Love's Labour's Lost: The Musical
Pezzers, have you seen Kenneth Branagh's version of Love's Labour's Lost? If you haven't, you really ought to, because it's a musical version, and it's kind of hilarious. (Not quite as awesome as the production of Big Life we saw in London, but really, what is? That's like the pinnacle of adaptations for that play.)
I like seeing Shakespeare reborn in different settings, and I adore the 1930s, so set even a not-so-great play in 1939, add in a ton of songs from musicals of the era (mostly Fred and Ginger musicals, yay!) and add in dancing, and I'm totally sold even before I see the thing.
I can't decide which was my favorite musical number. I particularly enjoyed "I'd Rather Charleston" (airy and amusing, and reveals that Branagh is quite a good dancer), "I Won't Dance" (funny and cute, rather like the original, only multiplied by three more couples), "The Way You Look Tonight" (Holofernia and Sir Nathaniel totally steal the show--older sweethearts FTW!) "Cheek to Cheek" (hilarious and pretty, and the dance was most in the spirit of the original), and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (touching, and again reminiscent of the original, down to the car).
"Cheek to Cheek" actually provoked the most laughter, though. I think it was because I could feel it heading toward that song through most of the scene--each of the boys reference "heaven" at least once in their excitement about their girls, and then about three-quarters of the way through Berowne's speech I just knew what was coming. Then he said, "Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony," and there was a little, deliberate pause before he broke into the song that just ratcheted up the dramatic irony even more for those who had a good idea of what Tin Pan Alley song would fit there. I laughed and laughed when he finally started singing. Then all the boys struck arabesques and floated up into the cupola--painted to look like a sky, naturally--as they all chimed in on the second "Heaven, I'm in heaven," and I was on the floor. The partner dance for all of them with the girls was staged as a dream sequence, which worked for the film, although that song is so lovely that it really deserves to be sung to someone.
"The Way You Look Tonight" was also staged amusingly. The way they got into it was by having Jacquanetta give her letter to Holofernia to read, and as Holofernia exclaims about it being "in verse," the camera angles so that we see a bit of the letter. The "verse" is the lyrics, at which point I started giggling like a madman. And then I laughed even more when Holofernia started singing it. The choreography was very cute, and I adored her and Sir Nathaniel obviously singing the song to each other while Jacquanetta, Costard, and Dull pranced about quasi-balletically in the background. Awww.
I'm not sure if it's similar in the original, but (aside from Holofernia and Nathaniel, anyway) Branagh's Berowne and Natasha McElhone's Rosaline were by far the best characters/players in the whole thing. Perhaps the actors, being older than the rest of the lovers, just had more experience. At any rate, they were my favorites. (I thought the other two courtier/ladies in waiting couples were okay, but a bit bland, and while I liked the King, I have an allergy to Alicia Silverstone, who pretty much ruined the Princess role for me. Ah, well.)
I liked that all of the songs got rearranged so that everyone got to sing a few lines of them. I suppose that was a plot necessity more than anything, but it worked quite well as an artistic choice, especially in "I Won't Dance." (Aside: no one covering the song ever seems to know what to do with the "especially when you do the Continental" line. It's like a little Ginger-and-Fred watermark. Hee.)
So, yes. It generally got panned by critics, but I totally loved it.
I like seeing Shakespeare reborn in different settings, and I adore the 1930s, so set even a not-so-great play in 1939, add in a ton of songs from musicals of the era (mostly Fred and Ginger musicals, yay!) and add in dancing, and I'm totally sold even before I see the thing.
I can't decide which was my favorite musical number. I particularly enjoyed "I'd Rather Charleston" (airy and amusing, and reveals that Branagh is quite a good dancer), "I Won't Dance" (funny and cute, rather like the original, only multiplied by three more couples), "The Way You Look Tonight" (Holofernia and Sir Nathaniel totally steal the show--older sweethearts FTW!) "Cheek to Cheek" (hilarious and pretty, and the dance was most in the spirit of the original), and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (touching, and again reminiscent of the original, down to the car).
"Cheek to Cheek" actually provoked the most laughter, though. I think it was because I could feel it heading toward that song through most of the scene--each of the boys reference "heaven" at least once in their excitement about their girls, and then about three-quarters of the way through Berowne's speech I just knew what was coming. Then he said, "Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony," and there was a little, deliberate pause before he broke into the song that just ratcheted up the dramatic irony even more for those who had a good idea of what Tin Pan Alley song would fit there. I laughed and laughed when he finally started singing. Then all the boys struck arabesques and floated up into the cupola--painted to look like a sky, naturally--as they all chimed in on the second "Heaven, I'm in heaven," and I was on the floor. The partner dance for all of them with the girls was staged as a dream sequence, which worked for the film, although that song is so lovely that it really deserves to be sung to someone.
"The Way You Look Tonight" was also staged amusingly. The way they got into it was by having Jacquanetta give her letter to Holofernia to read, and as Holofernia exclaims about it being "in verse," the camera angles so that we see a bit of the letter. The "verse" is the lyrics, at which point I started giggling like a madman. And then I laughed even more when Holofernia started singing it. The choreography was very cute, and I adored her and Sir Nathaniel obviously singing the song to each other while Jacquanetta, Costard, and Dull pranced about quasi-balletically in the background. Awww.
I'm not sure if it's similar in the original, but (aside from Holofernia and Nathaniel, anyway) Branagh's Berowne and Natasha McElhone's Rosaline were by far the best characters/players in the whole thing. Perhaps the actors, being older than the rest of the lovers, just had more experience. At any rate, they were my favorites. (I thought the other two courtier/ladies in waiting couples were okay, but a bit bland, and while I liked the King, I have an allergy to Alicia Silverstone, who pretty much ruined the Princess role for me. Ah, well.)
I liked that all of the songs got rearranged so that everyone got to sing a few lines of them. I suppose that was a plot necessity more than anything, but it worked quite well as an artistic choice, especially in "I Won't Dance." (Aside: no one covering the song ever seems to know what to do with the "especially when you do the Continental" line. It's like a little Ginger-and-Fred watermark. Hee.)
So, yes. It generally got panned by critics, but I totally loved it.