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re: Something ''Wicked'' this way, reviewed

Posted by: ryhog 12:04 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: re: Something ''Wicked'' this way, reviewed - Chromolume 11:26 am EDT 03/31/14

I think the whole "memorable" notion is yet another example of trying to peg some objective standard to something that is all about subjective appeal. The cold truth is that these new shows we keep trying to fathom (of which If/Then may be the ultimate poster child) are never going to develop into memorable scores, or even memorable songs. Jukebox scores function like insurance policies for producers, and they are utilized because precious little of the songwriting we are witnessing has much of what, in another industry, we would call curb appeal. Tom Kitt did a superb job of adapting, arranging and integrating the songs of American Idiot for the stage. At least a dozen of those songs-probably more-are materially better than any song in If/Then. Did we need to be "trained" to like Green Day's songs? I think not. What does that tell us about what is wrong with the songwriting on Broadway circa 2014?


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re: Something ''Wicked'' this way, reviewed

Posted by: WaymanWong 12:45 am EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: Something ''Wicked'' this way, reviewed - ryhog 12:04 pm EDT 03/31/14

Whether a tune is ''memorable'' or ''hummable'' will always be a subjective call. I personally find Kitt's tunes from ''Next to Normal'' AND ''If/Then'' more appealing than some of Green Day's stuff. Yet for all of Green Day's worldwide success selling millions of records and winning Grammy Awards, somehow that still didn't translate into a Broadway hit.

When ''West Side Story'' opened, there were critics who called the score ''unhummable.'' As Sondheim has said, it took radio airplay from the soundtrack of ''West Side Story'' to turn those tunes into the mainstream songs they are.

Just as John Lahr branded Schwartz's songs to ''Wicked'' unhummable, time has proven that some of them are wildly popular.


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re: Something ''Wicked'' this way, reviewed

Posted by: ryhog 01:38 am EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: Something ''Wicked'' this way, reviewed - WaymanWong 12:45 am EDT 04/01/14

I don't think there is any air between your view and mine on this memorable/hummable nonsense (even if we don't agree about Kitt's own work vs the Green Day). It's pretty simple to me-people like what they like. No one is going to convince any of us to like music that doesn't speak to us personally, and that's not a bad thing.


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