Musicals For Newbies

So after that last post on musicals I will actually make some recommendations and slight reviews of excellent musicals for those new to the genre. I will give a brief paragraph on 6 for the musical newcomer to check out or for the interested familiar.

1. Songs For A New World - Jason Robert Brown

I’ll begin with a personal favourite of mine: Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World. As I have previously mentioned in my last post, this is not exactly a musical as it is a song revue. Each song is a new story with new characters even though there are only four performers in the original 1997 cast recording.

It begins with an overture-esque opening, The New World, in which all the performers are singing and presenting multiple characters hinting references to stories to come.

If you ever find any venue presenting this production I would recommend wholeheartedly seeing it, whether it is a professional production or an amateur musical society. My first experience with it was being suggested to perform the number She Cries which interested me into looking into all of the show with a great passion.

My first real listening was of the original 1997 cast recording. Find that recording, close your eyes and be bombarded by the emotional stories in Surabaya Santa, The Steam Train, The World Was Dancing and I’m Not Afraid Of Anything and the rest of the soundtrack.

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Here's a sweet taste of Just One Step:

2. Into The Woods - Stephen Sondheim

An all time Sondheim classic taking a massive twist of classic fairytales including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and more. Into The Woods links and mashes three core fairytales in a tragic all-too hilarious show.

The 2014 movie version starring the likes of Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Johnny Depp and many more is a good one to look at if you're looking to watch with children. However, changes were made to match the cinema dynamic.
The original 1986 stage version, gives you the real deal unless you see it live, with full blown innuendos, costumes and talent from the queen of musical theatre, Bernadette Peters, as  the Witch.

Songs like Agony have a different tone to in the original, though I will give Chris Pine props for his performance which was perfect for the film. Hello, Little Girl is drastically different in the film as it had to be made appropriate in the fact that they actually made Red Riding Hood a child whereas in the stage version the actress is in her twenties, thus the song is actually much more sexual on stage. Just check out the fantastic wolf costume as proof of the sexuality imprinted in the stage production.

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Here's a look at the original 1986 and new 2014 Hello, Little Girl's. The difference is huge.

1986

2014

3. Les Miserables - Andrew Lloyd Webber

If you’ve seen the film version of recent years I fully recommend getting more of the experience seeing it on stage. I saw a very well done amateur production about a year ago and was thoroughly impressed by their set and the performance of the leads.

There’s so much to do on stage and I was curious about how they would go about the barricade and the bridge suicide. To the left of the audience there was a small bridge beside the orchestra where Inspector Javert hung holding on in front fell off the stage. He didn’t duck behind anything, he FELL off the stage. Intentionally, of course, but he had me on the edge of my seat. Obviously he had cushioning but it was so unexpected at the time.

With classic songs by the great ALW including numbers as Castle On A Cloud and I Dreamed A Dream. If you want another true classic but one of utter tragedy then this is the one for you. Whether you are interested or not I would highly recommend Les Mis as just a bit of cultural experience. If you’re hooked you also might be interested in reading the original book, though it is not for light readers.

One Day More - Australian Production 2014

On My Own - Film 2012

4. Repo! The Genetic Opera

So far I have only mentioned musicals meant for stage but now I’d like to recommend a musical that is only a film. Repo! is a rock horror musical which takes place in a future where your organs can be repossessed like a car or any other property. Starring Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Merlin) in an amazing rockstar role as the infamous Repoman.

A very dark themed film with low-mid level gore in surgical scenes such as Night Surgeon and Thankless Job. I would not recommend this if you're squeamish and do not watch with children.

Thankless Job

CAUTION: Not for kids

5. Little Shop of Horrors - Alan Menken

Another classic musical of timeless appeal. A rock and roll, 60s grooving show. I first watched this as the 1986 film version with Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, and the incredible voice of Levi Stubbs. Masochistic dentist's, carnivorous alien plants and a soundtrack that makes you want to join in wholeheartedly. A great show to see live or just as the film.

Little Shop of Horrors - Little Shop of Horrors 1986

6. Hairspray

As a final musical to recommend there is lastly Hairspray. Now the original 1988 film is not actually a musical but still worth looking at for some contrast to the 2007 film/stage show that I am actually recommending. I can’t remember which order I viewed these in but they are both worth the watch. Personally, the 2007 version was a much more fun watch.

The original film is recommended for the deeply interested and the remake musical for a lighthearted story about a progressive teenager, Tracy Turnblad. Including themes tackling the issues of racism and segregation in the 60s as well as possessing a killer soundtrack I would highly recommend this with the previously mentioned shows.

Run And Tell That - Hairspray (2007)

There are so many musicals I could recommend that are incredibly entertaining. These are among some that are not as sappy as some make out musicals to be. There are the sappy, overacted musicals and if you are interested in finding them look into Gilbert & Sullivan. If you are further interested I would also recommend the following stage/film/TV special/parody musicals and concept albums.

