British Imports

LINK TO BRITISH IMPORTS PODCAST

The Mega Musical

The Mega Musical was something truly introduced during the 1980’s. Generally a Mega Musical is a production that has large ensembles, lavish sets and expensive special effects. The three longest running musicals of all time are examples of Mega musicals. They are also all British Imports.

Cats

I first saw  Cats on home video when my little sister convinced my parents to purchase it on DVD, so she could finish watching the production (they had watched some during one of her classes). I ended up watching the film with her and at first was indifferent about it. Days later though, the songs remained in my head and I found myself re watching the DVD. This continued and I got to the point where I was watching the DVD nearly every day, for several weeks. This isn’t unfamiliar for me. But I began to talk about nothing but Cats. At the time I fell in love with the production, it was still the longest running musical on Broadway, though not for long. Only a few years later was it trumped by Phantom of the Opera. My entry about Phantom of the Opera can be found here.

I was so enthralled by Cats that I was able to convince my parents, with the help of my sister, to take us to see the production live in Washington DC. Right before the play began, I was so overcome by my excitement that I began to cry just from the first few notes of the opening theme. I was ecstatic. My favorite song and pair of cats within the show had always been Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, so I kept my eyes upon them for the majority of the show. I had been quite pleased with the experience, even though I knew by the intermission I was the only one who was really excited out of my family.

I had such a reputation for my love of Cats that one of my friends, Alicia, even made me my very own Mr. Mistoffolees arm warmers for Christmas that year.

In the background you may notice on the wall a framed vinyl of the original cast album for Cats. Also, I began to collect figurines that were released over the years that were based off the musical. As you can see, I was thoroughly obsessed. I saw it one additional time as a University production and I have potential plans in the near future to see it for a third time in Hershey Park. The plot of the musical may be minimal but I still adore it.

Les Miserables

The Day I saw Les Miserables, it rained all day. It felt appropriate.

Les Miserables may no longer be on Broadway, but it still is playing on West End. Due it still playing in London, it has now become the longest running musical in history. And for good reason.

The friend I mentioned earlier, Alicia, was one of my true confidants in the world of musical obsession; along with the girl I mentioned in the Phantom of the Opera post, Mary. Les Miserables was one of my first cast albums and during my freshman year of college, I caught a commercial for the tour. Realizing it was going to be stopping in Washington DC, I pleaded with my father for him to get me tickets. Alicia was the girl who I ended up going with for that show.

I am very picky when it comes to Les Miserables. Even though I have three different cast albums, my favorite is the Complete Symphonic Recording. I feel as if the other cast albums will never hold a candle to the Symphonic recording and I rarely listen to the other versions, even though I own them.

“On My Own” was my gateway into the world of Les Miserables. I had heard the song in an episode of “Dawson’s Creek“, way back in the 5th grade, when Katie Holmes was my idol. In other words, along time ago.

I then proceeded to have a friend in the seventh grade who was already obsessed with this musical. She introduced me to “Master of the House” and the recordings were often in the background when we spent time together. Soon enough I got the cast recording myself and not long after that, we had an entire Broadway based marching band show in my high school. I was one of the few who understood that “I Dreamed a Dream” was not a cheery song, without being told by my band director.

Being able to see it on tour solidified the show as my favorite musical of all time. Only recently has this position been rivaled and that has been due to my experience seeing Hair, which now shares the spot of favorite with Les Miserables.

Miss Saigon

I only own a Best of recording for Miss Saigon, a fact that I am very upset over. Eventually I plan to get my hands on the entire cast album, but it doesn’t seem likely any time soon. I hope that one day Miss Saigon will be revived on Broadway, only out of my own yearning to see it.

Favorite Clips

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from the Cats film. It is my favorite song from the musical and I hate the fact that it is impossible to find this version of the song on CD. Originally this song  was much slower and had a jazz feel to the tune. Then there was another version that was sang by Mr. Mistoffelees and the two characters were puppets he conjured up. I believe this peppy duet is the best version of the three choices and the best song from the entire production. Who cares about Memory? Cats has so many rich and lively songs. Memory is just a worn out ballad that really needs to be put to rest.

