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| re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED | |
| Posted by: charles1055 06:27 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
| In reply to: re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED - singleticket 03:33 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
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| This intrigues me more so than the others because Nottage is involved. I can't quite see her writing a book that glosses over the chaos of his personal life, but I can't really see the Jackson Estate wanting a truthful story to be told. | |
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| re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED | |
| Posted by: Pokernight 08:49 am EDT 06/20/18 | |
| In reply to: re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED - charles1055 06:27 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
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| The "Neverland ballet" should be interesting -- | |
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| re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED | |
| Posted by: singleticket 10:20 am EDT 06/20/18 | |
| In reply to: re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED - Pokernight 08:49 am EDT 06/20/18 | |
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| Michael Jackson is interesting, our own Ludwig II. | |
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| re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED | |
| Posted by: ryhog 06:42 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
| In reply to: re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED - charles1055 06:27 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
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| I agree with all three things you say but I think the broader question, and the one that leads to what's being labelled snark, is whether there is in this a story worth being told. That, of course, can only be answered after the fact and it is unlikely everyone will agree then but considering that all of the glossy and unvarnished stories have likely been told already, it is hard for some of us to believe anyone no matter how able and talented can find something compelling left to say. Which means that some of us may get a nice evening of entertainment (as we did, frankly, with the terribly written Summer) but without anything on the level of Nottage's existing work. Prove me wrong but I don't give a shit about Michael Jackson in any way other than his talent, and that is represented by a concert. This in the end in the problem with all jukebox musicals for me; I don't care about these people; just their music. | |
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| re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 10:04 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:03 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
| In reply to: re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED - ryhog 06:42 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
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| To me the gold standard of any such "songbook" show (I'm not going to say "jukebox" for various reasons here) is Ain't Misbehavin'. No real dialogue - a line or two of introduction here and there, but not often - and what is said, in the flow of the songs, is essentially culled out of phrases Fats Waller said himself. There's no story - the conceit is a 20's Harlem-style revue - but the songs create relationships between the characters that bring the sense of storytelling into the piece. The show doesn't try to explain Fats to a major extent - the music speaks for him. And yet, in its humble, direct, no-frills way, it's one of the classiest shows I know. I wish more modern jukebox shows had the same implicit trust in their material. Just give us the songs, and let us decide for ourselves what we think of the man. Especially in this case, as he led a very controversial life, and no matter what road Nottage ultimately decides to take, I think she'll be taken to task for it - going too far, not going far enough - who knows? I'm ultimately not sure that the jukebox form is the right one to present strong opinions about their subjects - most audiences are not coming for that. They're coming to hear the replicas of the songs Jackson sang, put into some sort of artificial theatrical context. Period. |
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| re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED | |
| Posted by: ryhog 12:34 am EDT 06/20/18 | |
| In reply to: re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED - Chromolume 10:03 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
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| I agree. I think the process has changed since Ain't Misbehavin'. Now I think it starts with the catalog (will it draw an audience?) rather than the story. Truth is, most of these people don't have compelling stories so our choices are the bio-play, which is hackneyed 9 out of 10 times, and the Mamma Mia model. The root of this phenomenon is the dearth of scores people are willing to sit and listen to, so producers fall back on what they figure will sell. If we had fresh scores as resonant as Michael Jackson's songbook, no one would be thinking about this save the people who can make money off the catalogs, and I'd be willing to bet that if we had enough new scores, no one would line up for the theatrical equivalent of tribute bands. | |
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