TD 212: Musical Theater

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RandyG
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

Post by RandyG »

Magnoliasims wrote:
RandyG wrote:
ElendilPickle wrote:
ZachTheRiah wrote:
Tigershark wrote:Question 6. Musical Theatre Geography: Part I U.S. edition. Name the state where one of these shows takes place. ...

H. HAIRSPRAY: MARYLAND – SHEEP 18 responses ...
J. THE MUSIC MAN: IOWA – 5 responses
Ugh. I should have gone with The Music Man.
Yup. I thought it would be the sheep.
Likewise. I love The Music Man, but here I had to rule out any thought of going with a personal favorite, (despite that I know the territory). I figured Bye, Bye Birdie -- another of my favorites -- was a much safer choice; I don't think Ohio is played up that much in song, script or settings. Certainly didn't expect Hairspray to go anywhere near that high.

OK, I'll admit that "Till There Was You" from The Music Man is one of those songs that still gives me goose bumps when I hear/see the original version. (And it's one of the relatively few Beatles charting songs that they didn't write. No goose bumps with that version, though.)
Bamaman wrote:I would have gone with The Music Man, but I couldn't remember where it was set, even though it was the only one on the list I have actually seen, a TV version with Matthew Broderick. I thought 1776 was too obvious to take a chance on.
But..... I didn't care much for that TV version. :(

PBS TV will be airing 1962's The Music Man this Saturday night.
http://www.thirteen.org/reel13/classics ... music-man/
A family favorite -- I first saw it in the local movie theater when I was eight years old.
Thanks for mentioning this, but it appears to be a local NYC-13 airing. :)
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periwinkle
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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I'm not a fan of the remake either - even though I like Matthew Broderick a lot, he seemed colorless as Harold Hill, unable to carry off the charisma of a charming scam artist. Probably why he tends to play more ordinary guys. And it would be hard for anyone to live up to Robert Preston.

Linda Holmes (of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, and the NPR Monkey See blog) wrote a terrific analysis of The Music Man, including a line-by-line breakdown of "Ya Got Trouble", which she calls "a wicked satire of youth-culture panic hiding in plain sight inside a classic piece of upbeat Americana".

Read it here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2014 ... and-always
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Rackme32
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

Post by Rackme32 »

I enjoyed both the movie AND the original Music Man film. Both have strengths and weaknesses. Broderick seemed a litle flat as Harold Hill, but made up for it by actually having a singing voice while Preston had to make do with less vocal quality by having more pizazz. Of course, the orig. film had the amazing Mrs. Partridge, er Shirley Jones... Hard to top that...

I thought the climax of the new version seemed more exciting and suspenseful.
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RandyG
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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periwinkle wrote:I'm not a fan of the remake either - even though I like Matthew Broderick a lot, he seemed colorless as Harold Hill, unable to carry off the charisma of a charming scam artist. Probably why he tends to play more ordinary guys. And it would be hard for anyone to live up to Robert Preston.
The Music Man was both a blessing and a curse for Robert Preston, as he became so closely associated with Professor Harold Hill.

I remember seeing Preston in the movie version of William Inge's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, which I saw a long time ago, but not until after I knew Preston as the Music Man. The movie version of Dark.... was made shortly after The Music Man had its Broadway run, so Preston was probably a hot commodity, and he may have been chosen for the lead role because it was of a salesman. So here's this deadly serious story, but every time I saw Preston in a scene I expected him to burst into a rousing song. I always loved reading Inge's plays, but that movie version just didn't work for me. (I learned in TD 212 that Inge's Picnic had been made into a musical titled Hot September. If only I had known that before; the connection went unused in the quiz.)

It appears that Preston had few movie roles of consequence after The Music Man until Victor, Victoria 20 years later. Perhaps there were other reasons, but I'd imagine that typecasting had something to do with it.

Anybody remember this Preston offering from P.E. class?

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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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I remember seeing Robert Preston in 1984's The Last Starfighter and being able to watch it without thinking about Harold Hill.

Randy: I do not remember the P.E. recording, but the player itself is very familiar.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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RandyG wrote:
Anybody remember this Preston offering from P.E. class?

