Why did Whistle Down the Wind Not Make it?- Page 2

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 4:54pm

Useless trivia... The title song was used as the official song for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan...

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 6:27pm

This show is awsome and does deserve a place on Broadway somehow. it has just as much chance of being a hit as all the others.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 7:11pm

Ok, what does growing up in the south have to do with anything. I live is SC as I type and I love this musical. If you are going to blame anyone for the representation of southerners, blame the author of the novel that this and the Haley Mills movie was based on. Webber is a genius, even if he isn't as "artistic" as Sondheim and others, he brought a whole butt load of people (including me) to theatre and made us love it. He has also written some brilliant music that will forever be a staple in musical theatre. LIVE WEBBER, LIVE!!!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 7:28pm

Wasn't this supposed to play at the Martin Beck Theatre? I vaguely remember seeing a marquee when I lived in NYC.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 7:38pm

The story is a British story. Webber moved it to the American South.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 7:43pm

Oh, my bad!!! LOL

But, I still see nothing wrong with it being set in the south or whatever. LOVE IT!!!!

[MusicMan]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 9:21pm

Very simple: terrible score, terrible show.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 1:30am

MusicMan, you don't know what the **** you're talking about and no one agrees with you so shut up!

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 1:49am

the set
nuff said

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 2:36am

First of all: Andrew Lloyd Webber did ALL the score, Steinman did the lyrics. There was no crossing over. So don't even think otherwise. The tune for Tyre Tracks was recycled from Song and Dance, English Girls, the version with Bernadette Peters. A Kiss is the most beautiful song Lloyd Webber's probably ever written, next to Music of the Night. It also has some of the greatest lyrics. Steinman's well-and-truly is a genius. In many ways, he lifted Lloyd Webber's standards. He took him away from a commercial world back into the classics. Steinman was raized on Wagner, Brecht, and Rodgers and Hammerstein, and all of that will show in the upcoming Batman (if it ever happens). I, personally, think that Beautiful Game sux in comparison to this. Whistle had all new songs, for starters, and not just left-overs from Cricket and Phantom 2. Whistle was really emotional, with up-lifting music in the themes of Whistle, No Matter What and Kiss, and the exciting Wrestle With the Devil. Beautiful Game didn't even motivate me to turn on the TV. I was asleep. Whistle was, to be honest, just too good a show to risk on the panels of Broadway. It would've been too hard to get Gale Edwards, too hard to find a new director (and Boy From Oz, originally directed by Edwards, was ruined and savaged by the new director -
I KNOW - I saw the original production), and Sunset Boulevard set everything back. It's probably, in my opinion, one of the greatest works from both Steinman and Lloyd Webber. They really put their hearts into it, despite the long development. The tour which followed London was a travesty. Because of this, Steinman and Lloyd Webber are not on terms. In Steinman terms, however, that man has never had any luck on Bway. Look at The Dream Engine, Dance of the Vampires, etc. They hate him because he's too revolutionary and not enough 'typical'. City Officials banned Dream Engine because it was too sexually explicit and Michael Crawford turned the literary Tanz into a comic's worst nightmare. Which is a big shame

Updated On: 9/10/04 at 02:36 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 8:22am

broadwaystar2b -

"the set
nuff said"

No. Not "nuff said". Does this imply the only reason the show did not open on Broadway was because of the set? I hate it when people say "nuff said" because more often than not, it isn't.

rockfernis2005 - "They hate him because he's too revolutionary and not enough 'typical'."

Who is "they"? Dance of the Vampires and Whistle Down the Wind were not especially "revolutionary". Jesus Christ Superstar was more revolutionary than either of those shows.

"Whistle had all new songs, for starters, and not just left-overs from Cricket and Phantom 2."

Yet you said it had a leftover from Song and Dance, so it can't be "all new" then, can it?. Even Lloyd Webber said himself that the Cricket score went into Aspects of Love, unless after 20 years there was still some of the score left over that has not gone into anything else. Phantom 2 was never produced, so it's not like it's a recycled score or unoriginal.

