fahye | in which we discuss musicals. at some length.

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in which we discuss musicals. at some length.

I've seen at least two posts on my flist recently discussing favourite musicals/favourite songs from musicals, and, well, nattering on about musicals is one of the things I enjoy the most!

I have been working on this post all day, in breaks. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN.

We will begin with my top ten, in descending order!

1. Les Miserables -- I grew up listening to this musical, and then watching the VCR of the 10th anniversary concert (even when I was waaaaaay too young to understand what Lovely Ladies is about) to the extent that it's basically part of my soul. Favourite song: IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE between Stars and One Day More.
(Seen staged? YES. Once on the West End, once by the Canberra Philharmonic.)

2. The Secret Garden -- Hearing this for the first time was like the SKIES OPENING UP. Musically it's just -- it's sublime. As for my favourite song...argh argh argh argh okay I guess I Heard Someone Crying, but I would like it to be known that the very idea of splitting this one up into songs instead of considering it as one glorious whole makes me weep.
(Seen staged? NOOOOOO ;_; Chief tragedy of my life.)

3. Bare: A Pop Opera -- Ever since

crazylittleme got me onto this it's been the musical I listen to on bus rides to and from Canberra. It's about Catholic schoolboys in love and also about Shakespeare and growing up and identity crises, and it's heartbreaking and lovely. My favourite song has always been Are You There? but I am also in love with Auditions and Pilgrim's Hands and Queen Mab and basically all of the bits which are Romeo & Juliet put to music. I suspect Cross would be my favourite if I could listen to it without wanting to burst into tears. OH THIS MUSICAL. IT IS SO. COMPLETELY. AMAZING.
(Seen staged? Nope.)

4. RENT -- Discovered in high school thanks to

tammaiya; I kind of collided with this and Angels in America at the same time, and I feel like they're (weirdly) the slice of American culture I know best. My first instinct on song choice is What You Own, but on reflection: the titular song is the best. Mmmm, everyone singing at once.
(Seen staged? Yes, a nice amateur production in Canberra.)

5. Jesus Christ Superstar -- There is a whole saga here about how my mother owned a cassette of a particular recording and refused to listen to any other, so I grew up listening to it on my tiny Fisher Price tape player. Some time in my late teens we actually managed to acquire a CD of that recording through GREAT EFFORT by some people at a specialist musical store, and by then I'd seen the official film. My loyalties are currently split between the CD and this filmed production. It's such a phenomenal treatment of story and idealism and symbols; I will forgive ALW a lot because this musical exists. My favourite song is Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say), hands down.
(Seen staged? Sort of -- my high school did a production once, but cut some of it.)

6. Into The Woods -- *waves hands* This is the other listen-to-during-long-bus-trips musical, because it's one of the few musicals where I actually have to drop everything (mentally) and enjoy the lyrics. It's hard to sing along satisfyingly because it's so intricate, but I love the melody that comes to the fore during the Finale (Children Will Listen).
(Seen staged? Again, sort of -- my high school only did the first half.)

7. Wicked -- Hilariously, I listened to this so much that I knew it completely by heart before I had a) read the book, or b) seen it staged. So I had NO IDEA WHAT THE PLOT WAS REALLY. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the glorious catchiness of Stephen Schwartz's music. And it's visually just incredible (though this tends to count for less with me, because I so seldom SEE any big musicals). I love most of the songs, but nothing will ever beat What Is This Feeling?
(Seen staged? Ya-huh :D Once in London, once in Melbourne.)

8. Legally Blonde -- Judge me all you like, this musical is fantastic. I listen to it over and over when I'm studying. It's cleverly written and very catchy and it even IMPROVES on the plot of the film. Omigod You Guys was the first song from it I ever heard and it remains my favourite.
(Seen staged? No, but I would LOVE to.)

9. Notre-Dame de Paris -- I can sing huge swathes of this, which is impressive considering that my knowledge of French is still very shaky. It contains many wonderful songs of which Les Cloches is the clear winner (gnnnfhdjfhdfj okay I have a physiological thing where I get honest-to-god goosebumps during particular soaring melody lines and sustained chords, and this song can elicit it more consistently than any other. it's so fuckinjgjkfhsjf. no words. not in any language.)
(Seen staged? Uh, I have watched the DVD.)

10. Cats -- Again with the growing up/part of soul thing. I don't want to think about how many times I have watched the video (and later the DVD) of this musical. You can tell I love this one at least 90% because of the dancing (I like the music, sure, but it is so pointless) because my favourite song from it is the instrumental Jellicle Ball.
(Seen staged? Yes! It was a fantastic experience; my muscles were tense with secondhand dancer's glee by the end of it.)

