Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 06:50 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| In reply to: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... - bmc 06:10 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| I like the score, but was disappointed when I saw a one-night scaled-down production. Even allowing for that (and that the lead was not high caliber in a role that demands high caliber), it was the libretto I found lackluster. Weirdly, I had a blast at a similar staging of ONE TOUCH OF VENUS. The corn was indeed as high as an elephant's eye, but the story rattled along like gabgbusters and I laughed all the way. Laura |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: I love the REDHEAD score ... | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 08:35 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| In reply to: re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... - showtunetrivia 06:50 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| I was lucky enough to see the original production, with the original cast, on tour in Los Angeles. I loved it! The book needs a bit of work (and there is a team working on this). In the age of #MeToo there are some cringeworthy lyrics, and I imagine there are some folk who find any show where a woman's goal is to get married beyond the pale today. Despite the book being a little confusing - its easy enough to untangle. One just needs a fabulous dancer who is a quirky/sexy actress, and fascinating singer to pull it off. Richard Kiley and Leonard Stone were great in the show, as was Ms Verdon, of course. There are many things not fun about getting older. But having been able to see REDHEAD is one of the things that makes it worthwhile! |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: I love the REDHEAD score ... | |
| Posted by: Alcindoro 10:46 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| In reply to: re: I love the REDHEAD score ... - NewtonUK 08:35 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| >In the age of #MeToo there are some cringeworthy lyrics, and I imagine there are some folk who find any show where a woman's goal is to get married beyond the pale today< So there aren't any women around anymore who really want to get married? Hunh. Another "problem", at least with the #MeToo-ers, might be that the show opens with the onstage murder of a woman by a serial killer who is plaguing London. And Essie's aunts run a wax museum which is capitalizing on the murders. Hmmm. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: I love the REDHEAD score ... | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 07:50 am EST 12/31/18 | |
| In reply to: re: I love the REDHEAD score ... - Alcindoro 10:46 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| Well - its what wax museums do. If you're famous or notorious, you appear. And, well, yes, Essie is 29 and unmarried, and at the time the show takes place, marriage would be retreating as s possibility. I was thinking of the scene in Act 1 which goes like this: TOM (The Richard Kiley character) Well, Miss Whimple, I'll be seeing you. ESSIE (VErdon): Oh, that;ll be nice! When? TOM: Oh, no, 'I'll be seeing you' is just an American expression for saying 'good-bye'. (swats her on rear end and exits) ESSIE: I feel.... I feel ... (ESSIE touches her rear where TOM swatted her, and begins to sing) I FEEL MERELY MARVELOUS WILDER THAN THE SEA I LOOK NEARLY BEAUTIFUL I DON'T LOOK LIKE ME! IT'S A BLOOMING MIRACLE WHAT A SMACK CAN DO I COULD FLY I COULD SOAR I COULD CRY I CoULD ROAR MAKE IT REAL MAKE HIM FEEL MERELY MARVELOUS TOO! I find this rather charming and winning, especially thinking of Verdon's performance. But some would not |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: I love the REDHEAD score ... | |
| Posted by: scoot1er 08:59 am EST 12/31/18 | |
| In reply to: re: I love the REDHEAD score ... - NewtonUK 07:50 am EST 12/31/18 | |
|
|
|
| I, too, am lucky enough to have seen Rehead on Broadway. Gwen Verdon was a wonder, as she was in everything she did. (I didn’t see Children! Children!, but then again, not many did.) The afternoon I saw it she cut “I’ll Try”. Lehman Engel said they often cut that song if she was tired. I saw Sweet Charity a few times and she sang “Where Am I Going” only at the preview. She cut it every other time. Nevertheless, I loved her. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... | |
| Posted by: Snowysdad 07:48 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| In reply to: re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... - showtunetrivia 06:50 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| That is really interesting about One Touch of Venus. I am a Kurt Weill freak, early and late. Until the Jay recording came out I only knew the score from the Decca Cast album and the Ben Bagley cuts. I have always found it a bit hard to really imagine how songs work with in a show from Bagley's albums, although no doubt they were immensely important in their time, but the arrangements were all over the place, far from true to the original intent and the performances wildly variable. Once I heard the Jay recording I went............HUH??????? I find it the most disjointed piece Weill ever wrote, two different musicals at once, one for the romantic leads, and another for the secondary couple and all their hangers on. And how and why "in New Jersey" and "Dr. Crippen" belong in the same musical as "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," "Speak Low" and the better known songs I have no idea. Granted the book is by two legends, S. J. Perleman and Ogden Nash, neither one a minor talent, so perhaps the book, corny as you describe it, but of its period holds all this together, but I can't grasp it from the recording. Thanks, as always for your insight. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| Venus -- TV Version | |
| Posted by: stevemr 10:59 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| In reply to: re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... - Snowysdad 07:48 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| The 1950's TV version with Janet Blair and Russell Nype is available on Amazon Prime. Even though abridged, it contains a lot more of the score than the Ava Gardner movie. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| VENUS | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 08:14 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| In reply to: re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... - Snowysdad 07:48 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| I was pleasantly surprised how well the score worked, even though it seemed in places like the show was put together with scotch tape and a prayer. It was just plain fun. I'm a Weillophile, too, and even used this musical as inspiration for an offbeat fantasy short story, "One Touch of Hippolyta," in which an overworked museum curator gets advice on running her life from a statue of an Amazon warrior who comes to life. Laura |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 07:25 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 07:19 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
| In reply to: re: A semi-Apology about the score for REDHEAD... - showtunetrivia 06:50 pm EST 12/30/18 | |
|
|
|
| I enjoy the recording of "Redhead" very much, but I believe a lot of the show's success was due to the Tony-winning performances of Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley and Leonard Stone, all of whom sound as though they are giving wonderful characterizations on the recording. But more than that, Verdon insisted on giving Bob Fosse his first directing credit (prior he had only done choreography) on Broadway when she signed on for the show, and it's apparently one of the most dance-heavy for a leading lady, which showed off all kinds of stylistic dance versatility and endurance for Verdon and the dance ensemble through Fosse's choreography. Plus she's got to act, sing and be extremely charming in the songs and book scenes. It's considered a lot harder to cast than the later also-demanding role of "Sweet Charity". Someone like Sandy Duncan would probably have been terrific in the role as well. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.024387 seconds.