In case you hadn’t heard… Spider-Man is coming to us in musical form. Save your boos and hisses. I, for one, am pumped about this – and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It took me a long time to realize that I am pumped – but I am. There are four simple reasons for my excitement.
Before you read any further I should disclose that I am indeed employed in the craft of theatre – but I have NO association with this show in any way, shape or form. I’m not sure if that helps to qualify my opinions or makes them worse… READ ON!
1) Spider-Man was actually a decent movie. Sure it had some flaws… Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst… not enough Willem Dafoe… but in terms of story it wasn’t bad. I remember getting excited about it, going to see it and still some maintaining excitement. I even remember being excited when I got the DVD. Hell – I was even excited for the sequel. And before you ask – nope – I never saw Spider-Man 3. That’s four hours of my life that I’d like to keep.
The point is – there are definitely things to work with to make a good story. And… it’s not so far fetched to turn a good (or at least interesting) story into a good musical. Think West Side Story or Bat Boy the Musical. Sure, it can go the other way – think Cats or Oklahoma – but I’m trying to be optimistic here.
2.) Bono is doing the music. I’m not really a U2 fan – but I do think the guy has talent. I’ve also never heard a U2 song and screamed “OMG! Shut that crap off.” Assuming they cast the show well I think that Bono can do a lot of great things with the production. Besides – he’s a big name. Big name people don’t get involved with crap. Usually.
Just think of who could have done the music – Elton John, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gilbert and Sullivan, Kander and Ebb? U2 really does lend potentially “hip” credibility to this project – and that alone will bring in audiences. Just look at The Capeman – the only reason that lasted more than one week was Paul Simon and his fanbase.
3) If this is a success – look at the doors it opens. Iron Man the Musical with music by AC/DC. Batman the Musical – Tim Burton style with Batman Begins (it’s a play, not a musical) happening just down the street. Original ideas seem to be going the way of the dodo – so recycling into theatre is just the next logical step.
Of course the recycling of ideas can backfire, too. Ghost Rider with music by (does it matter who does the music?) – still starring Nicolas Cage. The Incredible Singing Hulk with music by Elton John – guest starring Lou Ferrigno as… um… a jerk that charges $20 for a picture with him. It’s a small part – but as they say, “there are no small roles, only small actors.” There’s probably potential for an X-Men musical… I can’t decide if that one is good or bad…
4) In all seriousness – the biggest draw for me to this show is Julie Taymor. She will bring her very own brand of direction to this show – which will be its saving grace (if it indeed needs saving). Julie Taymor, as a director, has revolutionized theatre as an art form. She is most famous for The Lion King – and her innovative use of puppets/masks. It is absolutely worth checking out, but for those that aren’t near Broadway (or some touring version of The Lion King) I suggest watching Frida, Titus, or Across the Universe – they are all available on Netflix and probably iTunes. Any one of those will give you a little glimpse into her genius.
Basically anything that Julie Taymor touches turns to gold. If she were not associated with this it wouldn’t stand a chance. But she is onboard – and that means that a lot of money will go into scenery, costumes, lighting and cool stage tricks. I smell a Tony…
Finally, although not a huge selling point, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Glen Berger. He is a pairing with Julie Taymor to write the script. Glen is a very talented playwright and he lends “theatre cred” to this little skit. On a completely unrelated note – Glen Berger is an odd man. Very odd. Talented… but odd. Maybe the quirkiness will prove to be a great collaboration with Julie.
Those are my thoughts. I could be way off base. Only time will tell. However, if this is a success, it could be a huge boom to commercial theatre, an art form that seems to continually lose audiences to movies. Although I’m normally not a fan of commercial theatre, I am a fan of anything that progresses or grows the art.
Break a leg, Spidey.
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I think anything is worth trying out once. This could be ok if done right but there is huge possibilitys for crap. Would I see it? Probably not. But who knows.
Across the universe was really good and I have heard Lion King Was great so good luck to them.
As long as emo-Tobey Maguire does his magic floaty dance, I’m there. I might even buy two tickets if they convince Kirsten Dunst to snaggletooth her way through a song.
