Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Pefect first scenes ; CLEAR DAY and CAMELOT | |
| Last Edit: bmc 03:35 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
| Posted by: bmc 03:34 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| Reading Peter Filichia's current article on the CLEAR DAY cast album, I remember reading the 'book'(I used to own a copy) as well as the book for Camelot, I thought(then and now) that those first scenes were just about perfect..Camelot had a March, Burton's' solos, a solo for Julie Andrews as well as her brief reprise of the title song ; Clear day has the charming "Hurry it's lovely Up Here, Tosy and Cosh, which introduces us to Melinda, and the gorgeous title song. Three wonderful songs, all related to the esp theme(I' think the flowers 'grew when she sang to them.) Perhaps the shows scripts wander of course later, but I always liked both books. | |
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| re: Pefect first scenes ; CLEAR DAY and CAMELOT | |
| Posted by: makeupman 02:00 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: Pefect first scenes ; CLEAR DAY and CAMELOT - bmc 03:34 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| Y'know, I always wondered why everyone thought that the book of the original On a Clear Day was so bad. Yes the score is one of my all-time faves, and the cast from excellent (Cullum) to superb (Harris, but that's redundant.) The story held my attention throughout, and compared to other musicals, was far more literate. I was young when I saw it, and I thought the various ideas (re-incarnation, et al) were interesting....and rather unusual for a musical. While I'm on the subject, Mack and Mabel always gets the big raspberry vis a vis the book. Is it the book, or the fact that it's a sad ending? Why not? That's life isn't it? Another wonderful show, w/another great score. | |
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| re: Pefect first scenes ; CLEAR DAY and CAMELOT | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 05:24 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
| In reply to: Pefect first scenes ; CLEAR DAY and CAMELOT - bmc 03:34 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| And of all the problematic musicals that aren't quite classics (despite having wonderful scores), I've always thought On a Clear Day would be the easiest to fix. All you have to do is get rid of the doctor's wife, who doesn't even appear in the show in the first place, and is only mentioned to make an obstacle to Daisy and the doctor getting together. But who wants an obstacle? The problem is really that for a long time the doctor thinks he's in love with Melinda only, and not Daisy. This should persist until about the time in the second act when Daisy grows up a little and finds the gumption to stand up for herself and give her hopeless boyfriend the heave-ho. At about that same time, the doctor grasps that Daisy ***is*** Melinda, and Melinda ***is*** Daisy, and that he loves "both" of them for all the same reasons. They're the same soul, after all--that's how reincarnation works. Daisy and doctor get together and live happily ever after, in this lifetime. Most of this is in the show already, so it wouldn't really take a whole lot of rewriting. | |
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| re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 05:22 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
| In reply to: Pefect first scenes ; CLEAR DAY and CAMELOT - bmc 03:34 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| Call me crazy, but like a lotta musical theatre kids, I'd never actually seen a production of SOUTH PACIFIC until the last LCT revival. I left the theater calling it SOUTH SPECIFIC. I couldn't believe how well written the whole thing was. And, more than anything, I couldn't believe how much exposition and music all happened in the FIRST SCENE. That thing is friggin EPIC, and I'm still amazed at how well it works considering our modern short attention spans. I honestly just sat there shocked that we heard four complete songs in one scene, and I REALLY couldn't believe that R&H put their best song right up front. I still don't really know how they did it. Or why. I feel like anyone in their right mind would tell them to save Sam & Janet Evening for the end of Act 1. Then again... they surely understood that three reprises of a melody that good wouldn't bother any of us. But such huge kudos to Logan and Hammerstein II. They were absolutely on the same page. - GMB |
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| re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 10:12 am EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC - GrumpyMorningBoy 05:22 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| A college friend of mine, who was in a production of it at Evanston High, said they did a parody of it called "Soporofic." I always thought that was clever, though not true about the show (maybe their production). | |
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| re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:10 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC - GrumpyMorningBoy 05:22 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| The first time "Some Enchanted Evening" is sung, I think it fits the definition of that kind of "conditional love song" that Hammerstein liked to write. (Similar to "If I Loved You" or "People Will Say We're In Love" or "Make Believe" - where the eventual lovers can sing a ballad without yet being to the point o declare their love.) Emile is essentially describing a general, hypothetical relationship, even though of course we know (as do they) that it's really about the two of them. When we hear the song at the end of the act (before the discovery of the children), R&H finally add the verse ("Born on the opposite sides of the sea...") which makes the song more complete but also adds the admission of their love and desire to marry. It's a very clever way to reprise the song. Also - simple as the music is to that verse, it has one completely irresistible moment for me - the chord change as Nellie starts the phrase "all other men..." - so simple, but so delicious, and for me, just a little ache in that chord as well. Beautiful stuff. |
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| Rodgers' grace notes | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 12:35 am EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC - Chromolume 09:10 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| I do think you're right about Hammerstein's tendency toward 'almost' in his love songs. He was just such a genius, so ahead of everyone else, wasn't he? But yeah, I also have to concur about that tiny detail with the diminished chord under "all other men." Richard Rodgers has an ability to move me with the tiniest grace notes and harmonic shifts... more than any of the other Golden Age composers, I must admit. For me, it's the women ensemble's harmony in the reprise of "Mister Snow," when they sing "you can hardly see." It's the altos' harmony on -ly of "hardly" that totally gets me. Who can explain it, who can tell you why? I cain't. - GMB |
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| re: Rodgers' grace notes | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 10:15 am EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: Rodgers' grace notes - GrumpyMorningBoy 12:35 am EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| Which makes me think about the crucial roles of orchestrators and musical/vocal arangers in these shows. Rodgers may have written every note for all we know (I am not knowledgeable about the techniques of composition or the business of orchestration), but isn't it also the case that Trude Rittmann did the dance music at least for many of R&H's hits? | |
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| re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC | |
| Posted by: bmc 06:34 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Pefect first scenes ; SOUTH SPECIFIC - GrumpyMorningBoy 05:22 pm EDT 07/11/18 | |
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| on a TV program, later printed on the printed , Leonard Bernstein did some analyses of musicals, ; one was OF THEE I SING, the other was SOUTH PACIFIC, focusing on that first scene. | |
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