My favorite song from Miss Saigon by one of my favorite performers. It is a horrible camera video but it really should be viewed for the 30 or so seconds of Patrick Wilson rocking out the tune.

Lea Salonga is also one of my favorite performers. She played the character of Éponine in Les Miserables for a time and is the singer for the part on the Complete Symphonic Recording (as well as the 10th anniversary concert). My love for her vocals is what lead me to Miss Saigon, as I was trying to find more of her work. She plays Kim in the original production and this is a video of her supposed audition for the musical.

Earlier I posted the clip from “Dawson’s Creek” that got me interested in Les Miserables. Here is a video of Lea Salonga performing the song at the 10th Anniversary Concert. She will always be my favorite Éponine and this is a chilling performance. The entire DVD is superb and really worth checking out if you are a fan of the musical.

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The Phantom of the Opera

Broadway Strike of 2003

When I was a sophomore in high school, I was able to experience New York City for the very first time. My first musical experience was meant to be the Phantom of the Opera. The morning we were to leave for the city, my father drove me to the school. He was listening to an AM station that was dealing with the news and I was half asleep. He then proceeded to tell me that I might not be able to see the play. In confusion, I began to listen to what the news was saying.

The Broadway musician’s union had started a strike. In a panic, I rushed into my band music room to ask my Professor if we’d still be able to see our show. We didn’t.

We took the trip anyways and I missed out on the Phantom of the Opera. Instead, since the trip was a marching band field trip, we traveled all around the city. Many of us stopped and talked to the people participating in the picket lines. I was new to the musical world and really had no idea who I had a chance to speak with, though I remember some were performers from Aida and some were performers from The Producers. After touring the city, my specific group of friends and chaperon ended up joining in the marches down time square. People carried coffins and tossed sheet music into them, symbolizing how the music would die if musicals were to being relying upon taped music. The protests shut down nearly every show on Broadway at the time. Performers sang on the streets in front of their empty theaters. It was an event I was so glad to be able to witness for it solidified my respect for musicians and performers who put some much heart into their productions.

The Phantom of the Opera

The reason I bring this up is because whenever I think of the Phantom of the Opera I think of this weekend. I eventually had the privileged to see the Phantom of the Opera twice, once during my senior year of high school and once during this year.

The Phantom of the Opera truly is the definition of a mega-musical. It is the longest running musical on Broadway and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. The theater is constantly selling massive amounts of tickets for each show. It is one of the few Broadway shows in history to be given a sequel, something that is traditionally reserved for film and television only. It is the true King of New York City.

My First Viewing

My first Phantom was portrayed by Hugh Panaro. I was a senior in high school and it was the second musical I had seen at the time. Just as my sophomore trip was, this trip was with my high school marching band. We had managed to get a group rate with very good seats because a student in our class was related to one of the performers. I sat beside one of my best friends, Mary, and we analyzed the entire theater before the show even began, noticing the very detailed and naughty angel sculptures that surrounded the stage.

Nothing is like your first experience with the Phantom of the Opera, when it is brand new to you individually. The chandelier rose from the stage after a crack of music, the famous overture starting. I sunk down in my seat, staring up at it in amazement, before focusing back on the stage. When the chandelier fell at the end of the first act, I was one of the many who gasped loudly and almost cowered, afraid it may actually fall upon us. Which clearly it would not have, but I was naive back then.

Then the second act came. All of the second act, I was in tears. I was just overcome with emotion and I could not believe how sad the production was, or how much I wanted to know more.After the play we even got a chance to ask the performers questions. It was absolutely thrilling.

