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| Todd et al. Choreography | |
| Posted by: peter3053 07:28 am EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| In the Ballad in the revival, the peculiar choppy hand movements made by the ensemble in the lines, "Sweeney was smooth Sweeney was subtle..." etc suggested nothing more than that they were indicating either the brevity of the lines on the page in the script, or the bar lines in the musical phrase which accompanied them. In fact, when not looking like something that skeletal and absurd, the movement seemed to have no connection to actual, understandable attitudes of character at all. Movement for movement's sake. It got me to thinking that this style of choreography has been a while aborning ... I think of some of the peculiar choreographic intrusions in the Promises Promises revival, such as those strange men who appeared and did push-ups during "She Likes Basketball"; and other instances which I can no longer remember specifically but echo in my memory. Movement disconnected from character or even attendant emotion. I thought the choreography in Hamilton was of that ilk, too. And then I pondered the kind of movement that a Jerome Robbins would create, or a Patricia Birch would manifest, where everything stemmed from character, and the feeling in the moment, and yet was shapely, elegant, beautiful to enjoy. Agnes de Mille, too, captured understandable behaviour in such as the end-of-act-one dream ballet in Oklahoma! Their dance loaned added dimension to our understanding of character and therefore plot. In a sense, could we be seeing the end of the genuinely integrated musical, (beyond the egregious juke box shows), wherein dance no longer serves a dramatic purpose alongside music, lyrics and book, but simply serves to provide meaningless activity to entertain thoughtlessly? |
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| Some Like It Hot | |
| Last Edit: KingSpeed 10:14 pm EDT 07/17/23 | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 10:09 pm EDT 07/17/23 | |
| In reply to: Todd et al. Choreography - peter3053 07:28 am EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| Fully integrated musical. I have not seen Shucked or NY, NY but they appear to be fully integrated musicals too. Whether or not you like these shows is besides the point. | |
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| Did the Sweeney choreography "click" for anyone else at the Tonys? | |
| Last Edit: DistantDrumming 11:18 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 11:18 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
| In reply to: Todd et al. Choreography - peter3053 07:28 am EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| I'm one of those audience members who was, to put it mildly, not enamored with Steven Hoggett's choreography. I honestly felt embarrassed for the ensemble as I watched them shake and shudder and do those bizarre zombie body rolls the night I saw the show. It felt so unnecessary and untrusting of the material. But, then, several weeks later I saw them do that same choreography on the Tonys and the whole thing felt absolutely thrilling. I think a lot is owed to the excellent direction for television (and camera work and editing,) but the staging really 'clicked' for me watching it on the Tonys. Anyone else have a similar experience? I'm guessing I'm not the only one because the performance seemed to get one of the best reactions of the night. I'll probably see the show again before the end of the year and I'll be curious to see if it works for me in the theatre now and without the benefit of the camera. FWIW, when I saw the show I was seated about 1/3 of the way back, in the orchestra, house left. |
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| re: Did the Sweeney choreography "click" for anyone else at the Tonys? | |
| Posted by: ilw 05:17 pm EDT 07/16/23 | |
| In reply to: Did the Sweeney choreography "click" for anyone else at the Tonys? - DistantDrumming 11:18 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| I haven't seen this production yet, but I had a similar reaction to the Tony performance. The creepy choreography added to the excitement of the number. Also, I'm so familiar with the show that I appreciated seeing an imaginative new staging that I thought worked well with Sondheim's score. | |
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| re: Did the Sweeney choreography "click" for anyone else at the Tonys? | |
| Posted by: sirpupnyc 11:46 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
| In reply to: Did the Sweeney choreography "click" for anyone else at the Tonys? - DistantDrumming 11:18 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| I suspect part of the problem is that it keeps happening. Seeing an isolated instance (and the one where perhaps it already works better), out of context, is different. It might be like those times when a production has an interesting bit, but doesn't realise they only get to use it once, because the second (third, fourth) time it's just cheesy. |
