A Chain of Musicals: GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES

To purchase the film version of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES on DVD, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Legally Blonde, then you might like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Legally Blonde and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are two musical comedies about two iconic blondes. Just as Elle Woods is represents a certain aspect of womanhood in the last quarter century, so did Lorelei Lee in the era in which she was introduced to the world.

With Joseph Fields and Anita Loos working on the book and Leo Robin and Jule Styne working on the score, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ended up being a popular musical of the late 1940s. Set in the 1920s, the show tells the story of Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw’s journey on an ocean liner bound for France. After a number of romantic onboard hijinks involving a missing tiara, a fiancé back home, a couple of socialites and a team of olympic sportsmen, everyone arrives in Paris where, with two detectives thrown into the mix, more hijinks ensue. This being a musical comedy written in the 1940s, everything leads up to a great big happy ending with all the intrigues unraveled and everyone paired off with the right partner. Highlights include “A Little Girl From Little Rock”, “I Love What I’m Doing” and “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is not my favourite musical comedy, even of its era, but that’s not the point of this month’s column. Certainly, dear reader, you may enjoy it; after all, that’s what we’re doing here. I’ve never been a big Carol Channing fan myself, so recordings of her takes on the songs don’t do it for me and its really only the film version (which features additional songs by Hoagy Carmichael & Harold Adamson, one of which is featured in the clip below), with Marilyn Monroe, that springs to life for me. That said, I think the show is a solid one and is worth a listen or a look, should you have the opportunity. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has been back to Broadway twice, first in the form of a “revisal” entitled Lorelei (broader and crasser than the original with a too-old Carol Channing once again playing the lead role) and then in a transfer of a Goodspeed Opera House production (which lasted a mere 8 performances with KT Sullivan as Lorelei). Perhaps there’s some life in the old girl yet: just please don’t revive it with Channing once again in this second decade of the twenty-first century. Maybe a production will come along yet that pushes this show up in my esteem.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: LEGALLY BLONDE

To purchase the Original London Cast Recording of LEGALLY BLONDE, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Hairspray, then you might like Legally Blonde.

While the most obvious common feature of Hairspray and Legally Blonde is their poppy scores, the two shows are also both (more or less) great coming-of-age stories with everything revolving around two super young women characters. Both shows are also all too easy to write off as being pop trash cotton candy musicals, but both offer more than what the eye might first perceive.

Legally Blonde, adapted by Heather Hach, Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin from the hit film of the same name, tells the tale of Elle Woods, blonde extrodinaire. Dumped in favour of a serious career by her boyfriend, Warner, who is off to Harvard, Elle launches a plan to get him back by following him to law school to prove just how much she has to offer. Warner doesn’t change his ming, but Elle finds a new direction for her own life at Harvard as she faces the immense challenges of becoming a lawyer who exhibits both sense and style. Highlights include “Serious”, “So Much Better”, “Omigod You Guys”, “Blood in the Water” and “Take it Like a Man”.

Legally Blonde was Laurence O’Keefe’s follow-up piece to Bat Boy and brings to life the promise shown in that earlier musical. Where Bat Boy is almost smothered by its own cleverness and by all of the ideas that float around in its score, Legally Blonde is tight and focused with an emotional core that prevents it from being simply a bit of silliness and allows the show to come together in a way that Bat Boy never quite does. The show is high-energy, has a memorable score in the way that a good old-fashioned nouveau musical comedy should and manages to blend dance into the proceedings in an era when many musicals forget what an important element of storytelling dance can be in musicals. (In that respect, Jerry Mitchell’s choreography for the original production never feels bland or generic in the way that Rob Ashford’s dance has in the recent revivals of Promises, Promises and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.) The show was screened on MTV during its original Broadway run. While no plans for a DVD release have surfaced as yet, wouldn’t it be great to be able to pick up this show on Amazon for your own personal collection? Ah well, a boy can dream.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Legally Blonde. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: HAIRSPRAY

To purchase HAIRSPRAY on Blu-ray, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Dreamgirls, then you might like Hairspray.

While Hairspray is a considerably lighter show than Dreamgirls, the two have some commonality: race relations and music play a huge role in each musical, there is a crossover in some of the musical styles used in each respective score and, more superficially, both shows star a plus-size leading lady to great effect.

Hairspray is the musical version of the classic John Waters film starring Ricki Lake as plump, wannabe TV dancer, Tracy Turnblad. As in the film, Tracy wins a role on The Corny Collins Show and becomes a hit. But how will things turn out when she tries to get the show racially integrated? Will everyone still love her? Or will everyone turn their backs on her (as they do Huey, in Memphis, the show we featured in this column a few days ago)? Will Velma Von Tussle, the show’s racist producer, burst Tracy’s Bubble? And will true love conquer all if teenage heartthrob, Link Larkin, has to pick between Velma’s daughter, Amber, and Tracy? Highlights include “Welcome to the Sixties”, “I Know Where I’ve Been”, “Without Love”, “You Can’t Stop the Beat” and “I Can Hear the Bells”.

