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| re: Why "Come from Away" Didn't Win The Tony | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 08:08 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:02 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Why "Come from Away" Didn't Win The Tony - Chazwaza 02:24 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I had the same general feeling, fully acknowledging that my analysis is based only on the recording. And viewing the extensive set of clips multiple times. Subjectively speaking: I can get past almost any flaw in a musical but a dull stack of songs, and as I've posted, I can't get inside "Come From Away" via its score. It has the best intentions of any show on Broadway, and a heart in the right place is nothing to be sneezed at. But for me, it's not a question of whether this sliver of 9/11 story sings -- it has been made to sing some of the most generic songs written in the last few years. When it gets into more complicated areas -- like the best known number, about the pilot -- it abandons its quest as soon as it poses a question (what was it like to think of your beloved airplanes, weaponized?*) Mainly, the tunes just don't pop for me. And I've tried. And tried. I find myself playing a parlor game: what would this show sound like if {X composer, i.e. at last listen, Carol Hall} had taken this on? It's never really about whether the subject matter is inappropriate; it's about the routine execution, musically. I plan to see it this fall. If I change my mind, I'll take back every word. It's happened before. *For the record: no, I don't expect this pilot to sing about death. Maybe just go a bit deeper into anxiety, sadness; something besides exultation, which is one sustained color use for its expository purposes until the end, when the eyes are cast upward, tellingly, and then the song halts. It's tasteful to a fault. And teaches me nothing about being a pilot that particular day. I've listened to it over 10 times, wanting to "get" what others do. |
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| Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 08:35 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Why "Come from Away" Didn't Win The Tony - Delvino 08:02 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I relistened to the score the other day and it just reaffirmed how I felt in the theater... outside of some enjoyable folky joy/drama music and chorus work, the music is bland and the lyrics are generally really subpar... and above all it is so much a mountain out a molehill story. It felt legitimately silly how dramatic they wanted the audience to think it was that they were waiting on a plane, and waiting more, and they were put on a bus, and driving and driving, and oh it was dark! A monster might come eat them who knows! Knowing this was happening during 9-11 made it feel all the more crazy to me that anyone takes the basically stake-free drama of this story so much to heart... and the one person with real drama, the mother of the first responder at ground zero, she doesn't even get a song to play out the emotion of that story. I'm still amazed so much people respond so well to this show, but diff'rent strokes I guess. |
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| that is why Christopher Ashley won the Tony for directing | |
| Posted by: dramedy 12:33 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Chazwaza 08:35 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| He took what should have been a complete flop with subpar score and weak book stringing together snippets of lives and directed it into a compelling and soaring show on stage. I know you don't think it is compelling and soaring, but clearly a large audience does since word of mouth is very strong and the show sells out. (Don't worry, i feel your isolation--Hamilton is my scratch the head Puzzlement. Waiting on the plane should be stupid but really works on stage the way it is staged. I usually hate 100 minutes in the seat, but this show was one time I wasn't bored and waiting for an intermission because my ass hurt. | |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 09:15 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:13 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Chazwaza 08:35 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Damn, but your post says what no one will say: there's something really self-indulgent about a show that presents inconvenience as a dramatic premise. I was laughing out loud at your synopsis because it's spot on. Planes land, people wait. Oh, the humanity. Okay. Meanwhile, back in NYC. Acquiring patience wasn't a first order of business. Since we're dealing with truthspeaking, subjectively speaking: What sticks in my craw about the pilot song. It's narcissistic, at its core. It's all about her, not how being a pilot changed forever for a great swath of the profession. Of course she's not required to offer sweeping insights. But telling her story, because she's grounded, is part of your bigger point. She reflects on ... herself ... as the world is on fire. I guess it's human nature, but as you note, why does she get this big chunk of a 90 minute show? To offer a feminist (fine) paean to her career (to what purpose, without 9/11's questions?) |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 11:47 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Delvino 09:13 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "What sticks in my craw about the pilot song. It's narcissistic, at its core. It's all about her, not how being a pilot changed forever for a great swath of the profession." Well, there is that section in the song where she sings about her all-female cockpit, so it does point to how in breaking the glass ceiling for herself, she did so for others. I don't get narcissism from the song, I get celebrating her struggle and her achievements, and then sharing that with the rest of us who also want to experience that vicariously. Especially in the aftermath of the election, there are many of us (male and female) who want to celebrate the achievements of powerful, ambitious women, and who don't feel like those woman are being narcissistic in sharing the ways that they've made the world a better place. |