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| re: Did the Sweeney choreography "click" for anyone else at the Tonys? | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 12:38 am EDT 07/16/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Did the Sweeney choreography "click" for anyone else at the Tonys? - sirpupnyc 11:46 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| I did think the SWEENEY choreography looked rather jerky, but I’d want to see the whole show to see how it works as a whole before damning or praising it. That said, the choreography for HAMILTON was my second least favorite thing about the show, which I otherwise regard as a work of genius. (The first was the underwear costumes for much of the ensemble.) Laura in LA |
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| re: Todd et al. Choreography | |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:44 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
| In reply to: Todd et al. Choreography - peter3053 07:28 am EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| I enjoyed the Sweeney choreography, after hearing disgruntled reports in previews that it distracted. Responses are entirely subjective of course, but I didn't find the hand movements designed solely to literalize the score's staccato rhythm or punctuate the brevity of lines in the text. The ballad is one place where the characters fold into a unified storytelling ensemble beyond participating citizens; and even on his entrance Sweeney himself break the fourth wall, in the first lines sung, Sweeney refers to himself in the third person, which renders him a player (too), a distanced role he won't return to until the finale. Here, hand gestures suggested the need to set forth horrific tale with utter precision, with an assignment: to render moral clarity. The words sung are a brutal appraisal of a story with little light seeping through its cracks. The ensemble's wild-eyed demeanor -- Tobias sneakily turning downstage to uncover his face then cover it again -- suggested the horror in a dark parable they're committed to present. It's mysterious and stylized, but off-putting in a good sense: the world being built will be narrated by people aware of its ugliness and sharp edges. Those edges are what I remember in the arms and hands sorting out the facts. | |
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| re: Todd et al. Choreography | |
| Posted by: peter3053 12:48 am EDT 07/16/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Todd et al. Choreography - Delvino 07:44 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| Wow. My only thought re this is that, as originally envisioned, the ensemble of actors including the actor playing Todd were supposedly denizens of the London underclass, united in powerlessness and frustration, wanting to tell the story of Todd as a cautionary tale to the audience, where Todd is their representative avenger against the elite. I realize that once the words and notes are on the page and in the score, a director is free to interpret, and your analysis is welcome. My feeling is that the choreography draws attention to itself without illuminating a clear point of view - but chacun a son gout, as they say. (Which roughly translated is, "Shaking a son suffering with gout" ... no, that's NOT what they're doing in the choreo ... is it??) |
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| re: Todd et al. Choreography | |
| Posted by: theatreguy40 01:52 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
| In reply to: Todd et al. Choreography - peter3053 07:28 am EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| Agree!!! Completely!! The art of choreography has disappeared. No longer is it connected to character or plot or even to underline an emotion. Choreographers like Jerome Robbins, Agnes deMille and others from our musical theatre past KNEW what choreography could do to enhance a show. Now choreography like we are seeing in HAMILITON or SWEENEY or other recent shows seem to just be "movement for movement's sake". Yes, sometimes dance - for "fun"" is not only needed by necessary -- but meaningless movement or extraneous movement for the sake of movement is not making the best use of the art form. What a shame that the art form has disintergrated so completely... Just my 2 cents... | |
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| re: Todd et al. Choreography | |
| Posted by: ryhog 12:03 pm EDT 07/15/23 | |
| In reply to: Todd et al. Choreography - peter3053 07:28 am EDT 07/15/23 | |
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| Interesting. I had almost the complete opposite reaction to the choreography you mention [leaving out Promises which is not of a piece with the others]. No point in debating our reactions really (they are both valid). I will just mention that you seem to have a preference for "shapely, elegant, beautiful to enjoy" and we can agree that those are not the first words that come to mind in the shows you mention. (Certainly I don't think all choreography of this style works as applied, but you could say that about plenty of shows with "beautiful" dance too, no?) I had a related conversation with someone a while back, in which we were talking about the reaction in the late 19th Century to plays written with an awareness of the newfangled concept of psychology, and the reaction in some precincts to a similar awareness that is an aspect of 21st Century choreography. Without digging any deeper: that characters' words (like those of real people) often obscure what is really going on. In that sense, dance can inform rather than avoid character and plot. I'll leave it at that. |
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