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| Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: theaterisok 01:24 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| I may have missed this conversation over the last year, but did Bandstand change their ending to make it a happy one? Didn’t it used to end with al of the guys going through some kind of terrible end? The broadcast was very good, though it really couldn’t capture all of the brilliant choreography. |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 05:51 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: Bandstand ending question - theaterisok 01:24 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| I originally saw Bandstand near the end of its run at Papermill. According to my recollection, the ending takes place about a year after the contest. The guys and Julia are watching the movie at some small local venue in Cleveland. When the movie ends, they remain seated and reminisce about their experience with the contest. They all seem to have moved on with their lives. Their band still exists but has not achieved any great success beyond what they have accomplished in their hometown. When they exit the venue, a teenage girl comes up to them and tells them she is a big fan of their music. They all smile and that was about it. I don't recall any big production number finale. I'm pretty sure there was some sort of authors note in the Papermill playbill stating that they were trying to present a realistic story that was true to what returning soldiers experienced after the war. Apparently when the show made it to Broadway, they changed their minds and decided to go with a big splashy, Hollywood-type ending. I loved the show overall, but liked the ending I saw at Papermill better -- it was very low-key, but more in keeping with the story, which was dark, hard-hitting, and realistic. |
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| re:Ending in screening. | |
| Posted by: stevemr 09:47 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - BroadwayTonyJ 05:51 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| The ending you describe is essentially the ending used in the screening. We don't see the winner announced. A year later they watch the movie, with Sinatra singing the song. They describe the movie as a stinker. There's the scene with the teenage girl. Other posters make it sound like this WASN'T the Broadway ending, yet here it is. Any insight? | |
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| re: re:Ending in screening. | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:51 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re:Ending in screening. - stevemr 09:47 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| It was the only B'way ending, first preview til closing. In fact, a temporary version of it was reportedly added to Papermill before the tryout closed. I believe they fixed it rather early in Milburn, NJ. Someone will surely verify this second point, but I read it in all of our "Bandstand" threads last summer. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: Ann 08:27 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - BroadwayTonyJ 05:51 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| I think I would have liked that ending better as well. The ending and (to my memory) the band's big song feeling like something in the wrong era were the biggest problems in my eye. Though I don't think a downbeat ending would have helped with the tourist crowds a hit Broadway show needs. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 10:15 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - Ann 08:27 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| The band's big song was always the same in both Paper Mill and Broadway. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: Ann 10:32 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - lowwriter 10:15 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| Ok. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question (SPOILER) | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 08:50 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:50 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - Ann 08:27 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| Agreed. It felt tonally at odds with the show's 11 o'clock spot, when they toss out the prepared number and sing the original lyrics of "Welcome Home." They basically say: winning doesn't matter, we must honor the truth about PTSD. Only then will we move on. And then, they win, and everyone becomes an overnight star. It was just wrapped up in a bow, and felt counter-intuitive, creatively, to plaster this contrived finale atop so much earned emotional catharsis. Say, a talent scout sees "Rose's Turn" and gives here a gig at a club, with Gypsy cheering her. Well, not quite. But tonally it had something like that going on | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question (SPOILER) | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 10:17 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question (SPOILER) - Delvino 08:50 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| They lose the song contest, though, and don't appear in the movie. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 01:35 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: Bandstand ending question - theaterisok 01:24 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| The Paper Mill version had a downbeat ending but the Broadway production changed the conclusion so the band found success touring though losing the song contest for the movie. