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| Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| Can “The Life” ever work as a musical? Probably not. This shallow melodrama debuted in the late 90s unsure of what it wanted to be, an odd marriage of wan showbiz razzmatazz, familiar sitcom rhythms, and gritty (though campy) portrayals of sex workers in a tawdry Times Square fondly remembered through rose tinted glasses. Assembled on stage, it was a mess that lurched through its plot points and never settled on a consistent tone, occasionally inspiring but often embarrassing, which perhaps explains why it’s rarely been performed since. For everything Billy Porter does to the show - and Oh, Lord, he does a lot - he succeeds where the original couldn’t, fashioning a mostly cohesive vision of “The Life” as a stylish, sexy, thoroughly campy and always audacious melodrama with a Blacksploitation pulse and stank for days. This approach delivers a version that is in many ways true to the original production, but improved: while the highs of the show are unchanged from twenty-five years ago - “My Body”, “The Oldest Profession” and The Hooker’s Ball continue to deliver the sizzle when the rest of the show tends to fizzle - the lows don’t sting so bad as they once did. Yes, the story is dull and some of those lyrics are groaners, but Porter’s version moves quickly through its paces as plot lines pop up and drift away, montage of songs whirl across the stage, and the new book drops pretty much every trans slur it can remember from the 1980s and a few it might have made up. I came to tonight’s show expecting Porter to be the star, but he has fashioned “The Life” into a platform for the virtuosic cast to sell their wares for a few hours, and they are the reason to drop your dough on a ticket. Mykal Kilgore, Antwayn Hopper, and Alexandra Grey deliver ferocious, often electric performances; the women in the ensemble lift us up when they devour their newly funky numbers (big props to Michael McElroy’s stunning vocal arrangements); and Ledisi takes us to church with a soulful rendition of the once-comic “Oldest Profession”, turning the song into a cri-de-couer that had the audience in the balcony shouting and shaking and snapping and swaying and beating the furniture - and one dude down in the orchestra covering a speaker with his coat - until we were on our feet and the show was stopped and people out on 55th Street knew that something was going on inside the City Center. That moment, one of the most thrilling I’ve had at the theater, makes the best argument I could imagine for Encores! producing the play in this form. It doesn’t all work, of course. Aside from the inherent problems of the material, some of Porter’s additions are awkwardly shoehorned into the evening, and he would have been wise to bring in a real playwright to write better dialogue. Much has been made of the politicizing added to the night, and while some of the additions are deliciously camp - who doesn’t want the fever dream of a kick line of Trumps and Reagan’s explaining the evils of capitalism? - too often they land leadenly on the stage, and a sudden turn to Brechtian self-seriousness struck me as so silly that it was camp. But here’s the thing: I was there for that. In a way, these were my favorite parts of the night, an unintentional homage to the original’s awkward tonal shifts that also mark the willingness of Encores! to try something new, even if it falls on its face. Whatever its faults, this Life throws a fabulous party and attempts to shake up our generally conservative mainstream theater culture. And while they didn’t deliver quite the music that Cy Coleman imagined, they gave us something I liked better: a chance to celebrate a score that was always better than the show it was attached to but lacked the grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to. For a few days, “The Life” has found some life, as glorious as it is bizarre, a bumpy ride whose highs make the lows so down sweeter, with a shattering star turn that reminds us why theater exists in the first place: so we can witness human excellence and shout to the gods that something unforgettable just passed before our eyes. |
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| "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 12:55 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| Sonja is, in story and material, a featured character... 2nd female lead but clearly not the lead because Queenie is the lead, it is largely her story. So why does Sonja get the 11 o'clock number? I understand Porter's desire to try it there (though I think it worked perfectly well stopping the show in act 1, but i'm open to seeing how it works elsewhere)... and I'm very sure that Ledisi gives a phenomenal performance of that song... But she would in any spot in the show. Does it belong where it's been put? |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: BigM 03:17 pm EDT 03/20/22 | |
| In reply to: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Chazwaza 12:55 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| Isn't it true that the lead doesn't always get the 11o'clock slot? "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" comes to mind as an example of a supporting character getting it, and I'm sure there are others. | |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: NeoAdamite 06:25 pm EDT 03/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - BigM 03:17 pm EDT 03/20/22 | |
