I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a "Hummable Tune".
I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a "Hummable Tune".
#1I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a "Hummable Tune".
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:05pmHas everyone forgotten she wrote, despite your opinion of it, a very hummable score for Millie. While Reidel's gossip is always spot on, he needs to stop trying to be a theatre critic in what is esentially Page 6 for the Broadway set.
#2re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:07pm
what did he say?
even things in Caroline are beautiful melodies.
the Night, mama, duet comes to mind.
salty Teardrops is the best.
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#2re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:09pmI love the Millie score. Hence, my user name.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#3re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:09pm
I know. I thought the music of Caroline was very accessible. The lyrics, not so much.
His quote was:
"Tesori is a very shrewd composer, but she's not exactly known as a tunesmith. Her score to Tony Kushner's "Caroline, or Change" is complex and dynamic, but you have to be a member of the Kushner claque to leave the theater humming a tune."
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=957249&dt=34&boardid=1
roquat
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/25/05
#4re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:11pm
"Lay Down Your Head" from VIOLET isn't a hummable, beautiful tune?
I'm still sick of old fogeys who say the same thing about Sondheim. FOLLIES and SWEENEY and MERRILY are full of "hummable" tunes.
I ask in all honesty/What would life be?/Without a song and a dance, what are we?/So I say "Thank you for the music/For giving it to me."
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#5re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:11pmOh, pffft, you're giving too much credit to a man who hasn't had sex since 1982.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
#6re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:11pm
Also
"Her "Shrek" songs showed off her musical intelligence, but they weren't the sort of bouncy ditties you'd expect from a Broadway musical aimed at families. She might want to toss in a "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" here and there".
#7re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:14pm
Well, I don't think he's alone in this assumtion about Tesori as a composer. I've seen it on almost every thread that brings her up. While Violet isn't crowd fare, her score is memorable enough to hum, but her Millie and Caroline score really show her gift for Melody.
Besides being children's fare, the Shrek films are very smart, and can be enjoyed on many levels, especially the first film.
She beat out many other teams to get this job, so I wouldn't worry about her, it's the execution of the piece that concerns me.
#8re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:17pm
I think most of the Theatre World is on board about Sondheim being able to write Melody. Even Passion features lush melody.
Are Melody and Hummable even in the same category of criticism? Hummable is purely opinion, while Melody is easier to pinpoint.
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#9re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:21pmDo you have money invested on Shrek? You seem awfully nervous.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
#10re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/18/08 at 5:18pmI do. 2 bucks.
musicow
Chorus Member Joined: 11/8/06
#11re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/19/08 at 7:40pmWasn't the "hit" song from Millie the title tune from the film? The song JIMMY is a relic from the 20's. Not one song in her catalogue covered by any major recording artist!This is definitely not JERRY HERMAN, ANDRE PREVIN OR HENRY MANCINI!
#12re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/19/08 at 7:42pmActualy, Kristin Chenoweth did a cut song from Millie on her debut album.
musicow
Chorus Member Joined: 11/8/06
#13re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/19/08 at 7:55pmYou really don't consider Kristin C. a recording artist. While I'm sure her renditions were totally professional, I was thinking of someone who actually sold recordings in numbers larger than 2500!!
#14re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/19/08 at 7:59pmWell, she has a record contract, so I'd call her a recording artist. And her first disc has been in print twice, so I'm pretty sure more than 2500 people own it, genius.
twitchy+bitchy+manic
Stand-by Joined: 2/3/08
#15re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/19/08 at 8:08pm
and also, very few artists nowadays would cover a herman track anyway. Although I do love that disco version of la cage aux folles on youtube. that rocks.
I'm thoroughly in the tesori camp, I'm only really familiar with her score for caroline, but that's enough to make me a lifetime supporter. Salty teardrops, noah go to sleep, and no one waiting are all great songs, with melodies that i know I find myself humming a lot.
Also, to help that little threadjack, sondheim does seem rather sexless, doesn't he? I have heard a story about him indulging in an escort once. dunno if that's true. very talented man, who was rather attractive in his yonger years, but seems to suffer from johanthan rhys myers-esque axe murderer eyes sometimes.
goldenstate5
Featured Actor Joined: 5/8/06
#16re: I'm Sick of This Crap That Tesori Can't Write a 'Hummable Tune'.
Posted: 2/20/08 at 1:43am
Please stop talking about how you can trust Tesori for Shrek because of Caroline. Shrek and Caroline are entirely different kinds of shows. Caroline worked with Tesori because it needs an uncoventional score to work, it's just that kind of show. I hated the Millie score because not only are the lyrics (for the Tesori tunes, at least) bland, but the music is as well. Same thing goes for Shrek, the composer needs to be able to be bouncy and catchy for it to work. This is an irreverent, funny story, not poetic and dramatic like Caroline. If they try to make Shrek a moving, dramatic romance a la BATB, they complete missed the point of the original movie. And BATB at least had a little something named Alan Menken. Why Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx weren't called up is beyond me...
Updated On: 2/20/08 at 01:43 AM
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