| YASSSSSSS. | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 08:35 pm EDT 08/26/19 | |
| In reply to: re: On PASTICHE: is anyone trying to write a new 'Golden Age' musical these days? Would we pay to see one? - Chromolume 08:08 pm EDT 08/26/19 | |
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| That's what I was saying out loud the whole time I was reading your response. SO TRUE. I'll go a bit further. It's not just that the lyrics are overwritten, but more often than not, they're redundant. I hear lyricists filling out the melody with extra words that complete a cliche or restate what's already been said. And they're usually dramatically inert, too. I'm not saying that it guarantees we're stuck in bad theater. (I always credit directors like Des McAnuff who figured out how to stage visual plot lines within TOMMY so it really didn't matter that they were saying the same thing over and over again.) But getting into the gems of the Golden Age, those writers really knew when a moment merited a more writerly approach. I look at something like "Adelaide's Lament," which -- to my ear -- is probably just about the greatest musical theatre lyric ever. Although that song goes on for multiple verses and choruses, it never overstays its welcome, for multiple reasons. One, the lyrics are just so amusing that you want to sink into your chair and just stay there for a while, but two, Adelaide needs that entire song to complete the scene; it's active. She's in the process of figuring things out, and she needs that whole song to put it all together in her mind. To your points, I sooo agree. And I love "Haled's Song About Love" from A BAND'S VISIT. And, in reference to one of my replies below, that little chromatic step in the melody is a blissfull ear-surprise. I trust you know the one I'm referring to. It's really nice. - GMB |
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| Previous: | re: On PASTICHE: is anyone trying to write a new 'Golden Age' musical these days? Would we pay to see one? - Chromolume 08:08 pm EDT 08/26/19 |
| Next: | Posted before... - Quicheo 04:23 pm EDT 08/27/19 |
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