The Showtune Thread, or Can You Hear the People Sing?

I don't know if this should go here or in the Concert Hall, so by all means, mods, move this thread if it belongs elsewhere.

So. Musicals. Broadway. The Great White Way. Who likes it? Who's obsessed with Wicked/Rent/Phantom of the Opera/Les Miz? Who's performed in one (or several) before, be it amateur or professional? I know there must be some of you out there. I've seen you downloading sheet music in the Concert Hall and cast recordings in My Stuff, but nobody ever seems to actually discuss it. So you can do that here! Whether you prefer Oklahoma!, Sweeney Todd, or Mamma Mia!, talk about your favorite (and least favorite) composers, shows, songs, performers, performances--anything having to do with musical theater.

To get things started, I'll talk about one of my favorite composers writing for Broadway today, Adam Guettel. He's one of those "artsy-fartsy" new generation composers who tend to flop commercially, although his most recent show, The Light in the Piazza, has enjoyed some success, winning more Tony Awards than any other show that year and currently nearing the end of a 15-month run. Still he writes great music, really complicated stuff with bizarre (yet utterly logical) chord changes and murderous piano parts. Anybody else know him? Like him? Hate him and want to talk about Andrew Lloyd Webber instead?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by VitaPup

The book for Wicked I didnt think was that good but I hear the play is amazing.

Yeah, the novel and the show are two really separate entities. A lot of the political intrigue and "adult content" was taken out for simplicity and marketability. The novel's auther once said that if Wicked the novel were Wagner, Wicked the musical would be Mozart. I kind of like that, actually--the novel tried so hard to turn Oz--bright, sparkly, Judy Garland Oz--into a seedy cesspool of sin and corruption, and the musical balances that a bit.

I wish preteen girls would stay the heck away from the songs, though. I auditioned for my community theater's summer musical a month or so ago (it's Seussical, so they encouraged little kids to try out) and of the nine or so people in my audition group, three people sang three different songs from Wicked (one, a boy, sang a bootleg copy of "Defying Gravity" which labeled the singing character as "Dorothy.")

Despite being a huge theater geek, I've managed to avoid nearly all contact with Phantom of the Opera beyond the (hideous) title song and the (rather pretty) "Music of the Night." I suppose I ought to get around to listening to it sooner or later, although Andrew Lloyd Webber is seen as a sort of Broadway Antichrist among the members of my family.

Originally Posted by wvlfpvp

Light in the Piazza *drool* srsly. It's some of the most gorgeous music that I've ever heard from broadway.

<3 <3 <3 Guettel ownz your face.

That's so cool, that you've gotten to do ambitious stuff like Sweeney and Parade. Were those amateur or professional productions? My community's amateur theatre favors "wholesome" entertainment like Grease.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by soapy

Iedit: I saw Lion King too, but I didn't find it worth the money. The costumes were great, and I think that's what they had going for them. They had great sets and everything. So if you like the movie, then see the musical, but otherwise there's nothing really that new. I like how other musicals find a creative way to tell their entire story with one stage.

I never saw the live Lion King, but the impression I get is that it does tell its story in a pretty creative way, what with the puppets and everything. At least compared to the other Disney/Broadway shows like Beauty and the Beast, which is basically Disney-on-Ice-on-Stage, or Tarzan, which apparantly blows hardcore for a multitude of reasons.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.