Buffy: Once More With Feeling...- Page 2

[La Vie Boheme]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 9:11pm

Saw it over my friends house, the music is really catchy.

I especially loved "Walk Through Fire"

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 10:17pm

Whedon is a rare person in Hollywood: he's really able to spin straw into gold. I think Buffy was, without question, the most underrated television show since the 80s (And I'd probably be hard-pressed to go back further and find its equal). Great, solid storytelling, pulling compelling performances from actors I don't necessarily think are great...I mean, the show works as long as you accept his concept.
And the musical is no exception. It's clever, funny, smart, all those nice, positive adjectives...and he was even kind enough to give us a reason for the sudden singing (A demon's magic).
As for the singing, I actually am fine with the fact that they all did their own. SMG was given a lot to sing since you can't do a musical without centering it on Buffy. Anthony Stewart Head (brother of Murray Head, for those theatre buffs who will know who he is) is a well-liked Brit performer (he's done a LOAD of shows; a google search finds pictures of him as Frank-n-Furter if you look hard enough!), Amber Benson and Emma Caulfield were the most at-ease singers so he gave them more material. Nicholas Brendan was apparently game to sing although he's only mediocre. Apparently, part of the whole Willow character's stage fright is based on the fact that Alyson Hannigan does hate performing live and HATES singing, so she was given as little as possible. I'm assuming that's part of the reason Dawn also has nothing to sing (because what little she does is not so great).

[Falsettoland]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 10:21pm

Definitely. Kudos to them all for giving it a go and making it real. As mediocre (And yes, sometimes downright bad. Hello Michelle Trachtenberg) the vocals may have been, I'm glad it wasn't dubbed.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 10:27pm

God, I love this show! I totally agree the 7th season was the worst season but I actually disliked season 4 more than seasons 5 and 6-huge B&A fan, hated Riley, grrr.

Other people in posts greatly summoned up the magic that is Buffy and the genius that is Joss Whedon. It really is sad that this show was so unrecognized. Most people fall into the trap already stated, it's a stupid WB show with actors who are young and can't act and it's about a vampire slayer...that doesn't even begin to describe this show. The acting only improved with the years, but especially SMG, Ally...well everyone just got better. The meaning and really "metaphor" that Buffy was able to portray was just amazing. I mean, their high school was on the hellmouth, a metaphor for the fact that high school is hell. When Buffy slept with Angel, he lost his soul and became evil, a metaphor for after I slept with my boyfriend, he changed. Even "The Witch" brings new meaning to the phrase "I would kill to be a cheerleader."

For huge fans of the show, it really helped to get us through junior high/high school. It portrayed happiness and pain, morality yet the consequences of the high road, the fact that at heart we are all suffering, but sometimes people do surprise you and are better than they seem. God, I love this show! Okay, enough raving of Buffy. For those of you who never really gave the show a chance or easily dismissed it, you really don't know what you were missing, I highly recommend buying Buffy DVDs--particularly 2nd or 3rd season, the two best seasons IMO.

Okay, now on to Once More With Feeling...great, great episode. I have the CD too hehe. I agree it wouldn't work as a show or even an entity onto itself but in tying with the entire 6th season, it was genius. I don't think you can appreciate it as much as it should be if you're not a huge Buffy fan, or at least watched all of season 6, the moments just become so much more powerful. I disagree that Sarah was the weakest singer, I think Nicky was slightly worse, though neither of them were best. Alyson Hannigan, when finding out the musical was going to be done, begged Joss to hardly let her sing anything. When she saw the episode and realized the importance of the episode and how well it was written, she came to really regret it. I love Rest In Peace(James' face when Spike realizes he is about to sing is priceless), In the Way(makes me tear up now and then, when you think of Buffy and Giles relationship), and
Walk Through the Fire just because the chorus together sounds great. And the guy who played the demon, can't remember his name, had a great voice.

[Sargar]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 10:55pm

It really is such a shame that Buffy never got the recognition it deserved. I remember reading an interview with Nicky Brendan and they asked him why he thought Buffy never got an emmy and he said "because the name of our show is 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer!'" the name is obviously campy and doesn't take itself seriously, so I don't think many people gave it a chance. I know I used to think it was a cheesy show, and I never really got into it until the final season when they started airing repeats on FX (THANK YOU FX!!!) and then starting buying the dvd sets. I agree, season 2 and especially season 3 were great, i LOVED LOVED LOVED Seth Green as Oz, him and Willow were great! IMO, i feel the show started to go downhill when the character of Dawn came on board, she drove me CRAZY as a whiny teenager, and even when she kind of got over that, she still annoyed me. Everything centered around Dawn, which ruined the focus.