Personally, I think Unsettled Scores has got to be the worst ballad Lloyd Webber has written thus far. The song keeps switching gears for no reason and the lyrics are vapid. It's mostly a laundry list of different kinds of people that ends in "gloriously big parade". It then switches gears and tries to become half an anthem that ends with "but I haven't got a prayer, I know. That's the nature of the beast!" Which really doesn't make sense with the rest of the song. The fact that he "doesn't have a prayer" (meaning both that no one prays for him and he won't get away) has nothing to do with "unsettled scores". It's a very thin thread that tries to tie the lyrics together and there is virtually nothing musically that attempts to bring the three sections of the song together. And then in the reprise, when he says, "and all my prayers are loaded in this gun", I had to stop myself laughing out loud.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 8:43am

Steinman's vague and generic lyrics hurt 'Whistle.' They don't SAY ANYTHING. I love Steinman as a theatrical rock composer but his lyrics in 'Whistle' were downright sophomoric. ("If all we'd lost, someone came found ... ") If anything, Lloyd Webber managed to hold the thing together, even though I don't think the score works either.

There are good ideas in 'Whistle,' but I don't think it's a strong show overall. I liked the transposition to the South, I just wish the writers would have really known how to explore that, as well as better utilized their attempt at having two different musical languages crashing into one another.

[PleaseChangeMe]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 9:34am

"MusicMan, you don't know what the **** you're talking about and no one agrees with you so shut up!"

Pardon, but Bronx, how old are you? I don't mean to sound like your father, but that outburst was completly uncalled for. Just because you like a show doesn't mean it's a good one for everyone. It's just differences of opinion.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 11:38am

But HE started it!!

John popa, you got it all screwed up too. The lyrics are, "If all we lost, somehow came back."

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 11:53am

It's the same inane sentiment. Steinman's 'this/that' lyric-writing doesn't work in the show.

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 3:36pm

In reading "Making it Big", they mention that Lloyd Weber wanted to use the Shubert-- but BIG wound up playing longer than expected and no houses were open on Broadway.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 4:02pm

But that contradicts both DottieD'Luscia and my collective memories, because I also saw the posters that had the show landing at the Martin Beck. As I recall, it was a motorcycle leaning against a telephone pole that formed a cross in the sky. Poor Davis Gaines who left a lucrative Phantom for this, only to not have it show up on Broadway...

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 6:27pm

Ok, WHISTLE rocks.........BAM!!!!

BEAUTIFUL GAME has some GORGEOUS music........BAM!!!


ALW........doesn't deserve all this crap.......DOUBLE BAM!!!

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/10/04 at 11:39pm

WHOH!! That's what I'm talking about!! Hot Damn!

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 11:45pm

MY REPLY TO MISTER MATT



rockfernis2005 - "They hate him because he's too revolutionary and not enough 'typical'."

Who is "they"? Dance of the Vampires and Whistle Down the Wind were not especially "revolutionary". Jesus Christ Superstar was more revolutionary than either of those shows.


FENRIS: Whistle Down the Wind was the first of its kind in its era. It was not a big blockbuster show, (or it wasn't intended to be that way), and carried on in a classical matter. The director was classical and the emotions were classical. From my experience, it was like witnessing a Greek tragedy. The show was unique. There was nothing else in the 90s that had its feel, scope or genuine vision. Dance of the Vampires on Broadway was nothing, but Tanz der Vampire in Germany was a record-breaking phenomenom, and also a capsule of the history of music in Germany. It was not based on anything big either, just a strange little film from the 60s that Roman Polanski directed. It still remains, to this day, the most phenomenal German musical


"Whistle had all new songs, for starters, and not just left-overs from Cricket and Phantom 2."

Yet you said it had a leftover from Song and Dance, so it can't be "all new" then, can it?. Even Lloyd Webber said himself that the Cricket score went into Aspects of Love, unless after 20 years there was still some of the score left over that has not gone into anything else. Phantom 2 was never produced, so it's not like it's a recycled score or unoriginal.


FENRIS: Only a few songs from Cricket were recycled into Aspects. There were two songs re-used in Sunset Boulevard and two for Beautiful Game. There was nothing in Whistle Down the Wind. The only recycling was English Girls, which Steinman insisted on using. That was NOT Lloyd Webber's personal
"recycling". And, speaking of Phantom 2, you can't say Frank Wildhorn stole the title "Heart is Slow to Learn," because that song and the song in Dracula had the same lyricist. Don Black recycled the title


Personally, I think Unsettled Scores has got to be the worst ballad Lloyd Webber has written thus far. The song keeps switching gears for no reason and the lyrics are vapid. It's mostly a laundry list of different kinds of people that ends in "gloriously big parade". It then switches gears and tries to become half an anthem that ends with "but I haven't got a prayer, I know. That's the nature of the beast!" Which really doesn't make sense with the rest of the song. The fact that he "doesn't have a prayer" (meaning both that no one prays for him and he won't get away) has nothing to do with "unsettled scores". It's a very thin thread that tries to tie the lyrics together and there is virtually nothing musically that attempts to bring the three sections of the song together. And then in the reprise, when he says, "and all my prayers are loaded in this gun", I had to stop myself laughing out loud.