However, if they actually use talented stage performers rather than mentally handicapped models to play the roles, I won’t even consider purchasing a ticket.
can’t wait for the special-edition podcast on this one
To quote Clubber Lang: "PREDICTION…paaaiiin."
Could be cool. I mean, there have been worse ideas… like that Superman musical…
@PymSlap, that is exactly what I was thinking. "Are they gonna have to go to this on opening weekend, too?"
I liked Taymor’s Lion King, but I’m not sure what she knows/how much she cares about Spider-Man. (I know people who are less passionate about religion than they are about their love for "Across the Universe," so my review of that little treasure will have to stay a secret for my own safety.) I’d hate for this to be a Joel Schumacher situation. "Aren’t superheroes darling, with the spandex and the BAM POW? The kitsch is priceless."
"Bono is writing music for Spider-Man on Broadway" sounds a little like a Mad Lib.
I would love to see this work, but here’s the biggest problem:
Money
My sister is a huge theater lover and she has been looking this up for awhile now. She found out that in order for this to be produced, they need $1 billion dollars….Let me say that again. 1 BILLION DOLLARS! That’s a Carl Sagen ‘B’! That’s Dr. Evil’s ‘Billion’! It’s going to cost that much just to get everything going. If it even goes off the ground, it’s going to be $1 million dollars to keep it in line every week. That means in a months time it’ll be worth more money then the entire stock funds of Ford Motor Company and Border’s Book Store combined!
I just dont see how financially with those staggering numbers that this will stay for more then a week. Not only that but a ton of broadway productions in general are closing down because of the recession. I believe about a good 10 productions are ending in January 2009. I dont see this last more then a week, if even that.
@TheNextChampion – Yes, it is going to be expensive to get off the ground – and to keep going. However, I think that producers are looking at the success of comic related movies and that is easing their minds/opening their wallets. That being said, tickets to a B’way show ARE significantly more than movie tickets – and movies open all over the country and play multiple times a day, etc. etc. So it clearly cannot play to the same fanbase.
This really gets to the heart of my problem with commercial theatre, but I think that is a different post for a different site.
Nobody really thought that The Lion King would be so good either…they can’t all be winners – but this one has potential.
Surely this is some sort of joke. No really, this is some sort of iFanboy practical joke, please?
What ever happened to original musicials? I’m not all that informed about current theater, but it seems like so many musicals are just based off of movies. Maybe the only ones getting press are the ones based off of other stuff…
The ones based off of movies have a built-in audience.
Whatever happened to the Captain America musical?
I’ve seen casting ads for that in old Marvel comics. This seems more likely to get on stage than that was. And, honestly, it could be a lot of fun. It does make me wish they had just scrapped the script they used for X3 and made a musical instead. I bet that would have persuaded Alan Cumming to stick around.
@gordon: Well knowing this is your area of experience I can totally understand what your getting at.
Broadway tickets are seriously 100% more then film tickets. But if the recession keeps going like this, then tickets will go up even more! I just dont see this thing selling out all the time and keeping up with the costs. What will the price of tickets need to be in order to keep the million dollar buget per week in check? Like $150 per person? That’s outrageous even for a fan of Spider-Man.
As a comic book fan, the concept delights me if it can be pulled off. However as a Musical Theatre fan the concept just disgusts me. Broadway producers won’t even touch a story idea unless it is based on a previously existing property. I know that its nothing new, but lately it seems to have become much worse. Have we really sunk to the lowest common denominator just to get people in the seats? IMO I’d rather see this in a scaled down version the next time I go to a Universal Studios Theme Park.
The only reason I have any faith in this project (and I’ve been following this for awhile) is Julie Taymor. "The Lion King" on Broadway is a thing of beauty in its theatricality, and proves that anything is possible in the theater. Bono writing the music? Well, that’s scary. But we’ll see. I’ll certainly see it.