Yes! I had the same gym teacher for my first six grades of school (in the 1960s). He played this record at the start of class when we were indoors. The 45 he played had a short side and a long side. The long side included pushups and was more strenuous than the short side. This record has two versions: the DJ version and the school version. The DJ version is more orchestrated. Years later, I heard the DJ version of "Chicken Fat" being played on the Dr. Demento Show. The song was written by Meredith Willson, who also wrote The Music Man, so Robert Preston got to sing another Willson song.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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There is a commercial for the IPhone that plays Chicken Fat. Now I know where it came from.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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Don't know if it was because he wasn't getting film offers, but Preston did a lot of Broadway after his breakout with MUSIC MAN. Starred in BEN FRANKLIN IN PARIS; won another Tony opposite Mary Martin in I DO, I DO; THE LION IN WINTER; MACK & MABEL, as well as shows that closed out of town (WE TAKE THE TOWN -- as Pancho Villa and PRINCE OF GRAND STREET).
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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RandyG wrote:I learned in TD 212 that Inge's Picnic had been made into a musical titled Hot September. If only I had known that before; the connection went unused in the quiz.
I was a huge flop. If anyone knew that answer, it's likely that: A) They've read the book Not Since Carrie, which is an entertaining book that chronicles various flop musicals and what went wrong (bet you never knew there was a terrible sequel to Bye, Bye, Birdie) or B) They're a fan of of musical [title of show], a show full of obscure musical theater references, that mentions Picnic was made into a musical Hot September.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

Post by jkbrat »

RandyG wrote: Anybody remember this Preston offering from P.E. class?
Oh, wow, I remember that!

Not from P.E., exactly -- my kindergarten teacher played it for us. I never knew that was Robert Preston!! :o
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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Tigershark wrote:
RandyG wrote:I learned in TD 212 that Inge's Picnic had been made into a musical titled Hot September. If only I had known that before; the connection went unused in the quiz.
I was a huge flop. If anyone knew that answer, it's likely that: A) They've read the book Not Since Carrie, which is an entertaining book that chronicles various flop musicals and what went wrong (bet you never knew there was a terrible sequel to Bye, Bye, Birdie) or B) They're a fan of of musical [title of show], a show full of obscure musical theater references, that mentions Picnic was made into a musical Hot September.
I downloaded Not Since Carrie to my Kindle. I've read only the first chapter, but already I'm loving it. The play-by-play description of Carrie left me dumbstruck. I'm looking forward to experiencing the rest of the Broadway blunders.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

Post by periwinkle »

Tigershark wrote:
RandyG wrote:I learned in TD 212 that Inge's Picnic had been made into a musical titled Hot September. If only I had known that before; the connection went unused in the quiz.
I was a huge flop. If anyone knew that answer, it's likely that: A) They've read the book Not Since Carrie, which is an entertaining book that chronicles various flop musicals and what went wrong (bet you never knew there was a terrible sequel to Bye, Bye, Birdie) or B) They're a fan of of musical [title of show], a show full of obscure musical theater references, that mentions Picnic was made into a musical Hot September.
I highly enjoyed Not Since Carrie, especially the analysis - just a list of flop shows wouldn't have been as interesting.
But I didn't remember Hot September from [title of show]. I did remember Dee Hoty from it, so I was excited that she was added to the cast of Gigi at the KenCen.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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Peggles wrote:The play-by-play description of Carrie left me dumbstruck. I'm looking forward to experiencing the rest of the Broadway blunders.
After Carrie closed, the creatives were so embarrassed by the show, that didn't release the performance rights for years, and no one could do a regional production. After reading the description, it sounded awful, but I kind of wanted to see it for myself. A few years ago, a revised version opened Off-Broadway, and there is a production planned in LA this spring, which I really want to see.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

Post by Peggles »

Tigershark wrote:
Peggles wrote:The play-by-play description of Carrie left me dumbstruck. I'm looking forward to experiencing the rest of the Broadway blunders.
After Carrie closed, the creatives were so embarrassed by the show, that didn't release the performance rights for years, and no one could do a regional production. After reading the description, it sounded awful, but I kind of wanted to see it for myself. A few years ago, a revised version opened Off-Broadway, and there is a production planned in LA this spring, which I really want to see.
Looking forward to your review.
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Re: TD 212: Musical Theater

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SavoyGirl wrote:Don't know if it was because he wasn't getting film offers, but Preston did a lot of Broadway after his breakout with MUSIC MAN. Starred in BEN FRANKLIN IN PARIS; won another Tony opposite Mary Martin in I DO, I DO; THE LION IN WINTER; MACK & MABEL, as well as shows that closed out of town (WE TAKE THE TOWN -- as Pancho Villa and PRINCE OF GRAND STREET).
Thanks for the update. His style did seem much better suited for the stage, particularly Broadway-type musicals, and that may have been his preference as well.

Tigershark wrote:
RandyG wrote:I learned in TD 212 that Inge's Picnic had been made into a musical titled Hot September. If only I had known that before; the connection went unused in the quiz.
I was a huge flop. If anyone knew that answer, it's likely that: A) They've read the book Not Since Carrie, which is an entertaining book that chronicles various flop musicals and what went wrong (bet you never knew there was a terrible sequel to Bye, Bye, Birdie) or B) They're a fan of of musical [title of show], a show full of obscure musical theater references, that mentions Picnic was made into a musical Hot September.
You left out the possibility that they may have been one of the 126 people -- 54 still living -- who actually saw it on Broadway.
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