Musicals and such
I've been on such a Beauty and the Beast kick lately and now I'm in my first week of a class called "The History of the Musical" (formerly titled the history of Broadway but with the crossover of Disney's and now Dreamwork's movies into the realm of Broadway they had to expand it).
The first day of class we were asked what our favorite musical is. I had a hard time deciding, really. "The Music Man" holds a special place in my heart because my dad, sister and brother were in it when my sister and brother were younger and both my sister and I remember spending hours with dad trying to help hi memorize his lines for the train scene. Then there's "Singin' in the Rain." Boy did I have a crush on Gene Kelly at the time. A guy who could and would dance (and boy did he dance well). As an adult I appreciated the musical even more as I realized all the work that went into getting the feel of the early age of film right and the historical accuracy of it. Then there was "Meet me in St. Louis" that holds a special place in my heart because it was a MUNY favorite in St. Louis where I grew up. the MUNY was where I grew up on musicals. I quite possibly might have been the very first musical I ever saw live. Who knows? To see it performed in the same park as the 1904 World's Fair takes place in the musical is so moving in it's own way. Then I came to my Disney movie favorite: Beauty and the Beast. As he went alphabetically I had to pick before anyone had chosen any of my four picks so I griped for a second (I could ONLY choose one) so I said "alphabetically, Beauty and the Beast." The prof (who was only teasing me as he knew me from other things) asked if it was because I had seen it as a kid and loved it ever since. I commented that it was because of the characterization of Belle that I love it so much. I think I should have said that I had seen it twice in the theater and think that the stage version is even better.
Just a day or so ago there was a discussion over on one of my Disney forums about how both "The Princess and the Frog" and "Tangled" felt very different from all of the other classics from the "Golden Age" (as the time between the 80s and 2000s is called within Disney circles). It's a curious question. I decided to see Tangled in the theaters (not the least because Zachary Levi was voicing Flynn Rider) and while I enjoyed it one of the things I didn't care for was some of the songs (the lyrics, not the music), which was a problem I had with "Princess and the Frog" as well when I did actually watch it. My first thought about the lyrics was "too preachy" and the first actual song of "Tangled" earned that thought. I know it's not a valid criticism if I can't flesh it out but something about the lyrics just didn't work for me. Not sure why, I could never place my finger on it.
The first day of class we were asked what our favorite musical is. I had a hard time deciding, really. "The Music Man" holds a special place in my heart because my dad, sister and brother were in it when my sister and brother were younger and both my sister and I remember spending hours with dad trying to help hi memorize his lines for the train scene. Then there's "Singin' in the Rain." Boy did I have a crush on Gene Kelly at the time. A guy who could and would dance (and boy did he dance well). As an adult I appreciated the musical even more as I realized all the work that went into getting the feel of the early age of film right and the historical accuracy of it. Then there was "Meet me in St. Louis" that holds a special place in my heart because it was a MUNY favorite in St. Louis where I grew up. the MUNY was where I grew up on musicals. I quite possibly might have been the very first musical I ever saw live. Who knows? To see it performed in the same park as the 1904 World's Fair takes place in the musical is so moving in it's own way. Then I came to my Disney movie favorite: Beauty and the Beast. As he went alphabetically I had to pick before anyone had chosen any of my four picks so I griped for a second (I could ONLY choose one) so I said "alphabetically, Beauty and the Beast." The prof (who was only teasing me as he knew me from other things) asked if it was because I had seen it as a kid and loved it ever since. I commented that it was because of the characterization of Belle that I love it so much. I think I should have said that I had seen it twice in the theater and think that the stage version is even better.
Just a day or so ago there was a discussion over on one of my Disney forums about how both "The Princess and the Frog" and "Tangled" felt very different from all of the other classics from the "Golden Age" (as the time between the 80s and 2000s is called within Disney circles). It's a curious question. I decided to see Tangled in the theaters (not the least because Zachary Levi was voicing Flynn Rider) and while I enjoyed it one of the things I didn't care for was some of the songs (the lyrics, not the music), which was a problem I had with "Princess and the Frog" as well when I did actually watch it. My first thought about the lyrics was "too preachy" and the first actual song of "Tangled" earned that thought. I know it's not a valid criticism if I can't flesh it out but something about the lyrics just didn't work for me. Not sure why, I could never place my finger on it.