| Why doesn't Charles Hart get more praise for his PHANTOM lyrics? | |
| Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 09:48 am EDT 04/21/20 | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 09:45 am EDT 04/21/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I saw the Vegas Version - WaymanWong 01:53 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Why doesn't Charles Hart get more praise for his PHANTOM lyrics? 'Cuz I don't think they're all that good. They're CERTAINLY not as clunky as Tim Rice's often are. Throughout parts of JCS, JOSEPH & EVITA, it's not unusual at all for the audience to be thinking, "I'm sorry, but WHAT are you saying up there?" I once knew a cast of EVITA who would intentionally swap out the post-"Don't Cry for Me" crowd chant of "Evita Peron, la santa Peronista!" with "Evita Peron, a pepperoni pizza!" just to see if their stage management even noticed. Tim Rice's problematic issues are more often related to the way a lyric scans, with the emphasis of the words not matching up with the natural emphasis of a melody, making the singer sound as if they're putting the stress on the wrong syllable of a word. Or, with someone just blurting out things within a scene that they'd never say. "Monotony passed! Suburbia departed!" (I'm not saying that Tim Rice doesn't have his talents. His way of analyzing politics certainly led to some terrific commentary in both JCS & EVITA.) But if that's the standard that Lloyd Webber had, leading up to PHANTOM, I'd certainly say that Charles Hart was a step above. There isn't a single awkward lyric in "Music of the Night." That whole thing is pretty much exactly what you need it to be. Very singable, evocative, lush, romantic. Is it a bit too on the nose? Probably. Does it surprise the ear with cleverness? Never. Is it right for the moment of the show? Absolutely. Does it have anything actable, relying on dramatic action? Kinda. A bit. It's probably more of a true aria, but one could say that it represents the Phantom's seduction, especially within the context of the scene and Hal Prince's direction. It's good. As for the rest of the show, I think Hart fails to win notability because the lyrics are so often less than ambitious. Within all the sequences around "Notes," there were certainly all sorts of opportunities for clever turns of phrase, setups and payoffs, and he doesn't really aim for that. The lyrics work, though, and they're easy to understand, and they move the scene forward. They're definitely above average. But let's be honest: for most of the show, we get lyrics like this: "Christine, you must have been dreaming. Stories like this can't come true. Christine, you're talking in riddles, and it's not like you." Anything wrong with that lyric? God no. Does it scan? Yes. Do we understand it? Sure. Is it actable? Sure. Double meaning or cleverness? No. Clever internal rhymes or ear surprises? No. Room for actable subtext? Not much. There you have it. - GMB |
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