Posted by: @narnian78

Today I have listened to the soundtrack of West Side Story again and was amazed at Leonard Bernstein’s talent.  I wondered if he was the only conductor who ever composed his own music for musicals. He had a great talent for both conducting and composing.  I would highly recommend the recordings of his versions of Beethoven’s symphonies as well as his own music.

West Side Story is a take on Shakespeare's well known tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet. Two groups of gang who don't like each other, and the son and daughter of each fall for each other.

@jasmine_tarkheena 

It is based on the story of Romeo and Juliet, but it is still a remarkable unique creation. I love Leonard Bernstein’s music and his conducting of Beethoven’s symphonies. It’s sad that great artists like him have passed away, but at least we have his recordings. 🙂

Ah. It is true that musicals, much like movies, are not 100% perfect. Even my all time favorite, Jekyll and Hyde is not perfect. I think the issue I have is the plot. Oh, it's not that it's bad or anything. I think it's a little too complicated.

Tonight I'm going to Matilda.

I saw it 9 years ago in London, and thought it very clever. Great music, energetic choreography, and a poignant story topped with rebellion against a nasty school principal.

 My friend and I booked in January for an April season, but it was delayed by covid restrictions. 

@coracle Ooh, I went and saw that in London about 9 or 10 years ago too!! Absolutely loved it. The original book (by Roald Dahl) was one of my favourites as a child, and I loved how the musical not only captured the spirit of it but actually in some ways deepened the story. As the programme explained, because it's hard to make a stage show about someone who loves reading (not a visually spectacular activity!), they decided to emphasise not only Matilda's love of books but her love of the stories themselves, and expanded her already extraordinary mental powers to include a kind of deeper connection with Miss Honey and her own life story. They also made Matilda's parents quite possibly even more hilariously revolting than they are in the original book! And yes, who doesn't love a story in which gutsy schoolkids get their own back against a really nasty teacher?? It was all brilliantly staged and performed and I'd love to see it again if I ever get the chance. Glad to know it's now come to NZ! (And, I hope, to Australia too. I'm sure my family would enjoy it, if it's on in Melbourne.)

@coracle 

Nice! I've seen the movie of Matilda, and yes, there is a Broadway musical version of it.

I've seen a live performance of The Sound of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The King and I, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.

I had a friend who went through a home school called Navigotors, and one of the classes was musical theatre. The production they put on was The Little Mermaid, and she played one of the sisters.

@courtenay the show is a local production, not touring. Here, it's our top theatre group, which does magnificent productions of all the latest musicals. A number of my theatre friends are involved with it. 

I know it's been on in Australia as there's a documentary about Tim Minchin, including rehearsals in either Sydney or Melbourne for the show. I assume the cast there was largely professional,  but in New Zealand most will be amateurs. 

Edit @courtenay It was an excellent show, with strong adult leads and an amazingly energetic child cast. The Matilda was delightful, in her first or second performance, and carried it well. My favourite though was the boy playing the littlest boy Eric; he's a friend's grandson, and a really keen performer at 9. I know his dad has done acting since he was a boy.

Do people here own soundtracks of musicals such as Oliver! ?  I have that one and really like it. And there are the wonderful soundtracks of The Sound of Music and West Side Story.  There is the soundtrack of the movie of The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews and the musical version with Mary Martin. Both are well worth a listen, although the musical version was created more for a stage performance. I like many movie soundtracks, and I think listening to them is a separate experience from watching a film.

@narnian78 

The Sound of Music was a childhood favorite of mine. It's sad that Julie Andrews, who had a beautiful voice, being in movies like Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, lost her voice at one point.

The Sound of Music and Fiddler on The Roof portrayed things happening during the time of oppression. Many Jews in Germany went to Austria to escape from Nazi oppression. The Jews in Russia escaped from Communist oppression.

@narnian78 Yes, it was a normal thing to have in homes in my childhood, so I began to buy my own (LP records) once I left home. I now have dozens of records, many of which are musicals.  The more modern musical shows don't all appeal but I have various things on cassette tape, and CD. 

I am particpating in a children's Christmas program at a church called "Christmas In Black and White." It's about a group of students who go on a field trip at a polar park and they learn from a group of penguins the true meaning of Christmas. The whole thing is about how humans want to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" and try to take Jesus out of Christmas. Then they learn that Jesus is the reason for the season.

@jasmine_tarkheena  That sounds interesting. Is it based on a stage musical?

We have a thread for posting about other stage or acting work.  This includes church drama and theatre.
I had to dig deep to find it but it's still open for posts. 

https://community.narniaweb.com/index.php/community/the-spare-oom/acting-and-live-theatre/#post-320843

@coracle 

It's part of a ministry from Brentwood Benson, which is not anymore. But yes, it is interesting. Our goal is to get the message of the real meaning of Christmas out.

In speaking of musicals, how would you rank the songs for each category (opening songs, "I Want" songs, comedy songs, villain songs, love songs, and filler songs)?

In talking about musicals, there had been two that were adapted into animated features, The King and I and Cats. And there's been talk about Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat being made into an animated film. We can talk about our top musical numbers that we can't wait to see done right in a movie- live action or animated.

For my top 5 list-

5. "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserable. Fantine's solo song is really emotional, and imagine seeing it in animated feature. And the thing is, how to get invested in the emotion.

4. "Phantom of the Opera" from Phantom of the Opera. This is from one of Broadway's longest running shows, but imagine how powerful it would be to see a scene like that, with Christine Daae and the phantom in an tunnel in a boat. It could even have an eerie atmosphere and a haunting sound to it.

3. "Confrontation" from Jekyll and Hyde. I think the challenge would be is that this song has such inner conflict. But imagine seeing Dr. Jekyll singing with Mr. Hyde, like he's singing to himself. It could even show that there doesn't have to be a villain. As an animated feature, if it is to be "Disney-fied", one change they may have to make is perhaps have John Utterson walk in and say, "Hey, don't do this do yourself".

2. "Jai'Peur" from Romeo et Juliette. Imagine seeing a musical in French, though I 'm sure they'd do it in English. I would love to see Romeo's number "Jai'Peur" (which translate into "I'm scared"), which he has no idea what he's afraid of. We can invest in that as well, like we don't know what he's afraid of.

1. "For Now And For Always" from Lord of the Rings Musical. Yes, there is a musical version of Lord of the Rings. Another I would love to see done in an animated feature (it better not be cheesy like the Ralph Bashki version) or in a live action feature is Frodo and Sam's song, "For Now and For Always", about their friendship.

What musical number would you love to see done right in an animated feature or even in a live action movie?

I had the privilege of seeing Into the Woods on Broadway a few weeks ago! It's one of my absolute favorite musicals. Stephen Sondheim is such a genius in both lyrics and melody. 

Also in my top list are (in no particular order): West Side Story, Sweeny Todd, Newsies (both movie and stage versions), and Chicago. I can't really explain what about each of them draws me in, but sometimes it's the story, sometimes it's the music...