BWW's Holiday CD Roundup

Posted: 11/21/08 at 3:59am

With all due respect to Naomi Plume and it is her opinion. I admit my Michael John LaChiusa biase but giving one star to Little Fish and then calling the CD and show completely "without merit"? Wow.

And then to review Marguerite (a somewhat silly show but gorgeously sung and with some great music) as not being a good Shoenberg/Boubil show without one memorable score--but to not even point out that Shoenberg didn't do it, it's music is bu Michel Legrand (does she read the liner notes?) is just poor journalism.

(Reefer Madness fot 3 and a half stars despite the fact that Miss Plume seems to find nothing to like in the show or music... Bizarre).

Oh well, I'll be sure to pick up The Story of Christmas as Sung and Told Tennessee Ernie Ford.... right...

[once a month]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 8:41am

I actually laughed out loud at my desk with that one! Thanks for the chuckle!

[philcrosby]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 9:09am

Badly written, and full of inaccuracies. Sorry Ms. Plume.

[commasplice]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 9:32am

Plume needs an editor. Her prose is graceless, her punctuation is terrible, and her attempts at humor fall flat.

And the "It should also be noted that the album was made possible by the Shen Family Foundation. Hey, whatever it takes, right?" is a tacky attempt to somehow diminish or discredit the Little Fish recording (and it makes little sense -- it's not as if Little Fish is the first show to receive outside funding for a recording; why is it being mentioned in a review that should to be about the quality of the recording itself and its content?).

[tdl83]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 9:47am

agreed on all counts..... she is not be taken seriously at any cost.......bad writer, period.

Posted: 11/21/08 at 5:54pm

Whew I feel better that others agree. A friend of mine actually pointed out:

"Well one could interpret the last part of her review as a positive. "Is it without merit? Ditto=Absolutely not." Meaning: the CD is absolutely not without merit.

Sadly, I expect she probably did mean just the opposite. However, that just means she's a lousy writer in addition to having her head up her ass."

I guess why the review bothers me more than it should is it just feels kinda mean spirited. As was pointed out, shouldn't we be pleased that foundations are getting these scores recorded? Even if I *hate* a musical I'd never begrudge it getting recorded for those who do like it--it just feels unecesarily snarky.

One more ceaveat--I love South Pacific, I think the revival sounds terrific, but is it truly "the show that ROCKED the world" this year? What world does Plume live in?

[tdl83]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 6:03pm

FYI......Naomi Plume is an alias........I agree about "South Pacific",,,,the recording is flat and not well recorded; It lacks energy, and is not complete.
Updated On: 11/21/08 at 06:03 PM

Posted: 11/21/08 at 6:18pm

I thought it was a bit too close to Nomme de Plume I think the South Pacific is fine--maybe I like it a bit more than you but yeah, that huge amount of praise is hyperbole.

One last thing about Little Fish. Suskin in his Playbill CD reviews gave the CD a mixed (to negative) review, one I disagreed with as a fan of the show and the recording--but one that was far more constructive and didn't feel the need to condescend.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 6:54pm

I resent the fact that she uses phrases like, "Hey kids!". Not everyone at BWW is a teenager, you know!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/22/08 at 2:00am

I didn't care for "Little Fish." The whole show came off as rather cheesy and the orchestrations were just awful. It just sounded way too early 90s, and not good early 90s.

But I think "the show that rocked the world" kind of describes the current production of South Pacific. I mean, it's still selling incredibly well and was the most talked about show of the season.

I was more concerned with "her" theater based knowledge. I mean, she didn't know who Phillip Chaffin is? He's been recording solos CDs for awhile. But whatever. She liked Lupone, so I can't hate.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 11/22/08 at 2:03am

Little Fish is easily one of my favorite theatre related discs of 2008.

Posted: 11/22/08 at 3:50am

Mine too. But I get why a lot of people don't like it--it took a lot of work from me too, more than any other LaChiusa CD, and reading the stories it's based on helped. But even the first listen I found completely fascinating--tht's where the venom directed towards it throws me off.

Rentboy I get that--again i don't expect everyone to love or even like it. It just seems, frankly, poor form to dismiss it so condescendingly as she does. I think the musical is meant to be set mid 90s like the short stories, BTW, though I know it's meant to reflect a post 9/11 atmosphere some say.

I get that South Pacific is selling well. I dunno, "Rock the World" makes me think of something people outside of Broadwayworld forum and New York are aware of. Like they were for Rent. Are (god bless 'em) for Wicked. Phantom. South Pacific in 1949. They aren't with this...

[mallardo]

Posted: 11/22/08 at 4:39am

I saw the Little Fish production that led to the recording and enjoyed it but I agree that one needs time to fully appreciate the score. As to Ms(?) Plume's so-called reviews, I agree with everything that's been said above. Marguerite was a failed show (I saw that too, in London) but it wasn't the fault of the gorgeous Michel Legrand score. To dismiss it that way she/he does is ridiculous. But, hey, she/he loved White Christmas!

Posted: 11/22/08 at 4:51am

(me again)

She/he didn't even dismiss it on its own merits--she seemed to think it was a successor to disappointing Shoenberg musical scores after Saigon--a third string after Guerre and Pirate Queen. Fine but... It wasn't the same composer--and Legrand deserves a lot more English attention than he's gotten (I agree completely with your review).

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 11/22/08 at 1:54pm

I'll third that. Marguerite is the score of the year; melodic, expressive, full of songs that feel APPROPRIATE to the time, place, characters, situation, etc.