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| "Me and the Sky" | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 12:55 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Singapore/Fling 11:47 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I haven't seen the show. I also don't think it's narcissistic, but it does oddly stand out as a specific character piece in a show using not just an ensemble, but an ensemble representing the experiences of literally thousands. Given my interest in history and use of sources, I've done some reading on the tremendous amount of work Sankoff and Hein did, and regarding "Sky," one reason they had the pilot being so inwardly relfective was that she was isolated from the other plane people--stuck in her hotel, because she had to be where the authorities could contact her at a moment's notice. So she had far less interaction with the locals. All she could do was sit, worry, and yes, rage over how evil men had used the most important thing in her life for such a purpose. I don't know how well the pilot's isolation plays out on stage, but learning that makes me at least see what they were trying for. As for the poster who was criticizing the "darkness" lyrics, as "ooh,,scary"--this show is based on hundreds of hours of interviews. I would bet a large amount of money that Sankoff and Hein emphasized the darkness because that's exactly what thousand of "plane people" told them their first impression of Newfoundland was. Dark. Very, very dark. Unless you've been somewhere really underdeveloped (say, camping in Montana), you don't realize how completely bright our nights are. Those people were coming from Paris, Hamburg, London--major metropolitan areas--and they'd spent the last 12 to 28 hours on a plane, in continual light. Now, without having any real notion of what had happened, they're being taken off the planes, and taken to a very, very small city, stuck on an island with next to nothing near it. Darkness? I should say. Scary? Hell, yes. Laura |
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| re: "Me and the Sky" | |
| Posted by: MarkBearSF 08:24 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: "Me and the Sky" - showtunetrivia 12:55 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Indeed. As you may recall, some readers of this board were instrumental to arranging tickets for a couple of plane people I met on a ship on the way to NY. After seeing the show (they loved it) - they specifically mentioned how closely it matched their memories. And he specifically mentioned the dark bus ride (and the hours beforehand on the plane). |
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| re: "Me and the Sky" | |
| Posted by: bicoastal 04:56 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: "Me and the Sky" - showtunetrivia 12:55 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Two comments here. I don't know if you were in L.A. for the '94 earthquake, Laura, but one of the things everyone commented on was how many stars were out that night. They are always out, we only saw them because all of our power was out and there was no light. And the darkness was weird for us. So I completely understand and agree with your point here. Also, like ashleym below, I was also a "plane person" but not in Gander--I was stuck in Brazil. Previous to 9/11 I spend every other week in NYC working for about two years and have good friends living there. I could not call them. I could not be a part of the national angst and bonding that was happening in my home town over this terrible tragedy. I was isolated, along with a small Continental Airlines crew, in a luxury hotel watching planes take off for five days going anywhere but the USA. It was a terrible, terrible feeling. So I am dismissive of the poster who says sitting on a bus in the dark or on a plane in the dark isn't dramatic--it certainly is if you are the one to whom it is happening. | |
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| Darkness | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 05:30 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: "Me and the Sky" - bicoastal 04:56 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Dang! bicoastal, are you a mind-reader? I very nearby mentioned being in LA for the quake and how dark, dark, dark the sky looked, but figured camping in Montana was more succinct. Though the experience of frequent aftershocks in the dark added to the fear factor, which is more relevant to the thread than a camping trip. We were two and a half miles from the epicenter. For that matter, I was here for the Sylmar quake, whch hit on my 11th birthday. :) But I didn't go outside to see the sky that early morning; was nursing a terrible shiner from walking into my bedroom door in the dark, trying to get to my parents' room. Laura |
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| re: Darkness | |
| Posted by: bicoastal 07:19 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: Darkness - showtunetrivia 05:30 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Yep, Montana was more succinct, but the city lights vs city darkness resonated! | |
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| As did the walls of our house! | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 09:16 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Darkness - bicoastal 07:19 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Heh. Laura |