Hairspray might appear light and fluffy on the surface, but it has a core that belies its shiny exterior. The show really comes into its own as the racial integration plot gains momentum and the emotional climax of that particular narrative strand, the anthemic “I Know Where I’ve Been”, is incredibly moving. It’s perhaps the part of the adaptation that moves furthest from the style of the original film – but that’s why the musical works. Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan’s adaptation works well and keeps the piece moving – although I’ve yet to be convinced that having Motormouth Maybelle speak in rhyming couplets justifies itself as a mode of dramatic language in this show – and Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have yet to top themselves in creating a musical for the Broadway stage: Fame Becomes Me‘s bits and pieces were entertaining enough, but it was only a revue, and Catch Me If You Can was disappointing. Perhaps the pair need to step out from behind the shadow of the faux musical, as Michael John LaChiusa termed it, and try something truly original.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Hairspray. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: DREAMGIRLS

To purchase DREAMGIRLS on Blu-ray, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Memphis, then you might like Dreamgirls.

The link between these two shows is perhaps one of the clearest we’ve had this month. Memphis and Dreamgirls cover similar thematic territory, with certain points in regard to the history of popular music sung by African-Americans brought to the fore in the narrative of each. Both shows also fierce leading ladies and the creation of Felicia owes something to the influence of Effie and Deena. The other neat little tie between the two shows is that both are loosely based on real-life stories, with the names of those involved altered just enough to avoid the trouble that an outright depiction might have brought.

Dreamgirls is the story of Effie, Deena and Lorrell, three singers with a dream of making it big in the music industry. Effie is the driving force and has the biggest voice of the group and makes all the calls until the shady Curtis Taylor, Jr, takes over management of the group. Taylor starts affairs with both Effie and Deena, then makes Deena lead singer of the group and eventually dismisses a pregnant and moody Effie from the group. Effie’s life falls apart, but she slowly puts things back together… and as that happens, Curtis’s actions come back to haunt him as Deena realises the kind of man he really is. Highlights include “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, “One Night Only”, “Dreamgirls”, “I Am Changing” and “It’s All Over”.

Dreamgirls might be known to many thanks to the high profile film starring Jennifer Hudson as Effie, Beyonce Knowles as Deena and Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell, with a cast that also included Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx. But before that, Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen’s show was a smash hit on the stage, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, with an electric Jennifer Holliday as the original Effie. That original stage show is also held together by a great deal more music than what remained in the film – indeed, it is music that holds the stage together and the film never quite negotiated how to bridge the gap between speaking and singing was once almost all of the linking material has been cut and replaced with dialogue. Recent tours have lamentably fiddled with the score to incorporate “Listen” from the film (with a simply awful new set of lyrics), which is a pity. Even so, Dreamgirls has a great score and the show will transport you to the whirlwind era of R&B acts like The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown and Jackie Wilson – without naming a single one of those groups.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Dreamgirls. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: MEMPHIS

To purchase MEMPHIS on Blu-ray, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like The Boys in the Photograph, then you might like Memphis.

The Boys in the Photograph and Memphis both deal with the effects of prejudice, although in different specific situations, and in both shows there are violent consequences for the characters, with characters getting beaten up close to the end of the first act in both shows. Both shows also feature a score that is heavily influenced by popular music, although this is of course what Memphis is all about.

Set in the 1950s, Memphis introduces us to Huey Calhoun, a character based on Dewey Phillips who was one of the first white DJs to play black music on the radio. Behind the mike and in his daily life, he is something of a hillbilly on amphetamines, but his crazy persona attracts the attention of Felicia Farrell, a singer he met at a black underground Rock and Roll bar called Delray’s. On the segregated streets of Memphis, the pair face a great deal of trouble – but what happens when the opportunity to for both of them to grow their careers into the national arena is what takes us to the final curtain. Highlights include “Everybody Wants to be Black on Saturday Night”, “Love Will Stand When All Else Falls”, “Someday”, “Say a Prayer” and “Change Don’t Come Easy”.

