Posted: 1/19/19 at 7:34pm
Is Carnival the type of musical that could use a "big, splashy" production? The original was small in scale, which was a large part of its charm. Anything big and splashy would overwhelm the material.
Posted: 1/19/19 at 7:53pm
goodlead said: "Is Carnival the type of musical that could use a "big, splashy" production? The original was small in scale, which was a large part of its charm. Anything big and splashy would overwhelm the material."
This is accurate. Anything big and splashy would overwhelm the material. The show's title originally had an exclamation point at the end: CARNIVAL! Gower Champion had it removed. He said the show was not a blockbuster but a "gentle" show.
Posted: 1/19/19 at 8:26pm
Stanton3 said: "With these "So Called" problems people are stating then I decided now a revival is not a good idea but a "GREAT IDEA". If you don't like the themes of the book "Don't Go"."
It is very easy to not go to a non existent production. If you only want people to ageee with your ideas, you've come to the wrong board.
Updated On: 1/19/19 at 08:26 PM
Posted: 1/20/19 at 8:46pm
Posted: 1/22/19 at 12:18pm
I saw the original production several times---really liked and believed in it then, but looking at it from a much older perspective, it seems a little dated. A lot of the success of the original was due to the staging and creativity of Gower Champion. The musical seemed to take place in a small European town maybe between the wars---the traveling carnival people were very threadbare. The sets and lights created a sense of sadness and isolation; lots of light blues in the lights---you felt that Carnival took place in a world that was very isolated from any large metropolitan city of that day, and that the traveling group could only depend on each other for emotional sustenance. In that setting, maybe the traits of the leading characters seemed more realistic then they do today. In the scene before she interacts with the puppets for the first time, Lili was humiliated by her failure to assist Marco--then in a kind of vicious dream sequence she was taunted and abused by some of the men of the town. At that moment, with nothing, the puppets appeared and "saved" her. Maybe that is why she trusts them at that moment. I remember being very moved by that scene when I first saw it. The cast was great, but I think it was Champion's vision that created the innocence that Carnival had then.
l
Posted: 1/22/19 at 1:10pm
We have often seen this trope of the troubled man who has gone through terrible times being saved by the love of a pure and beautiful young woman. In fact, we see it over and over time and again. He always finds redemption, either in happiness or death, but his bad actions are always forgiven or understood by the audience as somehow justified by his previous trauma or circumstances.
Posted: 1/22/19 at 2:16pm
Forget Carnival. Revive CARNIVALE- it was far ahead of its time, and we as a peak-TV culture have finally caught up to what the show promised before being cut short. Clancy Brown isn't gonna live forever, so we need to make this happen now.
:P
Posted: 1/22/19 at 4:34pm
With these "So Called" problems people are stating then I decided now a revival is not a good idea but a "GREAT IDEA". If you don't like the themes of the book "Don't Go".
If you don't like reading responses to your post, "Don't Post".
Posted: 1/22/19 at 4:46pm
its not that at all. I think if people don't like a subject matter then don't see it. I don't like comic book movies and I don't tell people that there bad films. I just say "Not for me"
Posted: 1/25/19 at 10:03pm
If people don't want to see the play then don't buy a ticket.
Posted: 1/25/19 at 11:40pm
Posted: 1/27/19 at 9:40am
I know revisals have a bad rep on this board.
But think a show within a show within a show concept with a company putting on Carnival might be interesting. A reworked book in which the folks putting on "Carnival" are aware of the problems int he story they are telling, the absurd infantilization of the heroine, etc..
Perhaps this is an overwrought idea. But in the right hands perhaps it could work. And the score is so worthy of the effort.
Posted: 2/4/19 at 7:16am
If Roundabout or Lincoln Center wants to revive Carnival, they have to do it within the next couple years because the only "big name" who is perfect for Lili is coming soon. Rachel Zegler is going to be huge after West Side Story (already has a pretty big fanbase already) and she is everything they're looking for Lili: The name, the age and above all: The talent!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9ks7WNxUVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lrQ8kpOEEA
Posted: 2/4/19 at 10:47pm
darquegk said: "Forget Carnival. Revive CARNIVALE- it was far ahead of its time, and we as a peak-TV culture have finally caught up to what the show promised before being cut short. Clancy Brown isn't gonna live forever, so we need to make this happen now.
:P"
darquegk - I couldn't agree with you more!! Now is the time for it to roll back into town! HA AH AHA I wish Clancy Brown would come to bway too!
