The Long Wharf Theatre has had some exciting seasons over the past few years…I’ve gotten to experience several plays at this theatre, whether performing with the QuinnipiacTheatre for Community group on Stage II, or watching plays on either Stages I or II.
This season has had a large variety of shows, including Quinnipiac’s own “Medea “and “Whitewashed”on both the first and second stages… The next play coming to Stage II will be a CLASSIC hit, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel”!
I’ve never seen this show before, but I am excited to see what it is like if I get the chance to take a look at it. All I know is that there are a few songs I happen to know from the show from hearing others sing them, such as “If I Loved You”, which coincidentally plays from the clock tower here at Quinnipiac, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” which I’ve sang in high school and “Soliloquy”. Other than that, I’ve had no idea what the plot line was or who the characters were.
But now I can tell you!
According to Long Wharf Theatre: “Set in a small New England town in the late 1800s, the story of impulsive, brash carnival barker Billy Bigelow and his bride, mill worker Julie Jordan, spans heaven and earth in its exploration of love, human frailty, and redemption.”
It sounds like it will be an amazing musical to go see! Last year, apparently the same director of this show put on “Man of La Mancha” at Long Wharf which I got to see! So I’m very excited about this show.
The show will officially open at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT on May 14, 2008 and will close June 1, 2008.
If you would like to purchase tickets you can call the Box Office at the Long Wharf: (800) 782-8497 or (203) 787-4282.
The group sales number is (203) 787-4284 ext. 259.
The Long Wharf Theatre is a great theater to go to if you want to see a play in the New Haven area but don’t know where to go!
The theater is right off of I-95 too, which is great if you’re coming from somewhere outside the New Haven area.
To end this post:
1) Go see the show! =)
2) Here’s a video of the song “‘You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the movie version:
At first I was very excited to hear this news. I LOVE Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music. He’s written some of the greatest musicals of all time, including “The Phantom of the Opera“, “Jesus Christ Superstar”and “Cats.”These musicals, going along with my theory, have been made into stage productions, feature films, and back to stage productions. “Phantom of the Opera” is currently the longest running show on Broadway, topping the previous longest running show “Cats.”
The one thing about the music Webber writes is that it is very difficult to conquer…You can either make or break these songs. A lot of them tend to be for a specific voice part, and if your voice isn’t in that range, you may not conquer the song.
So, the top 6 “Idol” hopefuls took on Webber’s songs. Lets see how they did, shall we?
Now I must be honest, I have never heard this song until today. I’ve never seen “Starlight Express“, so I do not know the original intentions of the musical. But I must say, Syesha pulls off this song VERY well! Her take on it reminded me of a song from “Dreamgirls.” Her outfit looked beautiful, and she very much reminded me of Beyonce (and hey, that’s a good thing!)… While there were a few times she sounded like she was scream-singing, I think she deserves a 4.5 out of 5 stars! =)
Next we have Jason Castro (pictured right) singing the classic song “Memory” from “Cats“:
I must say I was completely shocked by Jason’s song choice. I’ve known this song to be a very popular song for musical theatre auditions. It’s such a powerful, beautiful song, yet so very overplayed. This song is also meant for a woman singer with a large belting voice. Jason…well…doesn’t fit these qualities. He’s a man, and he’s certainly not a belter. I commend him for his efforts, however. He tried to play the part of the old, glamorous cat who’s reflecting on his life… Not entirely well, but he did try. For his performance, I will give him a 1 out of 5 stars.
Next we have Brooke White (pictured left), who took on the GORGEOUS song from the movie version of “Evita,” called “You Must Love Me:”
Oh my. I was actually quite disappointed with Brooke’s performance. As you will see in this clip, she first forgets the words and restarts the song…Which some may agree with, but I’m not sure if I do… I’m proud of her for recognizing she needed to start over, but I don’t believe she succeeded the second time around. She did succeed at being the vulnerable girl looking confronting her lover, but definitely did not succeed vocally… She did look beautiful though! I give her a 2 out of 5 stars.
