"76 trombones hit the big parade!"
This is how I kick back and relax - I either watch Boston Legal, or sing from musicals that aren't 'The Wedding Singer'.
I have FINALLY watched 'The Music Man' in its entirety. I wish their period wasn't so set in stone, because the music and characterizations are brilliant, and put a fresh spin on your typical town story about rediscovering music. For a 1950s musical, the music is melodic but surprisingly innovative with its fringes of onomatopeias in songs such as 'Rock Island', 'Piano Lesson', and 'Pickalittle, Talkalittle'.
What endears me most to 'Music Man' is its influence on my favorite TV/movie writer, David E. Kelley. I heart David E. Kelley for musical references, and putting out of work theatre and old primetime actors on brilliantly-written television shows.
'The Music Man' is best known as the 1963 movie starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. Disney recently remade it with Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Broderick.
I haven't seen the 2003 version in full, but from the youtube clips, I could see the attempts on the update. It's refreshing to see Chenoweth in an older role and to hear her full classical training in 'Goodnight my Someone'. Broderick injects more charm than fast talk as the sneaky Professor Hill. Some may reject his approach to the character, but the persuasion is clear. With Chenoweth playing Marion, the only other actor I can imagine as her counterpoint would be that guy from NKOB who played Fiyero in Wicked-- no? ;p As the main love team, Marion is colder and more off-the-cuff in the 1963 version. Chenoweth is a lot more open about Marian's tenderness, seen in her lengthened 'Lida Rose' to how the camera tracks her throughout 'Goodnight My Someone'.
As Disney's 'Music Man' is a made for TV movie, it is guilty of corny transitions such as the fade-in, fade-out montage. While the obvious desire to detach itself from the 1963, especially with signature scenes such as the spots and blackouts in particular scenes, there ought to be a little extra effort into making it NOT feel like a TV movie.
And Disney's barbershop quartet is TOO pretty. They look more like a boyband more than an actual, bonafide quartet that are supposedly "men who hated each other for many, many years".
What bugs me about the Disney version is that they focused too much on Broderick and Chenoweth, instead of the actual town. The ensemble choreography for 'Marian the Librarian' was shortened to make room for a little Oklahoma ballet-esque sequence between the leads. Story-wise, it pre-empted the romance too soon. 'Lida Rose' didn't feel as powerful, and felt simply frivolous, as their true feelings have already been revealed in the library dance scene. The beauty to the 1963 movie is that the dialogue properly built up to the song. The romance was originally resolved not in song, but when the town's Mayor attempts to confront Professor Hill, punctuated by 'Lida Rose' and resolved in the 'Goodnight my Someone/76 Trombones' counterpoint.
While the update is enjoyable, there's a reason why the 1963 version's a classic. Watch that instead. Mind, I'm not even what one would call a purist. I see significant improvements with most Sondheim revisions, I liked the TV movie remake of 'Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat', Joan Collins cameo and all. I even liked Barbra Streisand in 'My Fair Lady' -- yes, even and especially over the Audrey Hepburn version.
My biggest crime to musical theatre? Actually liking Madonna and Antonio Banderas in the 'Evita' movie. I even liked Banderas over Patimkin. :P
I have FINALLY watched 'The Music Man' in its entirety. I wish their period wasn't so set in stone, because the music and characterizations are brilliant, and put a fresh spin on your typical town story about rediscovering music. For a 1950s musical, the music is melodic but surprisingly innovative with its fringes of onomatopeias in songs such as 'Rock Island', 'Piano Lesson', and 'Pickalittle, Talkalittle'.
What endears me most to 'Music Man' is its influence on my favorite TV/movie writer, David E. Kelley. I heart David E. Kelley for musical references, and putting out of work theatre and old primetime actors on brilliantly-written television shows.
'The Music Man' is best known as the 1963 movie starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. Disney recently remade it with Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Broderick.
Click to viewI haven't seen the 2003 version in full, but from the youtube clips, I could see the attempts on the update. It's refreshing to see Chenoweth in an older role and to hear her full classical training in 'Goodnight my Someone'. Broderick injects more charm than fast talk as the sneaky Professor Hill. Some may reject his approach to the character, but the persuasion is clear. With Chenoweth playing Marion, the only other actor I can imagine as her counterpoint would be that guy from NKOB who played Fiyero in Wicked-- no? ;p As the main love team, Marion is colder and more off-the-cuff in the 1963 version. Chenoweth is a lot more open about Marian's tenderness, seen in her lengthened 'Lida Rose' to how the camera tracks her throughout 'Goodnight My Someone'.
As Disney's 'Music Man' is a made for TV movie, it is guilty of corny transitions such as the fade-in, fade-out montage. While the obvious desire to detach itself from the 1963, especially with signature scenes such as the spots and blackouts in particular scenes, there ought to be a little extra effort into making it NOT feel like a TV movie.
And Disney's barbershop quartet is TOO pretty. They look more like a boyband more than an actual, bonafide quartet that are supposedly "men who hated each other for many, many years".
What bugs me about the Disney version is that they focused too much on Broderick and Chenoweth, instead of the actual town. The ensemble choreography for 'Marian the Librarian' was shortened to make room for a little Oklahoma ballet-esque sequence between the leads. Story-wise, it pre-empted the romance too soon. 'Lida Rose' didn't feel as powerful, and felt simply frivolous, as their true feelings have already been revealed in the library dance scene. The beauty to the 1963 movie is that the dialogue properly built up to the song. The romance was originally resolved not in song, but when the town's Mayor attempts to confront Professor Hill, punctuated by 'Lida Rose' and resolved in the 'Goodnight my Someone/76 Trombones' counterpoint.
While the update is enjoyable, there's a reason why the 1963 version's a classic. Watch that instead. Mind, I'm not even what one would call a purist. I see significant improvements with most Sondheim revisions, I liked the TV movie remake of 'Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat', Joan Collins cameo and all. I even liked Barbra Streisand in 'My Fair Lady' -- yes, even and especially over the Audrey Hepburn version.
My biggest crime to musical theatre? Actually liking Madonna and Antonio Banderas in the 'Evita' movie. I even liked Banderas over Patimkin. :P