not logged in
| re: It's a bit of a conundrum for me | |
Posted by:  |
rockfenris2005 01:52 pm UTC 10/16/07 |
| In reply to: | re: It's a bit of a conundrum for me - Pudding 04:01 am UTC 10/16/07 |
Just interested... I know you're a big Webber fan, but what do you think of the whole thing to do with "Cats" overcoming the odds? Look at Andrew's track record before "Cats"; his previous shows would start out as concept albums. "Joseph" was the only one that didn't start as an album (more on "Jeeves" in a sec.) and it really succeeded on a major scale because of the success of "Jesus Christ Superstar" (IMO at least.) When "Jeeves" was done, it was a 5-and-a-half hour train-wreck in Bristol (with the orchestra walking out because they weren't getting paid for over-time or something. Full details on Alan Ayckbourn's website) and they, what?, cut an hour for the West End production. It completely tanked and, until "Cats", it was the only professional show of his to start life on a stage. "Superstar" and "Evita" were adapted and I find lots of curious similarities between the two (Judas and Che as the Everyman/narrator type) When it came time to do "Cats", everyone must have laughed. Producers must have laughed, surely. The legends say that it took 200 investors to raise the money for the budget and it had everything going against it. Andrew's last show to premiere onstage was "Jeeves", gulp; they were translating a bunch of poems (set to music) into a commercial musical without any storyline whatsoever; they were premiering the show in one of the biggest cursed theatres in West End history. But something happened, something completely defied the odds. It took off. It should have only really run 4 years and that's it? But nope, it was the beginning of all that West End giganticism, lavish spectacles taking over the world in franchises that rivalled McDonalds and KFC. I don't think "Evita" or "Superstar" did that? I can admire "Cats" simply because it went against everything, simply on that level. Fortunately I also admire it because of the bizarre music, the synthy sounds that make you feel like you're in the mind of a cat, and just that general marriage of words and music. I can't read the poems without thinking of Lloyd Webber's music. In general, I like it. It's not the best thing I've seen or heard, by a long shot, but I like it. As for "Whistle", there's just a part of me that wishes Jim had said YES to "Phantom". It may not have become the same show, but I think Jim was the right guy for the project because the Phantom is about this man who gets his heart broken and he's completely obsessed. Just by hearing songs like "Left In The Dark" and "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", it felt like destiny that Jim should do it. There are parts of "Whistle" that remind me of "Phantom" (and "Nature Of The Beast" is underscoring in the film) and that also hinders my appreciation of "Whistle" because it just feels like, ya know "SCREW WHISTLE, PHANTOM WAS THE PROJECT FOR THEM!" "Phantom Of Manhattan" was even more ideal because it would have been like Batman or Obsidian in Neverland. This concept of a secretive arch-figure looking down from the skyscrapers, luring Christine back to him for one final encore. OK, I am literally going to shut up now. > Cats is one of those shows I refuse to see. It has a > pretty decent score, but fucking hell DANCING CATS! how > wrong is that? > > I've never seen a Kenwright production of WDTW, I saw the > original and thought it was fantastic, shortly after I > bought the CD(s) So going from listening to a CD to > watching the show (as it is now) I can see how you might > not be a great fan of it. Apart from No Matter What and If > Only, which are two songs I can't stand, the whole score > is pretty great...IMO > > > > That's an interesting point. I saw "Cats" and "The Phantom > > Of The Opera" and the music, at least, didn't live up to > > what I was used to... It was like the CD had 4 orchestra > > pits or something. The music didn't sound full. But that > > said, it makes sense when you see all the elements > > together. But I wasn't judging "Whistle" on all of its > > elements, which is why I felt Bright Eyes' post was a > > complete distraction (what's a better word?) from mine, > > because I was just judging by its score. Would the score > > sound better in the theatre? I don't know. I didn't see > > the London Aldwych show and I don't want to see the tour > > because I'm against Kenwright's changes > > > > > Actually it is Ryan. > > > > > > I thought Sunset Boulevard was poor until I saw it. Same > > > with Tell Me On A Sunday and Evita. Joseph went down in my > > > opinion after I saw it. Whistle has to be fully > > > appreciated in all its glory, to appreciate all its glory, > > > same with Phantom and JCS. > > > > > > So to answer Bright Eyes question: Just out of > > > curiosity, have you ever attended a production on stage of > > > an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical? Or are you just judging > > > from recordings and other written sources. > > > > > > Your answer would be no, but you have listened to the > > > CD's, is that correct? > > > > > > > > > > Actually no it isn't. Susan asked me if I'd "seen" the > > > > shows. I don't see that as particularly the same thing as > > > > "hearing the music". When I said "Whistle" had one of > > > > Webber's worst scores, I didn't mean the whole show was > > > > terrible. I meant that I thought the score was terrible. > > > > To me, there's a difference and from my experience seeing > > > > musicals LIVE, the orchestrations and the arrangements > > > > always sound better on the CD. It loses half its magic and > > > > the focus is more on the performing. Whereas I was judging > > > > the music itself > > > > > > > > > It's a fair point though Ryan, because if you've seen a > > > > > full production of a particular show then your point of > > > > > view might change. > > > > > > > > > > The beauty about musicals is that they're to be enjoyed > > > > > both visually and musically. > > > > > > > > > > I've personally seen Phantom, Jesus, Evita, Tell Me On A > > > > > Sunday, Joseph, Sunset and Whistle. And my opinion of the > > > > > shows changed after I had actually seen them. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > That's none of your business, Susan. > > > > > > > > > > > > > Just out of curiosity, have you ever attended a production > > > > > > > on stage of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical? Or are you > > > > > > > just judging from recordings and other written sources. | |
| reply | | |
| Previous: | re: It's a bit of a conundrum for me - Pudding 04:01 am UTC 10/16/07 |
| Next: | re: It's a bit of a conundrum for me - Pudding 09:49 pm UTC 10/16/07 |
| Thread: |
|