I was blown away by this performance, because I really wasn’t expecting David to take this song on. The original song is meant for a high soprano voice who’s singing to her lover. He actually makes the song into a pop ballad, and he really made it his own. His voice is smooth and beautiful, and always on pitch. He chose the right places to add riffs and hold certain notes. He definitely was the best out of everyone thus far, he gets a 5 out of 5 stars! =)
I’d say this was my second favorite performance of the night. Smithson shines as she uses her belting powers along with the AMAZING backup singers accompanying her and the band to back her up as well. She was on pitch, had a gorgeous retro dress on and while she did scream sing a little bit, she entertained the crowd, and that’s what matters. I give her a 4.5 out of 5 stars!
The final performance of the night was VERY surprising. David Cook (pictured right) took on the GORGEOUS, yet challenging song “Music of the Night” from “The Phantom of the Opera.”:
This song was very powerful…And I again find myself very surprised that he took on such a challenging song. The voice behind the song was on par, and was very much on pitch…However, he came off a little awkward in my eyes. He was confronting the woman he loved, and he came off as the shy, sweet guy…And then at the end of the song I was especially surprised when he hit the high noted and almost screamed in his his rocker-esque voice. I was impressed by his performance, yet dissapointed by the end of the song when he went for this, and i will say it, awful high note. However, I will give him a 4 out of 5 stars.
“American Idol”, as I said, is one of my all time favorite shows on TV…While i haven’t been able to watch it as much over the years due to being EXTREMELY busy, I was happy I got to catch it last night and experience the “Idol” hopefuls try out some Broadway music. Having them sing these songs on live television shows you how much these songs really are appreciated in the world today.
Bloggers: What did you think of the Idol performances last night? What did/didn’t you like?
Tonight will be the elimination….And honestly, in my opinion, it’s either going to be Brooke or Jason kicked off tonight, just based on their vocals. However, I do understand these two are very popular amongst Americans so you never know who will be kicked off next. Time will only tell!
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to experience a newly written play at Quinnipiac. Through the cast members’ revealing of their own personal stories to the cast members interviewing others about their lives…Monologues and scenes were written and put together to make up the play “WhiteWashed: The Rough Draft.”Directed by Crystal Brian (pictured left), chairman of the visual and performing arts department at Quinnipiac, this play explores what it’s like to be “the other.”
The “other.”
This could mean a ton of things. Obviously this means you stand out from the rest.. But this could be good or bad…And in this play’s case…It definitely isn’t the good that shines through.
There were monologues and scenes covering a variety of topics, including rape, being fat, ugly, being homeless, being gay/lesbian, the horrible “n” word, and so much more. There are so many things that you could say that make someone else an “other.” But I’m so glad they brought these issues to light.
A cast member spoke to the audience saying “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. Wrong. Words hurt. What you say to people matters. Think about it.” While there may be physical reminders of the scars you have from your past on your body, the mental scars stay with you forever. And while many may say “oh I don’t judge people at all, I’m so great and nice!” Trust me, we all judge others. It’s honestly a way of life. But plays like this can make a difference in helping that one person not get raped, or be called fat, or be called a “n*****.” Words like that were written on a chalkboard throughout the entire play. These words hurt. And I hate that people don’t understand this.
This play is an ongoing project, which was another cool thing about this play. The cast members revealed information about themselves to the world in this one weekend. But the actual writers didn’t read their own work, they let other cast members read it. While scenes were memorized for the most part, the monologues were found scattered throughout the stage posted on walls to be ripped down and in garbage cans to be ‘picked up.’ You’ll never know or realize when you will hear a person’s story.
Another topic brought up in this play is the idea of ‘masking.’ My theatre history class of all classes spoke about this. Theatre is truth, my professor Kelly Morgan (pictured left) says. But why then in real life, don’t we reveal truth? Why don’t we confront people when we need to. We need to keep on our ‘masks’ so we feel ‘comfortable’ around the other we are trying to talk to. But this does not help the situation. We should not have to hold back from our feelings. In a way, the society we are in puts us in this masking situation. Following standards, “rules” that were created in the past to make us “better people.” I don’t think segregation made anyone better in the 60s. I think it definitely made us worse. When people judge people before getting to know them, it bothers me.
Bloggers: When you are judged by someone else, how does it make you feel? Post your comments here.
I speak about confronting others because in this play, they strategically wore masks when their characters were uncomfortable with being in their own skin. Once the mask was off, they had to tell the complete and honest truth, and needed to be open and direct with their feelings as well. There were several scenes throughout the play that displayed this, and they displayed this very well. I was very proud of several cast members who were able to read these monologues and scenes with conviction, and facing the reality of the situations they were reading in front of them.