The Obsession

The Phantom of the Opera truly was an emotional roller coaster for me, something I would not stop talking about for several months after seeing the play. It didn’t help that the film came out in time to coincide with my viewing of the play. I devoured everything I could that was related to Phantom. I read the original novel and the many novels that came out over time that were inspired by the musical. My favorite novel was ‘Phantom‘ by Susan Kay and it is still one of my favorite novels to this day. As an additional note, I’m still holding out hope for a ‘Phantom’ by Susan Kay based filmed.

Billy Crudup for Charles de Chagny!

Love Never Dies

I used to desperately want a sequel. I sought out these additional novels (and often I sought out fan written stories known as fanfiction) just to get as much as I could out of the fandom. But I hated the novel ‘The Phantom of Manhatten.’ I felt it was poorly written and was really just fanfiction that was lucky enough to be published. Notice it’s amazon rating? Yeah check out Gaston Leroux’s original novel’s amazon rating. I’m not the only one who feels this way.

The funny thing…or perhaps the ironic thing…is that novel is what the new Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies, is based upon. I got wiser in my years and began to realize that sequels rarely live up to the original. It is typically best if sequels are just never made. I am able to laugh at the fact I used to so desperately want a sequel and I am now getting one, but from the novel I truly hated as a Phantom fan. It’s truly ironic.

Love Never Dies may surprise me. I have no way of knowing just yet. I have to wait for it to arrive on Broadway. I just highly doubt it. Perhaps I’ll discuss my full feelings in one of the podcasts.

I just felt that I needed to post about the Phantom of the Opera, since I just recently saw it. I’ll be posting about all British Imports later this afternoon.

Videos

My clip from the Phantom of the Opera film is ‘All I ask of You.’ Patrick Wilson is my ideal Raoul and the best thing about the film. Let it be known, I am a Phantom fan who can appreciate both Erik (the Phantom) and Raoul. I think it is quite unjust of Andrew Lloyd Weber (and the original author of ‘The Phantom of Manhatten’) to butcher his character in the way they do with the sequel.

The Phantom of the Opera came out during the prime of MTV and due to the popularity, they made this music video based on the title song. It’s rather comical from a modern view. Some of the lyrics are changed. This video features Steve Harley, who was the original Phantom for a portion of the rehearsals, before he was replaced by Michael Crawford. I, for one, am glad that he was replaced by Michael Crawford because Michael Crawford seems to evoke the feeling of the Phantom better. Steve Harley feels too young and has too much of the rock vocals, which was my primary issue with Gerard Butler in the film version.

Michael Crawford shows how it should be done, again with Sarah Brightman. From the Tony awards.

I may have little faith in this show, but man do I love this song.

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Rodgers and Hammerstein

Link to Rodgers and Hammerstein Podcast

Research

As part of my preliminary research for this Blog, I needed to brush up on musicals  that were not necessarily my favorite type. For the most part, this meant the  Rodger’s and Hammerstein genre. I have always respected Rodger’s and Hammerstein,  for they have such a worshiped collection by the general public, and they do have  several amazing shows. I just never latched onto them the way I did other musical contributors, such as Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Weber. In fact, prior to settling on this capstone topic, I had only ever really seen The Sound of Music, Cinderella and pieces from Oklahoma!

Rodgers and Hammerstein have an intense catalog. If you stick to the basic films they’ve produced, you’ve got at least the big six. The Sound of Music, The King and I, Oklahoma, South Pacific, State Fair and Carousel. Then of course you have other  examples, but because of the film productions, those are the big six that most people are going to know of. I sat down and forced myself to watch The King and I and Oklahoma!

The King and I

I am going to be straight forward on my opinion here. I did not care for The King and I. It is a major work in theater and cherished by many. But I did not care for it. It took me two days to watch because I had to stop it in the middle in an effort to retain interest at a later time. What I can say about the King and I is how it sparked my interest in the actual events. I wanted to learn about Anna Leonowens and King Mongkut. I spent a good deal of time after my viewing researching the actual events of their relationship, as well as King Mongkut’s effects on Siam during his reign. Vastly interesting from a research stand point, but far too dull for an epic musical.