Memphis is a emotional powerhouse of a show. It’s a show that catches you almost off guard. You watch the story, you listen to the songs – and then all of a sudden you’re crying at the end of the first act. Although the second act never quite matches the emotional journey of the first act, the show still offers a fine experience for its audiences. The score by Bon Jovi’s David Bryan works well with Joe DiPietro’s book, although the lyrics aren’t perfectly crafted at times (lots of half-rhymes) and there are times when the are inexplicable lapses in logic when it comes to the line between what’s diegetic and what’s not – a border that has to be negotiated in any musical that deals with performance. Perhaps it is most jarring in the opening number when Felicia, while singing on stage in the number, “Underground”, starts to narrate her life story. Better handled are the appearances of the singers when Huey plays his records, but this remains one aspect of the show that wasn’t interrogated thoroughly enough by its writers. Don’t let that put you off though: with a good cast and a solid staging, as it had in it’s Broadway premiere, Memphis is a solid piece of entertainment.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Memphis. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: THE BOYS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH

To purchase the original London Cast Recording of THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, as THE BOYS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH was originally known, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like West Side Story, then you might like The Boys in the Photograph.

The Boys in the Photograph is the reworked version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton’s, The Beautiful Game, Like West Side Story, it deals with two groups in conflict with one another and both shows use dance significantly. (West Side Story uses dance more successfully, of course, but the aspirations are there in The Boys in the Photograph – but the show has never had a visionary director-choreographer like Jerome Robbins to help it along in any of its incarnations.)

The Boys in the Photograph deals with the Catholic-Protestant divide in Northern Ireland, the IRA, a romance that is doomed from the start because of those things (although the new version unsuccessfully tags on a happy ending in the final scene) and – of course – soccer and the way it draws the community we see on stage together. Highlights include “God’s Own Country” and “Let Us Love in Peace”, “Clean the Kit” and “All the Love I Have”. When the show was still The Beautiful Game, there was also “Our Kind of Love”, a song written the first time that Lloyd Webber announced a Phantom of the Opera sequel. When that idea was was abandoned, the song became the centrepiece of The Beautiful Game. When Love Never Dies was eventually written, it was shifted – with new lyrics – back into the realm of the Phantom.

The Boys in the Photograph is the weakest musical we’ve showcased this month. The show was met with mixed reactions in its original version. Reviews for the new version were more positive, though not a set of raves by any means. So this makes it one of those shows that has been revised after its original run, but one which has not managed to surpass the traps of bad lyrics and book problems so as to achieve the total effect of its potential. Even so, its well worth a listen, particularly if you are interested in the craft and discipline of lyric-writing. Sometimes it is easier to learn about something when the mistakes are obvious. In what Elton has written, they most certainly are. (For an in depth, track by track look at the cast album, see here.)

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on The Boys in the Photograph. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: WEST SIDE STORY

To purchase WEST SIDE STORY on Blu-ray, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Oklahoma!, then you might like West Side Story.

Both Oklahoma! and West Side Story did big things for musical theatre. Oklahoma! made standard an approach to musical theatre that had long been waiting in the wings. West Side Story changed the way that chorus performers were viewed primarily as singers or dancers: suddenly they had to do both, and act too. (That’s not to say that choruses who appeared on stage before didn’t act, but I think it’s fair to say that a greater commitment to characterisation was expected of chorus members as the 1940s moved into the 1950s.) Both shows tell the stories of a split community: in Oklahoma!, your occupation defined you; in West Side Story, it was your race. Both shows also focus hugely on dance as a vehicle for storytelling and characterisation, something that the writer of the book, Arthur Laurents, seemed to forget when he directed the most recent revival of West Side Story on Broadway and cut half of the “Somewhere” ballet.

West Side Story tells the story of Tony, a Jet, and Maria, a sister of one of the rival Sharks gang, who fall in love despite the prejudice that surrounds them. Yes, it’s a Romeo and Juliet story – with a couple of twists along the way, not the least of which is the tragic ending. Highlights include “Something’s Coming”, “Tonight”, “America”, “Cool” and “Somewhere”.

I wonder what the legacy of West Side Story, the debut Broadway show for Stephen Sondheim, working with Leonard Bernstein on the score, might have been without the film version to propel it into the forefront of the public consciousness. What was heralded by critics as a potential milestone for the Broadway musical theatre became a cultural phenomenon when the film was released – and that despite its imperfections. Today people argue about how effective Laurents’s book is because of its made-up slang (some of those exclamations induce unintentional laughter these days), about which version of “America” should be in the stage version (the lyrics for the film are better, but putting the Shark boys on stage distorts the commentary and ruins the asymmetrical structural balance of the characters in the show), about whether the lyrics of “I Feel Pretty” are as bad as Sondheim says they are (I think there are worse offenders in “Tonight”). That said, it is unarguably a classic and holds special places in many a musical theatre fan’s heart and mind.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on West Side Story. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: OKLAHOMA!

To purchase the 1955 Film Soundtrack of OKLAHOMA!, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Annie Get Your Gun, then you might like Oklahoma!.

Annie Get Your Gun and Oklahoma! were both show produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Oklahoma! made standard a new set of norms for the Broadway musical and Annie Get Your Gun was created with that vision in mind, although it isn’t nearly as seamlessly integrated. The two also share a “Wild West”, pioneer country setting and, thus, there are similar flavours in parts of the two scores.

