What musical would sound interesting in another language?- Page 2

[WhatYouOwn27]

Posted: 2/2/06 at 6:51pm

maybe Aida to

[RydBrst]

Posted: 2/2/06 at 8:06pm

I have a girlfriend who did CATS in Hamburg & she said the show was BETTER in German!

[jo]

Posted: 2/2/06 at 10:43pm

I think it might be a good idea if a musical written in English could also be re-written in the native language in which the story takes place.

*I have actually seen the French version of LES MISERABLES (based on the Cameron Mackintosh production) in Paris in 1992 and it was very good.

*Phantom of the Opera might sound equally good in French

*And maybe Man of La Mancha in Spanish

*And maybe West Side Story could be bi-lingual...and likewise Aspects of Love

[jasobres]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 7:31am

I heard that Frenchie Davis did "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" in German once.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 7:43am

"Bombay Dreams" in Hindu!!!

[once a month]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 8:49am

Aside from the French Les Mis, I also have a Japanese HAIR!

[Buck]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 9:05am

I think ANY Frank Wildhorn musical would sound better in a foreign language. Actually, I kind of like the Hungarian cast CD of J&H......go figure.

[life_so_far]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 9:06am

I've listened to the Phantom of the Opera movie with the French dubbing, and I have to say I kind of like the French translations...

[dancinfan]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 9:10am

How about a Japanese, Chinese, or Korean version of a classic like Anything Goes? Or a Sondheim show? It's gotta be hard to get all those syllables in AND get the proper meaning across.

[Im a Protestor]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 12:03pm

sweeney todd in german would be so intense

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 12:10pm

"Bombay Dreams" in Hindu!!!"

It's "Hindi." Hinduism is a religion.

A lot of the songs in that show are actually in Hindi. They're taken straight from various Bollywood movies.

I have RENT in Icelandic- it's hilarious. In a really, really BAAAAD way. Some of the musical arrangements are totally unrecognisable.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 2:15pm

I have always held that the Hebrew translation of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" is actually better than the original Englsih. A lot of the reason for this is that they make direct puns off the original Hebrew bible text, which they can get away way with because in general the Israeli culture is more aware of it. I saw a brilliant Broadway-style production of it while I lived there.

My dad got me "Kanar al HaGag" or Fiddler on the Roof in Hebrew two summers ago when I was playing Motel in North America. It is a pretty good translation. There are a select few translators in Israel that translate musicals to Hebrew and tey are all VERY good at what they do. (I hear that The Prodcuers is brilliant).

Also somebody mentioned Fiddler in Yiddish. In Montreal, Canada there was a much-lauded production that did so and it was stunning apparently. Wish I could have made it there to see it, but I was going a month after it ended anyways, so I couldn't swing it.

I have heard "Out Tonight" from Rent in German and while I cannot attest to the translation or anything, as I do not speak the language, I LOVED the orchestrations. They really kicked up the level of rock to the sound, and that song really packed more punch than the Broadway Cast Recording version.

Akiva

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 2:36pm

I think I could only enjoy Bombay Dreams if it had an appropriate mix of English and Hindi! It's the Bollywood way!

Pacific Overtures in Japanese is really neat.

[ohhoney_]

Posted: 2/3/06 at 2:40pm

i have phantom of the opera downloaded in danish. it is WONDERFUL and i always laugh "ball masqueeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" tee hee

i also have hungarian CATS downloaded but it won't play =(

into the woods en francais, je pense!

[musicalkid]

Posted: 2/4/06 at 10:10am

True, the Hebrew translatoin of Josph is superb!
also a very good hebrew translation of My Fair Lady and Les Mis.
King and I translation is a bit out-dated and isn't as talkative.
I haven't heard The Israeli "Producers" yet (three friends of mine are in he chorus. yee hee!)- but i'm a tad frightened by what it must be like.

I am curently translating to Hebrew a certain two-person JRB musical.

[suzycat]

Posted: 2/4/06 at 5:37pm

I really enjoyed Mamma Mia in Spanish. It was funny, because at the curtain call when they do the medley, they did "Waterloo" in English. I guess it just doesn't translate well.

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 2/4/06 at 6:30pm

Phantom sounds beautiful in spanish.

[astonishing1985]

Posted: 2/4/06 at 10:18pm

I saw Rent in Icelandic!
and other musicals

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 2/5/06 at 4:29pm

Are the lyrics translated directly when a show is translated into another language? Or are they changed so that it sounds right and still makes some sense, but isn't the same?



I hope that question was somewhat understandable, lol.

[Dancinqueen123]

Posted: 2/5/06 at 4:34pm

I understood your question Dirty Rotten Scoundrel. I've wondered the same thing.

[joanlegorreta]

Posted: 2/5/06 at 6:09pm

Well DRS, I'm from Mexico so I'm used to see translated musicals. If I got your question correctly, I'd say that the work of a translator is in the first place, translate literally the lyric, but then he has to find synonyms and get the words into the metric of the song (I'm not sure if "metric" is the right word in music), specially because in English the words are shorter than in Spanish, in this case.
It's not an easy thing to do, precisely 'cause they have to keep the message of the song.

[Matters]

Posted: 2/5/06 at 8:44pm

Lord of the Rings. In English.

[YessicaB]

Posted: 2/5/06 at 10:52pm

Many American Actors have done shows in Germany, to the dismay of the poor Germans....lol. Not that they are not fantastic, but when they try to speak and sing in German, people who are not familiar with the show have no clue what they are trying to say, because it's pretty hard to understand someone with an American accent! They should just hire German actors! There are only about 10-20 Broadway Shows playing across the whole country, be fair give them a shot, it's their country and language!

I was told that the German "Tanz Der Vampire" Dance of the Vampire was a lot better than the American production. I haven't seen either so i wouldn't know. It might also just have to do with them having bad taste....lol. Look at what's playing right now:
3 MUSKETIERE (Berlin)
AIDA (Ndrnhs./Basel/HB)
BEST OF MUSICAL (Tour)
BLUE MAN GROUP (Berlin)
DIRTY DANCING (HH)
ELISABETH (Stuttgart)
KÖNIG DER LÖWEN (HH)
LES MIS (Lüneburg)
LUDWIG² (Füssen)
MAMMA MIA! (Hamburg)
MAMMA MIA! (Stuttgart)
PHANTOM D. OPER (Essen)
ROBIN HOOD (Bremen)
ROBIN HOOD (München)
SAT. NIGHT FEVER (Tour)
SCHÖNE&BIEST (Oberhsn.)
STARLIGHT EXPRESS (BO)
WE WILL ROCK YOU (Köln)

[DBillyP]

Posted: 2/6/06 at 12:15am

I saw the Italian National Tour of GREASE last fall in Florence. It was a hoot. It was kind of like seeing an opera. I didn't know what they were saying, but I knew what was going on.

[cathyhyatt]

Posted: 2/6/06 at 9:57am

have you ever heard 'Dance of the Vampires' in German? It's awesome.