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re: Frank Wildhorn ruins another classic

Posted by: Chromolume 12:22 am EDT 04/03/14
In reply to: Frank Wildhorn ruins another classic - lowwriter 04:50 pm EDT 04/02/14

For me, it's not so much an issue of Wildhorn singlehandedly ruining shows - I put him in a similar camp with Sir Andrew, and feel that they only tend to be as good as their lyricists, who are generally mediocre at best, and often worse. I do think Wildhorn is capable of writing effective, exciting music, but too often he writes down to the level of his lyrics instead of trying to soar above them. (This is assuming he writes music to lyrics, and not the other way around.) Typically the ballads suffer the most, perhaps because that's where lyrics can often become most predictably banal and hallmark-y. But for every cloying/annoying "Someone Like You" there's also a fun, energetic "Into the Fire." Not all of his stuff is bad, by any means. To me it's the lyrics that tend to make the songs seem amateurish, when they do.

So...he fact that Wildhorn is again working with Jack Murphy as a lyricist does not bode well at all. At all.


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re: Frank Wildhorn ruins another classic

Posted by: Arioso 09:52 pm EDT 04/03/14
In reply to: re: Frank Wildhorn ruins another classic - Chromolume 12:22 am EDT 04/03/14

Agree somewhat, but the music is what moves me more than the lyrics. However, loved Nan's lyrics for Scarlet Pimpernel, and especially the lyrics for "Into
The Fire" by a female, no less. Now, he will again work with a female. Robin Lerner wrote the lyrics for ARTUS opening in Switzerland.


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re: Frank Wildhorn ruins another classic

Posted by: Chromolume 12:05 am EDT 04/04/14
In reply to: re: Frank Wildhorn ruins another classic - Arioso 09:52 pm EDT 04/03/14

Agree somewhat, but the music is what moves me more than the lyrics.

But this is theatre. You simply don't have a good theatre song without good lyrics. If Wildhorn were writing instrumental music only, that would be a different matter.


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