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| Isn't it true that the lead doesn't always get the 11o'clock slot? Yes, it's a mostly obsolete practice - "Zip" from PAL JOEY is another example - but it showed up recently in SISTER ACT and JAGGED LITTLE PILL. |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:21 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Chazwaza 12:55 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| Yes, it belongs there, and it now becomes the capstone to the whole evening; we’ve seen all the ways that this life is killing these women (quite literally in Sonja’s case), and we also know that even if Sonja is too old for the oldest profession, she’s not got much life left to live (this version doesn’t tell us directly that she has AIDS, but it’s heavily signposted), and so it becomes the defining song of the night, in line with “Ladies Who Lunch” or “I’m Here”. It’s the highlight of the night. You might hate this, but Porter gives Ledisi the final, solo bow. |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 01:38 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 01:33 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Singapore/Fling 01:21 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| "Ladies Who Lunch" is different because Bobby, the main character who's story is the story we are tracking, gets "Being Alive". Queenie has no such number. "I'm Here" is an example I can't even count... my point was giving the 11 o'clock number to the person who isn't the lead. "Ladies Who Lunch" also isn't the emotional core or conclusion of the show, so in that sense it's also different... but "I'm Here" is both the emotional conclusion AND sung by the lead character. I'm very confident you know how different that is as an example for specifically what I was asking about. "I'm Here" isn't sung by Shug, and "Rose's Turn isn't sung by Herbie", etc My question was more rhetorical, I did come away from your post knowing how you felt about it. ;) Also, for the record, being too old for the life was both a joke (because she's 26, not 62) and a comment on how exhausting and draining and hard on your body and mind the life is. It's also a bit disingenuous to say that the life is literally killing Sonja because you see her deteriorating/dying of what is clearly AIDS. AIDS is a disease that is transmitted sexually, so sex workers are at high risk. Gay men dying of AIDS weren't being "killed by the life", like Sonja they were being killed by a deadly new virus that is transmitted largely through sex (and needles, but I don't recall this musical painting Sonja as a drug user -- though in reality, from what I've read and heard from actual sex workers, the truth is that the vast majority are using drugs of some kind, and I bet that's especially true in 1979 on the streets of New York, but also I'm sure there were prostitutes who didn't use or were clean, and maybe Sonja is conceived that way. If I recalll The Life painted the drug use as done by the male characters more, but I really don't remember well enough to say). |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:49 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Chazwaza 01:33 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| Queen is the central character in an ensemble show, and even in the original, she didn’t get a big solo number at the end - the show ended then (as it mostly does now) with the two friends singing a duet. Oldest Profession is the capstone because it captures the journey of all of these characters, and it works coming from Sonja. Also, what is disingenuous about Sonja being killed from a profession that gave her AIDS, and what does that have to do with gay men? A careless reader might get the impression that you think AIDS is the domain of gay men. |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 03:12 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Singapore/Fling 01:49 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| Okay, you've made a solid argument for it rather than just saying it works and is better. I think I could be down for it this way. And it's disingenuous to say that it is the life killing her. That specific thing wasn't killing all the girls working the streets with her, if they didn't get AIDS. And it was killing many people who weren't sex workers. It is specific to the life only because of the job is sex and so many people in the life end up using drugs via needles. It's not just "the life has worn her down to the point of deteriorating her into dying"... that is the virus. A careless reader would be reading carelessly and I care not for their assessment of what I said. I absolutely do not think AIDS is the domain of gay men nor did I say that. |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 03:15 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Chazwaza 03:12 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I agree that specific thing wasn't killing all of the girls, but it was killing her, and she got it from being part of the life. I didn't mean to imply that her disease is meant to be true of all of the women, nor that the song is directly tying this disease into why she's getting too old for it... but it does add to our awareness of her shortened mortality due to her job. | |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 03:26 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 03:24 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Singapore/Fling 03:15 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| So then I think we can agree... the life wasn't killing Sonja, AIDS was. The life was wearing out, deteriorating and was very hard mentally and physically on presumably all who lived it. But if you catch a virus engaging in "the life" that can be caught by anyone living life, then it isn't the way you caught it that killed you it's the thing you caught. But this is truly a pointless argument now. Sonja the character has AIDS in The Life, and that's very real and very sad and complicated. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the original she does not have AIDS *in* the play we are seeing, rather we are told she is will eventually die of AIDS (when Jojo is telling us how each other dies), but her character wasn't written to be actively dying of AIDS, right? I'm not necessarily objecting to revising that, I'm just clarifying from the original's take. |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 03:39 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Chazwaza 03:24 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I don't remember the original that well. This version also doesn't say she has AIDS, but it gives us *a lot* of context clues starting in the first act. I think I see how you're trying to lay out your logic, but it becomes a hypothetical: yes, she could have gotten AIDS in any number of ways, but the show implies that she did get it because she's a sex worker, so the disease is directly linked to her occupation. If someone injures themself at their job and files for compensation, does their employer say "well, you could have been injured in any number of ways, so it doesn't matter that it actually happened because we dropped a desk on you" (or however people get injured at office jobs)? |
