musical theatre

Sep 17 23:43 UTC 1992

today as i was reshelving books, i made the mistake of putting on the com-
plete symphonic recording of _les miserables_. how, you ask, could putting
on any version of _lm_ be a mistake? well, it is a terrific musical, it's 
just that i realized all my previous impressions had been true--basically,
that most of the performances lacked in comparison to previous versions,
especially the original london cast. compared to colm wilkinson (heck, even
on his own merits), in this part gary morris sounds like a whiney wimp who
couldn't stop the good humor ice cream truck, let alone lift a runaway
cart or command javert. though philip quast gives an excellent performance
as javert, and even though he has a better singing voice than roger allam,
there's a reason the latter is the major male lead of the royal shakespeare
company right now, and it shows on the stage, too, for those who've had the
chance to see both performances in person. the female leads suffer compar-
ably, too: i don't care who it is, there is not a woman currently around
who can outsing patti lupone (fantine); rebecca caine, a true operatic
performer, completely eclipses poor tracey shane, who made the new recording
for no better reason than she happened to be playing cosette in new york
when the recording was made--and the tremolo in her voice is awful, she real-
ly needs more control and deliberate inflection; as to eponine, again, the
symphonic recording gives us a good, very interesting performance (by kaho
shimada, who does not speak english)--but not one that compares with the
really heartbreaking performance of frances ruffelle, featured on both other
recordings. in my opinion, if the producers wanted another voice beside hers,
the opportunity should have gone to kelli james, the first american to play
the part--and quite stunningly.

beside the cogitations on this particular musical, part of my reason for
entering this item is that i noticed some time ago i've become very concerned
with the individual casts of musicals i enjoy, and comparing them. it wasn't
until last year that a new cast appeared either in london or on broadway and
departed without my managing to see it (in _les miserables_, that is), for
example, and i've followed casting in a few shows with great interest. i 
still haven't heard who's been selected to play jean valjean in the movie
version of _les miserables_, and it's my opinion that anybody _but_ colm
wilkinson would be, at best, second best. there really isn't a male performer
on the popular musical stage right now who can touch either his vocal range
or his acting abilities. lloyd webber, probably wisely, decided to go with
the original cast for the film version of _phantom_ (if it ever happens).
wilkinson (again), whom he wanted first (and who was unavailable because
he was doing _les miserables_), would probably give a better performance,
but michael crawford is undoubtedly super in the role--it's the role of
his career, and he knows it--and is most associated with the part. wilkin-
son is singing in that show in toronto for a few more months, by the way,
and it's still worth your time to go there instead of staying local to 
hear him if you're planning on seeing _phantom_ within the next few months.

how many other grexians are stage junkies? i've talked all about musicals so
far, but when i scrape up my pennies and go to london every so often, the
student rates are good all over, especially at the barbican (rsc) and the
national theatre. i glut myself (one weekend i saw five productions) wherever
i can. 

what do you favor in musicals, and whom?

response 2 of 37:

Sep 18 04:27 UTC 1992

i said "theatre" because most of my examples were british. the american
stage has only made any kind of comeback over the last two or three years.
we've had _city of angels_, _the secret garden_, and one or two others
that have been highly regarded.

i heard some g&s on wqrs the other day and i was struck by the cleverness
of the lyrics. my last previous g&s experience was a performance of _the
mikado_, which i didn't fancy.

there's no reason we can't consider the differences between "popular" musical
theatre and comic opera. some contemporaries of the former category, notably
lloyd webber, ache for critical approval. in his case, the funny thing is that
he gets trashier and trashier as he gets more successful. surely his best
work, artistically, was _jesus christ superstar_ (into which category would
we put that?). i can't imagine anybody wanting to be taken seriously who
doesn't even do his own orchestrations anymore...

response 4 of 37:

Sep 19 22:15 UTC 1992

i am usually out of town during the holiday season, so i didn't see the
road company at the fisher. i did hear a recital at the masonic temple by
j. mark mcveigh, though, and he's not bad. he's got a wonderfully pure
falsetto, one especially so because of his youth. friends who saw that
production said he was very good indeed, though they hadn't seen it else-
where and couldn't compare his with other performances.

response 6 of 37:

Dec 17 16:43 UTC 1992

_evita_ was his; patinkin was good, but (this name always seems to come up)
wilkinson was much better. have you heard the original studio recording?

response 8 of 37:

Dec 18 06:11 UTC 1992

i have it on both cd and tape, and i'd be happy to loan either to you.
feel free to mail me.

response 10 of 37:

Apr 19 05:14 UTC 1994

Doesn't ANYONE care about the stage????  There are confs on best movie/worst
movie, but what about the real theatre????
Grrrrr....

response 12 of 37:

Apr 21 21:15 UTC 1994

We saw THE MAGIC FLUTE three times last month, does that count?

response 14 of 37:

Apr 28 22:14 UTC 1994

Um, we saw TURANDOT last night at the MOT...  First time I'd seen it.
Like LA BOHEME, Puccini here excelled in getting a non-stop musical
flow, at least to the part where he died -- the final duet was finished 
from his notes and just doesn't have the sparkle of the rest.

response 16 of 37:

Jun 25 02:28 UTC 1994

I've been looking for a place to discuss musicals & theater, and I was 
surprized to find it in the music conference! Anyway, I have been in a couple
of productions myself (including Nathan Detroit in Guys & Dolls) And I have
been to Les Mis twice at the fisher, Phantom at the Fisher, and I recently
saw the new broadway version of Guys & Dolls in Grand Rapids. (And I can say
, in my humble opinion, that I did a much better job as Nathan Detriot than
this actor did. What shows/parts have other people done?

response 18 of 37:

Jul 9 05:28 UTC 1994

Still...............................?

response 20 of 37:

Aug 8 17:16 UTC 1994

hi!

response 22 of 37:

Sep 29 02:26 UTC 1994

I just am starting the role of "SEYMORE" in "LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS", if anyone
is still there or maybe even interested.

I guess I pretty much own this title, eh?

(sigh)

response 24 of 37:

Oct 3 19:37 UTC 1994

I feel your pain, people just don't respond to me anymore.