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| MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the future of Jukebox Musicals | |
| Last Edit: toros 04:12 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
| Posted by: toros 04:08 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| “Moulin Rouge” is one of the most sumptuous physical productions ever, outside of an opera house. Derek McLane's design is ravishing, almost overpowering. The show follows the plot line of the movie fairly closely, and music is used in the same way, although there are plenty of cuts and replacements. As with the film, some of the numbers are performed in their entirety, but most are sliced and diced and sometimes, chopped into medleys and montage-like sequences. There are literally hundreds of songs sampled or quoted. There’s no song list in the program - instead, two pages of small print Music Credits. It’s a wildly ambitious score. The production is over-the-top, and consistently surprising. Sonya Tayeh’s choreography is assaultively entertaining. The ensemble are not your typical chorus boys and girls, to put it mildly. Again and again, the stage explodes. But as with the film, the style often subsumes substance, and the love story at the musical’s center is not involving, despite the many vocal declarations of love throughout. Alex Timbers has done an outstanding job bringing such challenging “auteur” material to the stage. In some ways, the show improves on the film –John Logan’s book avoids the unfunny “sex farce” scenes that held the film back for me. If the creative team can get the love story to ignite and touch audiences’ hearts, they will have spun gold. I saw the first preview, so I won’t comment specifically on any of the performances except to say that the show is perfectly cast, and everyone has a way to go toward finding their characters. “Jagged Little Pill” is so stuffed with social/political/psychological issues it would seem easy to resist its dogged effort to be topical. Every time a new character appears, I wondered what their problem would be– is this guy going to be a rapist, or will we find out that he cuts himself? But amazingly, the show works beautifully, due in no small part to book writer Diablo Cody, who skews the earnestness with sly humor and satire. An ensemble of angry, snarling youth prowls the stage, contorting themselves in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s impassioned choreography. While the characters all wear their wounds on their sleeves, and the confessional nature of the songs drives the dialogue, the characters are richly developed, and Diane Paulus’s production is honest, direct, and deeply moving. My experience was almost the opposite of “Moulin Rouge.” “Jagged Little Pill” is not a handsome show. The set pieces and projections are unsatisfactory. The production looks best when the stage is cleared to make room for the rampaging kids. But despite its conspicuous attempts to capture the zeitgeist, and a musical comedy tendency to wrap everything up tidily, the show is genuinely involving, Alanis Morissette’s soaring music and tart lyrics are outrageously theatrical and the entire cast is first-rate. The set-up for and performance of “You Oughta Know” result in one of the all-time great musical numbers in musical theatre. That’s saying a lot, I know. There’s a lot more to be said about both shows. The conversation has barely begun. But what “Moulin Rouge” and “Jagged Little Pill” prove, once and for all, is that the derisive dismissal of the so-called “jukebox musical” has no weight. It is a valid, exciting sub-genre, and in the hands of creative artists like those involved with these two shows, a form that can result in first-rate new musicals. In Boston, right now, there are two outstanding examples. |
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| JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys | |
| Posted by: Genealley 11:43 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the future of Jukebox Musicals - toros 04:08 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| And Cherkaoui's choreography is stunning and exciting. A perfectly modern auteur. | |
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| re: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys | |
| Posted by: Bwayguy 10:13 am EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys - Genealley 11:43 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| It can't sweep since there is no original score. Other than the standout Jagged Little Pill number, there's just too much going on to care about any of the characters. I'm sure they will tighten before Broadway. | |
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| re: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:20 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys - Bwayguy 10:13 am EDT 07/13/18 | |
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| I agree that it will likely tighten, but I don't think it will be less stuffed. Audience members either accept the basic reality that we all carry inside of us diverse yet specific trauma that bounces off of other people's trauma in complicated ways, or audience members don't. The fullness of the show (which is only slightly heightened from real life to become a soap opera) is working for many, many people, and I think the show's core audience would be sad to see the show that fullness. | |
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| re: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys | |
| Posted by: Bwayguy 01:00 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys - Singapore/Fling 12:20 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
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| We've already been over this Singapore/Fling. We agree on several of your favorite shows, but not this one. | |
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| re: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 01:24 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:21 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys - Bwayguy 01:00 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
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| We don't have to agree on the show. I'm not asking us to. At no point in my post did I question your personal experience of the play. I question your supposition that what you need to happen in order for you to care about the characters is what the show needs to do in order for all people to care about the characters. I also question the supposition that this board should be limited to one conversation per show. ;-) |
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| Saw it tonight... | |
| Posted by: crewbway 12:08 am EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: JAGGED is gonna sweep the Tonys - Genealley 11:43 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| Was able to get a cancellation ticket (very nice box office staff) 2 minutes before curtain. Others on line had seen it 9 times so there could be a following if transfers (when transfers). Some amazing performances. too bad the people in front of me missed a lot of it...too busy making out! | |
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| re: Saw it tonight... | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:39 am EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Saw it tonight... - crewbway 12:08 am EDT 07/13/18 | |
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| When I got back to New York from seeing it in early June, I went online to see if there might be cheap seats left in the ART run. If there had been, I might have gotten the bus back to Boston to see it again. I'm looking forward to the transfer, and I'm hoping it happens this season. If nothing else, I want the album! | |
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| re: MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the future of Jukebox Musicals | |
| Posted by: Ballerina56 11:41 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the future of Jukebox Musicals - toros 04:08 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| Thank you for your reports on both shows! It excites me even more to see some new choreographic blood potentially headed to the Great White Way! | |
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| Re: JAGGED LITTLE PILL | |
| Posted by: bitbybit 08:00 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the future of Jukebox Musicals - toros 04:08 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| I knew I was witnessing an awesome evening of theatre when we witnessed the number choreographed backwards. Just thrilling to see. It fit the story, song, and character well. | |
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| ^ spoiler for jlp | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 10:17 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: Re: JAGGED LITTLE PILL - bitbybit 08:00 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| I loved that number too, but it is a delightful surprise that I think we should preserve for others. | |
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| re: MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the future of Jukebox Musicals | |
| Posted by: Duke1979 04:28 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
| In reply to: MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the future of Jukebox Musicals - toros 04:08 pm EDT 07/12/18 | |
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| Thanks for the report. Had friends who saw the first preview of Moulin who did not like the movie but loved this show. Exciting to have the Colonial return with such a big splash. | |
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