Martin Guerre

[Phan#24601]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 6:09pm

How is/was this musical? I just heard about it, and I was wondering if either of the cast recordings are worth checking out. As a huge fan of Boublil and Schönberg's previous works, I am intrigued.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 6:37pm

It's the most unsubtly homoerotic musical ever written. (Including, by implication, the scene where the villagers form a ring around the newlyweds and basically sing "F--- her! F--- her!" Apparently the hero is so gay he has to be begged.)

I LOVE Hugh Panaro; nonetheless, I laughed out loud through most of the show (which is not a comedy).

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 7:03pm

The current version is more like the original London cast recording than the revival cast recording. A lot of the stuff they wrote for the revised version ended up getting cut again for the most current revisal, so I would suggest the original cast recording over the 1999 revival recording.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 7:11pm

I don't even know which version I saw. It was in LA sometime in the 1990s.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 7:11pm

I believe the US tour was the revised version...

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 7:13pm

Thanks, Eric. I assumed I was watching a first, untested version.

The highlight was an onstage costume change during which Hugh Panaro was left naked save for his dance belt. At least that's what you saw from the mezzanine.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 8:01pm

If you search "Making of Martin Guerre" on YouTube you get links to a series of video that together are the entire DVD of the same name. Some interesting moments.

I saw a version at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago long ago and remember thinking some of the songs were quite good, but the story failed to keep my interest.

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 9:04pm

Although I enjoy the orignal London cast recording, I think the 1991 revival CD is a much more enjoyable listening experience.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 1:04am

the OLC cast recording is wonderful... i love listening to it...

i saw the show at the Ahmanson and felt like act I just dragged but that act 2 was much more focused...

[devonian.t]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 2:55am

I worked on the London show, which descended into chaos once audience reaction wasn't as expected. Changing leading lady, re-writes upon re-writes.

It was a lovely score- musically- but the lyrics were horrible.

Cameron meddled too much, determined to make it "epic" but I always thought they would have been better to follow the Sommersby route and hold back on the identity switch and actually create some dramatic tension!

[Dubliner]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 6:43am

It was very boring and uninvolving when I saw the initial version at the Prince Edward. I would have liked to have seen Conall Morrison's production at the WYP though. Updated On: 10/23/12 at 06:43 AM

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 8:23am

I'm no great fan of Boublil and Schonberg in general, but large portions of this score rank with their best work. I've gone through several periods with the OLC heavily in my rotation.

[Iheartchipotle]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 9:00am

I saw the second incarnation in London, shortly after changes were made. Going with a group of about 8 college students, 3 fell asleep. I loved it, but wasn't really too involved with any of the characters. The set was boring, the burning scene was dull, and some of the characters were just...well, annoying.

That said, I think this is one of their best scores. Bethlehem, the Overture (I still love it), Imposters, All I Know....there are some great tunes.

Get the OLC cast recording, if you're looking to buy one. The revisal CR is missing the lush orchestrations. Live with Someone You Love, is a great song, as are some of the "changed" versions - . They work well, but in dumbing down the scale, they lost the best aspect of the show - the music.

Doubt we'll ever see it again unless they add SOME suspense into the show. And get away from the idea of it as a "Chamber musical" It's hardly a mega-musical....keep the music alone!

[matty159]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 9:53am

It really was a shame they never got this one right. I can't say it ranks among my favorites, but some of it I really enjoy and I loved watching the process of its development. I saw the show 20+ times during the time I lived in England (the student rush pricing was super cheap) and pretty much each time I saw it, there was something new going on. Not like Annie 2 different each time (except after the major overhaul), but you could tell as another poster mentioned that the show was in "chaos." I got to see the show at the Kennedy Center as well, and do have to say I prefer all of what I saw in London compared to that production. Similarly, I prefer the London recording of the show.

[HumATune]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 1:51pm

I wrote some notes on the production after seeing the revised version in Los Angeles in 2000. Here are some of my thoughts from that write-up:

"Well I’ve heard that the tour is quite scaled down from the London production, and I must admit the scenery wasn’t that impressive. It wasn’t bad, but certainly it wasn’t the impressive sized sets one would expect and the burning scene wasn’t very dramatic at all. I expected the entire stage to be aflame in this dramatic climax (as the story calls for) but they were only burning this one back wall. Not exciting stuff."

" I think where Guerre really suffers is in its plot. I think they should have kept the original concept of producing an heir so that the land wouldn’t go to a Protestant. I don’t know, the characters just didn’t seem very developed and the story isn’t exciting enough to make up for that."

So basically I didn't "get" the motivations of the characterless. They dropped the keeping the land from Protestant angle, robbing the characters of motivation. It was not good storytelling.

Updated On: 10/23/12 at 01:51 PM

[JBC2]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 3:16pm

I saw the show at The Prince Edward in London, back in 1997. A friend gave me a ticket, which was later appreciated because I wasn't that enthralled with the performance, and would have regretted spending the money. I did buy the CD, though, because there are some beautiful songs in the show. The set, if I recall correctly, was quite sparse, so if it was later pared down even more for US performances, I can't imagine what else they could have removed!

