| 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 - ryhog 06:42 pm EDT 06/19/18 |
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re: SO MUCH SNARK IN THESE POSTS, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED - ryhog 12:34 am EDT 06/20/18 |
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