Other musicals I love enough to mention:

Pippin -- <33333 I am on a huge Pippin kick at the moment. I love the second rendition of Corner of the Sky, but I am also mad fond of the Finale itself.

Hairspray -- The movie of this completely bowled me over. Favourite song is You Can't Stop The Beat (apparently I like finales! but I generally prefer songs with lots of vocal parts over the epic solos, and finales are good for that)

The Fix -- More people should know about this because the original cast recording features JOHN BARROWMAN and PHILIP QUAST, hello, awesome. It's about political corruption and dark personal dynamics and it's veeeeery cool. My favourite song tends to leap around a bit but I'm always fond of America's Son because it's hilarious and you can just picture the petulant faces Barrowman is making.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee -- I saw this with Ji in San Francisco, had no idea what to expect, and laughed so hard I hurt my stomach. My favourite song is The I Love You Song because it's one of the more serious moments in a rather silly musical, and it plunges you into this plaintive, soaring, heart-aching tapestry of three voices.

Evita -- Would you believe I haven't seen this film yet? But the only recording I have is the film soundtrack. And I love it! My first experience of the musical was Antonio Banderas singing O, What A Circus on my DVD of an ALW tribute concert, and I think I'd still have to name that as my favourite song from it.

Aida -- Errrrr. It's easy to listen to and I am SUCKER for lyrical quartets (my favourite song is My Strongest Suit, but Not Me and A Step Too Far are close runners-up). I have a theory about how you could do the musical theatre equivalent of a mashup with Aida and Wicked because they are THE SAME MUSICAL BASICALLY. Think about it! Anyway: I would really, really, REALLY like to see this one staged.

Cabaret -- The film of this musical is probably one of the very few films I can honestly say changed my life. Not in a big way. But the gestalt of it, the songs and the chemistry and the blatant politics and the people and the dancing and the musty, dangerous unreality of it all -- it's mind-blowing. My favourite song is the titular one.

Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat -- HAHA OH JOSEPH. I don't know what ALW was smoking and I don't care. This is the most cheerful, unapologetic, cracky, joyful musical in the world. Weirdly my favourite song is the Prologue, because if I could sing any female lead in any musical...I would sing the Narrator. I fucking LOVE her part, it's half part-of-the-action and half commentary-on-the-crack and it suits my vocal range.

The Lion King -- Another musical I am dying to see on the stage; I like the music a hell of a lot, but it's not like Into the Woods where most of the effect is in the words. I want the puppets and the dancing and the sets! I really love the songs that were added during the transition from animated film to stage musical; my favourite song is They Live In You. (This is also the musical I would KILL to choreograph as a figure skating show. Bizarrely enough.)

Mamma Mia! -- ALL I HAVE SEEN IS THE FILM. BUT YOU KNOW. IT'S A PRETTY AWESOME FILM. First prize song-wise goes not to one of the upbeat numbers, oddly, but to Slipping Through My Fingers. That scene is done so beautifully in the film <3

Oklahoma -- And to round things off: again with the childhood memories! We have the video of the production with Hugh Jackman as Curly (one day I will track it down on DVD. one day.) and I think I subconsciously judge all stagings of any musical against that one: huge, intense, gorgeous, capable of switching from slapstick humour to breathtakingly dark imagery. Romance and violence and prejudice and dreams and dances. This is a classic for a reason. It's not in the top 10 because I don't listen to the soundtrack much (I associate it so strongly with a need for visuals) but my favourite song is Many A New Day. Great fun to sing.

~

LET'S TALK MUSICALS, GUYS. Pimp things to me! Old and new! (I am sadly undereducated when it comes to old musicals.) I do have quite a few not listed here, but I want to hear you talk about your favourites. So that if I ever come across them I can -- um -- stroke the CDs and make firm mental notes.

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Musical Love! <3

I didn't get to see Bare, I had a chance to but I missed it. And it's up there with Les Miz and Rent on your list both of which I love. Sorry I have a knee jerk- Musicals, must comment.

I need to get myself familiar with Pippin. The group I act with is doing that next semester.

Pippin is another of those I would love to see staged, because even though I love the songs, I think the plot/basic premise is even better (I am predictable when it comes to characters rebelling against their narratives).

Unnnnf 'Les cloches', SUCH AN AMAZING TUNE AHHHH. Though I think second place goes to 'Les sans-papiers'.¹ Or 'Libérés'. Or 'Le temps des cathédrales'.

