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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 11:10 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 11:07 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - PlayWiz 10:41 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| I'm not so sure we can say that Webber didn't know how to write for the voice, when he was originally writing for specific voices in the context of a concept recording. But yes, many of the roles have extreme ranges, and no matter how one tailors the music, there's something still undeniably iconic about that concept album, and even the original film. Yes, it's clear that Legend wasn't the vocal ideal, though I though that he did very well when he was in control of the music. Same for Norm Lewis, who just didn't have those low notes securely (I was afraid that would happen), but who was dignified in the role. There's an easy tendency for the Judas to sound showier than the Jesus, given his numbers - and indeed I think Dixon stole it from Legend big time. Bareilles could have gone bigger, but actually her restraint worked well. Alice Cooper likewise showed that less is more - so often the tendency is to want to camp this role up a la Josh Mostel in the film - and Mostel's cameo was funny, but what he didn't give us was a sense that Herod was actually a king. Cooper trusted the song to do its work and gave us a more powerful, poised figure. Perfection. Everyone else did great work, including certainly the Simon, the Priests, Jason Tam's Peter, and the many outstanding ensemble members. And it was indeed a thrill to see live musicians (though I wasn't sure about the brass until they got their camera shot during the bows). Obviously this arrangement had more synth in it than originally written, but for a rock concert setting, I bought it. I did, however, thank god that the ending "John 19:41" music was played by the acoustic strings. Levaux's staging was mainly very good, and inventive. A few moments here and there seemed unfinished or not well-thought out, but for the most part, this worked. The ending was very effective indeed. I have to say that I tend to think that the phrase "concert musical" (or "in concert" as this was tonight) should be banned, as it has lost all sense of meaning. But, this staging did have a certain "arena rock" fele to it that would have made Dennis DeYoung proud, lol. I tend to wonder how much of the audience response was scripted/prompted - but the use of the audience as part of the "rock concert" event worked for me. Commecial breaks - way too many - though of course we could all have predicted that. But thank god they stayed away from the fanboy-fueled transitions this time. I hope they're over that. Just give us the actual show, NBC, just like you did tonight. Thank you. ;-) No question that this was the best overall of the NBC live shows so far. Unlike PlayWiz, this show has always been a favorite of mine - and I really enjoyed this version, and was moved emotionally a number of times. Yay. ;-) |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: MikeR 10:30 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - Chromolume 11:07 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| On Twitter, Michael Paulson reported "In case you’re wondering, the live audience (about 1,300 people) at #JesusChristSuperstar was encouraged to whoop and cheer and emote and sing along." | |
| Link | https://twitter.com/MichaelPaulson/status/980607368693256192 |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Last Edit: Ann 10:32 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| Posted by: Ann 10:32 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - MikeR 10:30 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
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| The only thing that bothered me was when they seemed to go into full-whoop mode, but the song wasn't over yet. That was really sady :) |
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