Am I the only one who'd pay to see Disney's

[nicthediva]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 10:36pm

(Bouncing off of the Tangled board)

I think it has some great potential.

Thoughts?



Updated On: 8/4/12 at 10:36 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 10:45pm

Yes, you are.


The composer of Princess and the Frog...

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 10:52pm

I can't wait to hear ten new songs from Randy Newman!

Or any new songs from Randy Newman. He's been writing the same one, over and over, since 1978.

And you're not the only one who'd pay. I'll bet there are two or three others!

[jv92]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 10:55pm

"Or any new songs from Randy Newman. He's been writing the same one, over and over, since 1978."

I love "Short People." The problem is, every song he wrote after that had the same harmonic structure as "Short People." And sort of the same tune too.



Updated On: 8/4/12 at 10:55 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 10:56pm

Uhm, if anyone is playing Charlotte on Broadway, it's going to be Jen Cody.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 10:59pm

There was a (very) brief period where I thought he was writing terrific stuff. He wrote three first-frate film scores:

Ragtime
The Natural
Avalon

But dang if he didn't keep going back to "Short People." Hey, it worked once, so why not 346 more times?

There's one exception to that for me ... the sad song he wrote for Toy Story 2 is a gem.

But everything else sounds like "variations on a short theme."

Updated On: 8/4/12 at 10:59 PM

[nicthediva]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 10:59pm

^ Totally forgot the voice of Charlotte is a stage actress too.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:01pm

Yes, the score to the RAGTIME movie (pre-musical, FYI) is very good. After that, all of his movie scores had that sort of wide-open-spaces, faux-Aaron Copland sound, followed by "Short People"...I mean "You Got a Friend in Me."

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:06pm

But......why? I mean, I appreciate that "Princess and the Frog" is the first 2D animated movie in a long time, and that we now have our first black Disney princess, but it certainly didn't live up to people's expectations financially, and it certainly wasn't as memorable or amazing as the early Disney renaissance films like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, etc..

I think Randy Newman is lame, lame, lame! Most of the songs on this movie were so dull and forgettable. They really should have gone with Alan Menken, who is a freakin' genuis.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:08pm

When I left the movie theater, I said to my movie-going companion, "This needed the Alan Menken touch."

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:15pm

Loved the cast, loved the story, loved the animation ...

... hated the music.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:18pm

"There's one exception to that for me ... the sad song he wrote for Toy Story 2 is a gem."

I know she's only credited with performing it, but I can't help but feel Sarah McLachlan contributed a touch more than just vocals to that song.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:22pm

Not the Menken touch so much as the Ashman-Menken touch.

The score for Princess and the Frog is largely forgettable, with songs paling in comparison to the Disney songs that came before them ("Friends on the Other Side" is just a voodoo "Poor Unfortunate Souls").

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:29pm

I love "Dig a little Deeper" and "Almost There" it's a very cute film and I love Musker and Clement films, but I feel Tangled has a higher fan base and was the stronger film, but if anyone's going to play charlotte it's going to be Jen Cody.

[bk]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:34pm

Here's what I'd pay to see on Broadway - a by-God adult musical done by adults for adults. That's what I'd pay to see on Broadway - I am so mightily tired of Disney and all the other movie corporate crap that passes for Broadway these days. I know the tweens and teens think it's all about them, but they'll come along for the ride if something great comes along, and the rest of us who long for well-done, intelligent (not to mean dramatic or heavy, but anything that's not some Disney movie or Bring it On) can sit back and enjoy something heady for a change.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:56pm

"When She Loved Me" is a BEAUTIFUL song. That means it couldn't have been written by Randy Newman. It's unpossible.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 8/4/12 at 11:58pm

If I had to pick a Disney flick to see onstage, I'd either lobby for the long-awaited Hunchback transfer, or point out the obvious choice they left in the cupboard with Harry Potter and other magical creatures: Pete's Dragon. It's practically perfect as it is, would play better on stage than it did on film (in my opinion), and if you need a twist, don't reveal the dragon till the climax/end of the show (sort of a "Cathy Rigby flies over the audience" moment).

[jdtp12]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 12:07am

I loved the (minor) work he did for Monk. I enjoyed the theme song he wrote, although I didn't see the need for a new one. And "When I'm Gone" was a beautiful ending for the series.

[loliveve]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 12:17am

I would *love* to see "Pete's Dragon" on stage!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 12:19am

Patti LuPone IS Pete's Dragon

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 12:32am

She has the head of a camel, the neck of a crocodile She sounds rather strange!

You know PattiDragon would get to sing "Candle on the Water."

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 1:33am

Here's what I'd pay to see on Broadway - a by-God adult musical done by adults for adults. That's what I'd pay to see on Broadway - I am so mightily tired of Disney and all the other movie corporate crap that passes for Broadway these days. I know the tweens and teens think it's all about them, but they'll come along for the ride if something great comes along, and the rest of us who long for well-done, intelligent (not to mean dramatic or heavy, but anything that's not some Disney movie or Bring it On) can sit back and enjoy something heady for a change.

Once?
Grey Gardens?
next to normal?
The Scottsboro Boys?

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 1:40am

With today's new heights in Puppetry I think Pete's Dargon could be beautiful, yeah I think they would need to bring in a new composing team to rework some parts of the score and expand some of the story but it could work. I'd love to see Audra McDonald play Ms.Nora.

[Nickhutson]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 3:58am

Alan was originally on board to do The Princess and the Frog - but they wanted Newman, it'd seem.

The score for PATF is quite lovely - with some great orchestral writing, but the songs are typical painting-by-numbers Newman - all done like music videos and not moving anything forward. As FAMILY GUY says best - he's there "singing about what he sees".

Family shows will usually be the big hits in any commercial market because it's not limiting anyone from seeing it. It does require talent and theatrical skill to look at the awful Disney Mary Poppins film and work out how to make it work on stage visually, cathartically and musically and that's what Cameron, Julian F, Richard Eyre, Matthew Bourne, George and Ants did do successfully - with very little input from Disney - thank God!

Whilst I'd LOVE to see the German production of Hunchback in an English speaking theatre, Disney would never, ever do it in the US. The movie wasn't commercial enough, the subject matter way too dark and creepy for today's American family audiences.

TANGLED would be fun on stage - but would be hugely challenging... not that that's ever stopped Disney before; as I've said - the art of adapting something from one medium to another is what makes theatre so exciting for some.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/5/12 at 5:22am

You know what, I agree with bk. All of you kids go see FOLLIES or COMPANY (or even HELLO, DOLLY! for God's sake) and then tell us if you want a second-rate Disney cartoon with a third-rate song score wasting space on Broadway.