Can you call "Cats" a musical? — Page 3

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#51

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/12/06 at 4:48pm

Not too much sophistication in theater going public if Cats plays for a zillion years & Amour flops

Poster Emeritus

#52

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/12/06 at 5:24pm

I hate "Cats" and especially the song, "Memory". Being famous does not make it good. It's one of the most over recorded songs ever. It's right up there on my most hated song list with "Feelings", "Honey", "The Pina Colada Song" and "Loving You" (la la la la la, la la la la la, you're beautiful).

"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions" ------- "Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it, I swear I'll never do it again til the next time company comes."--"Lulu" from "Can't Stop The Music" ----- "When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth" ------------ --------- "Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.

#53

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/12/06 at 6:33pm

"It's one of the most over recorded songs ever. It's right up there on my most hated song list with "Feelings", "Honey", "The Pina Colada Song" and "Loving You" (la la la la la, la la la la la, you're beautiful)."

--None of which have been covered by Streisand, Domingo, Dame Kiri, Jose Carreras, Mandy Patimkin, or any of the other premier vocalists of our time ( and the other 170 or so whose names escape me)--or is there a CD out there somewhere with Streisand singing "Honey".

I guess these artists line up to do ALW's music because they just don't get how trite his compositions are.

#54

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/12/06 at 7:07pm

"opras dont have dance"

That's going to break my girlfriend's heart. She auditioned in May and was selected to dance in the Metropolitan Opera's 2007 production of "The First Emperor".

"plays dont have songs"

Ever see "A Soldier's Play"? "The Piano Lesson"? "Masterclass"?

"jukebox musicals dont have words"

What were those strange sounds then coming out of the mouths of the performers in "Rocky Mountain High", "Ring of Fire", "Lennon", and "Smokey Joe's Cafe" when the performers weren't singing?

#55

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/12/06 at 7:31pm

"It ran for like what, 20 years and is loved by every putty headed idiot nation wide."

He wasn't an American but do you include Sir John Mills in your list of putty headed idiots?

#56

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/12/06 at 8:44pm

"Cats" is awful. Period. I didn't say that Streisand sang "Honey". I said that song was up there on my personal list of hated songs. Maybe you have cat hair in your eyes?

"It's right up there on my most hated song list" is what I said.

#57

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 3:41pm

I think 'Memory' is a great song. Elaine Paige was wonderful singing that song in 1981 and 1998. Dianne Pilkington (Whom plays Grizabella in the current CATS UK Tour) rocked the house down when i saw it at the end of June!

#58

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 3:47pm

Just for the record: "Memory" is Bolero slowed down. Once again, ALW did NOT write the tune...he lifted it!

And recording artists will record his stuff because it sells, not necessarily because they like it. Hey, he steals from great stuff, so who wouldn't like to record Puccini or Ravel?

"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx

#59

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 8:50pm

"Just for the record: "Memory" is Bolero slowed down. Once again, ALW did NOT write the tune...he lifted it!"

Just for the record, can you prove that? Let's start with the bridge of the song.

#60

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 8:55pm

Note for note, the main melody is the same as Ravel's. So he was able to come up with a bridge. Wow.

Sorry, he brings out the bitch in me.

When I worked with him on the show, we would tease him by playing the original tune he lifted and sing the lyric over it. He was usually amused. He's got plagiarism insurance, so it doesn't cost him much when he is sued.

"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx

#61

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 8:56pm

"And like people have said, it is underappreciated,"

...Only be the elitists who have a chronic case of reda$$ concerning ALW or those intellectual fascists who attempt to ram their aescetic down the throat of those who enjoy certain entertainments they loathe.

I shouldn't really admit this but I was never keen on "The Producers" but since it has been so incredibly well received I suppose the problem is within me--not the show.

#62

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 9:00pm

"Sorry, he brings out the bitch in me."

That certainly explains things. It's not business, Sonny, it's personal.

By the way, you are aware that Shakespeare lifted entire speeches and Frost even pointed out to critics where he used passages from other peoms in "Stopping by woods".

As far as trivializing his accomplishment with "Memory" because he added a bridge to "Bolero" and made a pile of money doing it, perhaps you should try the same with Fur Elise, slow it down, add a bridge, and see what happens. Maybe it's alittle more complicated than you think.

Or how about this: take Yeats' "Lake Isle at Innisfree" and musicalize it in such a way that after hearing it once, you can humm it.

Updated On: 8/13/06 at 09:00 PM

#63

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 9:11pm

I have no problem with using resources to develop one's own work. I do have a problem with not giving credit for the source.

And I know exactly how complicated it is. I've had my music played all over the world too, so stop being so rude.

It's funny how the rude ones never have anything in their profiles about themselves...what are you hiding from?

"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx

#64

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 9:31pm

I think it's really more of a themed ballet concert staged musically infused spectal extravaganza (okay, now 3 times fast).

Seriously, it is what it is. It's CATS. There's not much logic there to begin with (not neccesarilly a bad thing, mind you) so why read into it? There's a 'theme' and a very thin 'plot', but nothing of real substance. It's the 'bring a group together with something in common, and go from there (company, a chorus line, assassins among others), type of show.

And has anyone ever seen ALW credit other composers when he lifts their music? I've never seen it happen and it bothers me.

"We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in it's flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung, the dance when it's been danced? It's only we humans who want to own the future too." - Tom Stoppard, Shipwreck

#65

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 9:41pm

Never has. Would have been considered a genius if he did it for Phantom! Using other opera themes to write about an opera house. He did use the themes, but put his own name on it! Shameful at beast, I mean best...

"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx

#66

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 9:44pm

Oh, Phantom is the WORST, because it is all so OBVIOUS.

Is there any available innformation about lawsuits?

#67

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 10:12pm

Not sure. I think part of the settlement is no talking about them. But be sure there have been suits!

"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx

#68

re: Can you call 'Cats' a musical?

Posted: 8/13/06 at 10:17pm

Goodness jasonf, I agree... I hate "Cats" with a burning passion...

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."-- Ferris Bueller's Day Off

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