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| re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 03:55 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The Oldest Profession" as an act 2 11 o'clock number... hmm - Singapore/Fling 03:39 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| But my point is that everything about living "the life" would wear out anyone doing it... in ways that a non street-sex-worker life would not. So if Paul, a gay man is dying of AIDS and Sonja a female sex worker is dying of AIDS, i don't think it makes sense to say that Sonja's job literally killed her. Unless you're also saying Paul being a non-celibate human literally killed him. No, in both cases a specific virus that had no cure or meds to suppress it killed Paul and Sonja. Again, it's a meaningly debate. |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: tandelor 12:51 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| So happy to see Ledisi get the recognition she deserves. I'm a longtime fan of hers and saw her Ledisi Sings Nina Simone performance when it came to town in January. She is a knock out talent that seems to be able to do it all. | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Last Edit: Jeff73 10:55 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| Posted by: Jeff73 10:52 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” (not really) and Ledisi stops the show (she sure did) | |
| Posted by: toros 10:31 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| I enjoyed the Encores! production of THE LIFE more than many people, but the musical did not need Billy Porter to inject "life" into it. The original production of THE LIFE was exquisitely directed by Michael Blakemore, with one of Cy Coleman's best scores, and a great cast. He was one of B'way's most versatile composers, and effortlessly pulled off a batch of powerful rhythm and blues songs. The original production was gritty, realistic and tonally unified. The Encores! is all over the place, veering from pathos to parody to unintentionally hilarious agitprop. That said, the material that he didn't mess with is strong, as was (most of) the cast, and there were many highlights, none of which had anything to do with the bizarre rewrites, which, rather than setting up the songs, undermined many of them. As for the man putting his coat over the speaker, he did this, conspicuously, during the last few notes of "The Oldest Profession," and it was ugly and unfair to Ledisi. | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” (not really) and Ledisi stops the show (she sure did) | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:47 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” (not really) and Ledisi stops the show (she sure did) - toros 10:31 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I fully agree with your assessment of the man with the coat. | |
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| the man with the coat | |
| Posted by: oddone 08:15 am EDT 03/22/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” (not really) and Ledisi stops the show (she sure did) - Singapore/Fling 12:47 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| So for those who are interested... I was sitting almost right behind said man, and was appalled by what he did. It completely took me out of the end of the song, ruining the moment for me. (Having seen the original, I wasn't in love with this revisal, but was trying to appreciate it for what it was, and was fully there for Ledisi's performance, even if I strongly disagreed with the change in placement of her song, and even more, with taking it out of the group setting and her telling war stories to her friends (as a way of community building) and making it instead a deep introspective moment - which isn't what the song is. And I was wondering how they were going to deal with the absence of Lacey's calculator...and then Sonja says "Oh, I've always been good at math." Talk about a clunky fix.) ANYWAY, right as the applause started I leaned forward and told him very sternly that he had to remove it. His response - "It's too loud!" I kept insisting, he kept saying "it's too loud", and eventually an usher walked up and told him to take it off, and he did. But that moment really took away from the rest of the show. At the end of the show, after the bows were done and the exit music was playing, I leaned forward again and tore into him. No holds barred - I told him he could never ever do that, and if he didn't like the volume he shouldn't buy a ticket for the front row. And I told him he was distracting both the performers and the audience. "Shame on you," I said. "Shame on you." He just sort of sat there and nodded. I have seen a lot of terrible audience behavior, but this was perhaps the worst. Putting aside the fact that his thin coat wasn't going to do anything to lower the volume in any noticeable way anyway (that isn't how sound design works), there's also the fact that I believe he may have been covering up a monitor (I was too upset to investigate more fully) - meaning, he was potentially making it more difficult for the cast to do their job. Not to mention potentially distracting them, or perhaps interfering with the wiring, or any number of other reasons why you should never DRAPE YOUR OWN CLOTHING OVER SOUND EQUIPMENT. |
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| re: the man with the coat | |
| Posted by: mikem 07:15 pm EDT 03/22/22 | |
| In reply to: the man with the coat - oddone 08:15 am EDT 03/22/22 | |
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| I get he was probably frustrated, but he sat there for around two and a half hours already. Weird to make a point when the show is almost over. | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Ncassidine 10:17 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| What a strange review since every other review says many people fled at intermission. | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 05:22 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:11 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| I haven't seen this production/version, and can't speak to how it works on its own or as compared to the original version... but The Life has a big cast that has to handle a lot of tonal shifts as actors, has to sing extremely well, and has to perform a show about sex workers. It requires "hooker" clothing, has very adult context and content in the text and lyrics and theme, in both its humor and its often dark drama/melodrama ... I think there were many reasons it hasn't been performed more around the country since it closed on broadway, and I am willing to bet that it being "occasionally inspiring but often embarrassing" as a piece of writing is much lower on that list of reasons for most theaters than the adult content and difficulty casting it/pulling it off. I suspect for most musicals that are easier to pull off, more appropriate, and more sellable, being "fresh from a successful Broadway run" and "the most Tony nominated musical of last year" or just "12 time Tony nominated musical straight from Broadway" (which many theaters would say even years after it closed on bway) would be enough reason for many theaters to program a musical... if it weren't about sex workers in 1979 Times Sq... I said this replying to another posting of yours about The Life, but I can't help myself :) You can have your opinion and paint it however you want, but I think I made a very convincing case that especially in the late 90s, it was not by any means universally considered the trashy mess or bad and embarrassing musical you describe -- again in was nominated for 12 Tonys including Musical, Score, Book and Director (a year when another major new original new musical was left out of most of those categories), it *won* Best Musical at the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League, and Best Music at Drama Desk ... it ran over a year (like I said in another post, longer than many better musicals and many worse musicals), it had two albums, it got mixed reviews, and there was even a glowing review/article on the specific joy of seeing the show for all it's many flaws and many shining strengths. Many many bad musicals with embarrassing writing but wonderful scores are performed more that The Life, including after a relatively successful Broadway run... I bet they are a lot easier to cast, pull off, and sell to a wide ticket buying audience. The Scottsboro Boys also got a heap of Tony noms, also lost them, and also is rarely performed since Broadway. It's certainly not because it's embarrassing and messy and bad... it is very challenging, adult, difficult to cast and dealing with dark subject matter but with comedy and drama. I'm not comparing them at all in terms of class or quality over all ... but on paper you could reduce them to the same presumed reasons they haven't had much production since Broadway, with a very similar response of noms/loses from The Tonys in their years. (I'm not saying the original The Life wasn't messy, or in places/ways bad or embarrassing, but I think it's better and more worthwhile overall and just as a score than you painted it... but no matter what either of us think of it as a musical, I still think there were reasons higher up on the list that made it less produced after Broadway.) |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:45 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Chazwaza 05:11 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| You’re right that it wasn’t universally considered a trashy mess; my experience was that it was divisively considered either an old school Broadway treat or a trashy mess. | |
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| typo in above | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 06:26 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:15 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Chazwaza 05:11 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| *glowing New York Times review/article... not just any article, but in THE paper of note, especially (in most minds) in terms of Broadway. **also want to be clear I am not in any way comparing or equating the subject matter of The Life with that of The Scottsboro Boys, I was just picking another show that is rarely produced despite being nominated for 12 Tonys. (and while Scottsboro only made it two months on Broadway, I think The Life is so presumed to have been a flop now, it may as well have run 2 months, rather than 13+). |
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| "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Posted by: reed23 04:25 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| While I’m glad you liked it – and yours is the first and only positive reaction I’ve read in an overwhelming fusillade of reactions ranging from eye-rolling to poor to furious – I’m wondering about your comment that the original score “lacked the grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to.” Since Cy Coleman co-produced the original, co-wrote the book to the original, composed the original, and co-arranged the vocals, and co-arranged the dance music, I’m curious why you thought the score “aspired” to a “grit, funk and Blackness” and missed the mark on all three. The original musical director was Gordon Harrell, the last word in pop/funk/jazz-oriented shows (including CITY OF ANGELS, DANCIN’, BIG DEAL, and THE LIFE). The original THE LIFE was co-orchestrated by Don Sebesky and Harold Wheeler. Sebesky was the go-to guy for jazz/big band shows, among a host of others, including PARADE, both KISS ME KATE revivals, both MINNELLI ON MINNELLI and LIZA’S AT THE PALACE, the revivals of BELLS ARE RINGING, BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, FLOWER DRUM SONG, PAL JOEY, the Bacharach show THE LOOK OF LOVE, and more recently COME FLY AWAY, BABY, IT’S YOU, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, and AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. If only he were still with us – oh wait, he is. Harold Wheeler’s entire career was at the forefront of a host of pop and new styles on Broadway, beginning with PROMISES, PROMISES, AIN’T SUPPOSED TO DIE A NATURAL DEATH, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, a little skit called THE WIZ (both the original and the revival), LENA HORNE: THE LADY AND HER MUSIC, another little fly-by-night skit called DREAMGIRLS (and its revival), both revivals of LITTLE ME, THE TAP DANCE KID, CARRIE, THE LIFE, SIDESHOW (and it revival), SWING!, those insufficiently gritty, funky, black shows THE FULL MONTY and HAIRSPRAY, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS – and if only he were still with us. Oh wait, he is – his latest show, AIN’T TOO PROUD, having just closed in January. James Sampliner, who executed the re-arrangements of THE LIFE for what they’re still calling Encores, has been Billy Porter’s personal musical director for 17 years, so although his credits pale before those of the above, his presence on the project is not illogical. But if his work is all you say, I’m not sure it’s necessary (or true) to be quite so blithely dismissive of the formidable original team who created the actual show. |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:31 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - reed23 04:25 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I think the main difference for me is that this 2022 version isn’t trying to sound “Broadway” in the way the 1997 version did, and that tension between gritty sex workers and glossy musical was a big part of why the original failed for me. | |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 01:24 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 01:07 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - Singapore/Fling 12:31 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| Why are sex workers not allowed to "sound broadway"? You know who also sounds broadway? Slaves in Rome in Forum, sex workers in NYC in the 60s in Sweet Charity, 50s street gangs in West Side Story, among others... I'm not saying I don't get why you want them to sing grittier songs based on your understanding of the lives they lead, but I don't entirely think it's fair to bring that to the show as an expectation. The show has a musical language and sound. I also don't think talking about the show as if it's an animated disney musical or Guys & Dolls in skimpier clothing is fair. They sing about some very adult things all throughout the show, and the score may sound old fashioned by not like 1950s or Disney. Yes, they sing in a more neat and written-for-entertainment broadway musical style that some think doesn't work for them, or feels at odds with the setting and realities but also, that's part of why it worked as a musical for the writer of the musical... Billy didn't have to do that writer's musical (and many would say he did not do it). Also, Cy Coleman's score for The Life isn't only a "broadway" sound, there's plenty of R&B in there among other styles... just not funk or disco, and apparently not the "blackness it aspired to", but you'd really have to talk to Cy about what he aspired to (blackness or not), and assigning a certainly specific kind of blackness to how it should have sounded or aspired to sound is a bit weird. |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:53 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - Chazwaza 01:07 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I think Disney is an apt comparison, as it reflects the sanitized, “scruffy” version of Times Square that was created on the Barrymore stage. You’ve also put your finger quite nicely on the way it was that weird hybrid of skimpy Guys and Dolls that also wanted to be adult and taken seriously. I know it wasn’t your intention, but I appreciate how well you’ve captured what I saw in 1997. | |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 03:20 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 03:16 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - Singapore/Fling 01:53 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| Again, that wasn't how everyone saw it or received it or assessed it. And to say The Life is an R&B infused but nonetheless traditional broadway musical score would be accurate, to say that the intentions and tone and style it was written in does not reflect the grit and sadness and misery and extremely frank sexuality of the subject is fair. To say it is basically a Disney musical is bonkers, to say that it is Guys & Dolls in skimpy clothing is silly. But obviously we are both aware how sharply we disagree on this show, and I respect your opinion. But also, you know who wasn't and isn't, to my knowledge, ever a "street walker" sex worker or pimp or drug addicted hustler in 1979 NYC ... Cy Coleman, Ire Gasman and David Newman, or Michael Blakemore, or Billy Porter, or me, or you. And nothing you've said has indicated otherwise. I also do not think the authors would tell you they ever intended to write a show that would be taken as an attempt to accurately portray the lives that real people with equivalent scenarios as the fake characters in their musical are living. This is not what you go to Cy Coleman for. |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 03:45 am EDT 03/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - Chazwaza 03:16 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| Do you respect his opinion or is it bonkers? I’m lost. | |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 05:08 am EDT 03/20/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:07 am EDT 03/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - KingSpeed 03:45 am EDT 03/20/22 | |
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| well, since you asked, i respect him... and that he has one. |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 02:53 pm EDT 03/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - Chazwaza 05:07 am EDT 03/20/22 | |
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| But you don’t seem to respect his opinion. | |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 09:04 pm EDT 03/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - KingSpeed 02:53 pm EDT 03/20/22 | |
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| Let me ask you, since you're so interested in inserting yourself here... based on the same series of posts upon which you draw your conclusion about my feelings on his opinion... do you think he "respects" my opinion on this? |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 05:20 pm EDT 03/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - Chazwaza 09:04 pm EDT 03/20/22 | |
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| Inserting myself? It’s a public message board. You’re not having a private conversation. And yes, I think he respects your opinion. | |
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| re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 05:35 pm EDT 03/21/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:31 pm EDT 03/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "The grit, the funk, and the Blackness it aspired to." - KingSpeed 05:20 pm EDT 03/21/22 | |
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| I wrote out a reply to this but it's not worth continuing. I think S/F and I are both passionate and intelligent theater lovers who disagree both about this show and, it seems, the reception of it originally and reasons for it being rarely produced since. I am not interested in continuing to debate it, he and I have both made our thoughts on it very clear. |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 12:26 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| I'm glad you enjoyed the show, after everything else I've read about it so far. But it would be great to hear from the real Singapore/Fling who posts on ATC. Whatever happened to him, and who submitted this oh-so-slick, cloyingly clever press review under his screenname? :-) | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:35 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Chromolume 12:26 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I’m just a nerd who can’t say no | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 09:38 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 12:35 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| You can be downright reasonable when you put your mind to it. However, I do enjoy sparring with you at times. I'm just afraid that there may be a terrible extreme right wing backlash coming to this country in 2024 that will affect all our institutions, including theatre. I hope I'm wrong. |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:38 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - BroadwayTonyJ 09:38 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I think you’re spot on, it’s very much dark days ahead. The question for a lot of us is whether some cities and states will survive. Keep your eye on Florida to see what way the wind is blowing. And that’s part of where my let’s say stridency comes from, the knowledge that wet only have a limited window to codify equity in our culture. Also, thanks everyone for the backhanded compliments :) |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 12:42 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 12:35 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| LOL :-) | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: pecansforall 12:16 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EDT 03/18/22 | |
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| ...and one dude down in the orchestra covering a speaker with his coat... I wish I had thought of doing that when I attended the show. |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:23 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - pecansforall 12:16 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| It lasted for all of ten seconds before it was taken down. | |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: mikem 08:02 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - Singapore/Fling 12:23 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| In terms of covering the speaker with his coat: I've never heard of that before. If he liked the performance, why did he want to muffle the sound? Or was it after the song was over? An unrelated sound issue: some reviewers said the show was too loud. I have some ear sensitivity to loud sound. Does the show seem unusually loud? |
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| re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:40 pm EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - mikem 08:02 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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| I was in the balcony, so it was fine there. Front row with a speaker pointing directly at you, probably not. Though this might have been more about Ledisi being loud, because she is noticeably amplified (whether by mic or by God who can say), and she was belting to the gods. |
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| Every review says the sound is way too loud. nmi | |
| Posted by: Ncassidine 10:15 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Billy Porter injects life into “The Life” and Ledisi stops the show - mikem 08:02 am EDT 03/19/22 | |
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