Okay, so now that I've officially proven myself the ultimate BtVS geek, I will bring this back to a musically related topic. I agree that the show wouldn't work as a play because there's too much backstory that the audience would have to be caught up on. In a way, the fact that the cast couldn't really sing almost helped the storyline, since the premise made the singing an involutary act, so it might not have made sense if all of a sudden they busted out these wonderful broadway voices. I think it would be great if Joss Whedon would lend his writing and even directing talents to the broadway stage!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 9:56am

I dunno, I know a couple people who feel Dawn coming was when Buffy got the worst, I personally feel Angel leaving and the gang leaving High School was when Buffy got the worst, one of the reasons I probably detest season 4. I really didn't mind Dawn that much, especially in the 5th season. Joss Whedon on a DVD special feature said they decided Buffy's season 5 love interest was going to be her sister. I don't know, that's just so poignant.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 10:15am

Being a huge Buffy/Angel fan as well, I had to weigh in.

Each season had that special standout episode (i.e., The Body, etc), and for Season 6 it was "Once More, With Feeling." I thought it was a great episode, and does what great musicals do - tell you something about the characters while moving the story forward. When Buffy blurts out that she was happier in heaven, I gasped.

As for which seasons of Buffy are the best, it is like trying to choose which diamond is the most flawless. Season 2 with the Buffy/Angel dynamic and Season 3 with Faith hold a special place in my heart. I know a lot of people don't, but personally, I liked Season 7 - with the Potentials, and especially liked having Faith back, Andrew trying to be good, the aftermath of Xander and Anya's engagement. I liked Season 4 the least (the whole science thing, and sorry, Riley, but anyone after Angel was bound to be a letdown), but it was still better than anything that is on tv today (well, I will except Lost and Desperate Housewives).

Had to add my 2 cents on Dawn too - although I was not her biggest fan (yes, she was a bit too whiny for my taste), she relly helped Buffy (and the Scoobies) with growing up and responsibility. Buffy demonstrates this in "The Gift." Willow and Tara take care of her after Buffy's death, and when Willow takes Dawn on her magic addiction is heartbreaking. A total Buffy highlight for me was Xander's speach to Dawn in Season 7 - about being the one always in the background, but still mattering. I cried like a big baby.

Updated On: 3/7/05 at 10:15 AM

Posted: 3/7/05 at 10:45am

Anyone who's read this far is probably enough of a geek to know abou this but here goes:

As part of the wall-to-wall Sondheim, Frank Rich will moderate a discussion about pop culture with Stephen Sondheim and Joss Whedon. It's sort of my Holy Trinity: Broadway, TV and Politics! Some one go and Post a transcript, K?

[DancerGirl16]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 10:59am

Saw it - the demon was teh best one

[rentdanb]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 11:13am

Other shows have tried 'concept' episodes with only limited success; ER in real time and a couple have tried musical episodes; 'That 70's Show' & '2Pints of Lager...' but none as successfully as 'Buffy' did. As others have said it didn't stand apart from the rest of the series but blended perfectly both stylistically and thematically. The fact the the tunes stand up isdown to Wheedons talent as a songwriter.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 11:32am

I did not know that Joe - when/where is it?

Posted: 3/7/05 at 1:02pm

I think it's 3/19-- check wall-to-wall Sondheim on the web....

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 4:05pm

And speaking of Buffy/Angel:

http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=507826

[HWT]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 4:30pm

It took me three tries to get into this episode.

The first time I saw it, I was more in the mindset of expecting a musical, and the singing was a turnoff. So I didn't make it.

The second time, I was more receptive to it, but I still didn't have any investment in the story, and I got distracted halfway through and forgot to come back.

By the third time, when I had actually figured out what the series was like and how it worked, it was amazing. Once I got it through my head that this was part of a larger story, and how well the series does with its larger stories, I realized pretty much every good thing that's been mentioned in this thread. And yeah, I spent a while of time in the "man, that show sounds stupid" phase before it finally got through to me. Basically, Buffy is the show that's better than you think it is.

Just a few clarifications to finish off, from the part of my brain devoted to fandom. Alyson Hannigan (Willow) said she was moritified by the sound of her singing voice, and asked for less singing. Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) also opted to do less singing, in favor of more dancing.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 7:15pm

Just one quick note I had to make re: Joss Whedon pulling off these great concepts. As great as the musical was, Buffy had a couple more of such episodes. The only major emmy nomination Buffy received was for "Hush", one of the best episodes, which on commentary Joss called an exercise for himself to see if he could write without dialogue. I think we all agree it was very successful, one of the only good things of the terrible 4th season.

He also called "Restless" an exercise, I know that episode wasn't as popular as "Hushed" or "Once More With Feeling." But I think why OMWF worked so well is that Joss integrated it perfectly into the series. I've never seen other shows attempt musicals, but in the Buffy world, they make it believable that they're all randomly singing, they give a reason. And the fact that it is such an integral part of the season and not just a throw-in episode with singing also led it to be more highly successful. God I love Joss Whedon(except when he HAD to make a separate Angel show and separate B&A )