¹I actually have an Italian recording of this which I might kinda-sorta prefer, simply because... I clandestini!!!

Also, if you ever get a chance, seriously, see The Lion King on stage. The staging of 'Circle of Life' is... well. I know everyone says it is impressive and spectacular and so on and so forth, but I really think this is a generational thing - because when I looked up and saw the birds looping overhead, and then back down to see the giraffes walk on from the wings and THE FUCKING ELEPHANT coming down the aisle, I honest-to-god cried.

Also, I ship Notre-Dame de Paris with Disney's Hunchback. Sorry literature buffs, Victor Hugo < OVERWHELMINGLY GENIUS MUSIC DFGHKDFGHSK; ALAN MENKEN PLEASE MARRY ME.

I AGREE COMPLETELY.

Also also, stage!Cabaret > film!Cabaret; the one I listened to obsessively until someone STOLE MY CD was the revival with Natasha Richardson as Sally, and ~♥~*Alan Cumming*~♥~ as the Emcee.

Yes, yes, yes!

Cabaret -- Cumming is brilliant.

I love Into the Woods; the lovely baker, Cinderella (On the Steps of the Palace), the silly princes, "No More," and Sondheim (!). Plus, I, and this will be no surprise to you, do like a new take on a fairy tale.

Oklahoma -- I lived in that state, so I've got some mixed feelings about the musical (heard it a little too much), but Jackman was great and I do agree that the shifts from light ("Surrey") to very dark (the dream sequences -- sexuality, anyone?) are very intriguing.

Others --

The Fantasticks -- "Soon It's Gonna Rain" and "Try to Remember" -- young love thwarted, a sexy narrator and one of the longest running off-Broadway shows.

Sweeney Todd (the stage version) It's darker and stranger than the film. The original Broadway version has Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett and Victor Garber as Anthony. It's a big, wild, Grand Guignol production. There was also an amazing revival that I saw on Broadway in 2005, I think. It was very small and presented as a show within a show (lunatics at an insane asylum presenting a show). Patty LuPone played Lovett and some of the actors doubled as musicians. Both versions are on i-tunes, if you want to have a sneak peek. And, since it's Sondheim, also check out Assassins (strange but wonderful musical about the men and women who tried to assassinate US presidents), Sunday in the Park with George and Company.

I'm going to die of mortification here, but West Side Story. Yeah, yeah, go head, mock me. I know it's very dated, and I know it has "I Feel Pretty" in it (and I can't hear that song without giggling). But it also as "America" and "Tonight" and "Somewhere".

Caroline and Change -- Tony Kushner does a musical; enough said.

Light in the Piazza -- sad, sweet young love in Italy

Edited 2009-05-13 15:12 (UTC)

I have Caroline, or Change and I am yet to listen to it all the way through, but I like what I've heard of it. I do have Assassins, but I would love to get my hands on the other Sondheims you mentioned (and the only Sweeney Todd I have is the film soundtrack).

Oh, get the whole musical. While the entire thing is best for the flow and feel of it, for the time being, you might simply download the Ballad of Sweeney Todd from I-Tunes, that isn't in the film and really sets the scene for the rest. From the original production, Garber's version of Johanna is beautiful, Cariou's the Barber and his Wife and also the Lansbury version of "A Little Priest" give a good sense of the piece as a whole without having the whole thing.

I can't download from iTunes, alas -- I'm broke and also my college proxy server has weird issues connecting to the iTunes store.

Oh, that's right about your server. I remember now. I really ought to be off i-tunes myself; my server works far too well and I never realize how much I spend until it's too late.

Used CD store then. When you have a second or three for a break sometime in the future, unless someone you know has a copy they'll lend?

Spring Awakening is also very interesting. Good and interesting.

I love The Secret Garden very, very much, and while I agree with you that all the songs are necessary to the musical as one unit, the one I can't live without is Quartet.

Let me add a few more to your list:

1776 -- Colonial American history, snarkified! You need to know this musical, if only so that when someone around is being an obnoxious ass, you can sing, "Sit down, John, sit down, John, for God's sake, John, sit down!" (Other songs, like He Plays the Violin, would have been better if they had never been written.)

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a Les Mis knockoff, and it knows it... but that's okay! It has disguises and wacky hijinks and love and betrayal and treachery, and isn't that all a show needs to be awesome?

