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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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