#1
Posted: 9/8/04 at 12:33am
Ok, Assassins is an obvious example of murderers at center stage in a Broadway musical, but several others come to mind for me, and my knowledge pales in comparison to many of you...
Probably my all-time favorite show, Ragtime, lionizes Coalhouse, whose life is seen as a tragedy of injustice, and his premeditated multiple murders over a possession and a tragic accident seem rationalized away. If it happened today in NYC, The Times would -rightly- label him a terrorist mass murderer of public servants. Probably would not even use the slightly understanding term of 'vigilante.' Perhaps the papers in the show's setting did as much, but only in the background. Much is made of Sarah's death, but several murdered firemen were dismissed mid-sentence. In the end, the murderer takes the final bow in a show with several parallel protagonists.
Then there's another of my favorite shows- Peter Pan. Yes, the multiple murderer Peter Pan, who kills two dutiful sailors in the dark, and who drops a bomb on a drowning amputee- the same ship's captain whom he had previously cut off the arm in an unexplained situation. Our hero, Peter Pan!
And (as I get sillier still)- I can make a strong circumstantial case that Jane Eyre had something to do with four deaths in her musical (strong motives in three of them), though this was not the author's version.
Back to the point- what other musicals show murderers in a positive light? Any commentary on this use of the art form?
Probably my all-time favorite show, Ragtime, lionizes Coalhouse, whose life is seen as a tragedy of injustice, and his premeditated multiple murders over a possession and a tragic accident seem rationalized away. If it happened today in NYC, The Times would -rightly- label him a terrorist mass murderer of public servants. Probably would not even use the slightly understanding term of 'vigilante.' Perhaps the papers in the show's setting did as much, but only in the background. Much is made of Sarah's death, but several murdered firemen were dismissed mid-sentence. In the end, the murderer takes the final bow in a show with several parallel protagonists.
Then there's another of my favorite shows- Peter Pan. Yes, the multiple murderer Peter Pan, who kills two dutiful sailors in the dark, and who drops a bomb on a drowning amputee- the same ship's captain whom he had previously cut off the arm in an unexplained situation. Our hero, Peter Pan!
And (as I get sillier still)- I can make a strong circumstantial case that Jane Eyre had something to do with four deaths in her musical (strong motives in three of them), though this was not the author's version.
Back to the point- what other musicals show murderers in a positive light? Any commentary on this use of the art form?