The use of videos and pictures above the actors enhanced the play further. My only issue with the projections was that the curtains they were projecting the information on were ribbed, making it very hard to read whatever was on the screen. If one stared at it for a few minutes, they may be able to somewhat decipher it, but you really would need to stare at it for awhile.
The use of music made the play even more powerful. Mike Castro (pictured left), Pete D’Alauro, Molly Heintzleman and R. Sam Chaney were EXCELLENT. I’ve known Mike for a few years now, and his songwriting skills proved the other night to be extraordinary (You can listen to Mike’s music here). He wrote a song about being ‘white washed’ and being isolated from others in society, being the “other.” His words were powerful, and the music behind him was powerful and triumphant. It was amazing when the triumphant music was playing at the end of the play with the trumpet blaring and the cast members “white washed” the chalkboard with white paint. It symbolized taking a giant leap into this day and age with an awareness of how to perceive others from that day forward.
After the performance ended, I was very emotional. Certain monologues affected me in various ways and brought me back to very dark places of my past I honestly didn’t want to be in. But they reminded me of the play’s message: that words HURT. And it’s so VERY unfair to be disrespected by someone for something that is beyond your control. Because it was an ongoing project the cast had a ‘talkback’ with the audience and took comments, questions and suggestions to improve the piece further. The most shocking comment of the night was “there are no blacks in this play.” This angered me. Yes, there may have been only ‘whites’ up on the stage, but I must say, White people are diverse too, (which this woman also said and noted that there should have been a monologue on reverse discrimination), and there weren’t only just WHITES on stage! I saw someone who was Asian, I believe there were several Jewish and Christian people on stage. People of different sizes and shapes. Different genders , obviously, and (from personally knowing cast members) different sexual orientations.
Diversity is beyond skin deep, everyone. That’s what “Whitewashed: The Rough Draft” was trying to say. And it blew me away with it’s message. This play MOVED me.. It was inspiring and because it is an ongoing work, I very much look forward to seeing what new monologues and scenes develop through talking with even more people over the next few years.
The play is over now, but since it will be put up next year most likely at the Long Wharf Theatre Stage II again, I DEFINITELY recommend either submitting your own stories or just going to see it. Plays like this will make a difference in the community, and it has certainly made a large impact on myself.
Here’s a great poem that speaks about how words can hurt:
And here’s a video that I LOVE which definitely addresses the “race” issue (“Black or White” by Michael Jackson!):
Tonight I thought I’d write about a person whom I’ve known for a very long time..and whom I’ve been meaning to speak about on this blog for a VERY long time. He has grown into an established musical theatre composer in NYC today and I am so very proud of him and his accomplishments thus far.
His name is Justin Paul.
I remember my first play I was in, EVER…“Bye Bye Birdie” at my middle school. Justin happened to be playing the role of Albert Peterson…And I was an “Ed Sullivan Chorus Member” and a “Teen Performer” in the song “One Last Kiss.” That cast was LARGE…SO large they double casted the ensemble I was in. This was 5th grade for me , and 7th for Justin… Honestly, he’s never stopped being amazing to this date. And hey, another thing to the ladies, he’s cute!
So my next play, “Fiddler on the Roof” comes around and he plays the role of Perchik, who ends up being “matched” with the character of Hodel. This was another play I loved, because the cast was SO talented…All of the leads, and the ensemble too… Middle school plays to me, were amazing…Such a great experience. TONS of talent. And once again, Justin Paul stood out to me…
Now we can fast forward a few years to when I entered high school. I remembered Justin not being in several of the plays I was in at Staples. I remembered he was in plays before I got to high school…But I do not remember him being in “The Music Man”, my first high school drama club experience.
But he was in “Into the Woods” as the Baker. He was PERFECT in this role… His musical and acting talents shined particularly in this production playing this role.
His standout role in high school, in my opinion, was the show “Merrily We Roll Along.”This is a Stephen Sondheim musical that explores the lives of three close friends as they travel backwards in their lives to see what truly went wrong in their friendships. You see their struggles and joys. Justin played the main character (Frank), and I KNEW he would be cast in this role….An aspiring composer who takes his claim to fame very much to his head… He actually played piano on stage as he sung the songs his character composed. I must tell you all, not a lot of people can do this…Really.
