| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | Chromolume 07:21 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | Underwood and "Attempting" - enoch10 05:13 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| It was an ok production of an American masterpiece. It was an ok production of the stage version of the property that has become an international popular hit movie. I would not call it an "American masterpiece." I would be willing to put the other most famous R&H shows (Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King And I) in a "masterpiece" status - we can argue the merits of one over another if we wish - but I honestly don't think that, on the whole, The Sound Of Music is quite in the same league. I'm not saying it's a bad show - there's actaully quite a lot I love about the show. I'm just saying that I don't think it's quite as good, altogether, as their other landmark shows. We have to separate "beloved" from "masterpiece." I do think there's a huge difference. | |
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| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 12:21 pm EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - Chromolume 07:21 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| I don't think many people think SOM is a masterpiece, compared to Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I and South Pacific. The score and lyrics are much weaker. And despite the love for the film over the years, it isn't necessarily considered a great film by a lot of film lovers. The movie was made fun of by film critics when it was released and Julie Andrews was mocked for being too saccharine. | |
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| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | Delvino 07:55 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - Chromolume 07:21 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| Point well taken, and one few would argue with. The show's reputation is based on its profile and global status as a treasured family film. The stage musical was never considered top shelf R&H, its subject matter and execution too sentimentalized to earn the same admiration as the other shows (duly noted by many in the last revival with Rebecca Luker and Patti Cohenour, which tried hard to interpolate filmic elements). What many reviews of last night's presentation note is the value/impact of the original film star, Andrews, and the exquisite location filming. The film is beloved in part because it captures a time, and beautiful place. And made Julie Andrews iconic. Stripped of those elements, the show on which its based seems smaller, perhaps less embraceable, despite may wonderful components. For many, it's impossible to watch the material, no matter how well reconceived, without triggering personal memories of the film. Comparisons are odious, but it's hard to imagine "Sound of Music" ever fully escaping the movie's impact. | |
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| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 12:40 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - Delvino 07:55 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| >> The show's reputation is based on its profile and global status as a treasured family film I am not in any way confusing the stage version with the film. I wrote that I consider SOM a masterpiece because that is exactly what I feel. One of my greatest pleasures in - well, to be honest in all of theater, hell in life probably- are the lyrics of hammerstein and these rank with the very best of his work. They are an astonishing accomplishment, to me fully deserving of the term "masterpiece". They are part of a whole, they exist in conjunction with other things contributing to and, again to me, helping elevate this work to the level accurately described by the term. | |
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| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | mermaniac 01:18 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - enoch10 12:40 am EST 12/07/13 |
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| Honey, that book is NO MASTERPIECE !!! "Gypsy" is a masterpiece !!! | |
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| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 01:23 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - mermaniac 01:18 am EST 12/07/13 |
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| I know it doesn't rank with GYPSY - but that's not fair, not much does. On the other hand ain't MEMPHIS or KINKY BOOTS either. | |
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| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 01:30 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - enoch10 01:23 am EST 12/07/13 |
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| Ha! Granted GYPSY to KB is an astonishingly wide range. | |
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| re: Underwood and "Attempting" | |
| Posted by: | LegitOnce 01:27 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - enoch10 01:23 am EST 12/07/13 |
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| If your standard for "masterpiece" is "not Kinky Boots," that's what I call grade inflation. | |
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| orig. stage production of SOM [NY & London] | |
| Posted by: | StageDoorJohnny 10:55 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Underwood and "Attempting" - Delvino 07:55 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| top shelf or not it's NY run made it the 4th longest running Broadway musical when it closed [a longer run that King and I and almost twice as long as Carousel] and the 2nd longest running West End Musical [after Oliver] in it's original London run. The London run, by the way wasn't matched by anything in NY until Hello, Dolly! and was six months longer than the orig, NY Oklahoma! That 'classic movie' everyone keeps bringing up wouldn't have happened with out the original show's phenomenal (for the time) success. and for many of us brought on the original, the movie lacks a lot if Julie and the scenery are removed. | |
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