POCAHONTAS as a Stage Musical but not about Pocahontas

You mean like putting "Colors of the Wind" in a new musical about hurricanes or just changing the characters names to disassociate the story with history? Couldn't they just use the songs in a more historically accurate adaptation of the Pocahontas legend? Similar to the way the Mary Poppins musical used songs from the film in an adaptation that more closely resembled the original novels rather than just plopping the film on stage.

I know she was a real person, but are the facts not a bit hazzy? I've always assumed the romanticism was the result of the actual facts being twisted and embellished over the years. Would they not be able to go back and find a happy middle ground between truth and fiction rather than the completely misguided film version?

When Mel Gibson was asked about the historical inaccuracy of the movie he responded: "There's a talking tree."

Wow, they've really limited our editing options in the revamp of the SmartText editor. Was gonna put this as a YouTube link. Instead, since that URL is not supported in the media embed function, I'll have to quote the damn thing. Thanks Rob. Thanks a lot.

Anyway...

On the popular television situation comedy Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson (played masterfully by Nick Offerman) once offered this pearl of wisdom: "I used to work in a sheet-metal factory, but then a job came along at the tannery. The hours were better, and I would get paid. Also, I'd have the chance to work with leather both before and after it was on the cow, which had always been a dream of mine. I didn't want to give up my sheet-metal job, so I tried to do both jobs and finish middle school. [...] The point is, I was so tired, I tried to puncture an eight-gauge aluminum foil with a leather awl. I learned a lesson: Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

I quoted way more of that speech than was necessary to make my point, but still my point is made. Mr. Nowack, you're trying to have it both ways: an adaptation of a successful legitimate theatrical release animated feature motion picture by Disney, and a historically accurate treatment of the true story of Pocahontas. You would be better served by doing either one or the other, not trying to have it both ways. The Hunchback of Notre Dame just tried to have it both ways, and now it's going directly into stock and amateur licensing and a studio recording rather than a run on Broadway. Successfully doing one or the other is possible; successfully accomplishing both is significantly harder.

Updated On: 8/12/15 at 10:02 AM

JUST TO BE CLEAR

I did not make this thread to advocate a true to life musical about the life of Pocahontas. I don't think such a project, whether based in the Disney Fairy Tale version or started from scratch, is necessary or even a very good idea. I was pointing out the downfalls of such a project in the light of the suggestion that they could just rework the movie. Maybe it would work as a movie in the style of the Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movies but not as a musical.

I was suggesting recycling the songs and basic concept in a new project that didn't use maligned history as its template.

I'm still confused, Nowack. Do you want a fictional romantic musical about a Native American girl and an English explorer using the Disney songs, but not specifically based on the story of Pocahontas? I'm still trying to figure it out.

"a historically accurate treatment of an original story involving an unrelated Indian princess."

I was imagining something even more distanced from the history, maybe not even about a Native American Princess and an English explorer. The lyrics aren't super specific to Native American culture I don't think. What the replacements might be I couldn't say, that's why I started the thread! Though I guess something along those lines might be the happy middle ground CATS spoke of.

"Avatar the Musical "

?Seriously that's kinda what I had in mind!

"I was imagining something even more distanced from the history, maybe not even about a Native American Princess and an English explorer. The lyrics aren't super specific to Native American culture I don't think."

...you're kidding, right? Please tell me you are. The lyrics alone are so rooted in Native American culture it's not funny.

By Stephen Schwartz's own account, the lyrics to "Colors of the Wind," for example, were inspired by a famous letter written by Chief Seattle to Congress, which has been re-printed many times. He went out of his way to use Native American locution and imagery, and the specific wording was influenced by some of the Native American poetry he'd been reading as research. (And this is saying nothing of the countless uses of Native influences ranging from Algonkian to Southwestern tribal language.)

You could no more place the score of Pocahontas in a show utterly divorced from its context than you could shoehorn "The Star-Spangled Banner" into a Frank Wildhorn musical. It just doesn't work that way. Which again returns me to a variation of my point: you wanna write a musical of Avatar, do it. You wanna write a musical of Pocahontas, do it. But trying to do both in one show is just foolhardy.

Updated On: 8/13/15 at 03:42 PM

To be fair, with some slight lyrical changes to If I Never Knew You and other songs here an there, removing the romance (allowing Pocahontas to be a younger girl) and a rewritten script, the songs would all work.

Pocahontas is about racism, white superiority, valuing materials over mother nature are all themes that are very current.

I know, I love the music from "The Sound of Music", but let's tell the true story of the Van Trapp family and not some overly saccharine tale that removes all truth except the names of some real people.