@TheNextChampion – A billion dollars in start up? That’s not accurate. However… it is currently coming in at $40 million dollars, which is still the most expensive production in theater history. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095104/news) Also, productions close right after the holidays all the time. That’s when tourist season ends. And the new productions come into the houses about a month afterwards. So 10 is actually not an outrageous number of Broadway closings around January.
There’s a great conversation going on right now in the "General Theatre" thread in the forums right now, dealing with the lack of new material on Broadway and the cost of commercial theater. Check it out. Here’s an excerpt of my contribution to that discussion:
"I have seen three Broadway plays in the past three weeks. Two of them ("All My Sons" and "Speed the Plow") are revivals. Excellent productions, but revivals. The other is the new musical based on "A Tale of Two Cities". Plays cost a lot to produce these days, and the theatre producer is a businessperson who is out to make money. Promote the arts, yes, sure, but they are also out to make money. Can’t fault them for that. And they will continue to produce established properties, whether that be revivals by famous playwrights starring stars (Katie Holmes, Diane Weist, John Lithgow, Jeremy Piven, Cedric the Entertainer, Haley Joel Osment and John Leguizamo are all currently on Broadway in revivals of plays by Arthur Miller and two by David Mamet) or plays and musicals based on famous properties like "Dirty Dancing", "The Wedding Singer", "Seussical", "A Tale of Two Cities", "Shrek", etc., etc. This is because these properties come with a built in audience, and it’s really hard to make money in the theater these days. Producers, like anyone else, need to turn a profit, and with theater, there’s no DVD residuals to boost up a sagging box office or bad ratings.
It is really hard for new, exciting playwrights to find their way to a place where they can have a prominent voice in the theatre, so much so that many don’t even bother trying and go straight to other mediums instead. Kevin Smith and Brian Bendis, for example, are two guys who write like playwrights but never even considered that career path because A.) Theater had never been part of their development as writers, and B.) There’s no money in it. Would you go see an original play by Kevin Smith? By Brian Bendis? By Geoff Johns or Frank Miller? Of course you would. But why the hell would these guys, great writers all, do that if they can make more money at their current jobs, attract a bigger audience at their current jobs, and have never been in a real position to be touched by theatre because theater has been on life support for 30, 40 years and most schools, high schools especially, just keep recycling the same old classics (great classics, but old nevertheless) that don’t speak to the young audience member? You can’t underestimate the power of hunger, and even the most staunchly "artistic" and stubborn of playwrights is hard-pressed to turn down the money when Hollywood comes a-calling. And today, a lot of writers WANT to write for the movies, or television, or comics, or whatever, because theater has probably not been as influential on the development of their own artistic voices as these other mediums have been."
@NJBaritone – "Oklahoma": based on an existing property. "Guys and Dolls": based on an existing property. "The Sound of Music": based on an existing property. "Rent": based on an existing property. "The King and I": based on an existing property. "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying": Based on an existing property. "West Side Story": based on an existing property. "Carrie the Musical": based on an existing property.
Okay, that last one was a bad example, but you get my point. This has always gone on. Nothing new.
Is this going to be an adaptation of the movie? Or of the story of Spider-man? I have almost no interest if it’s the former, but a little bit if it’s the latter. 1) What can a play version version add to the movie, besides singing and dancing (which Spider-man 3 did, with predictable results)? 2) I don’t want to see anymore of the Green Goblin Power Ranger. 3) A new (or old) take on the story with a third act that includes a big cast of villains (Ox, Rhino, Vulture, Electro, Scorpion) sounds like a good time. I’d like to see Taymor’s take on a wide range of these icons.
@patio – I’d love to see a Taymor designed Dr. Octopus. And Venom. I know, it’s cool to hate Venom right now, and almost impossible to make his story work, but I’d love to see her put a Venom on stage, just to see what she does.
My understanding when I first heard about it was that it’s spinning off the popularity of the films, but is more or less Bono’s take on the comics. I hope this can be pulled off as a fan of Bono and the Edge, some musical/ theatre projects, and Spider-Man. I also believe Taymor’s pedigree gives higher hopes for this project, too.
