I promised myself this won't be long...
...but it might be, I don't know.
Anyway, I just got back from the musical version of Lord of the Rings. Got tickets last year and went out tonight with friends and caught the show, shiny warts and all...
...so, here's where I try not to mince too many words. Technically, the show was brilliant - probably more technical razzle-dazzle than they really needed, but it looked good. Most of the acting was good too, as was the choreography - some of the voices (speaking) were weak or ill-suited, as were a couple of actors, but overall, I can't really complain there. It is rather entertaining, and I didn't find the pacing slow, despite the length of it. The action was fun too, though I imagine that during its run someone is going to be seriously hurt at some point, since the high-flying bits run awful close sometimes.
After reading the less-than-stellar reviews of the show, I had a guess as to what went wrong, and it was pretty much confirmed by seeing it.
A year ago, I got tickets to either see a musical spectacular, or laugh my head off as they try and incorporate an Orc/Elf kickline dance number into the show. It appears that the people who made the show were apparently so terrified of the latter scenario that they effectively eliminated all possibility of it being the former...
...see, here's the thing about musicals - they're contrived, often cheesy, and pretty much constantly bordering on the absurd. Why? Well, most people don't start singing at random intervals, sing and dance with their enemies or rise from the dead to serenade everyone. This is not a fault of musicals - it's just the nature of the beast. On the other hand, with this absurdity musicals get the emotional sucker punch of stacking musical heft on top of overdramatic imagery combined with (often) incredibly melodramatic plots, giving them an emotional wallop. Comic musicals get a little more leeway, but all serious musicals dance on this razor's edge between "wow, that's awesome" and "oh for fuck's sake that's just plain stupid". LOTR basically removed all opportunities for the absurdity but at the same time lost any chance to really make an impression.
For example, most musicals realize that if you want to pack a punch, you pair songs with dramatic events and pray the audience buys into it. In LOTR, virtually all of the songs are "we're at the shire", "we're hopping through the shire", "we're at the prancing pony", "we're at lothlorian" etc. In short, they're used between scenes more than anything. All the conflict scenes, save for one, are done as effects/dance/narrative. Villans don't sing, ever (Gollum excepted). Songs don't drive the narrative - they just serve as backdrop, and it kinda nullifies the whole musical aspect of the show. Song-wise, I can't say the songs were particularly memorable, but part of me wonders if that isn't because of the fact that basically only one of the songs (which is the only one that stuck with me) had any major anchoring in the plot. The only major exceptions I can think of were the obligatory "I sing over your dead body" scene with Boromir, and the excellent musical bit between Sam, Frodo and Gollum. The former was kinda weak, but the latter was, in my opinion, an excellent use of song to work with the narrative. Actually, had they been smart that song could have probably been used more as a running theme, since it was one of the few songs that really seemed to stick, but instead it was called upon once more and forgotten.
(oh, and I'll add as an aside that Gollum was excellently played. That and the Balrog should have been allowed to take a bow... [grin])
You know, I'm not one for tradition, but this one could have used some of the traditional hacks and crutches of musical theatre to make a serious impact. Now, I know the first answer to this is "well, LOTR really isn't a musical". That may be true, but I'm not sure it made up for it by being enough of anything else...
...really, and I mean this in the best way possible, LOTR reminded me of the world's most expensive Christmas pageant, only Jesus never took on a Balrog with fireballs, and Mary and Joseph didn't hide from the evil King Herod so they could toss Jesus into Mount Doom. It was mostly dramatic scenes bookended by songs, intended for people who already know the story and want to see the good parts. Think of it as Disney on Ice without the skates, and you'll probably enjoy yourself. But if you want a musical in the classical sense or any real emotional attachment, this isn't the show for it.
It was entertaining, and I'm glad for having seen it, but I can't say it's a triumph of musical theatre. On the other hand, I get the feeling that this one will still (hopefully) make a lot of money, so at least it won't bankrupt Toronto's theatre brokers in any likelyhood. Still, it's gotta run strong for a year before that happens. For TO's sake, I hope it does.