Oklahoma! tells the story of Curly, a cowboy, and Laurey, a farmgirl, who are in love and should be going to the box social together, getting married and living life happily ever after. But some things stand in their way: the menacing farmhand, Jud, and the split between the cattle herding and farming communities on the land that will, by the end of the show, become the state Oklahoma. A subplot tells the tale of playful Ado Annie and her faithful beau, Will Parker, whose coupling is delayed by Ado Annie’s shenanigans with a traveling merchant. Highlights include “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”, “The Surrey with a Fringe on the Top”, “Lonely Room”, “People Will Say We’re in Love” and “Oklahoma”.

Oklahoma!, with its book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and music by Richard Rodgers, is a classic musical and is worthy of its place in musical theatre history and the esteem in which it is held. The storyline so deceptively simple that the show is easy to take for granted. It’s easy to forget – or perhaps not even see at all – that this show is an American allegory with a resonance that underscores every moment of its tight construction. The depth of later Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals is easier to see, with cornerstones like “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, “Something Wonderful” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” adding weight the the respective scores from which they are taken, but when the equivalent number in Oklahoma! is “The Farmer and the Cowman”, it’s easier to miss and dismiss. But that’s part of the genius of Oklahoma!: the thoughts are expressed through the characters in a way that perfectly suits them – and that’s the way it should be.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Oklahoma!. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

To purchase the 1966 Lincoln Center Cast Recording of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Anything Goes, then you might like Annie Get Your Gun.

Anything Goes and Annie Get Your Gun were both created to suit the talents of Ethel Merman and each was written by the one of the leading composer-lyricists of their time: Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. Both shows have also been revised over the years, Anything Goes more successfully, with Annie Get Your Gun suffering a particularly lamentable revisal in the hands of Peter Stone (the original book is by Herbert and Dorothy Fields) for the 1999 Broadway revival.

Annie Get Your Gun tells the tale of Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter who gained her fame in a Wild West show during the 1880s, and how she met and married her husband, Frank Butler. The story isn’t historically accurate, but it makes for great entertainment. Highlights include “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “Moonshine Lullaby”, “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun”, “Anything You Can Do” and “An Old-Fashioned Wedding”.

Annie Get Your Gun was written by Irving Berlin, who tackled the show skeptically: he was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to write a score for the then new-trend towards integration in musical theatre. While Annie Get Your Gun is certainly more loosely constructed than its Rodgers and Hammerstein cousins, Berlin managed quite well and fashioned a score that tells the story well enough (there are some pieces that tend towards the generic) and provided a number of palpable hits. While Merman put a definitive stamp on the role, that’s hasn’t stopped other divas from following in her footsteps: Mary Martin, Dolores Gray, Debbie Reynolds, Kim Criswell, Judy Kaye, Bernadette Peters, Susan Lucci, Reba McEntire, Andrea McArdle and Jane Horrocks have all tackled the role to varying degrees of success. I wonder what Judy Garland might have been like in the film had she been at her best, instead of the run down waif the MGM studios had forced her to become by that time.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Annie Get Your Gun. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

A Chain of Musicals: ANYTHING GOES

To purchase the 2011 Broadway Revival Cast Recording of ANYTHING GOES, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Mame, then you might like Anything Goes.

Both Mame and Anything Goes feature scores by iconic composer-lyricists, Jerry Herman and Cole Porter respectively. Both shows have a heady 1930s sensibility, depsite having been written decades apart, and both are held together by the antics of a madcap dame.

Anything Goes takes place on an ocean liner traveling from bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker has stowed away, hoping to win the heart and hand of Hope Harcourt, an heiress whose mother has had her engaged to the stuffy British gentlemen Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Evangelist turned nightclub singer, Reno Sweeney, and “Moonface” Martin, Public Enemy #13, help the pair get together in classic 1930s musical comedy style. Highlights include “You’re the Top”, “Anything Goes”, “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”, “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “Easy to Love”.

Anything Goes is one of Cole Porter’s two best shows, the other being Kiss Me, Kate. While Porter wrote many a great song, many of his other shows are less cohesive and/or haven’t aged well with time. Part of the credit must surely be given to the numerous book-writers who have worked on this show, both when it was first written and when it was freshened up in later years: Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, John Weidman and Timothy Crouse. The show also features one of my favourite Porter songs, “You’re the Top”, a deft piece of work that can stop the show midway through the first act if you’ve got a great Reno and Billy putting it across. Reno, a role originated by Ethel Merman, has been played by several great musical theatre divas, including Patti LuPone, Elaine Paige and, most recently, Sutton Foster in the current Broadway revival (who is best when she’s just playing her take on the role and not consciously trying to channel Ethel Merman, particularly when she’s delivering her dialogue).

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Anything Goes. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…