@RaceMcCloud – Venom’s story isn’t that hard to do, just look at the Spectacular Spider-Man version of last year. It took them time to flesh it out, but that’s not their fault, it just means that they thought ahead, unlike the movie producers.
It’s an interesting idea, but I’d prefer seeing this:
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=JYpyLzORfP0
I mean:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JYpyLzORfP0
the one from the film clip from the song off of Spidey 3 was pretty entertaining (more than the movie), and that was done with six year-olds
Okay so my math was alittle off….You say 40 million, I say 1 billion. What’s the difference? (about a good 960 million differences)
Still that is a ridiculous amount of money for a budget. Plus I know the 1 million a week to keep the show afloat is spot on. To me that is still too much money for one production in NYC.
There’s no way this is a good idea.
1. You’re comparing apples and oranges. A good story in one format is not necessarily a good story in another.
2. WTF does Bono know about writing for musicals? And U2’s music has been declining in quality since Achtung Baby.
3. I don’t want those freakin’ doors opened. Superheroes on Broadway is the definition of A Bad Idea. These concepts *don’t* mix.
4. I love Julie Taymor’s movies, but I don’t think genius is enough to turn A Bad Idea into something watchable.
The ONLY way you could sell me on Spider-Man in the theatre would be if it was a Cirque du Soleil show. Even then, I think we’d be better off without.
@TheNextChampion – C’mooon, dude! You "know" the 1 mil is right on? Did you glean this info from your daily conference calls with producers? (j/k)
@Diabhol –
1. But it’s not necessarily a bad story, either.
2. I don’t know what Bono knows about writing for musicals. The decline of U2’s music is a subjective opinion, of course, and Bono writing a musical DOES scare me… but right now, we don’t know.
3. Superheroes in Broadway Musicals could very well be a bad idea. The two forays I can think of off the top of my head ("It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s Superman!" and the ill-fated "Batman" musical that was killed in pre-production) were both poorly executed up to the point they were allowed to live. But this is happening, so we’ll see.
4. Julie Taymor is probably a genius. Just saying. If anyone can pull this off, she can.
Cirque de Soleil doing this would be bad, because it would definitely be all spectacle and no story. Julie Taymor is a storyteller. And maybe there is no way that this is a good idea. But doing "The Lion King" on Broadway wasn’t a good idea, either. Truth is, sometimes bad ideas make for great productions/films/novels, etc. Not often, I’ll grant you. But it has happened.
WOW nearly all negitive replies, I know it would be VERY hard to get right, but right or wrong if its happining I am first in line to buy a ticket and hoping for a good show. It could be great or at least great fun and anything promoting comics has to be a good thing, all press is good press and unfortunatly not all theater works but some of the greats come from wierd places so lets just hope for the best.
When the spidey movie was anounced there was a lot of nerves about that to.
@Dude – In regards to all the negativity, let me venture into a potentially dangerous observation: as a theatre person (and musical theatre fan) who is also a huge comics fan, I have noticed on several occasions that there are a fair number of "fanboys" and geeks who really look down upon (and in some cases stereotype) musical theater. I think it’s ironic, as the fanboy community really gets riled up when somebody suggests that "Comic Book Guy" on "The Simpsons" is representative or what every fanboy/geek is like. But I have to say, I have gotten the sense that some fans of the superhero/scifi/fantasy genres really look derisively upon musical theatre and its fans, almost as if to say, "Well, we may be geeks, but at least we’re not THAT." And I’m certainly not saying that this is a universal reaction among the fanboy/geek community to musical theatre; I know several members of this particular community who are HUGE theatre fans/geeks. But I have encountered that sensibility over the years at various times from fanboys/geeks.
I want to stress that I’m not talking about anyone specifically on this thread or in the iFanboy.com community. I also want to emphasize how grateful I am that the guys have created an online community where any sort of negative stereotyping is not accepted or tolerated. It has really raised the level of debate and discussion here to a higher, friendlier, more intelligent place than on just about any other comic book site you can find, and I only offer the above observation as part of that discussion.
