8/23/09

What I know about musicals

"I'm just a musical prostitute, my dear"
~Freddie Mercury

On Friday, I went to see 'Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat' with my family. I'd never seen the show but I knew the Bible story. I recently wrote and helped put together a musical for New Play Project, and while I in no way profess to be an expert on musicals, I do think I understand a thing or two thanks to my experience.

In Joseph, there is hardly any dialogue at all, it goes straight from song to song. The songs are catchy and quite fun, but, in this case, many of the songs worked against the very story of the play, making moments that could have been sweet, or dramatic, or poignant. In this way, the music of this musical worsens the story itself, because it ruins a lot of moments that could have otherwise been played up to their full potential.

Also, it's called Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, but it really doesn't have much to do with his coat at all. He loves, it, it leaves, there's no real trying to get the coat back moment, and then he gets it back and we're supposed to buy that it's the thing he wanted most all along. Makes no sense.

In musicals, I feel that there are moments that need to be sung, and moments that need to not have any music. There has to be a nice balance, otherwise "too much of a good thing..." and all that.

BTW, 'Gotta Be Happy' will be playing during new student orientation at BYU on the 28th. I don't have all the details, but I'll write them out once I do.

And to finish up on musicals, here's a clip of a song that I love from 'Shrek the Musical.'

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