This entry is a Trust Exercise

[bestfishes]

I just saw Hot Fuzz tonight and it BLEW MY MIND. I haven’t seen a movie that good since Children of Men. Completely different films, disparate in every way but one: they both kicked serious cinematic posterior. I would go so far as to say I enjoyed the former more than the latter. Just goes to show nothing beats great comedy. I came out of the

Comments

You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[bestfishes]

Defend away. I know that I can't judge a musical merely by its soundtrack, and there were definitely songs where I thought, "I bet you have to see this song staged to really get it." Still, I was left underwhelmed and dissapointed by a lot of the songs. I got to admit though, I've been listening to the show all day and it's growing on me. I didn't really like "Cabin in the Woods" at first, but it's slowly burrowing itself snugly into my brain.

Also, I hope my little blurb didn't lead you to believe that I thought Evil Dead: The Musical and Brick by Brick were at all congruent in tone. I mean, sure, they are both macabre horror-musicals, but Evil Dead: The Musical is obviously much lighter and, as you said, "burlesque" in tone. It's just, I'm a big fan of the film series and I thought the soundtrack seemed to be saying the whole time, "look at us, we're an Evil Dead musical! Isn't that funny?" It was as if the show were coasting on its built-in appeal rather than acknowledging that appeal and still being a great piece of musical theatre in its own right. I mean, do you think someone who doesn't know anything about the Evil Dead series could still enjoy this show? I'm not sure.

All I'm saying is, as far as entries into the campy-horror subgenre of musical theatre go, this show was kinda shallow. I think other entries like Bat Boy, Sweeney Todd and Little Shop or Horrors have more heart and depth than this show does. Listening to it was a lot of fun, but I think a show is more fun when you actually care about the characters. I think Brick by Brick comes closer to having the heart and depth that the aforementioned trifecta does, and that's why I think it would do well in an off Broadway venue. Much like Evil Dead: The Musical, it also has built-in commercial appeal, but Nehemiah and I were very careful not to coast on that appeal, making it a good show regardless of its source material.

So that's what I think. There were catchy songs and funny lyrics but in the end I was dissapointed. After listening to the soundtrack though, I definitely want to see the show. Perhaps some of the things I felt the soundtrack lacked can be found in the show's staging and dialogue. I'd like to be in a production of this show for that very reason.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to "Good Old Reliable Jake" again. That song is awesome.

Re: You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[elusiveavocado]

Whooooa. Hold up. Sweeney Todd is not campy. Its not. When a production is campy, they're doing it wrong. Anthony and Joanna are meant to start out mildly campily, but then the dark forces of the plot mess with that, and they're forced to have deeper, more empathetic reactions.

Bat Boy and Little Shop are indeed campy, but I wouldn't call them burlesque, they lack the self-awareness and willingness to break the fourth wall of Evil Dead. The only other show I would call close to it in tone (besides the soon-to-be-mentioned Spamalot) is Zombie Prom, but even that show is careful about what lines are addressed directly to the audience.

I also think the "isn't that funny" attitude is mostly taken directly from the movies themselves. I'm of the opinion that the graveyard scene in "Army of Darkness" in which Ash can't seem to escape from the hordes of skeletal hands is one of the most brilliant moments of slapstick humor in film to date. No serious horror flick would allow a "gotcher nose!" moment.

I didn't infer that you thought Brick by Brick was in the same tone as Evil Dead, what I meant to clarify was that the difference in tone has very much to do with what makes an acceptable or entertaining lyric. The excellent perfomances of the actors (especially that of Sheryl and Shelley/whatever her name is) selling the often-ridiculous lyric made for a better show. However, I would attribute a large amount of its success to the movie series' cult following, and would not use it as a quality v. success touchstone.

So there are my nitpicky gripes with your argument. I do highly reccomend that you see the show; I want to see it in Toronto, but I am somewhat ridiculously broke at the moment, which seems to work to my disadvantage.
And yes, Good Old Reliable Jake is an awesome song. I'm waiting for the sheet music to be released so I can sing 'All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons' at auditions.

Re: You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[bestfishes]

I tried to use restraint, but then I realized that I didn’t have any. When you first said Sweeney Todd wasn’t campy, my gut reaction was “Yes it is!” But then I had a thought. I thought, “Ross, do you even know what campy means?” I thought I did, but then I realized I couldn’t put it into words. To solve this problem, I decided to look it up, just to make sure I wasn’t talking out of my hindquarters. According to my Microsoft dictionary, camp is, “Banality, vulgarity, or artificiality when deliberately affected or when appreciated for its humor.” In this case, Sweeney Todd is most definitely campy. Granted, it’s not as campy as Evil Dead: The Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, or Bat Boy, but it’s still campy. It’s true that Sweeney Todd doesn’t use affected artificiality for humorous effect, but it does use vulgarity to this end. Listen to “A Little Priest” and tell me Sweeney Todd isn’t campy. It’s a musical about a homicidal barber whose victims are baked into pies. Of course it’s campy! Just because a musical is campy doesn’t mean it can’t have moments of depth or empathy. I think Brick by Brick has both of these things, but is still definitely campy.

I would like to say though, that I think you’re really spot-on about the musical inheriting much of its attitude from the film series it’s based on. Even though I was disappointed by some lyrical and musical choices, I really think the show captured the spirit of the series. Like it or not, this is definitely an Evil Dead musical. Earlier, I was going on about how a show is more fun when you actually care about the characters, but do we actually care about any of the characters in the Evil Dead film series? I would argue that the only character we really care about is Ash; the rest are dispensable Candarian demon fodder. I didn’t really empathize with Ash as I listened to the soundtrack, but I would probably feel differently if I actually watched the show.

So those are my little nitpicks. On an entirely different note, are you going to audition for song class next year? I’m going to, and if we’re in it together maybe one week could do “Good Old Reliable Jake” and “All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons” in a spectacular Evil Dead: The Musical double bill!

Re: You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[leclowne]

Read Susan Sontag's "Notes on Camp." Good times.

Re: You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[bestfishes]

I read it this afternoon while at the beach and it was really interesting! It definitely addressed a lot of the difficulties I was facing while attempting to define camp in the above discussion. If anyone else would like to read it, there's a great link here.

Re: You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[leclowne]

I love how well you take suggestions.

Re: You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[elusiveavocado]

I wrote an awesome response and LJ ate it.
Here's the short, slightly less-eloquent version:
_I OED'd campy. Pwned microsoft dictionary. Campy still does not apply to sweeney todd, as the vulgarity is not part of the presentation, but part of the interaction between Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd in their one-upsmanship bout of rhyming and punning.

_I pointed out that Evil Dead is closest in tone to Spamalot, whose soundtrack also is not brilliant as a standalone.

_I did something else fancy. No idea what it was.

In other news, I am planning on auditioning for song class. If the vocal selections haven't been releasted for Evil Dead yet, I may be forced to sing "Johnny Don't Go to the Nuclear Plant" from Zombie Prom....

Re: You want to discuss? Let's discuss.

[pamsfriends]

If all else fails, sing something from Urinetown and drink a LOT of water beforehand to get into character.