| for the record, The Life had a lot of fans and major awards recognition ... | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 06:39 pm EDT 03/15/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:22 pm EDT 03/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "Music from The Life" album - Singapore/Fling 04:09 pm EDT 03/15/22 | |
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| I'm sure there are lots of ways it could have been worse. You talk about it like it's famously the worst musical ever written... but that was very much not the way audiences or awards responded to it at the time. So let's also introduce some reality here... you may think the show is terrible. When it opened not very long ago in 1997, the show ran on broadway for 487 performances (over a year!), longer than many better musicals and many worse musicals. It was nominated for *11* Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Costume Design... and of course 3 nominations for the cast, winning 2. Yes it lost all the others to Titanic and the Chicago smash revival, but the noms don't mean nothing, clearly it wasn't shut out as the lamentable trash you think it is ... and if not for Titanic, The Life stood stood a very good chance of taking some of those other 9 awards. I mean... The Life WON BEST MUSICAL at the Drama Critics Awards... as well as Best Music (beating Violet and Steel Pier for both... they didn't even nominate Titanic for either award). (for context, The Drama Desk in the 90s also gave best musical to City of Angels, Secret Garden, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Passion and even gave it to Show Boat over Sunset Blvd when they could have just given to Sunset), Rent, Ragtime over Lion King, and Parade... so good taste was definitely something Drama Desk had that decade. I have no idea why they shut Titanic out almost entirely, I love Titanic... but still, it's not like they didn't prove their taste level. (though I have to question how they gave Best Music to Goodbye Girl over Spider Woman, and to Will Rogers Follies over Secret Garden and Assassins, but I think many people would have voted that way that year). It also won Best Musical from the Outer Critics Circle Awards (beating Titanic, Steel Pier, and J&H) and The Drama League. Let's also not forget that a musical about 1980s Times Sq hookers and pimps is unlikely to win Best Musical. So it's very likely too that it would have gone to Steel Pier if not for Titanic, but that's another show that didn't work and no one does, and frankly I think the score to The Life is much better than Steel Pier. If I had been a Tony voter in 97, I'd have voted for The Life for Best Score over Steel Pier (or Juan Darien, or J&H which might have been nominated if Titanic hadn't been) -- I mean Titanic would likely have gotten my vote but the point is The Life wasn't bottom of my ranking, and I bet that's true for many others. And the revised 2017 London production (starring Sharon D Clarke) won Best Musical at the Off West End Theater Awards... i'm not familiar with that award nor do I know what the competition was, but it still won! It produced two albums ... the "Music from The Life" album that sparked this thread, and the beloved original cast album. And in 1997... it's not like there was no other option for the Tonys to nominate... Jekyll & Hyde was eligible and got a nom for Best Book... but not Best Musical or Best Score or Director. (also eligible for Best Musical noms but didn't get, Play On and Dream... jukebox musicals, but eligible for Best Musical, and of course by 1997 the Tonys had already give Best Musical to TWO jukeboxes, Ain't Misbehavin and Crazy For You. So no reason either of these musicals couldn't have gotten noms if everyone thought The Life was just terrible) It's not perfect, outside of 80% of the score it may not even be good, but give me The Life over any of the Frank Wildhorn musicals ANY DAY. (and many others too) |
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