Okay, that's too long... time to sleep now.
Anyway, I just got back from the musical version of Lord of the Rings. Got tickets last year and went out tonight with friends and caught the show, shiny warts and all...
...so, here's where I try not to mince too many words. Technically, the show was brilliant - probably more technical razzle-dazzle than they really needed, but it looked good. Most of the acting was good too, as was the choreography - some of the voices (speaking) were weak or ill-suited, as were a couple of actors, but overall, I can't really complain there. It is rather entertaining, and I didn't find the pacing slow, despite the length of it. The action was fun too, though I imagine that during its run someone is going to be seriously hurt at some point, since the high-flying bits run awful close sometimes.
After reading the less-than-stellar reviews of the show, I had a guess as to what went wrong, and it was pretty much confirmed by seeing it.
A year ago, I got tickets to either see a musical spectacular, or laugh my head off as they try and incorporate an Orc/Elf kickline dance number into the show. It appears that the people who made the show were apparently so terrified of the latter scenario that they effectively eliminated all possibility of it being the former...
...see, here's the thing about musicals - they're contrived, often cheesy, and pretty much constantly bordering on the absurd. Why? Well, most people don't start singing at random intervals, sing and dance with their enemies or rise from the dead to serenade everyone. This is not a fault of musicals - it's just the nature of the beast. On the other hand, with this absurdity musicals get the emotional sucker punch of stacking musical heft on top of overdramatic imagery combined with (often) incredibly melodramatic plots, giving them an emotional wallop. Comic musicals get a little more leeway, but all serious musicals dance on this razor's edge between "wow, that's awesome" and "oh for fuck's sake that's just plain stupid". LOTR basically removed all opportunities for the absurdity but at the same time lost any chance to really make an impression.
For example, most musicals realize that if you want to pack a punch, you pair songs with dramatic events and pray the audience buys into it. In LOTR, virtually all of the songs are "we're at the shire", "we're hopping through the shire", "we're at the prancing pony", "we're at lothlorian" etc. In short, they're used between scenes more than anything. All the conflict scenes, save for one, are done as effects/dance/narrative. Villans don't sing, ever (Gollum excepted). Songs don't drive the narrative - they just serve as backdrop, and it kinda nullifies the whole musical aspect of the show. Song-wise, I can't say the songs were particularly memorable, but part of me wonders if that isn't because of the fact that basically only one of the songs (which is the only one that stuck with me) had any major anchoring in the plot. The only major exceptions I can think of were the obligatory "I sing over your dead body" scene with Boromir, and the excellent musical bit between Sam, Frodo and Gollum. The former was kinda weak, but the latter was, in my opinion, an excellent use of song to work with the narrative. Actually, had they been smart that song could have probably been used more as a running theme, since it was one of the few songs that really seemed to stick, but instead it was called upon once more and forgotten.
(oh, and I'll add as an aside that Gollum was excellently played. That and the Balrog should have been allowed to take a bow... [grin])
You know, I'm not one for tradition, but this one could have used some of the traditional hacks and crutches of musical theatre to make a serious impact. Now, I know the first answer to this is "well, LOTR really isn't a musical". That may be true, but I'm not sure it made up for it by being enough of anything else...
...really, and I mean this in the best way possible, LOTR reminded me of the world's most expensive Christmas pageant, only Jesus never took on a Balrog with fireballs, and Mary and Joseph didn't hide from the evil King Herod so they could toss Jesus into Mount Doom. It was mostly dramatic scenes bookended by songs, intended for people who already know the story and want to see the good parts. Think of it as Disney on Ice without the skates, and you'll probably enjoy yourself. But if you want a musical in the classical sense or any real emotional attachment, this isn't the show for it.
It was entertaining, and I'm glad for having seen it, but I can't say it's a triumph of musical theatre. On the other hand, I get the feeling that this one will still (hopefully) make a lot of money, so at least it won't bankrupt Toronto's theatre brokers in any likelyhood. Still, it's gotta run strong for a year before that happens. For TO's sake, I hope it does.
Okay, that's too long... time to sleep now.