| re: Brantley offers a (semi-)defense for jukebox musicals | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 08:11 pm EDT 09/04/19 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 08:04 pm EDT 09/04/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Brantley offers a (semi-)defense for jukebox musicals - EvFoDr 11:09 am EDT 09/04/19 | |
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| I agree. There are good jukebox musicals and bad ones, just as there are good original musicals and bad ones, or good stage adaptations of movies and bad ones. It all comes down to execution, wit and imagination. The other day, John Simon was quoted as saying: ''Basing an entire show on preexisting numbers is almost like finding a button in the street and having a suit made to go with it. It does not make much sense.'' I'd say it depends on the button and who's making the suit. Arthur Freed wanted a movie musical to feature his songs with Nacio Herb Brown, written for MGM films (1929-39). Betty Comden and Adolph Green were tasked with writing a screenplay to showcase them, and they came up with ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952). … And in 1949, MGM had bought the rights to a jazz-classical suite (1928) and told Alan Jay Lerner to write a film around it. Lerner added songs by the same composer, George Gershwin, and came up with ''An American in Paris'' (1951). As for ''Moulin Rouge!,'' it's arguably the ultimate jukebox musical. But Baz Luhrmann might've created a new variation. I can't think of another musical that samples from dozens of songs from different artists, sometimes only using a line or two, to create such elaborate mashups or musical ''conversations.'' Most notably, its delightfully playful ''Elephant Love Medley.'' It probably hadn't been done much before because it's a logistical nightmare to wrangle all the rights, and you can't easily do it for a song. |
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| Link | Billboard.com: How Broadway's 'Moulin Rouge!' Got the Rights to 'Torn,' 'Don't Speak' & More Pop Smashes |
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| Next: | And don't forget the ur-bio-jukebox musical - stevemr 01:31 pm EDT 09/04/19 |
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