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Or, "Harry Potter Makes The Worst Pies in London".

This movie is rated R. After seeing it I can honestly say that the "R" stands for RRRRGGHGHRRHGHH!. That is the sound that Sweeney's victims make after he slits their throats in bleeding Technicolor. There was a surprising amount of blood, even for a musical.
 
Going into this movie I was skeptical. After all I had read that Tim Burton who directed the movie, doesn't actually like musicals. Go figure. And I was suspicious of the casting -- mostly amateur singers. But the call of Johnny Depp on screen for two hours was like a siren song, so off we went. Yes, I took my daughters, thereby solidifying my position as "Bad Mother of the Year".
 
Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham Carter plays Mrs Lovett. She played the bad witch Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter movies (in what appeared to be very similar make up), and is joined by other Potter alumni -- Alan Rickman (Snape) as Judge Turpin, and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) as Beadle Bamford.

Despite not having the pipes of a George Hearn or Michael Cerveris, Johnny Depp delivers a great Sweeney. I can't say the same for Mrs Lovett. Athough I love Helena Bonham-Carter's acting, her singing just sucked the life out of her role. I couldn't help but hear Angela Lansbury and Patti Lupone's voices in my head. The other "non-singers" deliver fine performances, I guess, but I wasn't moved by any of them. Perhaps "doesn't suck" is the new goal of movie musical performances.
 
Strangely enough, I ended up liking this film. Not nearly as much as when I've seen it on stage, but it felt like a fun movie that was enhanced by some music, as opposed to a movie musical. I never got swept away emotionally by a musical performance. I enjoyed the visuals, the Burton-esque "by the sea" shots of Sweeney and Mrs Lovett. I also appreciated the way the characters just burst out into song -- nobody was "imagining" their musical number. But I never got scared or moved the way I do watching the Lansbury / Hearn DVD version. But I certainly was grossed out!
 
So, let's summarize. I would watch the movie again, but I will never buy the CD cast recording.
 
What's next? Ah yes, Penelope Cruz in the upcoming movie of the musical NINE…

Technorati tags: Broadway Musicals Musical Theatre Musical Theater Movie Musicals Theatre Theater American Theatre American Theater New York City The Fabulous Invalid Times Square

My oldest daughter is involved with a great theatre group at The Village Theatre in Issaquah (not as far away as it sounds, and home of the awesome XXX Root Beer diner and Boem's chocolates; well worth the drive!). As a result I went to see a really fun show, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, that played at the Village Theatre from September 19 through October 28 at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre (that's what the mainstage is called).

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET has a book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, with musical arrangement (of classic rock and roll songs) by Chuck Mead.

The synopsis from the program:

"This incredible musical, inspired by an actual event, will take you back to the place where rock-n-roll was born! On December 4, 1956 at Sun Studios in Memphis, a twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together for one night of music that made history. These four legends-to-be and the "Father of Rock-n-Roll", Sam Phillips, who discovered them all, united for an impromptu recording session that would be one for the ages. The musicians played, talked, played, joked, played, argued and played all night -- and were quickly christened the "Million Dollar Quartet". Part jam session, part bull session, and chock full of rock-n-roll classics from the 50s, this unforgettable new musical will have you dancing in the aisles."

In addition to those five men mentioned, Elvis's girlfriend, "Dyanne" appears, as does Jay Perkins (Carl's brother) playing the bass and "the Drummer" (poor drummers, they don't even merit a name! Quick question: What do you call a drummer who's broken up with his girlfriend? Answer: Homeless...)

What made this show fun was the music and the musicianship. Great songs played and sung really well -- hard to beat for a fun night. The characterizations were done (not overdone) nicely too. My favorite was Rob Lyons at Carl Perkins, probably the least well known of the Million Dollar Quartet. I've seen only a couple of 1990s country videos in which Carl Perkins performed, and Rob Lyons totally captured him. Levi Kreis as Jerry Lee Lewis was crazy fantastic on the piano, playing hits such as "Great Balls of Fire". Johnny Cash was played by Lance Guest, Elvis was played by Dane Stokinger, Sam Phillips by Matt Wolfe, and Dyanne by Jessica Skerritt. What a great ensemble!

The only negative of the evening was reported by my husband (after he took out his ear plugs) who sat on the other side of the theatre (we got last minute tickets) where the sound appeared to be amplified to an uncomfortable level. On my side of the theatre the sound was great. Go figure. This is the only show I've seen at the Village theatre so I don't know if it was a one time thing, or a chronic sound issue.

I wouldn't have predicted having such a good time, but I was standing and clapping by the end of it.

Those kids and their rock-n-roll!

 

It's alive!

I'm so excited cuz I'm going to be in Seattle in August so I can see the pre-Broadway tryout for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN! Lots of my fav actors are in it - Roger Bart, Megan Mullally, Andrea Martin, Christopher Fitzgerald, Sutton Foster - I can't wait!

From this article in Playbill:

"Casting is complete for Mel Brooks' new Broadway-bound musical,Young Frankenstein, which will come alive in Seattle in August prior to a fall Broadway bow.