FENRIS: You only say that, because you don't appreciate its dramatic enterprise. It's meant to be like Auguries of Innocence (Blake's dramatic poem) and not some typical Phantom ballad. It exists for dramatic impact, not to be interpreted as a pop hit. This leads me to say that what made Whistle unique (in the 90s) was the fact it served the storyline completely, and did not intend to make a template for pop-hits. No Matter What would not have succeeded if they were aiming for a song on the charts. They gained that as a bonus because they fulfilled their purpose. And, in contrast to Elton's theatrical writing, I'd say Steinman's a lot more superior. Dream Engine, More Than You Deserve, Neverland, The Confidence Man, Tanz der Vampire, the original American draft for Dance of the Vampires, are better than if Elton wrote We Will Rock You a thousand times over. There is just no comparison... and I've probably offended him for saying that

Updated On: 9/11/04 at 11:45 PM

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 1:58am

Well this is what Jacqueline Dillon had to say about it:




So Many Cries In The Night


by Jacqueline Dillon


Jim Steinman and Andrew Lloyd Webber have created a true musical drama that is both enriching and entertaining. Although the trend has been to leave weightier topics to dramatic plays, Whistle Down The Wind ensconces big issues in song and winds up being a magnificent example of how it is possible to merge provocative with electrifying and still be able to satisfy a varied audience.

To sum up Whistle Down The Wind simply as "the tale of three kids that find a convict in their barn and mistake him for Christ," is to fail to acknowledge the many sub-plots of the intricate storyline and the deeper beauty of the piece. In each character (or group characterization), in their situations and in their reactions we are given the chance to see ourselves and our world. In distinctive Steinmanian form, the emotionally explicit lyrics do more than tell the story on the stage - they tell the story of every man. There is depth to the lyrics and to the story itself. Essentially an allegory, Whistle Down The Wind is about...

...sin and the transgressions of man against religious and moral law. It paints a picture of humankind as both predator and prey. The willingness to cause another person harm exists in the convict but it also exists within the society that is riddled with intolerance, discrimination and a hunger for his blood. Sin is depicted where there is a lust for hate, where the ability to forgive is absent, when life is viewed as expendable and greed of oneself is emphasized above the good of another.

...loss and the way people deal with pain and deprivation. It's a universal common denominator, whether it's caused by death or another person's inability to fulfill our vision of them, we all lose people we need. The convict begins completely bankrupt in almost every way imaginable, Swallow's mom has passed away and now she's drifting from her father, Amos fails to be the man Candy wants him to be, Annie can't live without Charlie, Poor Baby's kitten dies and, eventually, The Man must leave Swallow. Seeing the diverse reactions of the characters brings us insight about our own responses when faced with loss.

...faith and the need to trust in one another and in God even when there is no logical proof or evidence to support our confidence. Bible-obsessed parishioners are consumed in constant declaration while revivalists handle snakes to prove their devotion to God. Swallow and the children put their complete faith in The Man's goodness and, in doing so, give him the ability to see it in himself. Whistle examines our desire to believe in something.

...redemption and the gift of recovery, salvation and emancipation through sacrifice. It's about the opportunity to be liberated from incorrectness and it's consequence by placing the benefit of another person above personal gain. Whistle Down The Wind is a portrait of benevolence and it's infectious nature. Swallow gives all she can to The Man and, although he begins as a person with nothing to offer, he ends as a person willing to disregards all cost to himself so that he may have leave her unharmed and steady in her convictions. Whistle glorifies atonement.

...hope and mankind's expectancy that fulfillment is possible, prayers will be answered and dreams will come true if we believe strongly enough in them. It is Whistle Down The Wind's most important message - hope is necessary. Swallow's resolve, peace of mind and optimism of spirit reminds us all to invoke the magic around us and inspire the god hidden in others and in ourselves.


I find no deeper morals in anything else from the 90s.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:06am

And this is what the critics had to say about it:


Michael Coveney - The Daily Mail:

"Well, they came home and delivered the bacon...The new Lloyd Webber musical, with lyrics by rock legend Jim Steinman, tells a great story in a whole new way. The first thing to report is an intensely strong evening of music theater, with gospel, rock, blues...and fantastic operatic rock duets bound brilliantly together in a superband uplifting evening of faith, hope and cha-cha-charity...With Steinman, lyrical genius behind the best of Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler, Lord Andrew has tapped into a new narrative opportunity of epic anguish. Gale Edwards...has fought fiercely, and inspirationally, for the center of this work. And her designer, Peter J. Davison, has provided a hydraulic, half-complete motorway that both implies impossible escape and a division between the over-ground adults and the secret, soul-shattering encounters below. These are enacted by Lottie Mayor...and Marcus Lovett...with as much passion and skill as you can find on the London stage. They are fantastic, suggesting sexual possibility forbidden and fulfilled in Lloyd Webber's climactic (with David Cullen) orchestrations. Their lips just miss, but their vocal cords are spot on. As always with Lloyd Webber there is this tension between ecclesiastical music and rock. He lets loose with Steinman in a wonderful snakes and drums number for the alternative witch hunt. But mostly you roll around with pleasure at his echoes of Panis Angelicus, the gorgeously structured, tenor-driven passage on the Nature Of The Beast, and an astounding item called A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste, involving Swallow, Man and James Dean look-alike Amos (Dean Collinson). Amos and Candy (Veronica Hart) suggest a motorbike world elsewhere and are ingeniously included in the plot. They have a great Steinman-style number, Tire Tracks And Broken Hearts. John Turner as the avenging sheriff and James Graeme as Dad show up well. The kids are terrific..."


Benedict Nightingale - The London Times:

"Well worth a place in the West End or, for that matter, Broadway. In fact my principal complaint is that I can't stop the title song from whistling and winding its preposterously pretty way around my eardrums...This rural outback contrives to be both God-forsaken...and God-Obsessed. Indeed, the evening opens with a roaring, soaring chorus, The Vaults Of Heaven, in a grim, gray Baptist chapel with the words "Jesus Lives" in forlorn neon outside its windows...But the main emphasis is still childish innocence versus adult anger, disappointment and paranoia as represented by both Jesus's hunters and Jesus himself... [The Man] makes a Christ-like sacrifice at the end, a genuinely moving one. Classify him with the half-masked phantom of the Paris opera and the cracked goddess of the Sunset Boulevard as one of the more memorable of Lloyd Webber's damaged monsters."


Robert Gore-Langton - The Express:

"I found myself both moved and beguiled, damn it. Lloyd Webber has at last come up with a hit for those who don't quite get the point of him."


Charles Spencer - The Daily Telegraph:

"One of the most heartfelt and touching shows Lloyd Webber has written. It is blessed with an outstanding, instantly memorable score that ranges from rock 'n'roll to wistful ballads and emotive gospel...The show does have real charm. I found it impossible to resist a chorus of kids singing a ridiculously catchy number called When Children Rule The World...There are also dramatic moments of real power in Gale Edward's production and an impressive, split-level set by Peter J. Davison...Marcus Lovett plays the killer-Christ figure with tortured intensity and a wonderfully strong voice and Lottie Mayor...sings beautifully and is genuinely affecting in her grief for her dead mother. The real stars though are the wonderfully varied and occasionally electrifying songs..."


Carole Woddis - The Glasgow Herald:

"This conversion of Mary Hayley Bell's original novel into a musical is undeniably a triumph...Whistle's real achievement lies in its narrative drive and superb stagecraft. With designer Peter J. Davison, director Gale Edwards has worked wonders on the Aldwych stage, raising and lowering levels and creating the nearest thing to cinemascope we're ever likely to see on a live stage. The tug of war, too, between Lottie Mayor's virgin Swallow, on the cusp of sexual awakening, Dean Collinson's James Dean bike-boy and her adoration for Marcus Lovett's un-redeemable convict provides spine-tingling musical drama. Maybe it's the addition of Steinman, but the injection of a new collaborator seems to have had a galvanizing effect on Lloyd Webber. Maybe only he could have set neo-Verdi arias, rock 'n' roll, and Kurt Weill side by side and managed to bring it all off. Amazing."


