Mermaniac: A Show Tunes Weblog

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Mermaniac

Mermaniac, "A Show Tunes Weblog", has an excellent blogroll which has been divided into the signs of the zodiac...although it mysteriously omits Blogway Baby...what's up? BTW, I'm a Cancer...


There's a link to an excellent article on the Academy's attitude toward musicals: Why is Oscar silent on musicals? From the article:
"Best Original Musical?" I hear you ask. Well, let me explain. For about 20 years, the Academy has had this category on the books -- but not enough movies to activate it. Here's the rub: To be eligible, the movies must be original musicals for the screen, soChicago, fabulous though it may be, doesn't qualify because it's from the stage. And in order to activate the category, there must be five qualifying musicals in a given year. And qualifying is tricky. The film must have five original songs integral to the story, written by the same songwriters. And then there's the Oscar-qualifying run in a commercial theater. It can't be on tape either: The Academy is very fussy about that. If it's digital, it has to come from a server. Not that even a pro could tell, but the Academy really hates tape.

And this year there were five qualifying movies. They're back! Show-tune lovers were about to have their moment in the sun!

Then the Academy killed the category anyway. Bastards! Write your congressman! The Academy is discriminatory!

Discriminatory? Yes -- but perhaps not in the way you might think. This is where I have to get into some history.

Remember me not liking musicals? Well, I produced one. How I ended up producingOpen House is still somewhat of a mystery to me. A musical about real estate, no less. It had to happen, I suppose -- I mean, finding a home is something to sing about. And setting a Realtor's patter to music, well, that was just a matter of time.

Let me tell you a little about the film's director. Dan Mirvish is the guy who, years ago, got mad at Sundance because they rejected his film. So he started his own festival: Slamdance. If you're into indie film, you know that's where the real discoveries show up. Anyway, the point is that Dan's something of a force of nature: Lots of people end up doing him favors, and after a year or two of "volunteering" you wake up one morning asking how you got there. Like me, sitting in the Magic Johnson Theatre in Los Angeles at noon, watching our Oscar-qualifying run playing for an audience of one elderly retiree and a bored gangbanger. How, indeed, did I get here?
By Myrna Conn on March 22, 2005 6:29 AM | | Comments (0)


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