The Legacy of Alan Jay Lerner

Posted on December 24, 2005 by David Fick
THE MUSICALITY OF LERNER AND LOEWE

THE MUSICALITY OF LERNER AND LOEWE

Where does Alan Jay Lerner fit into the history of musicals? A prolific librettist and lyricist, Lerner had moments of genius (most of My Fair Lady and the film version of Gigi and parts of Camelot, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Paint Your Wagon and Brigadoon). However, I’d say that, as a whole, his body of work is flawed somewhat by:

  • a tendency to show off at the expense of character and believability (e.g. “The Seven Deadly Virtues”, “The First Thing You Know”);
  • a tendency to go for the broad strokes and not commit as much effort to the small details (e.g. the American bobolinks that are mentioned a couple of times in Camelot); and
  • focusing more energy on the drama going on around the show than getting the drama of the show working in tandem with an underlying belief that his choices – and no one else’s – were completely infallible (evident especially in his writing about Camelot but in evidence generally throughout his writing in The Street Where I Live).

Consequently, I could quite easily suggest that (for slightly different reasons) Lerner is the Tim Rice to Oscar Hammerstein II’s Stephen Sondheim. In fact, I think that sums up his contribution to musical theatre, in particular, rather nicely.

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Tony Award Caged Death Match: SUNDAY vs. LA CAGE

Posted on December 20, 2005 by David Fick
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

Picture it. It’s 3 June 3 1984 and you’re watching the Tony Awards. You’ve watched the performances of each of the nominated musicals:
“I Want It All” (performed by Liz Callaway, Catherine Cox, Beth Fowler) from the charming, but uneven Baby; “We Are What We Are” (a production number) followed by an extremely moving “I Am What I Am” (performed by George Hearn) from La Cage aux Folles; “Fabulous Feet” a fun number performed by Hinton Battle and the company of The Tap Dance Kid; and the thrilling, enthralling “Sunday” (performed by the entire cast, led by Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters) from Sunday in the Park with George. (You’ve also seen a number from the musical that escaped a nomination: “Wallflower” from The Rink, performed by Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli.) Now it is time for the award to be presented. The nominations are read out. The envelope is opened. And the winner is….

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

La Cage aux Folles?!!

All right, so it’s not really that unexpected to see the popular hit outshine the critical hit (which is often arguably the better show) at the Tony Awards.
Jerry Herman, in his acceptance speech, proudly proclaimed that the wins of La Cage aux Folles proved that the ‘simple, hummable tune (was) still alive on Broadway’, a statement that many interpreted as a criticism of Stephen Sondheim’s less conventional score. (Herman has since denied that this was his intent, but one can’t deny that the episode does indeed leave a bad taste in the mouth.)

What exactly was going on here? Was Sunday in the Park with George too much of a “high art” show for the Tony Awards, even if (based solely on the quality of the material) it should have won the awards for both Best Score and Best Musical? Were people in the industry were really wanting to keep the good old American musical comedy alive – particularly as audiences were beginning to flock to the spectacular British megamusicals? Either way, it’s such a pity, and ironic too when taking the latter point into consideration, because Sunday in the Park With George is a truly great American work of art.

Thoughts?

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The RNT Production of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Posted on December 20, 2005 by David Fick
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Thought for the day: I wish I could have seen the RNT production of A Little Night Music. I adore my cast recording of the show and, by all accounts, it seems that it was an amazing production. Another thought: besides the Kennedy Center Company, has Sean Mathias directed any other Sondheim musicals? I wish he had done the most recent Follies revival.

Posted in Broadway, Musicals, Regional, West End | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Your favourite version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL?

Posted on December 15, 2005 by David Fick
The Muppet Christmas Carol

THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a perennial holiday favourite. I once played a street urchin in a stage adaptation of the novel – one of the first shows I ever did – and I have only good memories of that experience. The novel has, of course, been adapted many times over for stage, film and television – sometimes more faithfully than others.

For me, the film that is closest in spirit to the novel by Dickens is the 1999 Patrick Stewart version. But my favourite is The Muppet Christmas Carol.

The question is: which is your favourite adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Posted in Fun Stuff, Movies, Musicals, Plays, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Mixed Race Musical Theatre Casts

Posted on December 9, 2005 by David Fick
Annie Soundtrack Cover

Audra McDonald (bottom left) in ANNIE

One of the hot topics in musical theatre at the moment seems to be the validity of mixed race casting. The trend seems to have been pushed into the spotlight by the television remakes of Cinderella (which featured a completely mixed race company), Annie (in which Audra McDonald was cast in the traditionally “white” role of Grace Farrel, while the orphans and chorus was composed of multiple races) and The Music Man (in which the chorus was multi-racial) and the film adaptation of Chicago (which featured Queen Latifah as as prison warden Mama Morton). Debates rage across the Internet with ardent support from those who support casting decisions like these and others who do not.

My view? I don’t have a problem with mixed race musical theatre casts – with one proviso: it is definitely not a viable choice in shows where racial issues are thematic. Then, to make the point of the show some characters have to be cast according to what race they are meant to represent. Other than that, I think it is just great, particularly in a case such as the casting of McDonald in Annie where the choice made the role far more resonant that it has even been on stage or film and the film is all the better for it.

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RENT Rant: Anachronistic much?