Terri Paddock - What's On Stage:

"Not since Phantom Of The Opera has Lloyd Webber had a really big, new hit. Could Whistle be the miracle he needs? Could be, could be....There hasn't been such a showcase for West End prodigies since the curtain fell on "Oliver" and the young stars rise to the challenge jubilantly...The most stirring kid-free scenes are between The Man and the girl-woman Swallow who wants desperately to believe he is the messiah who will bring her dead mother back to life. What starts as innocent is infused with a sexual electricity in the second act which The Man struggles touchingly to resist. The two combined, with intermittent help from George Michael look-alike Amos, sure can belt out a tormented love song. Whistle Down The Wind is a good, solid musical. It has plenty of old Lloyd Webber echoes...but also manages to cover new ground."


Peter Hepple - The Stage:

"Whistle Down The Wind" is a musical which has everything - good tunes, a strong story with a real sense of drama, and a strong family appeal. The characterizations are exceptionally strong for a musical...[they have] created a mature, thoroughly professional piece of work, and something of an object lesson for those who aspire to write musicals...a triumph!"


Sheridan Morley - The International Herald Tribune:

"This is a dark, thoughtful, intelligent show about religious obsession...it's debts are...to Elmer Gantry and John Steinback and The Grapes Of Wrath...it is a genuine development of the original, with a yearning intensity and a lyrical, intense, reflective score which I believe will be recalled when many more immediately acceptable scores have disappeared forever. Above all, it remains a play with songs, and the play has a power of plot and character development which most of us had long since given up looking for...This is far and away the most ambitious show Lloyd Webber has ever attempted...When the Wind listens to its own whistle, and stays true to its own dark soul, it is deeply and dramatically moving..."


Christopher Downes - West End Extra:

"The score is a winner with several memorable songs including the instantly-hummable title song. Vaults Of Heaven could replace You'll Never Walk Alone on the football terraces. When Children Rule The World will feature in every kiddie show. No Matter What sung by very appealing children closes the first half...There's always something exciting to look at and spectacular surprises too."


Luke Coppen - Catholic Herald:

"The result is, literally and figuratively, a thousand miles from the film and novel...a succession of stylized musical set pieces [turn] a subtly woven parable [into] a visual and aural spectacle to rank with Webber's finest shows. This up- scale adaptation spares nothing to wow the audience...pastiche is given full rein as the music segues from romping blues to thumping rock 'n' roll to intimate ballad. Sudden shifts of pace are par for the course with Lloyd Webber and give Whistle remarkable pace and energy."


John Hill - The Wickford Gazette:

"My goodness what a show! The theatrical snobs who currently think it is fashionable to anticipate - maybe even hope for - the demise of Andrew Lloyd Webber as Mr. Musical can dismiss it as froth to their hearts' content. But those who are not discouraged by smug reviews will find a show which confirms him as the genius of his field...The two-tier set is the best I have ever seen; the evocative changing colors of the sky always catching the mood; and the use of steam and reflection achieving a remarkable sense of horizon, depth and perspective. The songs are strong as ever, brilliantly delivered by fine voices...Among the most memorable are the title tune, The Vaults Of Heaven, Unsettled Scores, A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste, If Only and Nature Of The Beast. It's a great show...You'll love it."


Bill Williamson - Midweek Magazine:

"A cracking good book, an excellent lead in Marcus Lovett and some sensational kids...Lloyd Webber and...Jim Steinman have given us some ace toons crackingly directed by Gale Edwards. Bored? You couldn't possibly be...The audience adored it and the cast got a huge ovation."


Robert Gore-Langton -The London Express:

"I was looking forward to giving this latest Lloyd Webber show both barrels...No such luck...it comes over as charming, unaffected and a great story to boot...It has been said that Lloyd Webber changes lyricists more often than most men change their underpants. But his teaming up with Jim Steinman - the brains behind Meat Loaf - has proved a masterstroke. The eccentric lyrics are met with some Fifties rock and roll, honky tonk and electric road songs leaving room for Lloyd Webber to slip in some delicate harmonies in the love scenes. The thrill is in the mix."