I think the problem lies in my own personal tastes. I am more likely to flock to the musicals that are big epics, such as Les Miserables, or have roots in rock music, such as Hair or Spring Awakening. Shows that have the standardized show tunes are always going to have issues grabbing my attention, even though I love show tunes. Do not let that be misunderstood. I was very bored with The King and I, but I loved the music.  “Shall We Dance?” was simply breath taking from a music standpoint for me.

Oklahoma!

Oklahoma was not nearly as unbearable for me as a viewer. I made the mistake during my radio show by saying that it was my favorite of the Rodgers and Hammerstein film collective. It isn’t. The Sound of Music is. But I did enjoy Oklahoma, so much so that I sought out Hugh Jackman’s version of Oklahoma. I enjoyed that more. I do believe that I enjoyed it more because it was clearly a staged production, not a film. I feel as if staged productions that are filmed and put on DVD are generally more enjoyable than a studio produced film. Not necessarily all of the time, but it has happened more than once in my opinion (best example, Rent).

Broadcast and Music Issues

With the Rodger’s and Hammerstein show, I learned something as a radio DJ. I  learned how to use the vinyl player in our studio. I’ve always known how to use a vinyl player at home, but the one in the studio intimidated me. I am intimidated by the equipment I don’t regularly use. Which believe it or not does include the CD player as well. Since beginning at WSHC, I’ve been primarily using digital music files that are stored on my ipod.

My ipod, presently, is useless. It has some form of a glitch in it that makes it so I can not make a manual playlist properly. If I add a song to a playlist from an album with more then one track, 75% of the time it automatically goes to another song from the list. Almost like it is shuffling the tracks without renaming them. It has caused me many problems in the past few months, to the point where I have given up on it all together until I can fix my music library.

My music library is stored on my desktop computer, the first big purchase item I bought after obtaining a job. It currently has a virus and I’ve been trying to fix it for some time now. What this means for both The S&M Show, and my original show The Late Night Double Feature, is that I have limited music selection. A lot of my cast albums I purchased through the itunes shop but never bothered to transfer to CD. The CD’s I physically own are scattered between my car and my parents house. Sadly, the majority of my Rodgers and Hammerstein (and Sondheim) collection was purchased through itunes features.

Which means very limited selection. I wished I could have been able to play songs from Cinderella or Carousel, for example. I was really yearning to play “If I loved you,” during my broadcast, but sadly could not. Luckily though, I have an obscene collection of Broadway cast recordings on vinyl. I used the vinyls of The King and I and South Pacific for the broadcast. I found that I loved the way the vinyls sounded  over the air. I’ve always been in love with the scratches and pops. I was thrilled with how it turned out.

To end this entry, I figured I’d go ahead and post some links to my favorite clips from the Rodger’s and Hammerstein song catalog.

This is from the Hugh Jackman lead version of Oklahoma. I absolutely love when Hugh Jackman sings and I think this song is a delight as a viewer.

Edelweiss is my favorite number in the Sound of Music and always has been. I think that Christopher Plummer has a real magneficent voice. I often wish he’d have done more musicals during his prime. I prefer the version at the end before they escape from the concert hall, which always evokes tears to my eyes, but I posted this one for readers who may not want the film spoiled if they’ve not seen it.

Patrick Wilson is one of my favorite actors. I discovered him in the film version of Phantom of the Opera. To this day I state that he is one of the only real redeeming factors of the film. Due to my obsession with his voice, I found this clip several years ago and I am absolutely in love with it. His version of “If I loved You” is my favorite and I can only hear it through youtube!

Brandy was massive in my childhood. As a child growing up in the 90’s, nothing was cooler then Brandy. She had her own television show and pretty decent solo albums. So stared in the remake of Cinderella, it was a huge thing for me and my friends. Julie Andrews’ Cinderella is a delight as well, but this was my first exposure to the musical, so it will always mean more to me. Plus, I love Whitney Houston.

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