REBECCA in Bryant Park - ooof...

Watching the footage from Bryant Park - yikes, the English lyrics aren't good, and although they're different from the old demos they're still just as clunky and leaden (although the music doesn't help).

I really hope Ryan Silverman is only using American vowel sounds because it's a promo performance rather than that being how he'll sound in the show. And it's unfortunate that Karen Mason didn't rock up to play Danvers, as whoever it was at that performance wasn't quite vocally up to it.

I suppose I shouldn't be too harsh - it's three months until previews after all, they can work on some of this stuff. But still, not too hopeful...

For those who aren't equipped with Google Translate:

"I can speak German and English, so I know that the lyrics are just as funny in German."

By funny do you mean "bad"?

Also, what did everyone expect? Christopher Hampton is a brilliant playwright. A lyricist? Not so much. Look at Sunset Boulevard and Dracula, for crying out loud. What did you expect, third time's a charm? As for the input of Michael Kunze, such as it may have been, I will only repeat (more succinctly) what fans of his have said ever since the days of Elisabeth: in German, he's a poet. In English, he's an ESL student who really, really tries.

(Granted, the above is probably certain parties' excuse for what happened with DOTV, but it's not like all of his work was completely jettisoned for the show. Having seen his English script, such doozies as "Garlic, garlic / The secret of staying young / Garlic, garlic / That's why we're so well-hung" are definitely in there.)

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Updated On: 8/10/12 at 11:27 AM

^ Plus, what crossover appeal does this particular musical have? One could argue (if they absolutely had to, which I suspect they won't) that it's based on a Hitchcock film, but even then the material's really esoteric to an American audience.

Same thing whenever I hear Elisabeth (another Kunze work) fans complain about why it hasn't gone to the States: too esoteric. Half the people who went in would be expecting something about an English queen; Sissi just doesn't have that big an audience here, and even if she did, strong comparisons could (and would) be made to Evita, particularly the current revival version.

DOTV had the best crossover appeal possible (and, as I hear rumors of a revival closer to the German original brewing, will definitely be in vogue with the whole Twilight/True Blood craze), and the team connected to that managed to screw the pooch completely the first time around.

If there's anybody I feel bad for in this equation, it's Kunze, in all reality.

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Updated On: 8/10/12 at 12:21 PM

The final note sung by the Mrs.Danver's understudy,in the title song,is pretty epic.

Updated On: 8/11/12 at 06:01 PM

^ In other words, I was basically right; they weren't any better in German, is what you were saying.

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