'Out Of Gas'
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Aren't musicals pretty much like opera, but in English and with more talking?
I think the basic distinction is that in opera the music is the primary driving force, where as in musicals it's the lyrics.
Talking is where the opera/operetta distinction comes in.
I prefer my operas to be in Italian
And all the operas in French and German are crying together in a corner. But, you know, dramatically.
I hadn't really realized this split in the theatrical world until it was satirized in Slings and Arrows.
And brilliantly too. Wow, I need to rewatch that series.
Les Miz went through a phase of being awesome and cool and then went through a phase of being too popular to be cool. Now it's too old for anyone who cares about "cool" to worry about, and so aging geeks are free to make flappy hands and break into song in public without worrying too much about our cred.
Well, Carmen is cool, but I have to confess that Wagner tends to drag for me. Russian, now, is nice.
I am shallow that way. I adore Puccini.
Wagner tends to drag for me.
But it has the spear and magic helmet!
Wagner tends to drag for me.
But it has the spear and magic helmet!
And thus, as is true for so much in life, is better when sung by a cross-dressing rabbit and a hunter with a lisp.
As someone who grew up around musicals, I have very specific and narrow tastes in that artform. And yes, there's a giant split between "legit" theatre and musicals. However, I remember driving up to Minneapolis to see "Les Miserables" with my friend when we were both going through horrendous turmoil in our lives, and we bawled all the way through, in one of the best art-as-catharsis experiences I've ever had. (It was the touring production with the turntable. Excellent use of staging, IIRC.)
I'm super-excited for the movie, though I probably won't see it in theatres.
It was the touring production with the turntable. Excellent use of staging, IIRC.
It really was. I'm not sure I've seen another show that used a turntable.
Unless you have a really kickass surround-sound system at home, I would try to see this in theaters.
(For values of "you" which include everyone. This is a spectacle movie, deserves to be seen BIG.)
It really was. I'm not sure I've seen another show that used a turntable
I have--Berkeley Rep has used them to great effect, and a lot of other moving platforms as well. I love creative staging, it's so fun to watch.