The Book of Mormon - Stage

Avenue Q - Stage

The Phantom of the Opera - Stage + Film (1986)

The Mikado - Stage

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Film (1993)

Rent - Stage + Film (2005)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Stage + Film (2007)

The Wedding Singer - Stage + Film (1998)

Footloose - Stage + Film (1984)

Chicago - Stage + Film (2002)

Sunday In The Park With George - Stage (1984)

Jekyll And Hyde - Stage

The Last Five Years - Stage + Film (2014)

Oklahoma - Stage (1999)

Sweet Charity - Stage + Film (1969)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Stage + Film (1975)

Jesus Christ Superstar

Psych: The Musical - TV Musical Length Special (Season 8 of Psych)

Team Starkid

• A Very Potter Musical - Parody
• A Very Potter Sequel - Parody
• A Very Potter Senior Year - Parody
• Me And My Dick
• Starship
• Twisted - Parody

Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime - Concept Album (1988)

Devin Townsend’s Ziltoid The Omniscient + Z2 - Concept Albums (2007, 2015)

The Dear Hunter

• Act I: The Lake South, The River North (2005)
• Act II: The Meaning Of And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading (2007)
• Act III: Life And Death (2009)
• Act IV: Rebirth In Reprise (2015)
• Act V + Act VI (In Production)

Musical Theatre: A Clarification

When I talk to people about musicals I have two different reactions; those friends who partake in musical theatre or dramatic arts who are really excited in conversations and those who hear the word ‘musical’ in the theatre sense who immediately think ‘musical = singing, dancing, slapstick and therefore stupid’.

If I ask someone who has little to no knowledge about musicals to name three I guarantee at least one of those will be a Disney film. Now, Disney films are all well and good but they are all filled with happy endings and things designed for kids to handle. If I were to ask any of my friends they might want to count beyond their fingers trying to decide which to mention as if picking their favourites. However, I would guess many of them would mention Rent, Hairspray, and any Gilbert and Sullivan work they prefer.

Look at any of these shows and you be guaranteed to find some serious content that kids aren’t ready for or wouldn’t understand, and these are the lighter stories that you find in an average musical (though those are classics).

If you’re the kind of person who would ask ‘but why do they break out into song and dance? It makes everything look ridiculous’. If you have this opinion after seeing a show, was it a comedy? Like any movie or play, musicals have several genres ranging from comical to tragic (with some ridiculously heavy themes).

I like to think of it this way; when there is a heated or emotionally powerful moment in a film you expect a character to cry out, to unleash the pent up and suspended emotion in a massive rant-based monologue with real raw actions. A musical takes this opportunity to break into song. The best songs in any artists respect people find to be the really emotional ones. Multiply the power of that emotion by ten and that’s a musical theatre song mixed in with the dialogue. For example, I suggest just about anything by Jason Robert Brown (Songs For A New World, The Last Five Years, Parade, etc.), in particular the opening number The New World from Songs For A New World.

Before elaborating more on the song, a bit of info on the show. Songs For A New World is not so much a musical than a song revue as there is no linear story but a linking theme of facing problems and getting through them with different results. So, although there are four singers (speaking of the original 1997 recording) each song pertains to different characters. This opening number introduces some of the emotional situations of later songs, almost like an overture. With lines like “you have a house in the hills/you have a job on the coast/you find a lover you’re sure you believe in/ you’ve got a pool in the back/you’ve got the part of your life/ you hold the ring in your hand” give rapid fire situations and emotions heightened by lyrical notes.

In a film we have an underscore playing the emotions to the audience while a character feels what they feel but in a musical there is no middle man, so to speak, the character (with the help of the band/orchestra) bombards us with musical emotions much more powerful than dialogue or music alone. There is no screen barrier to look in form the outside. You are as much a part of it as the character and in any moment the actor can break the fourth wall and bring the audience in more.

This brings me to talk about a musical I viewed recently; Avenue Q. A little background, Avenue Q is, to summarise, a very adult version of Sesame Street, performed with muppets as well as real person characters on stage. It looks at everyday realities such as paying rent, not having a job or experience after graduating from tertiary education (What Do You Do With A B.A. In English/It Sucks To Be Me), sex and relationships and overall growing up. It is a clever comedy in which (to complete a previous point) they broke the fourth wall at the performance I saw at Enmore Theatre, Newtown. In the number The Money Song they had the minor characters, the Bad Idea Bears, come around to collect money. Whether they meant collect actual money in that scene I do not know but they collected what they received and presented it on stage. One of the things they collected was an Opal card, breaking the fourth wall in addressing the gentleman that gave it jokingly.

In musicals, being live, they can improvise and so with lines regarding the collections were improvised as was lines in For Now following lyrics expressing that youth was ‘for now’, sex was ‘for now’ and then following it up with “Tony Abbott” is for now which won excellent applause.

Of all performance, a musical is probably the most interactive and engaging form which just needs to be experienced properly to be understood. It’s not a happy-slappy art form where everyone has a smile on their face. It can be emotionally gripping, drawing you to tears quicker than the saddest movie scene or the sweetest song lyrics.

For my next post I will look in depth at 10 musicals of differing calibres to give a good look at the styles, the structure, stories and differences of iconic and notable musicals.