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| re: "Me and the Sky" | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 01:44 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 01:39 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: "Me and the Sky" - showtunetrivia 12:55 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "one reason they had the pilot being so inwardly reflective was that she was isolated from the other plane people--stuck in her hotel, because she had to be where the authorities could contact her at a moment's notice. So she had far less interaction with the locals. All she could do was sit, worry, and yes, rage over how evil men had used the most important thing in her life for such a purpose..." Now all of that sounds like terrific fodder for a song. I don't hear that tension in the one performed. If the song were grounded (!) in that anxiety, that restlessness and unease, if the reflections had an expressed emotional connection -- if she dared to sing that worry you mention -- to me it would be a stronger theater song. Right now, it's not circumstantial until the end -- she could be singing it to anyone at a pilots' convention in Deluth -- and then it stops. I'm repeating myself, I'm still asking the same questions. |
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| re: "Me and the Sky" | |
| Posted by: MikeR 02:04 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: "Me and the Sky" - Delvino 01:39 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Maybe that will become more clear when you see the show. | |
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| re: "Me and the Sky" | |
| Posted by: Ann 03:02 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: "Me and the Sky" - MikeR 02:04 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I had some of the same feelings when I saw the show (which was my introduction to the score). It takes a long time to get to "And the one thing I loved more than anything was used as the bomb," but that's what places it in the show. I don't remember thinking about her being more isolated than anyone else - she was away from her passengers, but she was lodged with her crew and with other pilots and crews, and a lot of the passengers were in small groups. My question about the show (and the same from the friend I was with) is why does Rodney Hicks speak in such an odd way when portraying the character who was scared his wallet would be stolen ... he speaks very loudly and in an awkward way (a non-pc description would be that he seems to have some kind of mental disability). |
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| re: "Me and the Sky" | |
| Posted by: mikem 06:24 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: "Me and the Sky" - Ann 03:02 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I saw Josh Breckenridge, Hicks's understudy, who did not speak in that fashion. I'm not sure why the character would need to be that way. By the way, Breckenridge was really excellent in the role. |
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| re: "Me and the Sky" | |
| Posted by: mikem 06:18 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: "Me and the Sky" - Ann 03:02 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I really like Me and the Sky as a song, although I think it's a bit derivative of Life Story from Maltby and Shire's Closer Than Ever, down to the somewhat random mention of the protagonist's age plopped into the middle of a verse (49 in Life Story, and 51 in Me and the Sky). Jenn Colella's rendition of Me and the Sky is wonderful. But it's very weird to hear this song within this show. As others have mentioned, the song sticks out as being the only solo song in the entire production. And the song is mostly a backstory about the protagonist's struggles against sexism, and it has very little to do with the remainder of the musical. And in the staging, the song ends abruptly before the last lyric when the phone rings, and Colella picks up the phone, says she'll be right there, and walks off the stage. It's a peculiar ending for the audience -- is she coming back? Is the song over? There's no clear explanation later of who called her or where she went; it's just a method to get her off the stage. And none of the themes brought up during the song are ever brought up again in the show. (On the cast recording and in TV show appearances, Colella sings the last word - "sky" - but not in the show. I get that Christopher Ashley wanted to eliminate the applause button, but if you don't want to have the applause button, there are other ways of handling that. ) |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 12:18 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 12:16 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Singapore/Fling 11:47 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I'm all for celebrating women in the aftermath of the election. Big topic, one I'm passionate about, that's not tethered to my take on a musical play set in 2001. Respectfully: I don't understand why this song's biographical narrative folds into this sliver of a tale, without -- as I posted -- some deeper intellectual or emotion-driven curiosity expressed about 9/11's impact on aviation. Her route to this date takes up a fair amount of stage time, and to my thinking, her backstory about becoming a pilot is only compelling if it frames a thematic or even plot-related, incident-specific speculation. As I stated, drawn and composed with some contradiction, some push-pull, some tension about new anxiety in the character. It's a presentational song about a personal history. And trust me, I'm all for what it says about women deserving to be pilots. I simply don't grasp why the biography itself -- independent of more layered connection to the off-stage event -- earns stage time in such a (short) show. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:32 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Delvino 12:16 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Those are all good questions, and ones I can't speak to, as I don't know the show, aside from the basics (aside from saying it seems to be a human interest show, so it displays the most interesting things about these humans). Your detailed questions strike me as being more about why the writers chose this story for their play, whereas the original framing read more as a criticism of the character and/or her song as being self-obsessed and self-aggrandizing, which I felt was unfair. I've only seen that song at the Drama Desks, and I was surprised by how powerful it was. When it was over, one of my colleagues was wiping tears from her eyee, and I was basically a puddle in my seat. In and of itself, the song celebrates human struggle and achievement. It celebrates the best of what we can do as people, and my sense of the show is that it aims to show something about the good of people, to balance the evil that was on display in New York and D.C. Which isn't enough of a dramatic event, but clearly it resonates for a lot of people. :) |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 01:20 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 01:18 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Singapore/Fling 12:32 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "Your detailed questions strike me as being more about why the writers chose this story for their play, whereas the original framing read more as a criticism of the character and/or her song as being self-obsessed and self-aggrandizing, which I felt was unfair." Well, I will let this go, I promise... But my point really is about how her celebration of her career -- yes, of herself -- serves this slender story. I know why Carol Hall put "Doatsy Mae" -- a song by a one scene, lonely character -- into "Whorehouse," as poignant counterpoint in a piece about sex workers. I know why Sondheim placed "Miller's Son" -- again, a minor player with commentary on the nature of serial monogamy (and class and several other things) -- late in "Night Music." I don't know why this woman's backstory, unrelated to actual dramatic query about aviation during/after 9/11, earns the stage time. Maybe if it were a more infectious melody, or one that summoned more emotion on its own, I'd feel differently. It has a generic wannabe-showstopper reach. How else can I say it: I wish it were a better song. I promise to come back and discuss the song and show when I see it in context. Perhaps we can both do the same. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:00 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Delvino 09:13 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "Damn, but your post says what no one will say: there's something really self-indulgent about a show that presents inconvenience as a dramatic premise. I was laughing out loud at your synopsis because it's spot on. Planes land, people wait. Oh, the humanity. Okay. Meanwhile, back in NYC. Acquiring patience wasn't a first order of business. " All I can say is that you and Chazwaza have a very different perspective on the dramatic situation of COME FROM AWAY than a lot of other people do. Have you actually thought about the state of mind of the people who were stuck on those planes and then stuck in Gander, and how you might have felt if you were one of those people? As for your odd remark "Meanwhile, back in NYC," I don't understand your meaning, since COME FROM AWAY is pointedly not about the stories of people who were at the site of the tragedy. Do you think only those stories are worth telling? Are you uninterested in any play or movie about World War II that's not about soldiers in the midst of battle? I just don't get it. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: ryhog 12:34 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Michael_Portantiere 11:00 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| There are a million shows, films, books etc about collateral WWII stories. Some are wonderful, some awful and many in between. And naturally, people don't all find the same resonance in them. I think you can apply the same notions to CFA. For me, it was pretty flat-footed on almost every level (book, music, lyric, staging etc) Others found a lot more to enjoy than I did. At its core I thought this was about as deep as a Lifetime movie, and about as well written. Imagine for a moment what Spielberg (someone who has told a lot of small stories on a large canvas) would have done differently here. | |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 08:44 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - ryhog 12:34 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| To that end, one of my favorite WWII movies is "A League of Their Own" (which would make for a great musical, actually). And I have many friends who think of "Die Hard" as a Christmas film (which would actually kind of make for an amazing Ivo Van Hove play, if you sort of picture it the right way). |
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| Christmas stories. | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:07 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Singapore/Fling 08:44 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I always watch "Lion in Winter" at Christmas. It is, ultimately, a holiday story. | |
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| I knew I liked you! | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 09:13 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: Christmas stories. - Delvino 09:07 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| A great tradition. No "Wonderful Life" here! Laura |
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| re: I knew I liked you! | |
