| "In the Heights" film adaptation | |
| Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 02:35 pm EDT 07/07/18 | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 02:32 pm EDT 07/07/18 | |
| In reply to: ITH - Chazwaza 01:07 pm EDT 07/07/18 | |
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| (sheepish look on face) Because I don't think it's as good as a lot of other people think it is. I think it's ballsy. And authentic. And joyful. And sprawling, and unfocused, and scrappy, and full of barely-out-of-NYU-workshop sounding potential. I think it's better than SATURDAY NIGHT. I think it's better than JOSEPH. I think it's better than LUCKY STIFF. I think it's better than a lot of excellent composers' early works. But I don't think it's amazing, and that's why it's a little surprising to me that it's getting made. I think that if HAMILTON hadn't been a such a massive success, there wouldn't have been this bidding war across multiple studios as what was reported in the Hollywood press over the last year. When I hear IN THE HEIGHTS, I hear lots of things that I think LMM would have revised and sharpened if he were writing it now. Easy example: the lyric scan during "Breathe" I got every scholarship Saved every dollar The first to go to college How do I tell them why I'm coming back home If LMM were writing that now, he would never let the emphasis of the melody align so poorly with the emphasis of the lyric. You can barely understand Nina on the phrase "how do I tell them why," not to mention that the music sounds like the END of a phrase, not the beginning of a longer sentence. It's almost as criminal as the infamous "I don't care if I" (breath) "can be here on the street where you live." (which is how it's so often performed; I fault Lerner and Loewe.) Maybe a film adaptation will give LMM the chance to revise things. His ear is more precise and exacting now, and he's seen the value of refining and rewriting over and over, rather than simply serving up his first instincts. Considering that he's very much on board for the film, I imagine that some new material and some rewrites would drive even hardcore IN THE HEIGHTS fans to the theater, eager to hear any new additions or revisions. I do think the film will probably be a big success, especially if its director's forthcoming "Crazy Rich Asians" does as well as everyone is predicting. I wish it well. - GMB, who thinks that LMM's songs for 21 CHUMP STREET and BRING IT ON are better than most of IN THE HEIGHTS |
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