are "sung through" musicals dead? — Page 2

"In that case, Sweeney Todd used this "gimmick", seeing as how it's almost completely sung through. "

Sweeney actually has a surprising amount of dialogue--but you forget about that because there's so much underscore (and is indeed a lot of music)

However so have some ALWebber's--I mean Whistle Down the Wind is hardly sung through--and I know Sunset changes a lot (going back to that huge Sunset changes thread) but the original London production had a lot of dialogue particularly for ALW.

I like sung thru musicals and I like "traditional" book/song/book ones (and I like musicals that kinda mix the two--think a LOT of LaChiusa's works, or Sondheim's Passion which almost feels sung thru even though it has at least 30 mins of dialogue). Obviously if it's good or not is dependant on the work itself.

It is undeniable that they were seen as a European/80s trend (that went hand in hand with other aspects of megamusicals--broader and grander stoies, serious/epic themes, often pop music done in a neo classical way etc). But of course, as Caroline or Change shows, or something liek Dessa Rose they don't have to be huge productions (and we've had examples of them before--Most Happy Fella comes pretty close).

Thru sung musicals probably work better for such epic/big themes than traditionally styled shows because for whatever reason it is sillier to hear someone singing about having a cup of coffee (though opera fans have lived with this for years--but again operas tend to go for HUGE stories)--I adore Aspects of Love but that's undeniably a problem there (Black and Hart's lyrics not helping)

One weird trend though is how 3 movies of basically thru-sung musicals recently have all added different degrees of dialogue to make them more traditional (Phantom, Rent and Dreamgirls).

However for some reason I never think of Ragtime as sung thru and wouldn't put it here--yeah it has a LOT of music but the music flows out of dialogue in a traditional way--they dont' sing dialogue IMHO

Updated On: 6/14/07 at 07:08 PM

I am soooo sick of people thinking that no spoken dialogue = opera. A LOT of operas have spoken dialogue. Carmen, Lakme, The Magic Flute, La fille du regiment...

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Updated On: 6/14/07 at 08:48 PM

Critics don't all get together to plot against sung-through musicals like THE PIRATE QUEEN, THE WOMAN IN WHITE, SUNSET BOULEVARD, MARTIN GUERRE, et al. They do get past the genre, again, CAROLINE OR CHANGE got a more or less positive review on the New York Times though of course that show is in entire league of its own in terms of its brilliance.
Also, you have to keep in mind that THE WOMAN IN WHITE failed in London as well though it was much less successful in New York. Most people that I know who got to see THE WOMAN IN WHITE thought it was Andrew Lloyd Webber-lite or more like a compilation of Webber's trunk songs. I myself can't get through the recording save for one song.
The critics also don't really have that much influence on a show's fate. WICKED became an unqualified hit without any major stars from the get-go even if it got a mixed-to-negative review on the Times. People loved it, they told other people, other people went to see it and loved it too, etc. Clearly this wasn't the case with THE PIRATE QUEEN or THE WOMAN IN WHITE or any of those other shows.

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Oh, not at all. And again, I never WOMAN IN WHITE, so I'm just speculating on that.

I disagree about the power of reviewers. Yes, there are significant shows that have survived bad reviews from the TIMES, but most don't. Wouldn't you agree?

I think of examples I've read in books by the likes of Barry Singer, Ethan Mordden, and Steve Suskin. I honestly don't think any of them would say a whole lot positive about a great sung-through musical. They just don't seem to like them in concept.
Broadway Blog: The Second Golden Age

THE WOMAN IN WHITE is a show people either love or hate...hardly anyone is in between. I love it, and am proud of that.

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I'm torn on WIW--I think it's a bit underated--at least from the CD. Even ALW's detractors I think, if being honest, would have to admit that he's trying somethign different for him with it--maybe something a bit more akin to how true operas are written? Not sure but it's not just him throwing in some tunes and repeating them over and over. That said--I'm not sure it works... I'm an ALW fan, sometimes I hate to admit, and it's not exactly a score I play a lot...

E

Also it should be pointed out that Chess wasn't sung thru in its Broadway revision--Trevor Nunn hired the poltiical playwright... Richard Nash i wanna say (?) to do the book against Tim Rice's wishes. I think only Bennett coulda made it really work on stage but I do think the thru sung aspect helps with how stylized the original version was

E

Da fuq is this?

Updated On: 4/10/14 at 01:42 AM

Wow how to bring back a long dead one

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"A musical could make it 'Leeet it Gooooo!' or even 'Let it Goooooo!' but in an opera it would be more like this- 'Leeeeeeeeettttttttttt iiiiitttttttt Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Les Mis isn't like that"

Briiiiiiiing hiiiiiiiiiim hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome

OK, then.

HERE LIES LOVE is sung through and will be performing again in 4 days.

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And please don't try a "I've been lurking for 6 years".