Yeah, I'm hopeless, whaddaya want. I miss him, sue me.
Tonight I was so caught up on what I wanted to see and read on the internets, I decided to re-visit a dvd I hadn't watched in a long time. And chose 'Into the Woods', the Steven Sondheim musical.
It's three hours...or thereabouts. Original cast to do a tee-vee production before a live audience. I have never seen it live, unfortunately. First heard of it from my NY friend JR, who attended the premiere. Had I been there, he probably would have dragged me to see it, am sure, from what he wrote me at the time. Must've been an awesome evening for him. He loved it.
I met my cousins in Munich in the late 70's and saw that it was playing at the opera house there, highly praised, and would have gotten a standing room ticket, but was there on a Sunday with them, and the Monday, the opera was closed. Had to be in Graz by Tuesday, so I missed out on it. It annoyed me.
It was very difficult and took a long time to obtain a copy on dvd.
It is very deceptive, on the surface. Ostensibly a fairy tale. The first act is hilariously funny. It involves Cinderella, Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk fame, a barren baker and his wife, a witch who lives next door to them and had cursed them, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, two cad sorts of princes, and they all have to go into the woods to acheive their 'Happy Ever After'. It contains the grisly elements of the original Grimm stories, which were so bowdlerised in the volumes you could get in the US libraries when I was a child, I was sort of astounded when I found out that was how the originals were really like. As in the wicked step-sisters of Cinderella cutting off a toe to fit the shoe, and the other a slice of her heel. Grisly, but funny. For instance.
But it doesn't end with 'happy ever after', and the second act is brilliant and sombre, with flashes of the humour, but very sad, in the end analysis. The wife of the giant Jack slew comes down a left-over beanstalk and wreaks her revenge. The cad princes have a wandering eye looking to free Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. One of them seduces the bakers' wife, played by Tony award winning Joanna Gleason in one of the most amazing numbers in that act, esp. her reaction to it...upon which she gets stomped by the giantess.
Sounds simple? It isn't. The music sounds simple, but is actually complex. The lyrics reflect so many themes about human relationships, you could take years picking it apart, if you so wished. And the over-riding message is you can't do things alone, you have to be together, and work as a team.
In the end, only four major characters remain alive.
So why Peter? When I first got the dvd, I watched it alone and knew he would like it... I'd moved out of the Mühlgasse already. And on one of my days off, I made him a good lunch, and then we watched it. It blew him away. Shortly before the end of the second act, there is a number called 'No One Is Alone', and he lost it. So I just held him, and he cried, and cried. The text hit him hard.
I can't do that any more. Watching tonight made me remember, so I'm sort of predjudiced, but I love that number. It's just before they slay the giantess.
Have heard that that gets an immense amount of royalties from school productions, which is sort of amazing... as simple as the music sounds, there is nothing you can sing along with. Too difficult. Unless you can do three octaves, and minor key in a wink of an eye. I could only find a very down-key version on YouTube, by the legendary Bernadette Peters, but you'll get the idea... She played the witch.
And he lurved him some feisty Red Riding Hood.
Peter and an evening remembering...
Happy Hallov veeeen!
In memory of the incredible Long Islander Steve Barton, who was loved here.....
Am kicking myself. It is one of those grey days where it never really gets light, so I left my camera at home. ÄÄÄÄÄ.... wrong. Got to the tram station at the hospital to go home, and there was this young guy with the BEST Halloween costume I have EVAH seen. He looked like a Hentai action figure, just so off the charts for original I figure he'd been working on that for months. So I was cursing for not having taken the camera. Inwardly, of course.
Got off at Jakomini to change to the bus, and whaddaya know there were five vampires out there in costume, wearing black capes with blood red satin lining, handing out leaflets.... because.... they are reviving 'Tanz der Vampire' in Vienna, and they were from the cast, doing promotional work. Fantastic make-up. I saw it twice back in the day, once with Peter, and once with my cousins.
