Scores for Musical Shows

[richard53dog]

Thanks for your responses. Wish I still had a memory of Dorothy Collins. I've heard she was amazing and a great surprise. I do remember that Yvonne de Carlo, however, and the feeling of let-down, of a character who wasn't really there. She certainly couldn't do justice to "I'm Still Here," one of my favorite songs. Carol Burnett -- though from a different planet, and completely out of character -- was actually quite good in the concert version. Or was she just being Carol Burnett?

I agree about "Too Many Mornings." Melody and lyrics have never left my memory: "Sometimes I stand in the middle of the floor ... not looking left, not looking right. I dim the lights ... and think about you. Spend sleepness nights ... to think about you." I've never heard a song that expresses so well that particular feeling of bereftness. It's an art song, really.

I wish I had more memories of the original too! I was very confused by the show, didn't understand the double characters, the use of pastiche, nothing.

All I remember vaguely is the slightly brittle classiness of Alexis Smith and the kiddie cars from the Loveland number and a lot of clutter . I was a very dense teenager at the time. Perhaps you need to be one of the olds to get it. (I love that expression)

I've since become a Follies junkie. My favorite production was the Cameron Mackintosh one in London which I saw with two different casts. That's when I finally got the show. It was lavish in a more productive, effective way than the original one was. There was talk of it coming to NY; didn't happen. I think it was considered too expensive. Too bad. But it was magical.

[papeetepatrick]

Thanks, Richard, and belatedly, bart, too. Yes, 'Follies' is pretty great, but I rather liked Yvonne DeCarlo anyway, all those old B-list ladies out there, plus a real OLD showgirl (Ethel Shutta), and Dorothy Collins proving, to great surprise, that she was definitely A-list. I have never seen another production myself.

Simon G.--if you happen to read any of this, I'd like to hear something about the scores for that genre of London musical you were talking about that is something of a recent phenomenon. You said they were these massive entertainments that had starting appearing in London in the last 10 (?) years or so that were pretty hokey, as I recall. Are they ever imported, or just purely for a London demographic? Also, Mashinka and leonid, if you ever attend musical theater in London. Are the Lloyd Webber spectacles still a big draw and revived frequently? I'm definitely not a fan, but obviously millions are. Was just wondering if this London-generic form ever had a good song, or if they all sounded pretty much prefab. I tend to think most B'way scores have a particular sound, with too many climaxes and fake excitement all over the place, all those things that have that 'too much Broadway electricity going on' sound.

[papeetepatrick]

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/...=theaterspecial

Some non-musicals were eligible for Best Score this year, well who'd have thought there could be a show called 'Enron' getting a Best Score award. I'm not sure I want to know. At least not 'American Idiot'. Okay, am going to go get the list of Tony nominees for this category, maybe somebody has seen some of these shows:

Best MusicalAmerican Idiot

Fela!

Memphis

Million Dollar Quartet

Best Book of a Musical

Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott

Everyday Rapture

Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones

Fela!

Joe DiPietro

Memphis

Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux

Million Dollar Quartet

Best Original Score

Music and Lyrics: Andrew Lippa

The Addams Family

Music: Adam Cork, Lyrics: Lucy Prebble

Enron

Music: Branford Marsalis

Fences

Music: David Bryan, Lyrics: Joe DiPietro and David Bryan

Memphis

Here's the link to all the nominees in all categories:

http://projects.nytimes.com/tonys/2010-bal...=theaterspecial

and you can vote on these in the paper. How exciting!

Stupendous performers on B'way this season: Barbara Cook in the Sondheim show, Rosemary Harris, Denzel Washington, Jude Law. Can't believe how little attention I've been paying this year. That Barbara Cook is impressive in her continued determination, whether in cabarets or onstage.