Which Musicals Do You Want to See the British/Menier "Minimalist" Take On?- Page 2

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 5:46pm

MACK & MABEL

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 6:13pm

I don't know if or how it could be done, but I'd love to see a scaled-down version of Sunset Boulevard.

Watermill in Newbury did their actor/musician minimal production of Sunset Boulevard to rave reviews, which included a West End transfer. I actually had to choose between Sunset and La Cage when I was in London, but went with La Cage to see Graham Norton. My partner saw their production of Mack and Mabel and loved it.

Updated On: 5/11/10 at 06:13 PM

[SweeneyPhanatic]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 6:20pm

Sunset Blvd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5zQiDiPy9E

A TV performance, but it's best anyone can legally provide, here. :)

Updated On: 5/11/10 at 06:20 PM

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 6:51pm

Wow. Kathryn Evans is my idea of how Norma should look and sound. Stunning!
But no thanks. I'll go to the symphony if I want to watch people play instruments. I find the whole conceit ridiculous. I'd rather watch top-level singers and actors then passable singers and actors who happen to play an instrument.

[Boybooshka]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:19pm

The Watermill production of Sunset was amazing. I really don't see how people can wholesale reject the idea of actor/musician productions. Sometimes it's gonna work, sometimes it isn't.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:31pm

I thought I had heard something about a scaled-down British production somewhere but I wasn't sure. Thanks for sharing the video! :)

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:33pm

She's very good, and I think she's great for the part of Norma.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:33pm

We didn't need dialogue, we had tubas!

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:37pm

^Haaaa!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:45pm

Doyle paired some talentless unknowns
Up with his sacred saxaphones

Couldn't resist!

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:46pm

I managed to catch The Watermill production of Sunset Boulevard a couple of times at The Comedy Theatre here in the West End.

Let me tell you Katherine Evans was superb as Norma Desmond and the production was brilliant.

I had high hopes of a Broadway transfer of Sunset, but that looks very unlikely now. Even though the show is actor/musician, it did the production no harm, it is a good way of getting revivals that would be otherwise unlikely.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:50pm

Yeah, Phantom, I actually heard good things about that production. I actually really like Sunset Boulevard.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 7:57pm

Miss Saigon.

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 9:03pm

Boybooshka, if you like it, and it works for you, that's wonderful. My view though, is that a huge part of a good acting performance is listening. The old saying goes "acting is reacting." I think that's largely true, and I think you can't really listen to your fellow actors if you're listening to your fellow musicians, watching the conductor out of the corner of your eye and on top of it all, have an oboe in your mouth. It's too many things to do at once. Actors in musicals are already working in a sort of dramatic shorthand and have so many balls in the air as it is. Don't hand them a tuba. Especially if it's only because you don't want to pay a tuba player. If the character plays an instrument, that's one thing. I'm always up for "suspending disbelief", but don't ask me to pretend that a character doesn't have a double bass between their knees during a love scene.

Similarly, I'd rather hear musicians who are not busy doing choreography, singing and otherwise having their attention split. I saw the Sweeney revival; the actors played passably at their best moments and were often pretty bad at others.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 9:55pm

The Watermill started employing the device of actor/musicians due to budgetary constraints, but it was previously used in From a Jack to a King and then to great success with Return to the Forbidden Planet, which was pure genius. The musical instruments were so seamlessly incorporated into the show, even used as various props, I could honestly not see how the show could be performed any other way. If the method is as ingeniously used in a revival (which I did not feel was the case with Company), I don't see why it would be a problem.

If an actor is a strong enough musician to be comfortable playing an instrument on stage in front of an audience, then it is usually no more distraction to them than performing a song. As a percussionist, I had to perform xylophone in You Can't Take it With You because it is in the script and I had to time the pieces of music with the dialogue and action on stage. With proper direction and staging, the instrument becomes an extension of the character and the music they perform is part of their score, just like any solo song or choral accompaniment.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 9:34am

I'm looking forward to the Partridge Family Presents Pippin.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 9:40am

I think a lot of the mega musical flops from the 80s could find new life as a scaled down show. Some of them had really strong material that was just overwhelmed by the need to be HUGE.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 10:19am

OH CALCUTTA starring Maria Friedman, Elaine Paige and Susan Boyle.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 10:45am

I'm a little in love with Kathryn Evans...been so ever since hearing her "Spin" from The Fix.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 10:47am

After that horrific SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, I'd like to see the Menier destroyed in a catastrophic earthquake/fire/rain of frogs before they defile any more interesting pieces of theatre.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 10:48am

Jordy, how much more minimal can "Oh! Calcutta" get?

Save their heads too?

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 11:25am

The Windmill did Mack & Mabel a few years ago and it was excellent! Really, it was a great production and I think it worked better than Sweeney Todd for its actor-musician context.
Also, Donmar did Nine around 10 years ago which transferred to Broadway as the huge revival with Antonio Banderras. So I highly doubt if Nine will be scaled down or revived anytime soon
I would love to see Donmar's Into the Woods. You know not all scaled-down musicals are bad! You guys should've watched Donmar's Parade, it's SMALL compared to the Broadway version but I think it probably better and so well suited for the Donmar Warehouse, not sure how it went in the LA production though.

[smodel11]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 12:40pm

I'm so glad to see Sunset Boulevard mentioned. I've always thought it was much better than all of its "spectacle". Yes it's ALW, but there are some gorgeous moments in that score (ignoring, of course, some of the clunky lyrics) and the plot is very interesting. In a black box/minimalist setting I think that it would be much easier to get to the meat of the story. It really is an "actor's" show at heart. Enough with the actors playing instruments, though. I think it's a really distracting concept that takes away from the truth of the show. If someone can figure out how to make this happen, I will be the first person to buy a ticket :)

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 1:10pm

In all seriousness I'd love to see N2N in a British style.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 5/12/10 at 1:15pm

I've always wanted to work on, or see a production of "Sunset BLVD" where the entire show is just one actress playing Norma. Where all the other characters are played by the same actress, as if it is all in her head.

Also, I think that the minimalist concert of "Camelot" that was on Live From Lincoln Centre a few years ago was very good. I also own the DVD of the revival with Richard Harris from 1981. And I prefer the concert over the full production.