| re: Weird things in that talk | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 05:16 pm EDT 09/02/18 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 05:07 pm EDT 09/02/18 | |
| In reply to: Weird things in that talk - AlanScott 04:28 pm EDT 09/02/18 | |
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| Isn't there another term that's occasionally used for such shows? Something like "catalog shows?" I do think there should be a term to differentiate shows like Side by Side by Sondheim and Ain't Misbehavin' from the old-fashioned type of revues that we almost never see nowadays (e.g., The Band Wagon, As Thousands Cheer, all those Ziegfeld Follies, New Faces and Scandals)? I've occasionally heard people refer to them as "songbook revues" or "songbook shows." Most people in my experience, especially those also in the biz, tend to simply call them "revues." I've honestly never seen why jukebox shows can't be called revues (i.e. "jukebox revues") on the occasions that they are in fact presented in a revue format. Seems to me that jukebox shows with books are book shows, and jukebox shows with no book (or just simple narration, like it is in Side By Side) are revues, just the same way that shows with "traditional" theatre scores would be referred to in the same way. I still feel that what defines a jukebox show is the specific style and origin of the music being used - not the overall format of the show. Then, of course, there's the question of "reviews [sic]" - like Putting It Together - A Musical Review (I've heard various stories that the seeming misspelling was either exactly that - or that it was deliberate), or a play like Groucho - A Life In Review (which has enough songs in it to almost feel like a revue, except that I do think here the word "review" is being used more literally as looking back thorugh Groucho's story. But maybe it's meant to be a bit of a double meaning.) Or - comparing shows like Cole (the British revue that, to its detriment, IMO, uses bits of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald to "narrate" an otherwise wall-to-wall evening of songs) to a very odd piece called Red, Hot And Cole which is a revue of songs couched in a fictional "party" with Porter and his iconic buddies like Monty Wooley and Elsa Maxwell. With horribly unimaginative bland song arrangements. The latter show tries to sorta be a book show, but it still ultimately feels like a revue of Porter songs. (The "book scenes" as I recall are really there to highlight the songs and get from one song to another - and much less to tell any particular story, let alone offer a viable plot.) In any case, to me, the very fine Smokey Joe's Cafe is a "jukebox revue." Your millage may vary. Whatever it is, it's a very fun show. |
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