@RaceMcCloud – BRAVO!
@TheNextChampion – One million a week is a fairly standard budget. People don’t work for free – actors or technicians. it’s not like movies are much cheaper to make. They just make it back quicker because they can play multiple cities and mulitple times.
@Diabhol – I encourage you to read (or see) something by Glen Berger. Since he is working with JT on this – I think that the story will be good.
Theatre existed long before movies and comic books. Telling stories in this format has crossed through every generation of mankind – even "Ug" the caveman who would tell stories of the hunt around the fire. I think that a story can go backwards from movie to theatre – and I think the assembled team has the potential to do it well. I am not a U2 fan – and Bono is sort of the wildcard – but this is not a pop album he’s writing. He certainly has the knowledge and skill to write music/lyrics – and it’s not like he is sitting in a room doing this alone. More likely is that his name is on it – and a large team of professionals is working away.
As for original ideas – mentioned a few times by people – there are none (and that is a bit dramatic, there are a few) – but even William Shakespeare stole nearly all of his source material. It’s been happening for centuries, and it will continue to happen.
I love theatre and even studied playwriting for a while in college (I majored in Screenwriting/Playwriting) but can’t claim to know a lot about the business of theatre production. So I will defer to you guys.
For something like this to work, would it have to be a musical? Do they have to go all out? Would a smaller, more intimate stage drama work? Let’s say it’s an adaptation of, I dunno, The Escapists or Gotham Central. Would it ever be able to bring in an audience that could warrant the expense obtaining the rights to the characters/title? What I’m asking is, is it an issue of "you have to spend money to make money"? Do they have to launch a major, bombastic production to get the kind of income needed to sustain? I love musicals, don’t get me wrong, but is it just the nature of the industry that, if you want to get the big crowds you have to go completely over the top and risk bankrupting yourself? Theatre seems to be much more black in white than even the film industry in terms of blockbusters and art house productions. You’re either huge or completely obscure.
That gives me an idea – it would be interesting to see an adaptation of a black and white comic where the clothing is in shades of black white and gray, and maybe painting peoples faces to look black/gray/white to keep the theme, and maybe add splashes of color like you guys said that was in some Sin City books.
@gordon – Oog painted on walls long before Ug discovered language or produced nationally recognized signs…
@chlop – I think the argument would not be language – but dance/movement and "costuming" – as in wearing part of an animal like a mask, etc. It was all happening a the same time…it’s not like they looked a cave paintings for hundreds of years and then decided to build rituals around those…the evolution of art has many paths.
@Paul – nope. You don’t have to spend to make – but if you don’t you need to have something REALLY special. I think there are certainly better books/concepts/stories that might make brilliant theatrical pieces – but this is the one that got picked. Similar to movies – what is popular is what gets the big funding. Certainly there are exceptions – and I’m hoping this can open a door.
@gordon – Comics can be made with a finger making shapes in the sand or the earth.
Baby Oogs can create comics.
For what it’s worth, I’ve got nothing against musical theatre (Rent and Chicago are great; hell, I even love Rocky Horror and what I’ve seen of Jekyll & Hyde was pretty damn impressive); I just don’t think some things should be made musicals and superheroes are near the top of that list.
@RaceMcCloud – A Cirque de Soleil show can and does have story. Some are tighter than others, to be sure, it’s there. As for the Lion King, that actually was a good idea. Hell, nearly any standard (re: non-Pixar) Disney property is a good choice for Broadway ’cause almost all of them musicals anyway.
@RaceMcCloud You know, I think it’s true that there are some in the comics community who will look down on musical theater — it’s a problem between all geeky subcultures, as if one set of geeks feels the need to look down on another to combat their own insecurity. But I think this thread alone speaks to the surprisingly large crossover audience between comics and musicals. (Gordon and I seem to be sharing a brain, actually — I wrote a whole post about comics and musical theater, and tangentially the Spider-Man musical, at my own blog the same day this was published. http://fantasticfangirls.org/?p=138 )
But on the topic — I’m personally excited about this. My feelings on both Taymor and Bono are mixed, but this has got to be better than that Superman musical was, and I think it has the potential to be great. I’m not sure it will necessarily last, because it’s a definite risk, but I know I’ll be buying tickets. I mean, who doesn’t want to see superheroes live on stage? I’ll go for that chance alone.
