Starmania / Tycoon

[mrcacou]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 5:05pm

I was just wandering if any one in the English speaking world had heard of a French musical that has been seen by nearly everybody here and that was later translated and renamed "TYCOON" by Tim Rice. Starmania has so many wonderful tunes, it is sad we had to export Notre Dame de Paris which is real crap and not that one.

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 5:08pm

I picked up a recording of it off ebay -- a lot of famous singers doing songs from it, so there was no narrative thread at all. I have no idea what it's about. There were a couple of catchy songs, but I can't say I was overly impressed

[mrcacou]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 5:16pm

I remember reading it was written after an American girl who was taken prisoner by some terrorists. They did some brainwach on her and she later joined them. The songs are wonderful, according to me of course. If you are refering with the Cindy Lauper version of the world is stone, the French version has better orchestrations than this one.

[cturtle]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 3:33pm

coincidentally, i'm listening to STARMANIA right now for the first time. indeed, there are some great voices. i like MICHEL PASCAL's voice best ... too bad his part is small. i can't say i'm that crazy about the music, but maybe it will grown on me

"an American girl who was taken prisoner by some terrorists" ... are you referring to PATTY HEARST?

[mrcacou]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 4:25am

Yes indeed that's her.Patricia Hearst, the girl we see in every John Waters' movie.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 3:28pm

I had a little chat with Tim Rice about this once.

It was hoped that the Tycoon cd would be a springboard to a West End show, but it never took off. The project is totally dead.

Personally, I don't think the English lyrics are brilliant, and the cd actually sounds more dated than the French versions.

There is a R2 DVD which is truly awful.

The melodies have potential as does the underlying theme of alienation in the cyber-age, but the book and staging need a total re-think.

[sanda]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 4:01pm

I heard about it. I have some friends who are huge French musical fans. I read their opinion a lot.

I myself never listened to the music because I don't understand French.

[mrcacou]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 5:39pm

Here is a link so that you can read the English lyrics of this show. It's been a huge success here in France where its last incarnation ran for ten years. Each song has been a hit here.
Tycoons's lyrics

[cturtle]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 9:35pm

thanks for the link, mr c!