| re: Could Applause ever work as a revival on Bway? | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 10:10 am EST 12/19/17 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:02 am EST 12/19/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Could Applause ever work as a revival on Bway? - MarjorieMae 07:52 am EST 12/19/17 | |
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| The book is so many levels below the iconic Joseph L. Mankiewicz screenplay. The dialog is flattened and stuffed with pale replicas of what was once sophisticated and highly specific. With the songs added, there's no room for character development, and the shorthanding is efficient but nothing more. You get the general story, but without that dialog, the attention to character, and with a Margo and her pals trapped in the ugliest of 70s musical arrangements. The music is third tier Strouse. And it has a dreadful far too era-specific pop feel. Plus, Adams did this one in his sleep, and the prosaic earnestness of everything -- spelled out, nailed down, drearily spot-on -- just, well, matches the melodies. The title song is great, to be sure. It's atypical of the rest. And "Welcome to the Theater" at least feels like something Margo might express. Still, listen to that canned overture, the aggressive up-tempo swing that sounds like "adult contemporary." Or something. (The "Promises" score that Bacharach wrote near the same time holds up better because it has much freshness). Strouse can put a youthful hat on well ("Birdie") but here, a decade later, and with this grown-up story, mismatches the tone of the material with the slickness of the shallowest parts of the decade it's set in. Ron Field's original staging planted Bacall at the center, moved her well enough, and with her presence the event, polished the show to a high gloss around her. Full disclosure: I saw Anne Baxter in the show, and she was actually quite vivid, and found humor Bacall lacked (at least in the dreadful TV edition; (she's less of a star presence but a better actor, IMO.). I don't see how this show could work now. Its ending still has that icky "no more acting, I have a man!" vibe, and it's even tethered to one of the worst songs in the score, "Something Greater." Listen to that, and imagine a revival. | |
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| Previous: | re: Could Applause ever work as a revival on Bway? - MarjorieMae 07:52 am EST 12/19/17 |
| Next: | re: Could Applause ever work as a revival on Bway? - JereNYC 04:24 pm EST 12/19/17 |
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