The production stars Roger Bart (Dr. Frederick Frankenstein), Megan Mullally (Elizabeth), Sutton Foster (Inga), Shuler Hensley (The Monster), Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher), Fred Applegate (Kemp) and Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor), with an ensemble to include Heather Ayers, Jim Borstelmann, Paul Castree, Jen Lee Crowl, Jack Doyle, James Gray, Amy Heggins, Eric Jackson, Kristin Marie Johnson, Renee Feder, Matthew LaBanca, Kevin Ligon, Barrett Martin, Linda Mugleston, Christina Marie Norrup, Justin Patterson, Brian Shepard, Sarrah Strimel, Craig Waletzko and Courtney Young.

The musical based on Brooks' Academy Award-nominated film comedy has book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, music and lyrics by Brooks, direction and choreography by Susan Stroman.

Musical supervision is by Glen Kelly, who helped make Brooks' words and music in The Producers soar to Tony-winning effect.

Opening at Broadway's Hilton Theatre will be Nov. 8 following previews that start Oct. 11.

The world premiere engagement runs Aug. 7-Sept. 1 at Seattle's Paramount Theatre.

Robert F.X. Sillerman and Mel Brooks present new musical from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award winning smash The Producers. They are obviously hoping lightning strikes twice.

According to the producers, "Based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. When Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma. Does he continue to run from his family's tortured past or does he stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather's mad experiments reanimating the dead and, in the process, fall in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga?"

The show is set "in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights." The song titles include "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and the unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz."

Tickets for Broadway will go on sale July 15. For information, visit http://www.YoungFrankensteinTheMusical.com.

I'm so glad Jay Johnson's Tony-nominated show, JAY JOHNSON: THE TWO AND ONLY! is on tour (perhaps a Canadian date might be in the cards?) I still think about that show (see my previous posts here and here), and now at least I have a chance to take my kids to see it. What's also really cool is that the original "Bob" from Soap is now in the Smithsonian Institute along with Charlie McCarthy, Jerry Mahoney, and Kermit the Frog!

According to this article from Playbill:

Jay Johnson, whose solo show Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! was nominated for a 2007 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event, hopes to eventually bring his acclaimed production back to New York.

The show, which celebrates the art of ventriloquism, will kick off a national tour in Ithaca, NY, in October. "We're going to start in the fall, start small, work up," Johnson told Playbill.com at the annual Tony nominees press reception. "I hope someday to come back and play New York again for some time."

Johnson, who is perhaps best known for his several-year stint on the award-winning ABC series "Soap," says his Broadway run was something he never really expected. "It seemed to be out of my reach, just as a Tony nomination might have been at the time," he says. "I just wanted to perform in theatres rather than clubs. I wanted that theatrical experience rather than the supper-club experience. So that was my goal, [but] to get to perform at the apex of that venue was great.

"Just to walk on [to a Broadway] stage and to know how many people have walked on that stage [before you]," he adds, "there's nothing like that feeling, and you are absolutely a part of it."

The Two and Only!, which opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre in September 2006 after an acclaimed Off-Broadway run, featured several "co-stars": Amigo, Darwin, Long John La Feat, Nethernore -- the Bird of Death, Spaulding, Arthur Drew, Jackie and Ga Ga, Squeaky and Bob. The latter, the infamous sidekick of the famed ventriloquist, was recently acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

"There was an original Bob that we used on 'Soap,'" Johnson explains, "and later we had a duplicate made that was a little bit better, so that particular Bob was used for a couple of years on the show. You wouldn't recognize the difference because it's mainly mechanics that we changed, but that original Bob went into the Smithsonian Institute [May 15]. He will sit with Charlie McCarthy and Jerry Mahoney and Kermit the Frog. . . . That is -- as incredible as this [Tony] experience has been -- a whole other incredible experience."

Technorati tags: Broadway Musicals Musical Theatre Musical Theater Movie Musicals Theatre Theater American Theatre American Theater New York City The Fabulous Invalid Times Square

Hi, my name is Suzy Conn and I work in musical theater as a lyricist, composer, and librettist.

When I was a little girl, the first movie that my father took me to was "That's Entertainment".

It was an electrifying experience, because sitting there in the dark, watching Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly narrate stories about the classic days of MGM Musicals, I suddenly knew what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to work in musical theater.

It's been a long a weird journey, mostly because the Broadway I love has been gone for a long, long time. However, the last few years have seen the return of my classically-driven musical comedy shows like The Producers and Hairspray. And, hopefully one day, PLANE CRAZY, my musical about the adventures of stews in the 1960s Jet Age.

I was very excited to see that MGM had re-released all three of the That's Entertainment movies on DVD just before Christmas this year. And my lovely husband bought the set for me! I've been revelling in the beauty of these films, the memories of my Dad, and my optimism for the future of musical theater and movie musicals. You can look forward to highly opinionated, strongly held points of view on musical theater here at Blogway Baby.

And I'm not alone, so I'll be blogging pieces from other similar contrarians! Enjoy!