Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 11:40 am EST 11/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. - Ballerina56 11:15 am EST 11/29/18 | |
|
|
|
| That's a really interesting question...what would a really innovative director like Prince do with a show like PRETTY WOMAN? One of the points that Prince made in the documentary was that the first priority was to choose the right material, so it's probable that he (or any other really iconic director) would simply not take on a project like PRETTY WOMAN in the first place. But, if he did...Andrew Lloyd Webber, of all people, talked in the documentary about Prince's talent for telling writers that what they've written isn't good enough. Prince himself told a story about repeatedly telling Kander and Ebb, during the development of KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN, that a song wasn't good enough and to go back and try it again. I can only imagine that working on a show like PRETTY WOMAN would have involved A LOT of Prince going back to the writers and telling them that the work isn't good enough and to go back and try it again. Actually, that talent, to be able to tell even the most successful writers to go back and do it again without pissing people off to the extent that they hate you, may be Prince's greatest asset. It's a talent that I feel like a lot of new musicals nowadays could use. We hear stories time and again on this board about shows that go from readings to workshops to out-of-town productions to Broadway with few significant changes, leaving people to wonder why some terrible song or incredibly awkward moment survives from version to version. Maybe it's just that the writers were in love with every word and comma and the director just didn't feel comfortable enough to make them make changes. |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. | |
| Posted by: BigM 03:23 pm EST 12/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. - JereNYC 11:40 am EST 11/29/18 | |
|
|
|
| Of course, to tell the writers that they need to come up with something better is easier if you're a famous director with a lot of clout. And one of Prince's early shows, She Loves Me, was not only derived from a movie, but a rom-com as well. Anything can be done well by an artist of skill and talent. | |
| reply to this message |
| re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:45 am EST 11/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. - JereNYC 11:40 am EST 11/29/18 | |
|
|
|
| "I can only imagine that working on a show like PRETTY WOMAN would have involved A LOT of Prince going back to the writers and telling them that the work isn't good enough and to go back and try it again." ....and again, and again, and again.... :-) |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 11:53 am EST 11/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: After watching the Hal Prince PBS documentary, I now understand why I find most current musicals a bunch of crap. - Michael_Portantiere 11:45 am EST 11/29/18 | |
|
|
|
| Well, Kander and Ebb had to go back to the drawing board multiple times, at Prince's direction, before they came up with "Where You Are" for KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN, so going back again, and again, and again worked in that instance. So a Harold Prince-directed PRETTY WOMAN might also have been much improved. Of course, the writers of PRETTY WOMAN are no Kander and Ebb, but then who is? |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.010965 seconds.