As a way to satrize popular culture (South Park BLU , Simpsons, even Bamboozled ) a framing device ( Magnolia ,Oh Brother Where Art Thou) a peice of genre work ( Dancer in the Dark, Everybody says i love you ) or as Spectacle ( Moulin Rouge, Loves Labour Lost)
musicals have seemed to be revived in the last five years As well it seems like they deal with complex and serious issues. Now there have always been a few serious musicals but most of them seemed to be Vanity Projects or fluff. Why have so many maverick directors chosen now to revive this ? Is this random ?
Now i know the inclusion of Oh Brother,Magnolia and Bamboozled may be contrversial. But the vital nature of music in their structure makes them imho fit defacto into these charchteristics
― anthony, Thursday, 30 August 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Pop music started moving faster. Trends changed quicker. A big screen muscial would take at least two years to make. First thing doing will be to write the script and the music. However pop trends moved so fast that said music would be out of fashion - and if it was any good said writer would release it as a pop tune first (main reason Burt Baccarach never really got into musicals).
Lighter cameras meant more location shooting. More location shooting meant added realism, people found the idea of shooting on set starting to look silly. Therefore incoming directors of the seventies were all about realism, and realism has no room for song breaks.
Special effects ties in with realism, but also into the production of the new kind of event film from Jaws onwards. Suddenly certain tyeps of films (science fiction, horror) became more realistic, they became more respected and they garnered huge audiences in adolescent males. Suddenly Hollywoods focus changed to this audience who was a lot more precictable. And who hated musicals.
I'll return with why I think musicals are slowly coming back later....
― Pete, Thursday, 30 August 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― anthony, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Sarah, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/events/ongoing/2149/
"Luann: Scenes in a Teen's Life" High-energy musical based on popular comic strip by Greg Evans, directed by Dana Case, March 7-16. 760-744-1150 x2453. Through March 16
― iiiijjjj, Sunday, 16 March 2008 18:16 (5 years ago) Permalink
Has anyone in New York seen the Grey Gardens musical? I watched a piece about it on PBS and it seemed pretty intriguing, despite my reticence toward new musicals. Thoughts?
― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Wednesday, 31 December 2008 07:49 (4 years ago) Permalink
I can't imagine it as a musical. I have seen the Public Broadcasting production of it the film and the documentary of the film being made and don't recall any reference to a musical production in the works. No Offense, but the thought sort of horrifies me, really.
― Wiggy Woo, Wednesday, 31 December 2008 07:58 (4 years ago) Permalink
It got an extremely good review in the NY Times, and Maysles was pretty enthusiastic about it. Ben Brantley concludes:
"Watching this performance is the best argument I can think of for the survival of the American musical." Pretty high praise from Brantley.
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/theater/reviews/03gard.html
― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Wednesday, 31 December 2008 08:16 (4 years ago) Permalink
I saw Grey Gardens. It was really good. Very funny. I think I even nominated one of the songs from it (Revolutionary Costume of the Day) for some of the year end polls. I highly recommend (and I went in very skeptical).
― Mordy, Wednesday, 31 December 2008 08:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
Just listened to this:
Weirdly, I like him better on his cast recording of Sunday in the Park with George, then on this album singing the same songs.
― Mordy, Sunday, 22 March 2009 20:56 (4 years ago) Permalink
this song has been fucking my shit up all week i don't mind admitting
― Kony Montana: "Say hello to my invisible friend" (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 15 March 2012 11:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
Of these ten overlooked films picked by Ehrenstein, I've seen #2 several times, but p sure no others.
http://www.fandor.com/blog/unsung-musicals
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 17:48 (5 months ago) Permalink
took daughter to see Singin' in the Rain at the Castro yesterday, was awesome (altho by the end she was complaining that it was too long)
― If I was a carpenter, and you were a douchebag (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 27 December 2012 21:27 (4 months ago) Permalink
is Cosmo gay Y/N
oh that would be wonderful to see it at the Castro!
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 27 December 2012 22:09 (4 months ago) Permalink