That's why I wrote "If we consider . . . ." I didn't write that I considered them to be a subset of novels. :)
Actually, I think the analogy is an altogether bad one. Even last night, I thought it was a bad one. It was late, and I was just trying to come up with something that would sound good, even if it didn't stand up to inspection. I just don't think Runaways is a revue.
And in general I don't think that shows like Ain't Misbehavin', Side by Side by Sondheim, A Grand Night for Singing and Smokey Joe's Cafe should be considered musicals for award purposes. If we more often saw the old-fashioned type of revue exemplified by shows like The Band Wagon, As Thousands Cheer, Lend an Ear and the New Faces shows, I might think that those should be considered musicals for awards purposes.
When it comes to Runaways, though I didn't like it much way back when at the Public, I think there would be absolutely no reason not to think it a musical for awards purposes (or even a musical not for awards purposes). In my mind (or at least in my surely imperfect memory of what it was like), it's a musical. Obviously, it doesn't tell a straightforward or fairly straightforward story in a straightforward or fairly straightforward way as Wonderful Town, West Side Story, Wicked and Adding Machine do, but it's a musical. That's really all I wanted to say. As usual, I've used a lot of words to say something simple (or at least that could be said with fewer words). |
