Musicals
Like musicals? I’ve loved them since my secondary school days. In those days, the early-80s, there was no video disc and the video tape (remember those?) was only 1 or 2 years old in Malaysia, afforded by only the richer families. "Grease" had come out in 1978, and introduced me to the genre. But we had an annual drama competition in school, and some seniors had put up “My Fair Lady” when I was in Sec 4. I think that was when I got really hooked and when I was in Lower 6 (JC1), we had girls in the classroom with us for the first time, and it was time for us to have some fun. The arts class was mounting “The King and I” for the Drama Competition. We were the science class, and we put up “Hello Dolly!” in the last minute as the rival. We got the whole class to study the video, then we condensed it and performed it to the hilt. It was our coming out party. We were the seniors now, and the school looked up to us to set the standard. We were a bloody science class for heaven’s sake, and we outdid the arts class, winning in all the major categories. We were on a high, and it was a hell of a way to end the high school years.
Since then, I’ve sampled every musical I could, and even moved on to operas when I could afford to buy the CDs and watch the concerts on my own. My Japanese friend once asked me why I like music if I have no education in it. I said you don’t have to know how to do something in order to like it. He liked jazz, so I asked him whether he played any jazz instrument. He said yes, he played the saxophone. Well, he liked soccer too, so I asked if he played soccer. He said yes, he plays the striker and his record was 5 goals scored in one match. So he had me there for a while. Still, I insisted we can enjoy something even if we can’t do that thing ourselves. I should’ve asked him if he enjoyed the movies, because I knew he didn’t make them. But it’s always my regret that I never bothered to learn music. It would’ve made life richer I’m sure. All those silly years spent on physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics, how much more fulfilling if they had gone into the piano instead.
Till today, I still read up on and listen to music, looking at a fantastic world from the outside. The musical theatre continues to fascinate, and last month, I caught Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and Toy Factory’s “Cabaret” in the same week, which was a bit bizarre, because they span the very polar opposites of the spectrum. In between that would be the heavy Verdi and Wagner stuff, and then the genius of Puccini, and lighter operetta fare of Lehar and Gilbert/Sullivan, and down to Rodgers/Hammerstein. It's not that operas have died. It's just that operas performed around the world today are invariably the 19 cent operas, except for "Porgy and Bess", I suppose. And the best composers working today are found in the service of the movies, the premier art form today. Or else, they are working on the musicals. Perhaps the best decade for the modern musical is the 1950s, with the legendary quartet of “The King and I” (1951), “My Fair Lady” (1956), “West Side Story” (1957) and “The Sound of Music” (1959).
Can one compile a list of “greatest” musicals and not be controversial? Perhaps I should just say; here are my top 4 all-time favorite musicals. It’s partly subject matter, partly sentimental reason, but mostly because of the musical coherence and unity of each piece, and glorious music that suits the character and plot (and that rules out “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King”). So here they are, in no order of preference: “Hello Dolly!” (for its recreation of America in an age of innocence, and also because I once adapted, directed and played in it), “Sunset Boulevard” (Glenn Close was sick the night I was in the audience and was replaced with a capable understudy), “West Side Story” and “Miss Saigon”. But in merit, the greatest of these; because it welds together a complex range of music from vaudeville to bebop to latino to operatic ensemble, and because it is the child of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim; is "West Side Story". Long live, the most popular form of live entertainment.
Chup
Like musicals? I’ve loved them since my secondary school days. In those days, the early-80s, there was no video disc and the video tape (remember those?) was only 1 or 2 years old in Malaysia, afforded by only the richer families. "Grease" had come out in 1978, and introduced me to the genre. But we had an annual drama competition in school, and some seniors had put up “My Fair Lady” when I was in Sec 4. I think that was when I got really hooked and when I was in Lower 6 (JC1), we had girls in the classroom with us for the first time, and it was time for us to have some fun. The arts class was mounting “The King and I” for the Drama Competition. We were the science class, and we put up “Hello Dolly!” in the last minute as the rival. We got the whole class to study the video, then we condensed it and performed it to the hilt. It was our coming out party. We were the seniors now, and the school looked up to us to set the standard. We were a bloody science class for heaven’s sake, and we outdid the arts class, winning in all the major categories. We were on a high, and it was a hell of a way to end the high school years.
Since then, I’ve sampled every musical I could, and even moved on to operas when I could afford to buy the CDs and watch the concerts on my own. My Japanese friend once asked me why I like music if I have no education in it. I said you don’t have to know how to do something in order to like it. He liked jazz, so I asked him whether he played any jazz instrument. He said yes, he played the saxophone. Well, he liked soccer too, so I asked if he played soccer. He said yes, he plays the striker and his record was 5 goals scored in one match. So he had me there for a while. Still, I insisted we can enjoy something even if we can’t do that thing ourselves. I should’ve asked him if he enjoyed the movies, because I knew he didn’t make them. But it’s always my regret that I never bothered to learn music. It would’ve made life richer I’m sure. All those silly years spent on physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics, how much more fulfilling if they had gone into the piano instead.
Till today, I still read up on and listen to music, looking at a fantastic world from the outside. The musical theatre continues to fascinate, and last month, I caught Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and Toy Factory’s “Cabaret” in the same week, which was a bit bizarre, because they span the very polar opposites of the spectrum. In between that would be the heavy Verdi and Wagner stuff, and then the genius of Puccini, and lighter operetta fare of Lehar and Gilbert/Sullivan, and down to Rodgers/Hammerstein. It's not that operas have died. It's just that operas performed around the world today are invariably the 19 cent operas, except for "Porgy and Bess", I suppose. And the best composers working today are found in the service of the movies, the premier art form today. Or else, they are working on the musicals. Perhaps the best decade for the modern musical is the 1950s, with the legendary quartet of “The King and I” (1951), “My Fair Lady” (1956), “West Side Story” (1957) and “The Sound of Music” (1959).
Can one compile a list of “greatest” musicals and not be controversial? Perhaps I should just say; here are my top 4 all-time favorite musicals. It’s partly subject matter, partly sentimental reason, but mostly because of the musical coherence and unity of each piece, and glorious music that suits the character and plot (and that rules out “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King”). So here they are, in no order of preference: “Hello Dolly!” (for its recreation of America in an age of innocence, and also because I once adapted, directed and played in it), “Sunset Boulevard” (Glenn Close was sick the night I was in the audience and was replaced with a capable understudy), “West Side Story” and “Miss Saigon”. But in merit, the greatest of these; because it welds together a complex range of music from vaudeville to bebop to latino to operatic ensemble, and because it is the child of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim; is "West Side Story". Long live, the most popular form of live entertainment.
Chup
posted by chuplin @ 8/20/2006 04:46:00 PM
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