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: RonAnnArbor 03:00 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - lowwriter 01:35 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| I don't think that ending is un-natural at all...if you stayed post the credits and saw them talk about wanting to a 40's twist on the American Idol/Voice contest you know this is the logical conclusion Almost every "star" that has come out of American idol and the Voice and other similar shows makes it to the final three and then DOES NOT WIN...that leaves them free to pursue their own managers and they are not stuck with a contract from Fox, or NBC, or anyone else... This is the "logical" ending to Bandstand, when you look at the way these things actually play out in real life...and it felt like a very natural ending. Did it feel a bit tacked on, yes - live in the theatre AND in the movie theatre screening - but the show was already 2:30 bu that point and it has to end somewhere. It works for me, just my 2 cents. |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: Ann 03:17 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - RonAnnArbor 03:00 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| ...40's twist on the American Idol/Voice contest That's quite a time-travel twist to me (and anachronistic, and not logical for the 1940s, which I think is what bothered some of us, and didn't feel natural). I'm glad it works for you and others, though. But I still don't think it helped the show in general, which I felt was quite authentic in much if not most of the rest of the story. |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 07:59 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 07:57 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - Ann 03:17 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| But - radio contests themselves are certainly not anachronistic to the 40's, even if there was nothing quite like the one in the musical. (But do we know there weren't?) I didn't take the comment about American Idol/The Voice to be quite so literal - I heard it suggesting that such contests just inspired the idea for the musical's story - not that there was supposed to be a literal parallel. Musicals have used media-fueled contests before, historically accurate or not. I think if TracyTurnblad can dance on the Corny Collins show and Kim McAfee can kiss Birdie on the Ed Sullivan Show, then Donny Novitsky can certainly cobble a band together and enter a radio contest. ;-) And don't forget that President John P. Wintergreen's first lady was supposed to be the winner of a country-wide beauty contest. ;-) |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: Ann 09:15 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - Chromolume 07:57 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| A radio contest isn't a far-fetched idea. I didn't hear exactly what they said after the screening. I thought the poster was saying the ending was logical because of the American Idol/The Voice basis, and I couldn't see that being authentic. The anachronistic parts were that they would sing a song like one, and that they would become famous for a song like that at that time. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:06 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - Ann 09:15 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| Agree; well said. | |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:55 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - Ann 09:15 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| That's fair - you're right that the song (i.e. the lyrics) they chose to sing would not have been true to form at that time - perhaps the writers ultimately boxed themselves into a corner by trying to tell 2 stories at once - the fictional one, and the real plight of vets living with PTSD and other war-related disorders - much as I applaud them for trying. Also, I did wonder if the idea of changing the lyrics on-air and not getting called on it was strange - except for the fact that they sang so little of the song at the audition, that the producer may not have realized. In terms of AI and The Voice, what I thought I heard was that the current popularity of those kind of contest shows was a plot inspiration in general, not the ending of the musical specifically. |
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| re: Bandstand ending question | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 09:47 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - Ann 09:15 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| My thought was that as soon as Julia got to the lyrics about Davey putting away a fifth of vodka every night to block out what he'd seen, the radio producer would have pulled the plug--oops, lost our signal, folks. Laura |
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| The show's design arc helped the ending feel earned (maybe). | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 07:42 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:41 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand ending question - lowwriter 01:35 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| The ending is the only thing on B'way that disappointed me slightly. The band pops so fully in such a short period of time, it seemed contrary to that first act reality. But to be fair, the show was designed to move us from Cleveland into a Hollywood ending. As the second act wears on, the original set disappears forever, to be replaced by bright, stylized set pieces that inch the show away from the gritty post-war climate. It was a daring choice, but it gave the show visual development as well as story movement. By the end, we have a big fat happy conclusion worthy of Vincent Minnelli film. Maybe the original was considered too downbeat in post-American Idol America. We want to believe that people entering show biz all become stars. If only. | |
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| re: The show's design arc helped the ending feel earned (maybe). | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 08:01 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: The show's design arc helped the ending feel earned (maybe). - Delvino 07:41 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| The design change you mention did not happen in its tryout in New Jersey and it really helped the Broadway production. I agree that their rise to popularity was too quick but it didn't bother me a lot. I wasn't a fan of the downbeat ending at Paper Mill because you left deflated. | |
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| re: The show's design arc helped the ending feel earned (maybe). | |
| Last Edit: mikem 12:51 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| Posted by: mikem 12:51 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The show's design arc helped the ending feel earned (maybe). - lowwriter 08:01 am EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| I also did not like the Broadway ending where they still achieved fame through touring. It seemed extremely unrealistic, and stuck out in an otherwise well-crafted show. I don't think they had to be downbeat at the end, but I think it would have been more realistic for the band to have a quiet, local life where they were content. | |
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