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 3:44pm

i always remember that in the US version there was that opening scene where the cannon shot into the audience and some huge smoke ring appeared... the audience clapped... i guess that was this show's version of the chandelier or helicopter! ha

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 5:07pm

I will agree with Growler that some of the music is pretty great. But even on recording, you get a sense of the lack of momentum the score had (I'm only really familiar with the OLC). They certainly worked at it, but it doesn't sound like anything was a major improvement.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 7:08pm

The Goodman production in Chicago was The House of Martin Guerre. A different musical of the story not written by Boublil and Schoenberg.

I love the original version and I think the score is quite beautiful. The revised recording has two tracks I enjoy, but I hate most of the changes, especially the orchestrations. There is a pro-shot video of the full original London production floating out there and the staging was clever, but as previously stated, the show itself sort of flat-lines and has little momentum. The story keeps stalling to ask the same questions over and over with very little action to broaden the dramatic arc.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 7:12pm

i guess that was this show's version of the chandelier or helicopter! ha

The show's version of the chandler or helicopter "moment" was supposed to be the burning of the village scene, but from what I gather it was never as thrilling or spectacular as it could have been.

I agree that the music is pretty great and the original Overture is one of my favorites. The revisal didn't really improve or fix anything though. It's no wonder that they reverted back to a lot of the original material for the Watermill production in 2007. They did include "Live With Somebody You Love" in that one, but it was moved to late in the first act and I believe it was sung by Martin and Bertrande. As far as I know, that was the last time the show was reworked.

Updated On: 10/23/12 at 07:12 PM

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 8:12pm

i never saw The Pirate Queen... only have the cast recording... but was the show better then Martin Guerre? I know I prefer the music of MG then to PQ

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 8:27pm

I don't think Martin Guerre quite got the critical venom that Queen seemed to...

[Iheartchipotle]

Posted: 10/24/12 at 11:01am

Saw both.

Pirate Queen was more interesting than Martin Guerre. Saw it in Chicago and on B'way twice. Musically, better and visually stunning.

Too bad the critics (and everyone else) disagreed. Though I'm still surprised it hasn't been staged in the West End.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 5:28am

I saw the WYP version (with the cast on the second recording) and the only thing I can remember is the burning of the village, which was very effective.

I bought several people tickets for their Christmas present and, although they didn't say so, they obviously hated it. It was back to socks and chocolates the following Christmas.

If I want to listen to the show (which I rarely do) I would choose the OLC over the WYP version.

I saw Schonberg's ballet of Wuthering Heights a few years later and thought that had a much better score than MG (or PQ for that matter).

Updated On: 10/25/12 at 05:28 AM

[ajh]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 9:29am

There were really THREE significantly different versions of the London production of Martin Guerre before the WYP and US editions. The first which, as an earlier poster noted, failed to get the audience reaction expected, closed for about a week while major changes were made, including clarification of plot points, a new co-lyricist and adding a major new theme/finale (a rabblerousing number called Working On The Land, in the vein of Les Mis's Do You Hear The People Sing). This new ending had the desired effect of yanking the punters out of their seats but, imho, was far inferior to the beautiful, contemplative hymn-like finale where the villagers literally returned to working on the land after all the horrors they had endured and/or perpetrated. This ending is featured on the OLC.

The second version was re-reviewed, although not significantly better than the original (the reviews were respectable, as I remember, although not the kind of raves that would have you reaching for your credit card, with the exception of Sheridan Morley in the International Herald Tribune who noted that "for the third time, Boublil and Schonberg have come up with a musical that nobody likes except the public" in defiance of his fellow critics' unwillingness to embrace the show). There was a bit of hype made at the time as to which leading lady would play the new press night but in the event Juliette Caton, the main lead, did the show while the alternate, Rebecca Locke, did the cast recording.

The third London edition was never critically reviewed but was, imho, far superior to the earlier two, and definitely stands as an equal to Les Mis and Saigon. It came into performance when the second West End cast took over and included Jenna Russell (Dot in the Menier Sunday in W/End and NYC, Baker's Wife in Regents Park ITWoods, soon to be Mary in Menier Merrily) as Bertrande, the female lead, giving a sensational performance. This last version was faster, more dynamic, with better storytelling and less peripheral distractions (e.g. the first two versions featured a tiresome trio of old women commentating on the action.....they didn't make it!!!) I saw this last version several times, with principal and alternate castings, and the audience reaction was consistently terrific; couldn't help thinking that if THIS show had opened first then it may still be running now.

Unlike some other posters here, I thought the original set was wonderful. The huge timber towers on the Prince Edward's enormous stage consistently evoked rustic rurality and wide open spaces.

Interestingly, from versions one to three, the opening section never changed: the villagers toiling in the field as the sun comes up, and the orchestration swelled from one wind instrument to the full band, complete with crashing tymps, and large string section: so beautiful and deeply moving. All in all, I think this is a terrific score and one very much with it's own flavour,as Mis and Saigon do.

And of course, one of the original ensemble members was none other than James Corden!!!