It's based on the 68 film 'The Fearless Vampire Killers' by Roman Polanski, which no one I know there seems to have seen, but it is a VERY popular cult film here. The musical was composed by Jim Steinman, Polanski directed, the sets were just amazing, and the song 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' played a central role in the score. And despite all the bombastic sets, the most effective 'effect' to my mind was a chorus singing the beginning of that---- quietly, spookily, 'Turn around....' And when they got to 'Turn around, bright eyes', the voices were all around you, to the side, behind you, and the 'vampires' were in the audience, and when you turned around, there they were. They were so silent coming in, you didn't notice. It was nice and creepy. Which proves that it doesn't have to be bombastic to be effective.
Tanz der Vampire has been a long running hit here and throughout most of Europe. It opened on Broadway a couple of years ago, and thanks to that douchebag Michael Crawford, he ruined it completely, and I think it ran ten regular performances, and folded. Probably the most expensive and most embarassing flops in recent Broadway history.
Soooo.... since it is Halloween... here is the ballroom scene, 'Total Eclipse'. Austrian star Thomas Borchert plays Krolock, and he is good, but Steve Barton was definitive. He created that role. I believed this was the Stuttgart production, but no, they brought the whole damned set from there onto a poplular German TV show. It was similar to the original Vienna one, but... ok... maybe the audio isn't the best here, but you'll get the idea. Have fun, play safe if you go out tonight.
I couldn't find much more....
But I did find this gem, Bernadette Peters in a concert in London. The song is from Sunday in the Park With George. It is one of the most underestimated of the Sondheim musicals. And she was so fantastic... So I guess now it is time for me too to 'Move on'. It was about a painter, but the text is wonderful.
While I'm in the mood....
Here is another clip from the gala. She is ok, but she is no Elaine Stritch.
And I was speechless that Dean Jones did the original of this one. This guy is too dramatic, but has a nice voice and the orchestration is great.
The end was spectacular, and the maestro himself came in, and it was 'loverly', being in the Royal Albert Hall in London. I hope YouTube doesn't pull it too soon.
Whelp, thunder on my left, and getting closer....
I got SUCH a charge out of seeing the US-UK soccer game end 1-1. If anyone is a full snob about their soccer power, it is the Brits followed by Germany. As always in World Cup season, the whole bloody world stops. The opening ceremonies in South Africa garnered a BILLION viewers!!!!
But in 'Murka, that is a sport people seem to wrinkle their nose at. Sigh, they have always been out of touch, marching to their own drummer, and 'real' football means rioting on the field and crushing people physically.
I don't get off on it, and I don't get off on most other sports, actually. But for people here it is like a drug or something. They go nuts over it.
All I like to see is underdogs bitch-slapping the overconfident smug teams.
It makes me smile with happiness.
Storm nearly over me, so will close. The skies just opened up. Maybe it will cool off a bit.
Was watching some clips from 'A Little Night Music' tonight. Got revived on Broadway. Wonderful cast, seemingly great staging, but then again, THAT was by Trevor Nunn, and he is a genius. It looked very good. I don't know how Angela Lansbury will do at the Tonys, but I liked the clip I saw. Catherine Zeta Jones is good.... but still too young in my opinion. You're gonna find this weird of me, but the character of Desirée Arnfeldt is supposed to be a washed-up actress. CZJ doesn't really seem to fit, but that is just my opinion....
There WAS a film of this one. And that role was played by Elisabeth Taylor. (Don't yell or hit.)
Also a wonderful cast in it, and Diana Rigg was astounding, and Hermione Gingold, and many from the original production.
It was filmed in Austria, and it bombed so badly. But there was much to admire about it.
Especially the music. And no, will not do another hymn to Sondheim. But I think it is one of the most accessible venues to his music. He once called it his 'waltz' musical. And most of the numbers are in waltz tact. The book is brilliant and charming, funny, and sad.
And it produced his only world-wide hit: Send in the Clowns.
