old and make it new. Just look at all the styles that Kristin Chenoweth uses in WICKED: they've all been around forever, but the combination is new and magical. If a theme is used throughout the show, look for the meaning in that: people often complain of the "recycled" themes in LES MIS, but look at what Schonberg is saying by it. It's pretty deep. Even Mozart used themes ad nauseum. The test of great art is its ability to last and change things forever. Each show on Broadway does the latter, and it's important if only for that reason. Maybe Webber's shows aren't all they're cracked up to be, but without him there'd be no modern operas like LES MISERABLES, MISS SAIGON, or even RENT. They wouldn't exist. Webber brought the opera to Broadway, that's big. Maybe ALL SHOOK UP will suck, but this whole movement could bring something really amazing. Where would musical theatre be without Jerome Kern? Nowhere. And those Disney films were musicals, don't musicals belong on Broadway? Why is that wrong to put them on stage? Think about it.

[bobbysworld]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 8:24pm

What I'm trying to say is that this 'movement' is taking away jobs from people who want to write musicals. Its taking pre-existing material and putting it in a format that it wasn't written for. Les Mis and Wicked are based on books. But there still were people who got to write the score, orchestrations, and write the book for the musical. All the material was written for a specific project. The Lion King was a breathtaking show...the technical developments were astounding and it definitely reaped the benefits of those achievements. I must be old fashioned to believe that Broadway shows should be more than a spectacle. Ragtime was overlooked because of The Lion King, which is sad because it was such a beautiful show. It was nominated for 13 Tonys...and won Best Score, Orchestrations, and Book. The score and book of a musical are the most important aspects of a musical.

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 8:26pm

I don't think RAGTIME was overlooked at all. It was a great show, and I saw it on tour. Only shows that are doing well at that time go on tour.

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 11:31pm

Let's see.. what stunt casting can we apply to this one....

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 11:35pm

Rumor has it Elvis will be in it. HAHA

[Matt_G]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 11:36pm

Well, Nick Lachey could play Elvis. Seriouisly.

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 11:54pm

I think the token "ugly" 98 degree'er would be better...