Speaking of playing piano…Besides singing and acting, Justin has a GIFT of playing piano. Honestly, he’s one of those people where if you tell him a song I feel he could just play it full out without even thinking. I don’t think I’ll ever understand it, but I LOVE IT. Also in his high school career he conducted several of the shows’ orchestras…Which was very cool, and he did a wonderful job.
Fast forward to a few years later… I’m still in high school (or maybe just starting college?)…And I find out Justin wrote this thing called a “song cycle” (I thought to myself, “what’s that?”) with a guy named Benj Pasek (pictured above, left). They both were attending University of Michigan together for their musical theatre program, and wanted to showcase their songs they had worked on…So they came to Westport (my hometown) to this little center within a church, and brought back 4 UMich musical theater people with them as their “cast”. The show is called “EDGES.”
This show blew me away! I had an idea that Justin was probably good at songwriting but I had no idea he was writing song cycles! I play that one CD that he sold of his original work on my radio show to this day. The songs are uplifting, yet powerful at the same time. They’re very universal too, and speak to the audience about keeping up with the way the world works today and how to socially survive. I agree with the intent of their music fully.
So they had this song cycle, and they took it around the country, literally. It was reworked SEVERAL times, and it still is being reworked to this day!! They now apparently have different “versions” of it, as Justin told me, one for colleges and one for a more mature crowd (more general crowd). “EDGES”can now be officially staged anywhere across the country by obtaining the rights through Music Theatre International. This makes me SO proud.
What else have Benj & Justin accomplished since “EDGES”? Well, a TON…They’ve played their new work around several little club places in New York City and even in Los Angeles. Broadway stars have been able to sing their work in these showcases…Which was SO cool to see ((I saw one at Joe’s Pub in NYC a few years ago)). They’re apparently writing some full length book musicals from what I understand. They’ve written songs for several episodes of the Playhouse Disney show “Johnny and the Sprites” starring John Tartaglia. They were the youngest winners EVER to receive the Jonathan Larson award last year.
“EDGES” is now having several professional theatre runs across the country…And I had the pleasure of seeing the production at the Capital Reperatory Theatre in Albany, NY with my brother. It WAS SO COOL, because there was actually a set with costumes and professionals “doing their thing” to Justin & Benj’s work.
I must say, I am still in complete jaw-dropping awe of their acomplishments thus far…And they’re both around my age- I’d say around 22-23.
WOW!
To conclude, I must write that Justin is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. I’m so happy to say “I know him!” and to be able to write about him on my blog in this manner.
And I KNOW their work is going to get bigger and better from here on out! I can’t wait to see what’s next.
If you want to check out more of their work, please check out their website!
And PLEASE check out these awesome videos from their showcase shows:
When “High School Musical”came out during my freshman year in college, I was SO excited because as you all can clearly tell, I am a theater person. I was wondering how Disney would take this subject on. Amazingly enough, they pulled off the topics of high schooltheatre and the DRAMA that revolves in the drama club well.
I have experienced similar events like what happened in “High School Musical.”The drama club, I sadly must admit, can be somewhat of a clique. They have their certain “stars” and then there are people that are involved that are “outcasts” and then there are people…Like in this movie…That want to try new things, and want to break out of their shell of things such as playing sports, dance, etc. I’ve seen this first hand, so I must commend them for their efforts.
I think “High School Musical”was my favorite one thus far. I’ll admit, I was excited when they were making a “High School Musical 2″.…But it just wasn’t the same. A lot of people singing in the movie sounded extra wonderful (which made me think they were enhanced by the magic of computers)… But the story really wasn’t as good.
Now they’re coming out with “High School Musical 2″as a stage production. They’ve already had a stage production of the first one…Which I actually got to see at my middle school, which actually, went very well. Heck, they’ve even had an Ice Show which very well too.
But a second stage production. NO, NO NO! This movie’s story line is simply too rediculous to be put on stage… It takes place at a country club and some of the songs are by the pool and stuff…Rediculous! I’m starting to think Disney’s efforts are a little superfluous.
Bloggers: What do you think? Is Disney going too far?
So now I have other news…If you didn’t know yet, the full cast is coming back for “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” This movie, unlike the others, will be a feature film…in movie theatres. It is slated to arrive in movie theaters this fall.
