NY Times Article on Cast Albums of the Year

[lull89]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 12:09am

The Times put a link on their website which features Stephen Holden giving an overview of the albums of most of the new musical cast recordings. He certainly has some interesting thoughts, but I must admit I like the props he gives to Shrek for its underrated score!
Broadway Musicals Sing a Different Tune- NY Times

[homeimp]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 4:50pm

This is one topic I probably shouldn't write about, but I will anyway. I just don't like it when critics, who in the main have little or no musical training, sit in judgment on the work of musicians who have trained in this field all their lives. Now it's one thing for Stephen Sondheim to express an opinion, but I really don't exactly care what Stephen Holden or Ben Brantley thinks of a score. They are free to have an opinion but I would disregard it. To me it's like the old system of figure skating, where many judges marking the routines had little knowledge of figure skating and had not participated in the sport. How could they possibly know what's difficult and what's not, what's innovative and what's routine? I know people will tell me it's no different than a critic who hasn't acted passing judgment on actors or a critic who has never designed weighing the merits of a set, But, gee, I wish there was someone musically competent deciding the future of musical theater scores.

Ok now jump all over me.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 5:18pm

I think whether you have music training or not is not at all relevant.

What matters is what works, according to the audience member. Were you told a story? Did the show have an affect on you? Did you like it?

On the most elementary level, comedies are supposed to make you laugh; love stories are supposed to make you root for the heroes; tragedies are supposed to make you cry; morality shows are supposed to teach you a lesson.

A score does many things. It emotionally connects you. It engages you. It provides audibles to dance to. It creates atmosphere.

Why sing dialogue at all? Aren't the words enough?

Well, I love musicals because a play has to take a lot of time to say what it has to say whereas in a musical, the score can INSTANTLY let you know a detail or point of view with the strike of a chord. I admire plays because they work harder, in a way. But the musical works harder in many other respects.

Wow. Tangent over. Point is, who cares what Brantley or Sondheim has to say about others' work. Ultimately, it is you, the audience member, that has to decide after seeing a show.

[lull89]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 5:20pm

Well, that's an interesting take. I would like to see a music scholars take on all the music that has come out of Broadway lately, or even a former composer who has experience writing for Broadway. But when you think about it, how many music critics know anything about music theory? What's their basis for what's good?

At least theatre critics judging the music of a show have somewhat of an idea with what the music is attempting to accomplish based on the rest of the production, and can evaluate how successful they perceive it being in regard to those attempts.
Updated On: 6/21/09 at 05:20 PM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 5:24pm

He lost all credibility when he said he preferred ACROSS THE UNIVERSE... That heaping steamy pile of Julie Taymor dung reeked to high heaven and robbed me the 20 minutes of my life I invested in trying to sit through it.


....but how do I really feel?