And hey, you back there, yes you! They played that to death back then. Every wannabe singer sang it in every dive you could think of. Without the context. And because they were even able to sing it, hey. Even I can sing it.... in the shower... They can NOT sing most of his other stuff, believe me.
But the context was... missing a connection with another, reaching an age where you can't go back, regretting, and finding the world is so topsy turvy, you missed it. You'd have to have seen it in its' entirery.
I really hated that song before I knew what the context was.... Nowadays? I think I began to understand.... Being blind to things, the laugh is on you, and where is the circus with the balloons, you know? Or that YOU are the clown, never having GOTTEN it...
Have to shut down, don't want to mess up my notebook.
There also was a later hit, losing my mind, which the Pet Shop Boys re-cycled for Liza Minelli, but don't want to go there....
But I loved Diana Rigg. Stop the clip after nearly five minutes... You won't understand the rest.
This has been my 'depri' song for a long time.... Every day a little death. Every time I leave Gamlitz, the text often runs through my mind, and the haunting music to it. Which is why I try to forget about it. Came back to me when I read the revival is up for Tony Awards, and I hope it garners lots. It is brilliant. And yes, the context is fully different. But when you watch someone slipping away from you in any context, it can kill something in you bit by bit. I think that makes the brilliance of what he does.... It goes straight to the heart, and can nearly kill you with insight.
I will NEVER forget showing Peter a rare dvd of his 'Into The Woods'. It's about fairy tale figures, and the first part was mostly hilarious. Lyrics simple, music no one can sing along with. And the second act was after 'happily ever after', and was devastatingly sad. Peter was sobbing by the end of it. Going to Sondheim is adventurous, and the music wonderful, and the lyrics to die for for brilliant. But he will get you right in the heart every time..... He must be a very sad man....
Ummm Queens as in the NY borough....
Ok, you know I like musicals. And one of the hottest Broadway stars of the past few years is Kirsten Chenowitz. And I ran across a video clip of her on the tee-vee. This is a phenomenon that can really freak me out to the max. She sings like an angel. Really. When she talks... it hurts your ears, am not kidding. Queens, I would guess, from the clip below.
We had a fading opera star in our ho-tel. Incredible in her time, you could melt. She was a formidable diva, but her speaking voice? I had the shudders for weeks. What is up with that?
Ok... I really have an issue with this....
There is a new revival of 'La Cage aux Folles' in New York. Known to you as 'The Bird Cage'----
No WAY...... and I do not like this mash up.
The original was French. It had a light touch, and was screamingly funny, because of the actors who dared to do the unthinkable. And meanwhile, they have left the planet. Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi were original. They weren't 'making fun', or being caricatures. And were very straight in real life, as far as I know. Michel Serrault, who played 'Zsa-Zsa', went on to play a murderer who made my blood run cold, and an ageing author who poignantly has a 'connection' with a young woman wanting to document his empty life, and it ended bitterly. A consumate actor, in other words.
If anyone has had the pleasure of seeing that non-musical farce... am sure it hasn't been forgotten. It was a milestone in breaking down predjudices, and making audiences roar with laughter. You can't get nearer to perfect than that. Classic.
And THEN... someone thought it would make a great musical, or something. 'Murkins don't get it. I just don't know.... I saw a perfomance of this in Vienna, and the leads were wonderfully good... However: big problems there.
First of all, I hated the music. (We are talking about the musical, here...) Just didn't like it.
If I want to hear Gloria Gaynor, I will play 'I Will Survive!' and go back to disco.
The problem is.... the stage productions always cast the son and he is always too old. It messes up everything completely. For those who do not know: a couple of guys in advanced years run a club where men pose as women. The one partner is the iva'. His partner had had an affair, sired a son, and the son wants to get married, and they go crazy trying to facilitate his happiness, only it gets sort of crazy, because the kid's fianacée's father is a conservative, and everything from there descends into chaos. The catch was that the kid in the film was young, and sort of projected an innocence. The problem became that if the son is older, it becomes a cruel joke on his 'parents'.
Farce. In other words....