Ragtime -- One of the best musicals ever written. An exploration of race, gender, class, immigration and American identity, all to the syncopated sounds of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens rewriting and reinventing Scott Joplin. The title song is absolutely stunning, and once you see it performed you'll know why you have to get to know Ragtime. See also the incredible grief and rage of the Act 1 finale, Till We Reach That Day.

New York abstains!

All three of those sound like things I need to keep my eye out for! *takes note* Especially The Scarlet Pimpernel; the miniseries of the first book with Richard E. Grant was one of my favourite BBC productions as a wee thing.

I have just today started watching Keating! The Musical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating!) through the miracle of YouTube, and wow. Why can't I learn all politics like this?

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_Little_Whorehouse_in_Texas) is exactly as problematic as it sounds, but also made of gorgeousness and hilarity. (Plus, Dolly Parton doing the original I Will Always Love You makes me cry every. single. time.)

Also? LES MIS OWNS MY SOUL. That is all.

Beaten to suggesting this by an englishwoman! The shame!
(Keating is awesome. One day, when I have infinite time, I am going to make a Keating! wiki, so everyone can understand the true joy of it.)

I used to disturb my parents by singing 'Lovely Ladies' with no idea at all what it was about. Les Mis rocks.

Also! Pirates of Penzance. Jon English as a pirate in purple pants! The fabulous singlettes as major general stanley's daughters. Obsessed from ages 16-17 inclusive.

YES! SO VERY YES! Essgee Entertainment's productions of Pirates and Mikado (and, probably, though I haven't actually seen it, Pinafore) are my absolute favourites, and I have seen a fair number of versions of both. *swoons a little, then goes to add this to my list of YouTube rewards for getting work done*

I am SADLY undereducated in G&S -- I've seen a couple of filmed productions of Pirates but I just can't get into the music at all, so I've never bothered to try anything else by them :(

I have heard GREAT THINGS about Keating! And I know at least one song from it because we corrupted Light On The Hill for a Med Revue item.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Sondheim! You can't go wrong. I know the movie better than the actual play, and the movie has a lot less songs - but it still has "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" and "Bring Me My Bride," both of which crack me the hell up.
I heartily recommend the movie. Zero Mostel! Buster Keaton (like the last thing he did)! Baby Michael Crawford!

I have a version of that, but I don't know if it's the movie or not (have never seen!). It's a good cheering-up musical.

LOTS OF YES to everything you say about Les Miserables and Secret Garden. The 10th anniversary video of Les Mis was, er, actually how I learned what prostitutes are. And the Secret Garden musical combined with the 1993 movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108071/) were pretty mcuh a religious experience for me as a kid. If I try to narrow down my favorite songs, I get stuck on both "Winter's on the Wing" and "Wick", because musical!Dickon in general was one of the most formative fictional influences on me as a kid, but I also agree that the best song from that one is all of them.

Ooh yes, I love the 1993 movie.

assassinssssssssssssssssssssssssss. !

YES I KNOW. I haven't listened to it as much as I should because Sondheim makes for terrible studying music, and that is the only music I listen to these days.

OH MY GOD
OH MY GOD YOU GUUUUUYS

Heeeee. We have some very overlapping taste in musicals! :DDD Bare sounds very intriguing.

Also, I don't know if anyone's mentioned Spring Awakening? It is seriously some of the most affecting music I've heard in a musical in awhile. (Some of the lyrics are a little poppy/filleresque, but a lot of it is gorgeous and very much enhanced by the harmonies.)

And Reefer Madness: The Musical is hilarious, especially the version with Kristen Bell and Alan Cumming.

A friend is sending me some musicals including Spring Awakening! I am looking forward to it.

I WISH I COULD UPLOAD BARE. Sadly the college proxy thinger chucks a tanty whenever I try to upload any large files. But it is the strongest desire of my heart to share this musical with everyone I know.

MUSICALS MUSICALS MUSICALS okay I have to elaborate especially on Rym's recs for 1776 and for The Scarlet Pimpernel because I love them both with insane adoration. 1776 is so full of historical snark, it is a serious thing of glory. ALSO it is full of Founding Fathers singing and dancing about getting laid. No, seriously:

Thomas Adams: BUT I BURN, MR. A!
John Adams: SO DO I, MR. J!
Assorted Founding Fathers: You? John? Really? Who'd have thought it?
John Adams: Mr. Jefferson, dear Mr. Jefferson,
I'm only forty-one, I still have my virility
And I can romp through Cupid's grove with great agility,
BUT LIFE IS MORE THAN SEXUAL COMBUSTIBILITY!
Ben Franklin, et al, in line-dance formation: -bustability . . . -bustability . . . combustabilityyyyyyy . . .

