Musical Theater musings

I've been meaning, for a while now, to share some of my thoughts on musical theater in general. In some ways I'm a bit leery of expressing what I really think because I'm worried about giving offense. That is to say, there are certain things I really hate. But I don't particularly feel I ought to say how much I hate them in a public setting. So I have to be careful and temper my inclination to passion.

That being said, I am quite passionate about musical theater as a medium for entertainment. But it's not just any old musical theater. I'm more of the mind that musical theater, like many similar things, can be the best of the best or the worst of the worst. It really allows for either extreme.

I like to use a violin as an example. Someone playing a violin well...it's such a sweet and beautiful thing. Play the violin badly, however, and it's quite painful to the ears. The instrument allows for both.

Musical theater has grown since its golden days. There is definitely still a stigma about what it is and what it can and cannot be, but mostly these stigmas have been proven false by successful shows that are outside convention. In other words, the rock opera made it so a musical can be whatever you want it to be. You don't have to write "show tunes". You can go anywhere from opera to metal, and you can even do both in the same show.

With that kind of freedom, the art is expanded to be, musically speaking, one of the most versatile ways to write. In short, the only thing that musical has to be, is...well..."musical". That is to say, you have to use music in it. More exactly, singing. You gotta have singing or it isn't a musical. And even then, you could, theoretically write a rap musical and still quality without any singing.

So if someone doesn't like singing of any sort, I can fairly accept that that individual doesn't like musicals. Beyond that, sorry. The guy with his headphones in who's listening to his favorite whatnot that then tells me he hates musical -- nope -- not buying it. What may be true is he doesn't like any musicals he's ever heard. But in principle, if you like music, you like the idea of a musical. There's no getting around it. A musical can fit the bill of anyone's taste. It's not the same as saying one doesn't care for classical music or one doesn't like rap, or metal or what have you. A musical is no longer a style. It is so much broader than that.

That's just talking in principle, however. The reality of my taste in musical theater is that I like "musical" musicals. Sort of. I like a certain style of "musical" musicals. I'm not into cheese...er...well, actually, I have to restate. I'm not into a certain type of cheese. What I do like is, without question, considered cheesy by some folk.

That being said, in writing, I pretty much do whatever I want to when it comes to style...well, with one factor controlling (that in theory). The style chosen needs to be appropriate to the show, story, situation, etc...

I've been listening to a lot of recordings of musicals lately - a lot that I've never heard before. I would say I don't particularly care for about 80% of what I hear. I don't really think that plays to my tastes so much as to the amount of junk being produced. But it's subjective enough that I can't say that definitively.

That being said, I think the show I've learned to like the most of what I've been hearing is Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard. I've heard it before...when it first came out I purchased it -- and hated it. So why am I loving it now? Well, I really think it comes down to the recording. The recording I'm loving is the American Premiere with Glenn Close. After hearing it and loving it so much I went back to the original cast recording and gave it a listen, and whereas I didn't hate it like before, I could certainly see where it fell short for me. Regardless, the Glenn Close recording is wonderful and Glenn Close herself is just phenomenal. Overall I like all the characters better expect for Max who's a bit too "mugsy" henchman-ish for me. Still, great musical. Really cool.

Beyond that, it opened up my thinking a bit (as well done stuff often does) as to what I can do with my work. Meaning to say, I've learned from it. And that's always a good thing.