And NOW…now I find an article on Playbill the other day that says they’re “in the works” with creating a 4th, I repeat 4TH HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.
DISNEY…Come on. What’s next, “College Musical”? Let’s be real here…you can only go so far.
They need to start thinking about their demographics, I feel. A LARGE age range watches these movies…goes to the stage shows, etc. Now if they keep going at this rate, they’re obviously going to make an X dollar amount of a TON of money… At this point, they really don’t need to make extra movies. These shows are good as they are… And they’re certainly not going away/fading away any time soon.
If you feel or don’t feel the same…Feel free to comment.
Here are some clips from “High School Musical” and ” High School Musical 2″ !
You may be thinking…why would she put such a gorgeous picture of Daniel Radcliffe on her blog? Well, I’ll tell you.
I heard last year about this play called “Equus”that was playing in London.I didn’t know who it was by, what it was about, who was in it besides Daniel. All I knew of it was, “the play where Daniel Radcliffe is NAKED!!!!!”
I heard this more than once…And I was like “Wow, is this really what the premise of the play is?” I pictured swooning girls outside all ready to see Harry Potter take off his shirt and pants.
I must admit, I’ve never seen any of the “Harry Potter”movies, and frankly I don’t care to read the books either. But when I saw the pictures tonight… I think I completely understand where the excitement is coming from!
But at the same time… I would hope that this play isn’t an excuse for Daniel Radcliffe to take off his clothes…That’s a horrible way to expose people to theatre…and a horrible representation of what theatre is. That almost makes the people who agreed to run this play in London sound desperate to fill seats.
So tonight, #1, I’m here to inform you that “Equus”, starring yes, DANIEL RADCLIFFE, is coming to Broadway to the Broadhurst Theatre for previews September 5th. It will officially open to the public September 25th and will run until February 8th, 2009.
Excited?! Yay.
But yes, tonight, I am looking to find the answers.. What is this play about? And really, WHY IS DANIEL RADCLIFFE NAKED?!
Here’s why!
Apparently the nakedness doesn’t last that long in the play. Apparently the play seems to be a little more psychological than what I was expecting. Apparently… I don’t think this play is at all what I was expecting!
The play mostly takes place in a psychiatrist’s (Dysart) office, where he is in session with Alan Strang, a boy who literally, is in LOVE with horses. Throughout the entire play, Dysart is there to help Alan realize what he’s done, and most importantly, why he did it.
While Dysart questions his past, Alan explains his life story. The audience learns Alan’s parents are a major influence in his life, in a particularly negative way. He was very conflicted on religion: his mother being a very strong Christian and his dad being an athiest. Through his mother’s telling of Biblical stories, Alan fell in love with horses. He was intrigued by them through those stories, western movies and his own grandfather’s interest in the animal.
At one point in the play Alan’s father tells Dysart that Alan one time was seen by him kneeling in front of a picture of a horse chanting different Bible-like names…and one of them was “Equus.” From what this synopsis says, Alan believe the “spirit of Equus resides in all horses.”
So the audience also discovers his own sexual self through his parents….He finds himself very sexually attracted to horses, and ever since his first horse encounter at a very young age.
There’s other key scenes involving hypnosis and more of Alan’s discoveries about himself and the people around him. Several confessions later, we find Alan speaking more about his sex life, revealing the ::gasp!:: nude scene.
Now to me, this scene seems to be towards the end of the play. Alan’s given a placebo, and tells Dysart he and Jill ( a girl he met ) go to a pornography theatre (Jill asked him to go)…And lo and behold, they find his father there, watching movies. Once Alan sees his own father watching the act, he realizes “hey, maybe I can do it too!” He goes with Jill back to the stables to “perform the act”..hence the NUDENESS EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT! But unfortunately, Alan gets too nervous to have sex, and Jill leaves…His embarrassment causes him to take it out on the horses he loves so much, and eventually commits the crime of blinding them.
~~
So there’s some definite themes here, of sexuality, and religion, and maybe some other illusion versus reality themes as well. Through finding the synopsis, I’m amazed that this really has sparked so much buzz; I’m quite proud of the people who put this show together in London. They’ve got guts, and they’ve certainly proved themselves.
So my question to you all is: Despite the fact that yes, Daniel Radcliffe is naked, would you still go see this show?
Let me know your thoughts…
For now, here’s are some interesting video clips for you!