@throughthebrush – Maybe this thread does do that, and I made sure to reference the fact that many people on this forum seem to be theatre fans as well as comics fan. I absolutely agree. But my post was in response to a query as to why there were so many negative reactions to the Spidey musical. I think it’s very likely that many responders simply think it’s a bad idea. I also think it’s possible that some responders simply look down on musicals. I’ll allow both possibilities.
@Diabhol – "The Lion King" was a good idea because of its immense popularity (like Spider-Man) and because the universal quality of its story themes (like Spider-Man). It was a bad idea because it featured characters and set pieces that would be really difficult to translate on stage in a spectacular and quasi-cinematic fashion (like Spider-Man) and had a score that was being composed by a rock star who had no prior experience writing for the stage (like Spider-Man). Still, Julie Taymor made "The Lion King" work. If anyone can make "Spider-Man" work, it’s her. Notice I’m not guaranteeing that it will work… oh, and you said "Cirque de Soleil", and for some reason I thought "De la Guarda". That’s my bad. Still, I’m not sure Cirque de Soleil’s particular style would translate well with an audience expecting a more traditional narrative structure. But they are indeed storytellers, that’s true. (Love "Rent", "Chicago" is great but the movie is better, "Rocky Horror" has a sick score, but "Jekyll and Hyde" has a few good song moments surrounded by an interminable book. All opinion, of course.)
@chlop – Which came first, the chicken or the egg? And for the whole "Black/White" thing, check out the musical "City of Angels", which told the story of a writer (his world was in color) and his pulp-style private-eye creation (his world was in black and white and shades of gray.)
@Paul – I think there are a number of comics properties that would work better as plays rather than musicals. "Hush" comes to mind. Seriously. And plenty of the non-superhero books. Sadly, musicals bring in the money, because that’s what the tourists want to see. Think of Broadway as big-budget Hollywood. That’s where your tentpole pictures live and that’s where the real money is made. Then there’s Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway. That’s where your smaller features live, and your arthouse pictures. Occasionally, something small blows up, and it graduates into the wider distribution market of Broadway proper (think "Rent" and "In the Heights".) Broadway will keep going big and trying to put out what the audiences like and will spend money to see. Occasionally, a crowd-pleaser will also get critical acclaim (somewhat like "The Dark Knight"). Very often, that crowd-pleaser will just be noise. Of course, since the film and television industry is so much bigger than the theatre industry right now, all of this happens on a smaller scale in theatre than it does in film.
@Gordon – Thanks for the "bravo". Anything in particular you liked (just so I know how best to suck up in the future.)
@RaceMcCloud – synchronized swimming and mosaics back when we were fish…
@Race- Hush doesn’t even make a good comic. So… 😉
Right, but if they wanted to do a Batman themed stage play, wouldn’t it have to gross a lot to cover the cost of getting the Batman rights? I don’t know what the scope of procuring the rights to something like that would be.
As it stands, I’m not so interested in a Spider-Man musical. I like both pieces, Spider-Man and Musical. But not together. I understand that it might draw in a crowd on name recognition, but aesthetically, I don’t see a reason for this adaptation in a musical medium. Yet.
@chlop – I’m not sure what that means, but I like it!
@Paul – Hush wasn’t great, no. I’m still convinced that at its core is a good story that was derailed, mostly by the forced inclusion of the out-of-nowhere Hush’s back story. (I’m actually sitting here trying not to spoil "Hush" for people…) One reason that particular property would appeal to producers, I think, is because of all the villains in it. (One might say they were shoehorned into it so Jim Lee could draw Batman’s rogues gallery, but there they were.) Of course, perhaps "The Long Halloween" would be a better choice using the same reasoning. Better story, lots of villains, less difficult to stage action pieces. And yes, using Batman would cost cash. That’s why a major comics property like that would have to go into a Broadway-sized house. More seats, more revenue. It’s also the reason producers would rather have a Spider-Man or Batman musical: while a musical costs more money to produce, they also tend to make more money than plays.