Whatever, here is where it always goes wrong, whether musical or straight theater: the son is always too old. In the original, the kid was seventeen or so, and the mix made the success.
On stage? Oh please, The formula doesn't work.
The kid is too old.
I'm not good with this...
This is for a friend
A friend of mine has written me some heart-warming e-mails lately. Friends are the ones who promise you they will be there if there is trouble.
And he said something that floored me recently about his visit here. But the one thing he didn't know, that on one of the most important days here, my plans went a bit awry....
We were in Vienna, and I wanted to take him to see the musical Elisabeth. Some in my family know what THAT is about... August is vacation month, so the only game in town was 'The Beauty and The Beast'. It had the incredible late Steve Barton from Long Island in it, which made it worthwhile.... But that is another story....
So Yahoo has been acting up, and I couldn't embed the YouTube link into my post without losing all the text beforehand.
My friend... this is what I meant....
Oh, too bad, hey... I was hoping for a hit....
After 50 years, the musical 'Bye Bye Birdie' got a revival on Broadway.
And the critic of the New York Times just ripped it apart, unfortunately. Tja... you can find it HERE.
Tja, when I read about it beforehand, it brought back some fond memories. I'd only seen it on film, and I was about sixteen. (Back then, they milked the productions and the tours so that a film version came fairly well later than the original production.) So I was wishing the production good luck, because in our star-crazed culture, (world-wide), I think it would be easy to bring it up to something very good indeed.
For those of you young people who have never heard of it... it was about the Elvis Presley craze and a send up of his being drafted into the Army. The musical has a similar main character, and the premise is that 'Conrad Birdie' is gonna find a young girl in the US before he goes to basic training, and give her a symbolic kiss which will be for all the young girls in America. On the Ed Sullivan show, of course. I can't remember how, but the young girl chosen lives in a burgh in Ohio, and the musical is about how all hell breaks loose in her family when she gets chosen.... from 'Sweet Apple, Ohio'. Yup.....
The film had an all-star cast, and Dick van Dyke and Chita Rivera had been in the original production. But there was also the crazy Paul Lynde, and I 'think' Maureen Stapleton as a domineering mother in a mink coat and sneakers that kept squeaking on linoleum floors in hallways as if she were on a basketball court. I could be wrong about the latter lady, but will soon find out. Yes, Wikipedia just confirmed that for me. She had me on the floor, laughing.
But what the hell, I was about sixteen, and you find lots of things funny at that age, so go figure.
The fun thing was about where I saw it... and only once, mind you. It was on an Air Force base, in their movie theater, and I was doing a two-week exercise for the Civil Air Patrol. As above, was only sixteen or so....
So all the regular soldiers were in there, the credits rolled up, and there was Ann Margaret shaking her boobs at the camera for the title song, and the service people went nuts, I tell you, nuts. I thought it was kinda crass.
(That should have told me something...)
Whatever.... I will leave you with a fun story about my mother. When the real Elvis first appeared... on the Ed Sullivan show... we were at my paternal grandparents house, there were screaming girls in the audience, (and yeah, I think it was live), and he sang 'Hound Dog', with the twisting pelvis... oooo...
After the number, everyone in the room was in shocked silence. A long silence. And my mother said, 'Well, he'll never last...'
Later, at the end of the Sixties, I come home from my college seminars, and find her dusting, and singing along to 'In the Ghetto'. Which surprised me. So I said, 'I thought you didn't like Elvis.' And she got all indignant, and said, 'Are you kidding?' Those were the days!'
So when I see these fads come along, and the adulation, well, I often think of that, although I believe that Frank Sinatra was the first one to drive his female public absolutely nuts. As far as I know....
Not having seen the current production, I really cannot tell if the review is justified or not. But I do think, if it were handled correctly, it might have gone gold. Whatever, I found a really cheap deal on the movie on Amazon last night, and thought, what the hell, take another look. We shall see. Oh yes, and the music? Nice, if sometimes a little sappy, as I remember...
It will be interesting to see how it does at the box-office now on Broadway....
