Well, I liked 42nd Street a lot.
Yeah, sorry to confuse you, but I was doin’ a little research - trying to figure out if buying the soundtrack of the recent “Cabaret” production was a good idea. So I typed it in, and got this thread, and after reading the comment about Natasha Richardson I just had to post. It was too ironic.
I did end up borrowing it from a friend, and I have to say that it is quite fantastic. And I’m very much addicted to it, now.
I was coming in to mention **Sunday in the Park with George **
<<ooops, wrong button>>
I was coming in to mention Sunday in the Park with George but it seems Mauvaise just barely beat me to it.
I think it’s a masterpiece (or at least the first act).
** Forbidden Broadway:So keep your eyes on the future, eyes on the prize. Broadway is an invalid that never dies **. And apparently, neither does its thread.
For all you Chess people: ** Chess pa svenska ** is now available. This is a 2CD set of Chess in Swedish. Lyrics by Benny & Bjorn, who did the original music way back when. Worth a listen.
You know what’s really irritating? The stereotype of gay men is that they love showtunes. As a gay man who’s been dating for 18 years more off than on, I have YET to meet a single gay man under 60 of whom this is true. I’m 36 and LOVE damned near every musical ever written.
My all time favorites:
LES MISERABLES
RENT
MY FAIR LADY (I’d love to see it remade with a modern/ebonics setting)
CHESS
THE LION KING (the African choir makes it, especially the haunting Mamela number)
The new recording of CABARET leaves the other one in the dust. It’s grittier, grimier, and raunchier, but also a lot more indicative of life in pre-Apocalypse Berlin.
Musicals not mentioned yet that are totally worth a listen:
HAIRSPRAY (http://hairsprayonbroadway.com) A total throwback to the “feel good” light musicals of the 50s. The site has a lot of soundfiles.
PURLIE- Ossie Davis, who wrote the play on which this is based, hated the musical version, but it’s still good, especially the gospel numbers.
I have a great soundtrack for a musical that’s gaining momentum but hasn’t yet played any theater more major than the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (http://asf.net), which is a more major venue than you might think- it’s entitled FAIR AND TENDER LADIES, is based on the Lee Smith novel of the same name, and is a funny and sad bluegrass musical that takes place over 60 years in the life of a mountain woman named Ivy Rowe. (It isn’t a romanticized version of hillbilly life, but a very real story.)
My least favorite “just couldn’t get into 'em” musicals:
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
PASSION
JECKYLL AND HYDE
(blasphemy) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (he was great with Tim Rice, but with other lyricists Lloyd Webber’s become the Aaron Spelling of B’way)
Since I could talk on this thread all day I’ll let it end here.
I lied- I’ll ad this, then quit:
A great thing about the musical 1776, in addition to what CalMeacham mentioned, is that many of the songs were actually “written” by the actual characters. The beautiful love song “Till Then”, sung between the “obnoxious and disliked” John Adams and his “pigeon toed” “dearest friend” Abigail, is drawn almost entirely from their love letters.
“Do you still smell of vanilla and spring air?/and is my favorite lover’s pillow still firm and fair…” oy, I’m ferklempt.
The song “Mama Look Sharp” is haunting and terrifying, sung by a courier but recounting the last moments of a soldier at Lexington as he waited for his mother to find his body.
The DVD of 1776 restored the “Cool Cool Considerate Men” number and some other footage.
Oh and few I forgot to include.
Sunset Blvd Chicago 42nd St
While I acknowledge that CZJ is hot and more box office reliable, I really wish they’d kept Bebe Neuwirth for the movie of CHICAGO. (Cicero!)
I also wish they’d cast Carol Burnett as Mama Morton.
**Music Man ** Robert Preston you were outstanding!
** Guys and Dolls ** I got the horse right here…
Yeah, my friends told me. I’ve gotta get this just so I can see what they took out. (And I already own the VHS copy. It’s a plot to make me re-purchase all my movies on DVD!)