"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Well, when you are a filmmaker who cares about the composition of every single frame, I can see how some of the bloated nonsense that plays on Broadway for a few months could turn somebody off to it. Makes me wonder if he's seen much artistically adventurous fare.
Of course it's a personal affront. It's all about them and Their Reaction.
I think it's a nice change of pace for a director to speak up and say, "I really don't think this should happen."
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
Micmacs almost got by me but I caught it at a rep house and loved LOVED it. Consistently inventive and surprising, it is a work of remarkable craft. Granted, it's no Good Vibrations or Lestat, but still.
Well, I disagree with his opinion but he is allowed to have it. Plus, I have to say that I am impressed with his decision to sell the rights for a charitable cause, in spite of the negative opinion he holds.
"He'd have shot himself if he'd seen Bernadette Peters in Follies."
Yes, her convincing performance as a depressed house-wife was so powerful it might have had that kind of contagious effect. Wonderful, wonderful acting.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
I guess I can see his point in the sense that there is a ton of crap you have to sift through but WTF, that is the case in any art form... film included.. maybe even especially. I just feel bad for him that his tastes are so narrow.
That said the composer's comments do make me nervous. "I'm not interested in doing Parisian music." Huh? I hope there is a real reason for this (I mean, since it is set in Paris for christsakes) and not just the hubris of "Damn the movie, I'm going to make this MY Amelie!" I can't imagine this story without at least a hint of Parisian feel to the score.... that would feel strange IMO.
AMELIE sounds like a classic example of a "why" musical to me. A fantastic film with an iconic score, transforming AMELIE into a musical with its own distinct artistic voice will be a mean feat.
As for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's comment, I can understand why he might identify Broadway as a tacky theatre arena. Some choice examples aside, musical theatre on Broadway has become something of a theme park affair. People sometimes argue that this has to do with what sells but if we've learned anything from the past decade or so, it is that a jukebox musical or a musical based on a movie as just as much potential to flop in spite of the reputation of the band or film as it has to succeed.
Amelie's rapid deadpan humour and surreality isn't something I see transferring well to the stage; having to pace the show for laugh breaks and other audience noises seems like it might take all of the fun out of it. The opening montage of things Amelie enjoys, for instance, will presumably be musicalised, but I can't help feel like it will become a bit overblown as a result.
I love Amelie, and I love musicals, but I'm not totally convinced about this adaptation as yet.
While I don't agree with Jean-Pierre Jeunet about Broadway, I can understand his reluctance. Amelie is one of my favorite movies and the score by Yann Tiersen is wonderful.
I don't think the experience of seeing the movie could be bettered so I don't think we need a musical version, especially if there will be nothing from the original score
"The very incarnation of tackiness".....says the guy who made Alien: Resurrection.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."