Here’s an interview CNN did with the main characters:
I heard about this play through my brother. He had seen it awhile back and fell in love with it…He got the CD and told me all about it. He played it for me in the car. Frankly, I fell in love too.
One thing i’ll tell you all: it’s one of those “show-within-a-show” plays.
The press notes on Playbill say the following: “[title of show], according to press notes, “takes a thoroughly unique and comical look at the pleasures and perils of the artistic process as two struggling writers [Bell and Bowen] and two struggling actresses [Blackwell and Bickenstaff] take on the seemingly impossible task of creating a new musical about creating a new musical. Now with Broadway as their destination, the quartet’s saga continues anew as they face mounting pressures and deadlines, and are nearly thrown off-track by disagreements, day jobs and insecurities in this funny and unforgettable look at the birth of a musical as it finally comes to life on the Great White Way.”
Tickets will start going on sale for the show April 21st…And if you want to see this, I’d recommend getting them now!
From just listening to the CD alone.. the show is excellent. It is very well written, and it conquers the process of making a musical and the ups and downs behind such a process. The singing is excellent..and I’m so excited to check this show out when it premieres!!
The creators worked very hard to get the show where it is today as well…They created a blog that showed their “process” to getting the show to where it is today. This is SO exciting.
This show is an example of my theory that has won the battle of fighting old material. We need more inspiring stories like this…How people develop a fresh new idea, work hard at it, take the necessary steps and even fallbacks, and then completely succeed.
For more information on this show (if you want to check it out!) , check out their website.
And to end this post, here’s the latest episode of the online video show of ” [title of show] “!
This post I thought I would write about something that I can truly say opened my eyes and brought myself into perspective about several aspects of life.
This weekend I participated in an event called Relay for Life. If you don’t know what this is…it’s an overnight event that several groups participate in to fight back against cancer.
Going into it, I had no idea what to expect… All I knew is…we were raising money for cancer. All I knew is that we were going to be doing a lot of walking and stuff in the Rec Center…Yay?
Well… I was gladly surprised. I had the time of my life. With my Q30 PAK-istan Against Cancer group, we all stayed up the whole night walking…I even felt the need to run 2 laps on the track to support cancer patients/survivors. The whole experience was moving, and I recommend something like this to everyone…You should all try this at least once.
So this experience is all about fighting back against something. We all have ideals, morals, values that we believe in. And we get so passionate about these things that we try to fight back.
This experience inspired me to tell you about a playwright that is fighting AIDS and wrote plays about his experiences. My co-host of my radio show (Sarah) told me all about him last semester and played me his work and I liked it a lot.
Steve is an AIDS survivor. He was on his deathbed at one point during his fight, but he’s survived…And still trying to fight back against this very prevalent disease in this day and age. How you ask? Through theatre.
He’s written a few plays based on his own life: “The Big Voice: God or Merman?” and “The Last Session.”These plays are his way of saying: “I’ve survived, and I need you all to know what happened to me.”
This man has a passion for life and the arts…You can tell through his music and words. He keeps up several blogs, and a few different MySpaces as well.
I’ve heard a few of his songs before through Sarah, and from what I’ve listened to there is real, intense, honest emotion in his songs… His plays’ content also includes what it’s like to be with a longtime partner…In his case, his co-writer Jim Brochu.
Steve is probably one of probably many that record their experiences of suffering such diseases through the arts. The arts can be powerful in so many ways…Yet so healing at the same time. All in all, they MOVE you.
Bloggers: Does the arts (theater, music, dance, art) move you? How so?
“The Big Voice: God or Merman?” has received several awards since its’ Off-Broadway run last year, including the L.A. Ovation Award. His other plays/songs have received awards as well. Steve and Jim, through their efforts, got to where they are today because of their passion for life, and love for one another.
So I write to you tonight to inform you that people are fighting back terrible diseases through the arts…“Rent”is definitely another example of such a play. Writing songs and writing out scenes can be healing…So while events like Relay for Lifecan change ones’ life through walking overnight…Writing a show that gives audiences’ an awareness of health issues can change ones’ life too in the same fashion.
If you ever see any play like this out there, check it out. You definitely will not regret it.
Here are some links to Steve’s websites to find out more information about his life and his work:
Well, I definitely agree with some on the list…and some, really, are they really considered musicals?
