Craig Carnelia!!!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 2:30pm

I did a thread search and after scrolling forever, I realized...
Craig Carnelia is so underappreciated!
I absolutely love him, and count him as one of my favorite Broadway composers. True, he's never had a hit, but his songbook is incredible.
Any fellow fans of the shows/ recordings Is There Life After High School?, Pictures In the Hall, Working, Sweet Smell of Success, or Cast of Thousands?

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 4:02pm

Awww. Sad.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 4:34pm

Hey, count me in!

Long time LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL fan, and I love Carnelia's WORKING songs (especially "Just a Housewife"). I think SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS was severely underrated. Whatever happened to his INDIAN, COOK, BOTTLE WASHER (or whatever that show was called that he was workshopping at Goodspeed for so long)?

He teaches a highly respected class in NYC, that many Broadway performers attend, which focuses on how to act a song. (Although he does have a bit of a reputation for hitting on his female students, but that's neither here nor there...)

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 4:36pm

Maybe he does not want to get into the Broadway ratrace ( kill or be killed ) & or producers do not realize his talent.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 4:36pm

Hahaha! Veuve, why do we have so many of the same opinions?
YES! Whatever did happen to that show? He seems to have a lot of projects drop by the wayside...
Have you heard of/ heard his show "Three Postcards". It has some amaaazing songs in it.
Sweet Smell of Success was so underrated.
Where is this class that he teaches??

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 5:14pm

Infinite, I'm beginning to suspect that we're the same person. Or I'm your evil doppleganger. Or something.

I actually don't know if Carnelia still teaches that class. I used to see him at that rehearsal studio on 72nd street (across from Gray's Papaya, I can't remember the name of it.) I was rehearsing a show across the hall from the studio where he taught the class. There were a bunch of people I knew that took it, and they all raved about it. I never worked with him, but I did sit one day out in the hall during a break in rehearsal, listening through a crack in the door, and I was impressed with what he was saying. But that was five or six years ago, so I don't know if it is still an ongoing thing. Updated On: 1/23/05 at 05:14 PM

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 5:18pm

Hahaha. Very interesting!! Even if he did, I don't think I'm the type to stalk his class...
I'm sad that there aren't any other visible Carnelia fans here, really...
Just for kicks, what are your top 5 or so fav. musicals? It'd be really interesting if ours were similar...

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 5:24pm

Yes, he still teaches the class and it's still very well-respected.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 5:25pm

And yes, he's very underappreciated as a songwriter.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 5:26pm

Oooh, Mattio, have you been? What's it like? (Other than him apparently hitting on the female students, hehe.)

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 5:29pm

I haven't been but I've spoken to him and others about it. It's supposed to be excellent.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 6:13pm

Carnelia's written a handful of passable melodies and a handful of passable lyrics. He's never written a score that furthers drama and has contented himself with contributing songs to various shows that have ended up being as forgettable as Carnelia's contributions to them.

He hasn't made it because he's never gotten the job done.

The end.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 6:29pm

I've seen a few productions of Is There Life After High School?. I find the show to be genuine, touching, tuneful, and artful. I haven't seen Three Postcards, but I found the script to be beautiful... and everytime I hear recordings of songs from that show, I am rendered breathless. (She was K.C. on the Cast of Thousands CD; Pictures in the Hall on Pictures in the Hall CD)
I find all of his music to be charming and/or touching. I don't consider him a failure just because he's contributed songs to shows (like Working). You are completely entitled to your opinion, but I respectfully disagree. His work is performed by plenty of students across America as well as in cabarets. Plenty of people appreciate his music... I don't think the lack of popularity on this message board indicates lack of respect for his work.

[wildcat]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 10:46pm

I'm a big fan! Hey, did anyone ever see him play Matt in THE FANTASTICKS off Broadway? When he had hair?

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:16pm

Wow! I didn't know he was in The Fantasticks! How interesting!!!

[feinstein9]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:19pm

i have the pictures in the hall and cast of thousands albums and i think they're both very good. esp "there's a kid inside" "the things i learned in high school" "nothing really happened" and one i think is called "you can have the tv". i've been debating getting the sweet smell cd... anyone have opinions on that one?

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:25pm

I really like the Sweet Smell score. Highlights include At The Fountain and I Cannot Hear The City.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:29pm

Don't Know Where You Leave Off and I Begin is also a great song...
Sweet Smell is definitely worth it!
Feinstein, don't you love "she was k.c."?

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:31pm

Yes, that's another highlight.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:31pm

I think the SWEET SMELL score is terrific. The show is a great adaptation of a rather problematic film, and I think that Carnelia and his collaborators solved many of its problems.

I have a hunch that time will be kind to that particular show.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:33pm

I agree Veuve. I still maintain that "I Cannot Hear The City" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:34pm

I'm with JohnPopa--Carnelia's a lacklustre writer all around. And his dubious "class" is just so much opinion-mongering.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:35pm

A pessimistic comment from MusicMan...please excuse my lack of surprise.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 1/23/05 at 11:54pm

Mattio98, you also thought the bare-bones, cheapjack orchestrations to LITTLE WOMEN were "beautiful."

Enough said.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 1/24/05 at 12:17am

You haven't liked anything written within the last 30 years.

Enough said.