| Posted by: ryhog 10:12 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: I knew I liked you! - showtunetrivia 09:13 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground. And tell sad stories of the (almost) death of (almost) kings." | |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Ann 11:50 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Michael_Portantiere 11:00 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| They aren't the only two people who feel that way. Have you actually thought about the state of mind of the people who were stuck on those planes and then stuck in Gander, and how you might have felt if you were one of those people? I've thought about that - and I don't feel I was really shown the state of mind of the people who were there. I know how I was in the four days after 9/11, even not being in New York or a resident of New York - obsessed with the horror of what happened, wanting to talk about what the attack meant for this country and how the president was going to react, and how the world would change going forward. It's all I thought and talked about. Except for a few instances, I feel what they were feeling was downplayed, and I constantly thought about this while I was watching the show. The play, to me, is about what the people of Gander did that week - and they pulled off an amazing feat in accommodating thousands of sudden visitors - but that wasn't enough for me (and, though that town's details are interesting, I think most people would also do whatever they could to help). They were there for less than four days, well taken care of, and even entertained - yes, I'm sure they wanted to get back to their families, but their hardship must be weighed against that of others that week. I think it's fine to disagree on this (or any, for that matter) show, and the numbers on any one side don't matter. Just putting my two cents on the virtual table. |
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| re: thank you | |
| Posted by: kidmanboy 12:43 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Ann 11:50 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Thanks for that spot on assessment of how this show made me feel. So many of my own feelings that day were brought up by the show and left completely unexplored. In fact, it seems the characters that had stronger reactions and more emotional stories were pushed to the sidelines (the firefighter's mother and the Muslim chef). And it all makes me wonder how so many are calling this a "feel-good" musical. |
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| re: thank you | |
| Posted by: Delvino 02:02 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: thank you - kidmanboy 12:43 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "In fact, it seems the characters that had stronger reactions and more emotional stories were pushed to the sidelines (the firefighter's mother and the Muslim chef).." I've heard this from several friends. Full disclosure: all New Yorkers (as am I). |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Delvino 11:44 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Michael_Portantiere 11:00 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| People adore this show. It's struck deep chords, it moves hundreds eight times a week. It doesn't need my vote. But this is a theater board, and I add my thoughts because I find its narrow focus an odd one. It isn't because I expect one 90 minute musical to make definitive statements about 9/11, or that I expect war stories to be boilerplate. I do not grasp why these grounded planes are the stuff of drama. It's just my reaction. I've even re-framed most of my postings as based on the album and seeing multiple clips. As I've noted, I've been posting on this piece since I started to listen to the complete score. A number of people chimed in with similar reservations. This new weighing in has grown out of a question, "Why didn't this win the Tony?" I didn't open a new thread to denigrate something beloved by so many, merely to respond to a worthwhile query. When I see the show in early September, I will absolutely eat every syllable if I change my opinion. I've done it here before. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:36 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Delvino 11:44 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Thanks for elucidating. For the record, I like but don't love the show or the score, but regardless, I personally can't relate to your perspective that the content is not the stuff of drama -- and I'm surprised you feel that way, since you make the point that of course you don't expect one musical to make definitive statements about 9/11, etc. If the show had attempted to do such a thing, I think that would have been a huge mistake. So, to me, the narrow focus (if you want to put it that way) is both appropriate and ultimately very effective. But it is interesting to hear other perspectives/opinions even if I don't share them. | |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: ashleylm 01:43 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Michael_Portantiere 12:36 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I personally can't relate to your perspective that the content is not the stuff of drama I was a plane person--not in Gander, but in Minneapolis--and I can guarantee that while my experience was not nearly as dramatic as losing friends and loved ones in 911, the experience was much more than a passing inconvenience. It was the worst week of my life. I had just left New York, that wonderful place, and this senseless horror was happening, and I couldn't get home, and I couldn't get home, and I couldn't get home ... and it felt like World War Three was about to start ... the borders were closed, the trains were stopped, the flights weren't running, there were no rental cars to be had for love or money (I thought about buying a car just so I could start driving back to Canada!) ... I'm still not over it, and came close to not seeing Come From Away because I was afraid I couldn't handle it--but for the most part, I could. For this, this is definitely the stuff of drama. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: oddone 06:14 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - ashleylm 01:43 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I was also stranded on 9/11 - in Juneau, Alaska. So no option other than planes for getting back to NYC. (Juneau is only accessible via boat or plane). I wouldn't say it was the worst week of my life, but it wasn't fun. It felt like being on the moon, watching everything and everyone you care about go through something, and you're isolated all by yourself. And watching all the tourists come through on their cruise ships, and watching the people in town only vaguely pay attention to news about NYC and DC - it was pretty surreal. I HATED Come From Away. It certainly didn't capture what my experience felt like, although then again, there weren't 7000 of us there. But that isn't the biggest reason for why i didn't like the show. I do agree that it lacked drama - it presented the whole experience as a minor inconvenience, and it isn't like there is any question about whether or not they would get to go home. So the dramatic stakes are pretty low. No tension, etc. There was next to no character development. And lots of other problems. Don't get me started on the racist joke with the "Spanish-speaking" gym teacher. But the biggest reason I don't like this show is because it's all ersatz sentimentalism. It's easy feeling that claims to "teach" valuable lessons about living with difference or something, when it fact it does nothing of the sort. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:00 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - ashleylm 01:43 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Thanks for your post, ashleylm. Over the years, I have spoken with several New Yorkers who became stranded in cities outside of the city during the tragedy, and I've always found there stories and experiences as compelling in their own way as the stories of those who were here (myself included) and/or directly affected. Tragedies affect people in different ways, due to any number of variables. I could be wrong, but I think the issue in this discussion is not that some people find no drama in the situation of the plane people PER SE (though it may have seemed like that's what they were stating), but rather that they don't feel the situation is well dramatized in COME FROM AWAY. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:12 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Michael_Portantiere 03:00 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "I could be wrong, but I think the issue in this discussion is not that some people find no drama in the situation of the plane people PER SE (though it may have seemed like that's what they were stating), but rather that they don't feel the situation is well dramatized in COME FROM AWAY." This was my contribution: choice of characters, and character's issues mined, and the execution of the resulting stakes excavated. For what it's worth, I've found this entire discussion to be a very thoughtful and well argued one. I've learned a lot about both this show, and the universal experience that's greater than what happened in Gander. Which "Come From Away" seeks to illuminate. And, once again, been required to examine how musicals work, and why some work for some audience members and not others. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 09:14 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Delvino 09:12 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Well said! Laura |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Ann 03:06 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Michael_Portantiere 03:00 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Right - I got a lot more from ashleylm's description than from most of the characters as portrayed in the show. | |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 05:00 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Ann 03:06 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| "Right - I got a lot more from ashleylm's description than from most of the characters as portrayed in the show." Gotcha. I think the creators of COME FROM AWAY purposely avoided anything that might be viewed as emotionally manipulative or too heavy or tear jerking, but they may have gone too far in that direction for some people's tastes, including yours. |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: kidmanboy 12:58 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Michael_Portantiere 12:36 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I actually think it does set itself up as a story of that day, which is part of my issue. Isn't delved deeper into the characters in Gander, I wouldn't care that it didn't focus on the totality of the events of the day. But it's factual and chronological storytelling makes me miss the other aspects of the story it is not touching. | |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: AC126748 08:51 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - Chazwaza 08:35 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| Amen. So much of the show feels like the authors are trying, and failing, to make the story far more interesting than it is. It's a 2-page human interest story stretched to a 2-hour musical, and not a very good one at that. Dear Evan Hansen, whatever its flaws (and I believe it has several), is leaps and bounds better in just about every respect. | |
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| re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 01:45 pm EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Come From Away: The Mountain out of a molehill Musical - AC126748 08:51 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
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| I was glad Come From Away didn't win best musical because its score just isn't very good. Bandstand should have been in that category instead. I agree with dramedy that Ashley did wonders with the material at hand. But Rachel Chavkin should have gotten the direction award. | |
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