"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."
hey don't knock the young! my favorite cast recording when I was 16 was Chess. i did have my rent phase but it lasted all of 3 weeks. being young doesn't necessarily mean that you think wicked is a masterpiece and consider rent to be a "classic work"
"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep.
Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse,
till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers
So what we should do is give aces25 some other suggestions on wonderful Broadway, Off-Broadway, etc. recordings so we can "broaden horizons", if you will. Don't get me wrong, I laughed when I read the thread, but I think it's great that a "younger" generation is getting into Broadway. Keep those questions coming!
I got started on stuff like "West Side Story". In fact, when I was in 8th grade, my dream role was Riff. I'm a girl, so you can see the problem. :)
I went thru a Rent phase as well, but I was way late to the Rent mania. It's up to us older people to educate younger people about classic musical theatre, not knock em' for not knowing shows beyond newer things. How else will they learn variety ?
Dreamgirls OCR is one of the best cd's I own, by the way. Right up there with Into the Woods, WSS, Les Miserables, Chess, etc.
hehe jezzebelle, the way you phrased it made it sound like you were describing drugs. though musicals are arguably a kind of drug, very addictive. but you're right, everyone has to start somewhere. there's nothing wrong with people new to the game who haven't gotten into the "hard stuff" yet. it's up to everyone else to inform.
"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep.
Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse,
till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers
heheheh, you're right mistermatt, re-reading my post, it did sound like I was describing drugs. :) Musical theatre is very much my drug of choice. I was an odd child growing up and proud of it.
well then hello from another odd child turned musical nerd! but for the record, let's not confuse me with Mister Matt or Matt G. I am Broadway Matt, the third of the Matts here. i joked to Matt G on PM that soon we'll be able to put on a production of Five Guys Named Matt. and musical theatre is definitely my anti-drug. if not for the musicals, I'd likely be pretty heavy into the crack or something similar.
"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep.
Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse,
till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers
Well, I'm 18 (as of two weeks ago) and I just saw 'Miss Saigon' last month. That was the first time I'd ever heard of it, too. But next month, I'll see 'Dreamgirls' for the first time, as well. That 'One Night Only' song was pretty catchy, though. Still can't get it out of my head.....
Broadwayboy - You're in for a real treat! One of the greatest overall scores I've had the pleasure of enjoying. I certainly count the original staging as one of the best nights of theatre I've experienced, and anyone I've talked to about the benefit concert a couple of years ago thought it was great as well.
MisterMatt - there will always be those that are younger - and oler (where is Miriam, by the way?) Personally, I don't begrudge ANY of the time I've had, because it only means that much more I've been able to enjoy. I love being able to share that awareness with the younger folk, and relish in their opportunity to keep my eyes open to what may be happening now.
I remember discovering musicals when I was about 17, so I know how it is. I do envy you BroadwayBoy! I saw a production of Dreamgirls a few years back with the awesome Fuschia Walker (Jennifer Holliday was out that weekend) and I was blown away by the show and by Fuschia. I honestly couldn't imagine Jennifer giving a better performance (her bug-eyed belts scare the crap out of me). It was the first time I ever experienced mutliple ovations during a song (seven ovations during And I am Telling You I'm Not Going). I have always wanted to see it again. I hope the production does justice to the show.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Jennifer gave the single greatest performance in a musical that I've ever seen in 30+ years of theatregoing and Bennett's staging is absolutely unparalleled. It's amazing Fuschia Walker is STILL out there doing the show. I saw her play Effie back in the mid-80's (her sister Arnetia played Lorell in the same production -- both have great voices). Fuschia was a first rate Effie -- one of the three or four best I've seen (I've seen 8 and heard tapes of another 4 or 5) -- but Holliday was truly a force of nature (it was literally difficult to breathe when she was going full tilt) and no one has ever quite been her equal in the role.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney