Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? | |
| Posted by: Michael_212 03:10 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? - Singapore/Fling 06:51 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
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| I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. | |
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| re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 05:04 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? - Michael_212 03:10 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| Others have gone into more detail below, but the question is what makes this karaoke, rather than people singing to pre-recorded background tracks, especially since the songs are original, rather than iconic pop songs. | |
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| re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? | |
| Last Edit: Michael_212 05:22 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| Posted by: Michael_212 05:19 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? - Singapore/Fling 05:04 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| The show (as it was played at The Public) begins with a DJ, who is visible to the audience throughout the show, welcoming the audience to a karaoke nightclub and explains that karaoke was invented in The Philippines. Imelda Marcos was known for enjoying nightclubs and the show presents her and the other characters as performing karaoke. Many of the songs are staged with the performers holding microphones as if they're performing in a karaoke club. There is hardly any spoken dialogue in the show. The story is conveyed through projections and lyrics and the cast just goes from song to song, with staging that indicates that they and the audience are in a club. This is not simply deciding to use recorded music to save money. Using karaoke is a dramatic element of the storytelling. | |
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| re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 04:27 pm EDT 05/29/23 | |
| In reply to: re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? - Michael_212 05:19 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| This blew my mind. I saw the show five times off-Broadway and did not at all get that the performers were performing as if in a karaoke club (not saying you are wrong, just that I am surprised, and surprised I could have missed that so many times). I did get that it was set in a club, which I assumed was a disco, as I believe it was a disco that the Marcus's had installed on the roof of their palace, and because she/they liked disco clubs. I always thought the reason the music was not live is because whatever (electronic?) effects were applied to it to make it sound like a club remix could only be done after the fact, not simultaneously while it was being played live. I certainly never felt I was having a lesser experience. I think it would have been odd to have a live orchestra in the room. And I say this is a musician and as someone who wants as much live music as possible when I go to theatre, IF it makes sense for the show in question. And as someone else pointed out below, it also creates a stunning, and unforgettable moment at the end of the show when a small live acoustic accompaniment is employed for the finale. | |
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| re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 07:50 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? - Michael_212 05:19 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| DJs, famously, not usually a part of karaoke. To be true to karaoke, they should really stage it in a small private room, or even better, with an at-home machine and a small TV. I think the show sounds fabulous, but what I’m getting is through-composed dance club musical with handheld microphones, not karaoke. |
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| re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 05:38 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? - Michael_212 05:19 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I have not seen the show. But what you're describing does not to my mind make the use of live musicians, should that happen, sound like it would be a problem. The setup is explicit, as you describe it. The audience can suspend disbelief easily enough. And if the creative team is super-concerned that the presence of a visible live orchestra would so upset or confuse the audience as to create a violation of the show's setup, put them upstage or in a room somewhere. Or just cover the pit. Honestly, I think the advantages of a live orchestra in any live performance of a musical would outweigh what seems to me a questionable artistic choice even given the show's setup regarding karaoke. |
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| re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:17 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: CONTACT -- Didn't CONTACT use recorded music? - AlanScott 05:38 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I would also note that Disney's On The Record used a live orchestra, even though with the show taking place in a recording studio, the singers could easily have been dubbing their voices onto to pre-recorded tracks, as happens in the industry. But Disney avoided that. | |
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