("And then they make out?" said my friend when I showed him the clip of the song, also featuring Jefferson trapping Adams on a staircase and looming dramatically and tiny little Adams threatening to use "physical force".)

As for The Scarlet Pimpernel, I feel a bit ashamed of loving it as much as I do, considering that basically everything Frank Wildhorn wrote is the same, and one of the things he wrote is Jekyll and Hyde, which is hilariously overwrought and starred David Hasselhoff in a rumpled wig in the filmed production. (I also watch that production religiously every time it is on TV. DON'T JUDGE ME. Ladies of the Night is the prettiest song about prostitutes ever!) But anyway, The Scarlet Pimpernel is awesome and full of ridiculous costumes and witty banter and there is an entire song devoted to singing about the importance of froufrous and frippery for a proper English gentleman. Although my favorite is The Riddle, which I maintain is sort of gorgeous.

Also you know how I feel about Les Cloches *_* *_* *_*

Also also, speaking of Sondheim, how has nobody mentioned Sweeney Todd yet? Some of the music to that seriously gives me chills. "City on Fire!" And Len Cariou's rendition of "Johanna". I could not love the movie nearly as much just because Johnny Depp cannot do anywhere near as amazing and creepifying a "Johanna."

Edited 2009-05-13 22:10 (UTC)

Although my favorite is The Riddle, which I maintain is sort of gorgeous.

Sorry to butt in - I have just listened to this musical for the first time a couple of days ago and that's all I've been listening to for three days straight. Too bad they don't have a recorded version with Rachel York (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGfHPrrEu8E), because I think I like the best so far.

Oh yes that version is GORGEOUS.

The first time I saw The Scarlet Pimpernel, I basically went around singing the The Riddle for three days straight, since I did not have the CD yet! Someday I will see it live again. And that will be a joyous day.

Jekyll and Hyde has a few excellent Anthony Warlow solos (and I do quite like Bring on the Men) but it's a bit ridiculous on the whole.

Oh, it is totally ridiculous (and also so hugely Madonna/Whore-y that I cannot even be offended or analyze it, just point and laugh!) I would never actually . . . recommend it to anyone as a good musical . . . but I really enjoy it anyways!

Bernarda Alba (http://sh-k-boom.com/BernardaAlba.shtml) - that's a good of-broadway musical, an all woman cast based on the play of the same name. It's a bit weird, but a lot of the songs are gorgeous, especially "Adela".

Romeo et Juliette is another good French musical. I believe the whole thing's up on youtube.

In the Heights is pretty great as well. I think it sounds a bit 90s but it's still catchy and the characters are fun.

I've seen the play Bernada Alba! It seems like it would make a good musical.

I would have uploaded this earlier, but I didn't have the CD on hand when I first commented: Bernarda Alba (http://www.sendspace.com/file/9zc0il)

I was going to mention The Fix, but you have it on here! \o/ One of the greatest things ever. I saw it at the Donmar Warehouse a few times during that hazy-and-wonderful time in London... mainly because of Philip Quast, because all I knew at the time about John Barrowman was that he was on a bunch of Tring recordings and sounded nice. And then he jumped on a table and played air guitar and that was IT. :D

I liked The Fix so much that they did a reworking of it in Washington, DC and I drove up to see it and John B was there in the audience. He was not all famous at the time so I could say hello without - you know - drooling on myself or something, and he laughed louder than anyone during the show. The original version was much, much better, though. They toned it way down for DC and I think that was a mistake.

OMG I want to see The Secret Garden toooooo. That musical is so awesome. I still think Anthony Warlow is some kind of gift to music. See, I can segue! Er. I seem to be just ranting about your picks, but I love them. See how I am not ranting about JCS? *goes immediately to bed to avoid this*

(deleted comment)

Crap there's another one I can't think of but it has a song in it that goes "Mother who bore me, mother who gave me"....this is annoying I can not think....

Spring Awakening, "Mama who Bore Me" :)

I know virtually nothing about musicals--in fact, JCS is the only one I've properly seen, but I love it so much. When I was a kid, I discovered my dad's CD of the soundtrack, and fell in love with the music. I didn't even know what a musical was, and it took me literally years to piece together that there was a story behind the songs. When I finally saw the film version (the same one you mention), I bawled like a baby. It was so amazing. A little while later, I was lucky enough to see it on stage when it came to Seattle.

Damn it, now I want to drop what I was doing and listen to the soundtrack and sing along!

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