Can someone give me some Everyday Rapture song context Please?

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/10/10 at 10:56pm

So I got the CD and I love it. There's no dialogue and no synopsis with it. Can anyone give me the set-up context for each song ( I know thats asking A LOT) or at least the arch of the character/story. I looked around online and just kept finding the same generic blurbs about a woman's psycho-sexual journey but no details. I'd be ever so grateful. Thanks.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 7/10/10 at 11:13pm

The actual plot is a lot more bright than the generic blurbs. The whole show, from start to finish, is about her childhood until now. Most of the songs are extra details about all of the religions she followed through out her life.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/10/10 at 11:17pm

This is exactly why I think this is one of the most disappointing cast recordings I've ever heard. Yeah the songs are good but without any dialogue (and the cd runs about 35 minutes long there was PLENTY of room on there for some) it's just a really odd collection of songs.

It's a real shame since this was my favorite show of last season.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 1:38am

I was shocked to find out that there isn't any dialogue on the recording, and I didn't buy it, even though it was my favorite show of the last year, too. I can't even begin to think of how to describe the show in context.

[Brick]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 2:37am

I didn't catch the show, and therefore don't enjoy the recording. Scott's a wonderful singer, but without context, it's a very odd songlist and hard to get into.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 2:44am

There is some dialogue on 'You Made Me Love You'.

[wyou17]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 3:08am

Very specifically, with spoilers ahead:

Lights go down as the band and the Mennonettes (Sherie's back-up singers) start the show with The Other Side Of This Life, used as an overture. Sherie marches onstage singing Got A Thing On My Mind, explaining advice she was given about always carrying two pieces of paper with you: one that says "The world was created for me," and another with "I am a speck of dust," written on it. This sets up what will be the main theme of the show, her feeling personally torn having been raised (half) Mennonite while also craving the spotlight. Her religion says she should be ready for the Rapture, but she doesn't know which piece of paper will best lead her there while being true to herself. This segues directly into the song Elevation.

After this introduction, the show is broken up into episodes, vaguely linked chronologically speaking, but all tied to the theme of trying to reconcile her modest Mennonite half with the prideful performer in her. First, she begins by explaining her Kansas upbringing (On The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe) especially going to school with a daughter of Fred Phelps and of discovering her love of Judy Garland with her favorite cousin Jerome. She's taken to Menniger's for psychiatric evaluation based on her "living her life in song." While there, she is asked to perform for the other patients (Get Happy) and questions how to honor both sides of her passion, Judy and Jesus, when she sings at her cousin Jerome's shunning ceremony (You Made Me Love You)

Sherie than discovers television's Mr. Rogers (It's Such A Good Feeling/Everybody's Fancy/I Like To Be Told) a singing, ordained minister who lets her know it's ok to be who she is (It's You I Like)

She ventures out to New York on her own on Rumspringa (I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City) and meets a young magician at TKTS to whom she loses her virginity. Upon returning to Kansas, she discovers she's pregnant and has an abortion (Life Line) She doesn't regret the decision, knowing she can still become a mother when the time is right and looks forward to returning to New York to stay (The Weight)

Then there is an entire segment on Sherie emailing with a fan who lip syncs to her singing My Strongest Suit from Aida in a video on youtube. The story is set up with and punctuated by Sherie and the Mennonettes singing Killing Me Softly. Neither of these songs (which are both very broken up by dialogue in the show) appear on the cast recording. Exhausted by the exchange, she sings Rainbow Sleeves.

Finally, Sherie explains now being comfortable, married, and the mother of a young child. She tells a story about her son finding a four leaf clover and how excited she is at the idea of a charmed life for him, only to have her hopes crushed when her cat eats the clover (Why) She ties things up by recounting Mr. Rogers' memorial service, being protested by Fred Phelps. (It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood) She comes to think that life isn't about choosing which piece of paper is right for you, it's about lots of pieces of paper and following your own path. She shouldn't be looking for an ultimate finish and preparing for the Rapture, but rather focusing on the beauty and joy you can find here and now, the everyday rapture, rapture with a small r (Up The Ladder)

Off-Broadway, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) occurred in the show between It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood and Up The Ladder, but was cut for the Broadway run. I'm actually not sure where Remember was ever used, since it wasn't in the show when I saw it at Second Stage or at the American Airlines. That's the gist of it. As some others have implied, it's hard to explain exactly how the songs actual function in the show since Sherie rarely sings any of them all the way through without speaking or commenting, but this should at least give you a general context for why they are used.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 3:43am

I think it was a huge mistake leaving out so much dialogue and especially the You Tube fan sequence. I think a live recording would have done the show full justice. It's a fantastic recording but I miss so much of what made the live performance special on the disc.

[wyou17]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 10:53am

Agreed. I think the recording does the show no favors in documenting what was so wonderful about it and works only if you already know the show well. What would the recording of "Elaine Stitch at Liberty" be with all the dialogue removed? That's a show that got it right: recorded live, full of dialogue and stories even if a few bits were cut for time on the CD. More than enough time on Sherie's CD to give us a great idea of the show with some stories and connective dialogue, especially in a show like this where the dialogue is all addressed to the audience and works fine without visuals.

[victoria saxton]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 11:13am

I guess it depends what the function of a cast recording is?

Should it stand alone as some great songs to listen to?

Should it recreate - as much as humanly possible - the spirit of the live event.

I wonder if the problem is that the story itself was a little week, therefore, hard to get across on the album? I found the story a little forced....am I going to get bombarded with hate mail for saying that....

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 11:28am

Well the problem here is that most songs in shows push the plot forward and tell a story, whereas the songs in this show for the most part convey a mood or a general feeling about what was just discussed. So without knowing what was just discussed, they lose all sense of why they're there in the first place leaving us with 35 minutes of very strange, disconnected (yet beautifully sung) songs.

[SuddenlyTrey]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 7:25pm

I also hate that the Cast Recording doesn't include dialogue. Especially since they rewrote endings and include sections of the songs that don't actually exist in the stage show. (Perhaps because they recorded the album while still at Second Stage.)

Sherie has said in interviews that she really wanted to have a film recording of the show, so maybe that's why they just did the songs. Also, when they did record it, they weren't sure if it would ever transfer so making a 40 mins CD obviously was the cheapest route.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 7:37pm

Part of me thinks she is pretty protective of this work and if she audio-recorded the whole thing then all the narrative surprises for a viewer are gone. I wish she had though.

[SuddenlyTrey]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 7:41pm

good point. Sucks that now, if you didn't see it, then you'll never know how wonderful it was.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 8:03pm

they weren't sure if it would ever transfer so making a 40 mins CD obviously was the cheapest route.

It was recorded on her & husbands label, costs could have been worked around since it was only her dialogue.

[elphabelle07]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 8:13pm

Wyou17, thank you so much for taking the time to write that explanation!! It makes much more sense now. I had an idea of the show from listening to the recording and whatnot but it's much more clear now! Thanks!

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 10:51pm

Yeah... I still don't get why My Strongest Suit/Killing Me Softly isn't on the CD.

[Brick]

Posted: 7/11/10 at 11:19pm

I assumed they recorded only the songs to create an album that played like an album, like a pop vocal album. Which it isn't, it's a cast recording. So, fail.