Please go check out this list! There are some interesting ones I’ve never heard of but you may have heard of them… But of the ones I know of, here are some notable movie-musicals I found from the list:
This show is beautiful.. I fell in love with it quickly after watching it over this past winter break. It’s amazing how simple the storyline is too. The production crew had a VERY small budget (during the special features part on the DVD I found out they only used 1 camera to shoot the film!), and worked it well. The story revolves around a street musician (played by Irish musician Glen Hansard) and how he meets a girl (played by his actual longtime friend/musician Marketa Irglova) who changes his life forever. She basically gives him a push to kickstart his professional music career…By performing with him. The song “Falling Slowly” won the Academy Award this year for the best song! Go Glen & Marketa! =) The movie is mostly made up of Glen & Marketa singing their songs… If you want to see a “new” take on musical theatre in movies….Check this one out!
((Here’s a video of Glen & Marketa singing “When Your Mind’s Made Up”:))
LOVE this musical. In fact, this was the first show I was in my freshman year of high school. Wow… That feels like yesterday, yet it was almost 7 years ago!! Crazy huh?! I think so. Anyway, this musical revolves around a traveling salesman, Harold Hill. The one stop he makes in River City, Iowa, changes his life when he meets a reserved, quirky librarian, Marian. Hill starts up a “boys band” in town. While his main intentions were to take the profits and run, he actually changes his mind when he falls in love with Marian. He decides to actually start the boy band and actually stay in town for once instead of running away. If you’re looking for an upbeat, feel-good musical, please check this musical out! You won’t regret it.
((Here’s a clip of Robert Preston singing “Ya Got Trouble”:))
#17 “Chicago”
Oh.My.Gosh. When this movie came out, it was MAYHEM. EVERYONE was at the movies seeing this when it came out in 2002. I remember seeing the play afterwards and it being very different from the movie. Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones definitely shined as Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. I was amazed by Renee, in particular. Renee has a pretty darn good singing voice , and it was really wonderful to see her shine on stage as the woman who kills the man she was having an affair with and gets all of the attention while in jail. If you haven’t seen this movie…where have you been?! Go watch it now!
((Here’s the cast singing “Cell Block Tango”:))
#4: “Cabaret”
Another classic musical. This was the show I did my senior year of high school… I was the “accordian player” in the opening number “Willkommen.” I love this show. It brings together raw, sultry songs; beautiful legato songs; comedic moments and very dramatic moments; and of course, several unforgettable moments in history when the Nazi’s were still in Germany. The character of Sally Bowles is strong, yet weakened with emotion at the same time. The title song, “Cabaret” is a showstopping, unforgettable power song she sings, and Liza Minnelli certainly takes the cake in this #4 movie musical.
((Speaking of Minnelli…here she is singing “Cabaret”:))
#2: “West Side Story”
This musical is another one that I must say, is unforgettable, and brings me nostalgia. This was my first high school play. My high school does summer shows and this was the summer before my freshman year. I’ll never forget that show, ever. My cast formed such a wonderful bond it was indescribable… And we ended up winning an award for our show afterwards! This show is classic: a more modern take on Romeo and Juliet where the character Tony falls in love with Maria. The only problem is: they’re both in separate “gangs”: the Jets and the Sharks. The story ends with a dramatic death scene and the power of love is projected to Maria’s peers during her final speech. Please go see this film! This one was especially beautifully done.
((Here’s Tony & Maria singing the classic song “Tonight”:))
And the #1 movie is!!!
“The Wizard of Oz.”
This is like the “classic” of all classics. Judy Garland. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I only found out this past year through doing a project on this movie for my English class that there were political themes behind the film that you may not realize until you actually sit and watch the movie. This movie is also very highly regarded in the homosexual community, making Dorothy a symbol. This movie, if you haven’t seen it yet, revolves around Dorothy who in a tornado gets sent to Munchkinland. She meets the Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion and together they go on a quest to find the Wizard so they can achieve their hopes and dreams. This movie is VERY well done…The filming, the songs, the actors… This is quite the must see.
((Here’s the classic song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”!))
I’m so happy I found this list. There are so many movie musicals that yes, while I do say in my theory that movie musicals kind of represent a lack of creativity in the theatre and movie departments…When done beatifully, it is the exception.
Bloggers: What’s your favorite movie musical of all time & why?
I can’t wait to see what’s next.