Trust me, the only reason I have hope for this Spidey musical myself is because I have complete faith that Julie Taymor will do something remarkable with it. Her involvement, for me, almost guarantees that it will be worth the price of admission.
@Paul – Oh, and the reason for adapting Spidey into a musical? Two that I can see. 1.) To see if they can. 2.) To make money. I don’t know, we haven’t heard much yet directly from the creative/production team, so there may be somebody behind the project, driving it forward, who has a powerful artistic yearning to set Spidey to music. Passion for a project is always reason enough to pursue it. I just don’t know who, if anyone, involved in this production initially had that passion.
@ Race, just to let you know, there are other theatre guys out there. We’re just getting into the thick of my highschool’s production of cabaret. I’m playing Ernst Ludwig and I gotta say I’m a bit nervous for the reveal scene.
I’m sure I missed a couple of comments but I was wondering if you had seen or listened to Spring Awakening (alsio based off another story) What’re your thoughts?
@Anson – Good to know you, bro. Yeah, there actually are quite a few theatre people in the iFanboy community; as I said, I wasn’t specifically talking about this site at all. And certainly, most of the people I know are theatre people in some way. Having been involved in theatre for over half of my life, that’s a given. Cabaret, huh? That’s… a great show. Lots of weight, lots to say. It’s also a very difficult show, particularly for a high school. If you take the teeth out of Cabaret, and focus solely on the great Kander and Ebb score (as many high school productions are apt to do), it really sucks the wind out of the show. You’re not cutting anything out of the script, are you? (The abortion is usually the first thing to go in high schools.)
"Spring Awakening"… you’ve probably hit upon the one big show of the last few years that I haven’t seen. Everyone I know who has seen it says that it’s brilliant, but the parts of the score I’ve listened to have done nothing for me. It seems to be to today’s high school theatre student what "Rent" was for my generation. (I was in high school when "Rent" hit.) What is it specifically about it that really speaks to you?
we’re cutting nothing except the final verse of two ladies. Apparently the holocaust and abortions are cool, but throw in a threesome and that’ sjust too far. My director is really into preserving the spirit of the original show. We’re focusing very much on the idea that you can’t just sit by and watch things happen. You need to stand up and do something if you can tell something is happening. Most of the characters in Cabaret do nothing. I think its an interesting theme to focus on. He joked that he wants to break his record for hate mail during the run of a show.
I have yet to see Spring Awakening. I live in MN so its not like I get to see broadway stuff all that often. They are touring early next year so hopefull I can score some tickets. I only really like about 3/4’s of the original cast recording some of it is a bit too… exposition filled for my like. The sound can be a bit empty too. I’m curious to see how it all works out live. I’m really interested in the fact that it is a "big musical" that actually tells a story, with some decent characters that isn’t incredibly predictable. My buddy who is really into musicals gets mad when i say I don’t like a musical because of its lack of good characters or that its really predictable. He claims those are just tradmarks of the medium. Then, I yell at him for limiting his own meduim, claiming he’s part of the reason that musicals aren’t moving forward… then we usually change subjects. This is an almost weekly conversation.
P.S. Rent doesn’t do it for me. I got really sick of hearing the soundtrack when the movie came out. I’m sure I might like it now, but damn was I sick of hearing it.Same with wicked, which I have seen (in Chicago) and was really dissapointed. It was good and all but it relied far too heavily on big budget stage effects, which is something that might be a problem with the spidey musical.
as a fan of musicals and comics the idea of julie taymor adapting this is amazing(heh heh) she is a true visionary and a master storyteller (if they ever do a Little Nemo in Slumberland musical or movie i hope shes in charge of it) her stage productions and movies are breathtaking. the only draw back is that bonos doing the music, but maybe his over the topness will lend itself well to the show