Richard Zoglin - TIME Magazine:

"Whistle Down the Wind is more emotionally accessible and musically alive than anything Lloyd Webber has done in a long while...But Lloyd Webber's most inspired choice is his new lyricist, Jim Steinman, the veteran rock composer (Bat Out Of Hell; Total Eclipse Of The Heart), whose fevered, hyperbolic lyrics have unlocked Lloyd Webber's long-dormant rock tendencies...The Steinmanesque angst in songs like A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste, or the yearning, over-the-top lyrics like "If all that died again would grow/These are the loneliest words I know," have inspired fresh passion and urgency (and a good beat) in Lloyd Webber's music. Forget that falling chandelier; Steinman has brought Lloyd Webber back to the land of the living."

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 10:56am

"It was not a big blockbuster show, (or it wasn't intended to be that way), and carried on in a classical matter. The director was classical and the emotions were classical. From my experience, it was like witnessing a Greek tragedy."

Intended or not, it WAS a big spectacle show. As for "carrying on in a classical matter", I have no idea what you are trying to say. You say the director has directed classical pieces before, but that is not a new concept, nor does it make Whistle a classical piece. How are emotions classical? Nearly all tragedies, musical or not, resemble Greek tragedy because they created the model. Which Greek tragedy does Whistle resemble? No one dies, the protagonist (who is actually an escaped murderer) gets away. But then, Lloyd Webber realy loves the paradox of the anti-protagonist. If you really want to see a musical that resembles Greek tragedy both in its writing and staging, try Marie Christine. There is nothing in Whistle that is "classical" or anything like "Greek tragedy".

And The Beautiful Game had 2 songs from a show that was a command performance for the queen, was seen by nearly no one, never received a commercial recording, and one song from a show that was never produced. So what?

The Jacqueline Dillon piece is certainly devoted. Just like the other pieces she's written on Jim Steinman's albums. I get that she's a fan, but who is she and why is her admiration of Steinman important? The fact that she found no deeper morals in musicals of the 90s is not too surprising. She was searching for Christianity and she found it. I guess she didn't see Tommy, which also deals with morality, greed, vanity, idolization, and forgiveness. The Christian allegory wasn't as blatant, so I guess she missed it. Either that, or she didn't actually see every show in the 90s.

The numerous positive edited reviews are very exciting. An amazingly big parade. I guess reviews prove that if the critics like it, the show must have no faults. If only that were so. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching Whistle, but I did not think it was perfect, classical, Greek tragedy, or faultless. I don't think it is Lloyd Webber's best, and I don't think it is his worst. But personally, I almost fell asleep in places of Whistle (especially during the droning If Only) and nearly laughed in others, while The Beautiful Game had me riveted from beginning to end.

But in the end, the only thing unique about Whistle Down the Wind is that it was the first musical based on that story. Everything else was standard Lloyd Webber: the anti-protagonist, Christian themes, soft-pop ballads, accents of rock music, musical theme borrowed from another show, and another giant hydraulic set.

Your comments about Unsettled Scores still don't defend the terrible lyrics. You compare it to Blake's "Auguries of Innocence" which begins:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

Now this sets the tone and subject of the poem and the rest is similar to Unsettled Scores in being a laundry list of various things. The difference is, Blake stays on subject (which is basically about the idea of karma), while Steinman abandons his. The Man whines of having no prayer, then mentions briefly of "unsettled scores", then provides the laundry list of people, then whines about not having a prayer when everyone else does. Though the title of the song is Unsettled Scores, there really is nothing in the song other than the line "so may unsettled scores" that actually has ANYTHING to do with the expression. But there are excellent examples of bad lyrics.

PS - I still believe if you ask a hundred children what they would pray for, I don't think you'll ever hear a single one reply "a permanent don't-fart".

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 11:39am

Jacqueline Dillon, someone I know and like a great deal, is an associate and personal friend of Steinman and runs his website/fan community. How this affects her credibility as a writer is for each reader to decide. I think she makes points but I think her analysis of the show is more interesting than the show itself. Which is how I feel about the show overall -- it has some big ideas about faith, religion and anything else but it never dramatizes them specifically enough. The characters are too vague, the music too simplistic, the lyrics too trite.

And who the hell got the bright idea to name the cute lead female 'Swallow?'

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 12:24pm

I'm telling you guys. Broadway missed an awsome show.