Posted on December 3, 2005 by David Fick
Rent

RENT

Does anyone know the precise year in which RENT is set? It seems that Christopher Columbus and Stephen Chbosky do – 1989. But wait! Wasn’t Thelma and Louise , a film reference in RENT only released in 1991? How did Angel know what ‘Thelma and Louise did when they got the blues’? And what about the reference to 1995 Oklahoma City Building in “Over the Moon”? Or is the mention of ‘being tied to a yellow rental truck filled with fertilizer and fuel oil’ really meant to hold no resonance whatsoever? Clearly this choice of setting isn’t what Jonathan Larson had in mind when he created the show.

And if you’re going to make a period film, shouldn’t the design details be correct too? Just a few little inconsistencies from the film:

  • New York City Police Officers wore light blue shirts in 1989, not dark blue shirts as depicted in the film.
  • The can of Coca-Cola seen next to Roger after “Another Day” is a design that appeared in the 1990s.
  • Au Bon Pain only adopted a blue and yellow color scheme well after the 1980s were over and done with, yet this design is clearly seen as Maureen, Joanne and Mark make their way to Buzzline.
  • Cars in the backgrounds of many shots, such as in the scene after Maureen, Joanne and Mark leave Buzzline, were only produced after 1990.
  • The MetLife logo wasn’t displayed on the Pan Am building until 1992.
  • The posters for the Olympic Bid – seen in “What You Own” did not appear until New York actually put in their bid for the Olympics in 2004.

Oops! I guess Howard Cummings, Keith P. Cunningham, Nanci Noblett and Barbara Munch didn’t do their homework either. Tut tut tut…

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“Perfect” Movie Musicals?

Posted on December 3, 2005 by David Fick
Rent

RENT

The release of RENT seems to have stirred up once more the debate around what makes a film adaptation of a stage musical “perfect”. Is it one that remains as faithful as possible to the material? Is it one that caters for the medium of film, even if a great deal of the show ends up being cut? One that just tells the story told in the musical? Or one that is simply a good film that doesn’t concern itself with trying to please fans of the stage show?

The point is that every film adaptation will have it’s detractors, so maybe there is no definitive answer. Maybe perfect is the wrong word to use. Off the top of my head, I’d say that Chicago, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret are great film adaptations of stage musicals. Even when they aren’t particularly faithful, they are good films in their own right.

Any thoughts?

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Amra Faye Wright in Broadway’s CHICAGO

Posted on December 2, 2005 by David Fick
CHICAGO

Amra Faye Wright and Samantha Peo in the South African production of CHICAGO

2006 will see Amra Faye Wright take over as Velma in Chicago for a stint of three months, starting 16 January 2007. Wright, who has performed the role in the South African production of the show, has also starred in Grease and A Chorus Line there as well as in the UK tour of Footloose and this will mark her Broadway debut. Wright will star opposite Robin Givens as Roxie.

As a South African, I am filled with pride to see a South African actress move from a South African production of a show, to the London production and, now, to Broadway. I saw Wright in the SA production twice and she was absolutely fantastic. All the best to to Ms Wright for her stint in Chicago in New York!

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RENT Rant: Living and Dying Hollywood-style

Posted on December 2, 2005 by David Fick
Rent

RENT

The film adaptation of RENT certainly has its flaws, none more offensive than that which it inherited from its source material: the death of homosexual transvestite Angel and the miraculous survival of Mimi because of the endurance of “straight” love. Of course, the medium of film manages to take things to a new level: Angel, when dying, is emaciated and covered with sores, but Mimi, although sweating profusely, looks more like she has stepped out of a sauna at the gym when it seems as though her death is imminent. That another way in which one satisfy the conservative masses, you see: let the gay man die painfully because of his HIV-infection, which is what the conservative masses believe is right and justified and, to an extent, an awful shame. In this way, the conservative masses can feel really proud of themselves for feeling sorry for the gay man who dies of AIDS, even though they’re really happy and validated when the straight girl suffering from the same disease lives.

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RENT Rant: Cut Numbers and Spoken Lyrics

Posted on December 2, 2005 by David Fick
Rent

RENT

On stage, RENT was a rock opera. It’s unquestionable that it is one: the story is told primarily through a series of episodic and eclectic musical numbers that are grounded in the idiom of popular music. On film, RENT looks like a shaky adaptation of a very mediocre musical play. Anyone who knows me will be able to tell you that I am very frank about what flaws I feel RENT has, but it the potential to be better that that.

Because of the shift in form, several numbers have been cut and a few have been shifted. That is par for the course when it comes to movie musicals. Perhaps what is worse is the attempt to pass off certain sections of the score as dialogue. In these sections, the lyrics are simply spoken – and it sounds weird. This is not merely a case in which familiarity with the source material spoils an appreciation of the adaptation. Ever an ear unfamiliar with RENT can pick out spoken moments in the film that are jarring when they are heard.

Lyrics and spoken dialogue are two completely different things. Lyrics are more specifically constructed that spoken language in musicals. They are often more economical in terms of word usage than dialogue and, because they are poetic rather than prosaic, have a specific cadence when spoken aloud. That is why these lyrics sound so strange when they are spoken as dialogue without any alteration whatsoever. The flaw also makes itself apparent, I suppose, because people tend to forget that although lyrics are specifically crafted in musical theatre, the creation of spoken dialogue is also a skill in its own right. The combination of these two miscalculations is what makes this appropriated dialogue sound forced.

It’s such a pity that nobody working on this film trusted the material with which they were working. There’s a big difference between refining something, or streamlining it to function optimally within the conventions of a different medium, and butchering it completely.

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