OBNOXIOUS
I think that musical theatre can be a very good thing. Pretty much anything Sondheim, Reefer Madness, White Noise, tick tick... BOOM!, The Last Five Years, Spring Awakening... I think that these are great shows. Not just good "musicals", but good plays. And intelligent plays. So I always have to remember not to lump all musical theatre into one big category.
However, I do think that on whole, straight theatre and movies have a huge one-up on originality. I am getting so tired of movies turning into musicals. But it hasn't really bothered me all that much until recently. Usually, they choose a movie that's kind of off-the-wall and quirky to begin with (Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Wedding Singer) so even though I don't think there's any reason for most of these movies to be made into musicals, I can at least sort of understand it.
But now they are making a musical out of Catch Me If You Can. And I think that is obnoxious.
For one, I love that movie. That movie is not meant to be a musical. I mean it's based on a true story and that story is fucking awesome. I don't believe for one second that this musical is going to stay true to that.
Secondly, I read this: "As for the story's sober moral lessons, Shaiman and Wittman focus elsewhere. 'If you're going to write a song, make it catchy and fun,' says Shaiman. 'Right now, we're writing one about terrible fathers screwing up their sons. But we're writing it to be a showstopper.'" OBNOXIOUS.
Also, it's apparently going to be set later in the 60s so that they, for some unnecessary reason, can incorporate Beatlemania.
I'm just really annoyed by this. I just don't understand why people continue to take the THEATRE out of musical theatre. When you can just outright say - "Screw the story, screw objectives - let's just make this FUN! Let's strip this script of all its literary value and throw in some catchy tunes and pirouettes and let's make some money!" I think there's a problem. And okay, perhaps that's not exactly what they say but that's the gist of it, really. I honestly think that every musical should still be able to be a quality piece of work with the music taken out. If the strength of the book doesn't match the music, then I don't really think it's theatre.
Theatre, by definition is "dramatic literature or its performance."
It's LITERATURE. It's language. It's not catchy songs with mildly clever dialogue laced in between. And that's not to say that every straight show is quality. Of course not. I've seen and read some horrible straight plays. But there's just something about reading David Mamet or Tennessee Williams, for example, that's like reading poetry even though it's not. It's so well-crafted. You feel like there's a reason behind every word. And you can do that with music too. I've been listening to Regina Spektor and The Decemberists and Imogen Heap and Splendid a lot lately. These are incredible lyricists and storytellers. It can be like poetry put to music. Or a story put to music. It's beautiful. It shows what music is capable of. The thing is, there was a time I used to be insanely obsessed with musical theatre. That's all I wanted to do. But when I gained more and more of a passion for acting, I lost some of that passion for musicals. Because honestly I think that real acting opportunities are hard to come by in musicals. I appreciate musicals for what they are, but I think that there is a severe lack of theatrical integrity in a vast amount of it. And many shows I think should simply be called "musicals" and not "musical theatre." It's entertainment.
As usual, I went on longer than expected. I love musical theatre sometimes. I think that musical expression can be beautiful, whether it be dramatic or comedic. There's just the matter of creating well-rounded characters and music that stays true to these characters and progresses the plot and allows for growth. That's a standard, a very basic standard, that I think all musical theatre pieces should be held to. As well as all non-musical pieces. It's art. That's the bottom line. But it doesn't have to be "artistic" to be art, you know what I'm saying? It doesn't necessarily have to be completely ouside the box to be art and to be intelligent. Even the most ridiculous comedies can be intelligent. When creating theatre, I think that more people need to strive for respect and quality. That's all I'm saying.
However, I do think that on whole, straight theatre and movies have a huge one-up on originality. I am getting so tired of movies turning into musicals. But it hasn't really bothered me all that much until recently. Usually, they choose a movie that's kind of off-the-wall and quirky to begin with (Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Wedding Singer) so even though I don't think there's any reason for most of these movies to be made into musicals, I can at least sort of understand it.
But now they are making a musical out of Catch Me If You Can. And I think that is obnoxious.
For one, I love that movie. That movie is not meant to be a musical. I mean it's based on a true story and that story is fucking awesome. I don't believe for one second that this musical is going to stay true to that.
Secondly, I read this: "As for the story's sober moral lessons, Shaiman and Wittman focus elsewhere. 'If you're going to write a song, make it catchy and fun,' says Shaiman. 'Right now, we're writing one about terrible fathers screwing up their sons. But we're writing it to be a showstopper.'" OBNOXIOUS.
Also, it's apparently going to be set later in the 60s so that they, for some unnecessary reason, can incorporate Beatlemania.
I'm just really annoyed by this. I just don't understand why people continue to take the THEATRE out of musical theatre. When you can just outright say - "Screw the story, screw objectives - let's just make this FUN! Let's strip this script of all its literary value and throw in some catchy tunes and pirouettes and let's make some money!" I think there's a problem. And okay, perhaps that's not exactly what they say but that's the gist of it, really. I honestly think that every musical should still be able to be a quality piece of work with the music taken out. If the strength of the book doesn't match the music, then I don't really think it's theatre.
Theatre, by definition is "dramatic literature or its performance."
It's LITERATURE. It's language. It's not catchy songs with mildly clever dialogue laced in between. And that's not to say that every straight show is quality. Of course not. I've seen and read some horrible straight plays. But there's just something about reading David Mamet or Tennessee Williams, for example, that's like reading poetry even though it's not. It's so well-crafted. You feel like there's a reason behind every word. And you can do that with music too. I've been listening to Regina Spektor and The Decemberists and Imogen Heap and Splendid a lot lately. These are incredible lyricists and storytellers. It can be like poetry put to music. Or a story put to music. It's beautiful. It shows what music is capable of. The thing is, there was a time I used to be insanely obsessed with musical theatre. That's all I wanted to do. But when I gained more and more of a passion for acting, I lost some of that passion for musicals. Because honestly I think that real acting opportunities are hard to come by in musicals. I appreciate musicals for what they are, but I think that there is a severe lack of theatrical integrity in a vast amount of it. And many shows I think should simply be called "musicals" and not "musical theatre." It's entertainment.
As usual, I went on longer than expected. I love musical theatre sometimes. I think that musical expression can be beautiful, whether it be dramatic or comedic. There's just the matter of creating well-rounded characters and music that stays true to these characters and progresses the plot and allows for growth. That's a standard, a very basic standard, that I think all musical theatre pieces should be held to. As well as all non-musical pieces. It's art. That's the bottom line. But it doesn't have to be "artistic" to be art, you know what I'm saying? It doesn't necessarily have to be completely ouside the box to be art and to be intelligent. Even the most ridiculous comedies can be intelligent. When creating theatre, I think that more people need to strive for respect and quality. That's all I'm saying.