So it was ok to put a trunk song into the 1965 tv version (which was not in the 1959 tv version) but just so wrong to put it and several other trunk songs into the 2013 Broadway version?
I don't get the logic.
Of course, that doesn't mean one can't - after seeing the show - say this interpolation or that doesn't work. Or that none of it worked.
But to condemn the mere fact of changes outright and blindly - by some even before they see the show - simply because they've wrecked with perfection isn't persuasive.
Pal Joey, they wrote Cinderella for tv during the Eisenhower era. The fact that they stuck to fairy tale romance and avoided more topical social justice issues which might now resonate with an audience (for better or for worse depending on how they are treated), doesn't necessarily mean R&H would have been opposed to a 2013 R&H score Broadway version Cinderella which takes a very different approach.
Huh?
They also wrote The Sound of Music in the Eisenhower era, replete with Nazis. They didn't write it as a fairy tale just because of the era in which they were writing it.
Likewise, they didn't write Cinderella as a fairy tale because it was the Eisenhower era.
The wrote Cinderella as a fairy tale because it is a friggin' fairy tale.
Not only was Loneliness of Evening a trunk song in the 1965 version, but the 1965 version also had an instrumental of "Boys and Girls Like You and Me" during the ball scene, and that was originally written for Oklahoma!
"(Would any producer bring in numbers from GIGI to improve a My Fair Lady revival?)"
Actually, I wouldn't mind Eliza singing "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" in a My Fair Lady revival as she gets ready for the Embassy Ball.
Yes she did look like Belle! Funny I forgot to mention that given my username... I found it very strange that they would choose that dress, but it didn't bother me too much.
Someone told me earlier today that the show's running time last night, including intermission, was down to 2:20. They definitely made some cuts. Didn't After Eight or someone else have the first or second preview at 2:45 or 2:50? 2:20 sounds reasonable to me, and I'd think that after the show is up for a while and tightens up, it could be down to 2:15 or so.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
Egghumor and JungleRed, unless you've seen the show (and I haven't), how the hell do you know they don't work? From reading this board? Really? Some people think they don't work. Maybe after actually seeing the show you'll agree. Or not.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
Pal Joey, yes, Cinderella and Sound of Music were both products of their time. And, yes, it was a time when one could make a musical about a family fleeing the Nazis from a book about a family fleeing the Nazis. And the public loved it. But that's not the same as opening up a classic fairy tale to touch on mass social problems, which I doubt would have met with much approval. Especially on television.
But even if it could have worked then, the fact that they chose not to be iconoclasts in adapting Cinderella then, doesn't mean they wouldn't be ok with a new version of the musical on stage 54 years later which would treat the material differently by bringing in larger social themes.
I haven't seen the show and I probably won't, unless I win a trip to NYC. I certainly can't get there while working full time and school starts next week.
From what I've read, these changes don't work. At least for me. I like when musicals take on social, moral, ethical issues. Those musicals work because they're part of the original idea.
If the creative team wanted to write a musical about the 2012 election, they just should've done that. But to cram this new idea into a beloved, classic show boggles me.
I appreciate everyone's reports and comments about the show. The changes you report actually make me look forward to seeing the show more than I did before, when I thought that it would be the basic Cinderella story.
I had thought that I would probably see it because I think that Laura Osnes is one of the finest performers around and expect that her career will continue to get bigger and bigger. However, I was not sure I wanted to make the trip up from DC to sit through 2 1/2 hours of a simplistic fairy tale that has its greatest appeal to demographic groups very different from the 60 year old male that I am. To me, I expect that the new features in this book will give the story more depth and more substance. I am happy that it addresses ethical issues that are very pertinent today. Now I am as excited to see the show as I am to again see Laura perform live.
I have to say, before reading this thread, I had no desire to see this show. After all, if I wanted to see Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella, I have four dvds of it, Leslie and Julie being my favorite (I don't have Brandy's, that one is just pathetic due to a totally miscast leading lady).
Now, I am dieing to see it. It sounds really interesting and it should be fun to see how much it changes over the previews.
On a side note, Whizzer, I love all of your reviews! Thanks!
But even if it could have worked then, the fact that they chose not to be iconoclasts in adapting Cinderella then, doesn't mean they wouldn't be ok with a new version of the musical on stage 54 years later which would treat the material differently by bringing in larger social themes.
Well, I suppose it's all conjecture, since the men are dead, but I would posit that my conjecture--that the styles in which they wrote the two musicals are the styles they intended--is eminently logical; whereas your conjecture--that the styles in which they wrote the two musicals were accidental products of their times--is blatantly screwy.
I just read Whizzer's review. (I should have read it days ago; then I wouldn't have risked making a fool of myself in some of my posts - ah, well, I'm constantly making a fool of myself on this site anyway).
And now, Judging by Whizzer's description, even I have to admit, even before seeing it, that this new Cinderella sounds like a nightmare.