Bobo Ramblings...
Bobo Ramblings...
#0Bobo Ramblings...
Posted: 5/20/04 at 9:30am
If you have the time and inclination, what are your opinions on these shows, or just one or two. Or just one.:
1. West Side Story
2. The Frogs
3. Gigi
4. Zorba
5. The Apple Tree
6. Company
Its Aberqurque NM for me. Speaking Spanish. Be Back September 06.
#1re: Bobo Ramblings...
Posted: 5/20/04 at 9:38am
West Side Story - beautiful - always makes me cry.
Frogs I haven't seen, but the recording of a couple years ago I think I listened to once and never put on again. I'm hoping the rewrites will help me like it more, as I'm a huge Sondheim fan.
Gigi is sweet and old fashioned and just OK by my standards - not Lerner and Lowes best work.
Zorba I've never seen, but that song "Life Is" gives me goosebumps every time I hear it...wonderful.
I tried to listen to the Apple Tree once but couldnt get past some of the vocals - I should give it another listen now, since my tastes have changed.
Company - Brilliant. One of Sondheims best scores....well, most of them are tops with me.
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
#2re: Bobo Ramblings...
Posted: 5/20/04 at 10:26am
West Side Story - Gorgeous show. One of the best musicals ever written. Not foolproof, though. Amateur productions usually come off pretty bad without a decent orchestra, good choreographer, or top-notch singers.
Frogs - Read the script, listened to the score, bored me to tears. I like the original play better. With Nathan Lane practically reprising his role in Forum, there's nothing to draw me to see the show.
Gigi - I've tried many times to watch the film, but I always get bored and never finish it. A really forgettable score and too much is reminiscent of the far superior My Fair Lady.
Zorba - I love the film. I love the score. Since no one ever does this show, I've never seen it, but I have wanted to for years. I know the revival was a flop back in the 80s. Perhaps it is due for a fresh new revival that could explore more of the book and perhaps incorporate the raw natural flavor of the film. There are some incredibly talented Greek performers out there. This show is a great vehicle to showcase new talent. I have a feeling the time is right to really bring this show out and make it shine. So far, the reexploration of Kander and Ebb has worked well.
The Apple Tree - This is definitely an interesting show. I listened to Stuart Ostrow discuss it numerous times and the score has some charming moments, but I'm just not sold on it. The Adam and Eve story is very cute, but the other two stories really don't interest me much.
Company - A Sondheim classic with a score full of gems. The show could work fully staged or simply in concert form. It requires double-threats. Every cast member must be a strong actor and singer (except perhaps Joanne, if her acting out weighs her singing, then it is forgivable). But like West Side Story, you better have a strong musical director that can handle the score and make it sound effortless. Otherwise, the score will sound amatuerish and clunky.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#3re: Bobo Ramblings...
Posted: 5/20/04 at 11:32am
Well, I'll have to be the promoter of THE APPLE TREE.
It is ripe for a revival (I LOVE PUNS!!!)
A three-act musical is a hard sell...but each one of the acts is so well constructed and offer such different things that it's like a wonderful buffet!
THE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE offers some of the best songs of the evening, a number of wonderful laughs and an very simple ending that packs an emotional wallop.
THE LADY AND THE TIGER is the least emotionally involving of the three, but it's offer of a grand, camp performance for the leading lady makes up for it in spades.
PASSIONELLA is truly bizarre. Sight gags and schtick galore...but the ending is so unexpectedly endearing that I well up just thinking about it. Who knew the word 'brown' could provide such a lovely cap to a marvelous evening?
Everyone talks about doing it at Encores...but a full revival starring Chenoweth, Christopher Fitzgerald and Victor Garber as the Snake/Balladeer/Fairy Godfather would make me happier than a pig in poop.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#4re: Bobo Ramblings...
Posted: 5/21/04 at 5:25pm
West Sided Story - I ruv that sondheim classic
Company- I've never seen it but i've heard a bunch of songs from it and it sounds very good
Don't know much of the other shows
Bobby is my hobby and I'm givin' it up!
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