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.'

What I know about "girl power"

"Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman." ~William Moulton Marston, on the creation of Wonder Woman.

What I know about cellphones

"All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness." ~Mark Kennedy

Technology is wonderful. Technology is stupid.

I swear, the more I know about a certain piece of technology, the more of an idiot I am with it. Take the cellphone. It's a nifty little invention, made so that communication is quicker, better, more accessible, because now you don't have to pray and hope that someone is home in order to talk to them. You can speak with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

...provided there's a signal where they are, their phone is on, it's not on silent, they're not otherwise more importantly engaged. Or already on a call with someone else who also now has the ease to communicate.

In this world, where we create so many things for our own convenience, we often outgrow what we were trying to avoid (i.e. making it easier to have phone conversations whenever) and are forced to move onto dealing with the new pratfalls and inconveniences that arise along with whatever previous inconvenience we got rid of. We want to be more accessible by having a cellphone, then we complain that no one leaves us alone. I was born a brunette but want to be a redhead.

This is not a complaint. I love my computer, the AC, my iPhone, television and my game consoles. I love them all. But I know that once I understand how to work them, I get impatient and stupid when they won't do exactly what I need them to, because it is an inconvenience to me, and all they know is processors and RAM and can only do the best they can to please me. Technology is smart, but it makes me stupid.

And, to finish, a quote on technology:
"Do you realize if it weren't for Edison we'd be watching TV by candlelight?" ~Al Boliska

What I know about romance

"I was nauseous and tingly all over. I was either in love or I had smallpox."
~Woody Allen

I'm certainly not the most romantic person out there, so there may be some things I don't understand about love and romance, especially in what seems to be the more modern concepts amongst young girls about what true love is. And where I'm going with this are some thoughts on Stephenie Meyer's book series Twilight.

In a society where our "greatest love story" is one where 17-somethings fall in love at first sight, spend one night of glorious love, then commit suicide because they can't be together, I am not surprised that Edward and Bella's story is so popular. From the beginning, there's attraction (she thinks he looks like a model; he likes the way she smells) and this attraction is insatiable and undeniable throughout. Now I want the person I'm in love with to love me back just as much, but there is one flaw in this initial attraction: it's her smell.

Bella can't help the way she smells. It's something that is purely hers. She could be a jerk, an idiot, selfish and passionless (which, hey, she kind of is) but Edward will love her regardless because she has something innate to her that he just cannot resist. And girls, it seems, love that, but I would rather be loved for all the other things that don't seem to be important to Edward, and that is my intelligence, humor and talents. In this sense, her scent, while primal and animalistic (which might be its own attraction) is the largest cop-0ut for "true love." How true is it when it has nothing to do with who you really are as a person, rather than your genetic make-up as a living being that has a smell?

Still, under the Adonis physique and pale complection (when did that become a desirable trait?) Edward is a rather frightening wish for a boyfriend (and a far cry from the perfect boyfriend,) because he is so obsessive and protective. And if he hurts her or kills her, it's not his fault, it's just who he is. And if anything, it's her fault he hurt her, for getting close to him. Now if that doesn't sound like something the Dixie Chicks would sing about, I don't know what is. For you non-Dixie Chicks fans, that's a reference to their early hit, Earl.

So, mostly I just don't get it, and I have these thoughts as to why it doesn't connect with me, but of course that doesn't mean that the book isn't successful. It totally is. It sells a lot and gets young girls to read. But is it something we should want them to read?

And, to close, a quote on love:
"They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever." ~Oscar Wilde

What I know about starting out

"I love talking about nothing.
It is the only thing I know anything about."

~Oscar Wilde

I have a lot of friends with blogs and I check up on them every now and again, just wanting to see what they are up to, what they are thinking and their opinions on whatever film or book they've read/watched recently. It's fun! And I always can tell that they had a good time posting.

So that made me decide to start a personal blog, about me and what I'm thinking and doing.

First post is just to start things off, because I felt like I needed to have a sort of introduction. I might not start posting in full swing as the film I'm working on right now doesn't allow me to have a large amount of time right now, but in about two weeks, that'll all change.

I like my BG. I'm a fan of yellow notebook paper. :)

To close of the first blog post, a quote on writing:

"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means; what I want and what I fear." ~Joan Didion