So, I just saw the latest Disney musical, “Enchanted”. It’s the story of what happens when you bring the classic Disney princess, prince charming, and the evil witch and throw them into New York City. In short, hilarity ensues.
I must say, I doubt Enchanted will ever be viewed as a serious musical, but it is a boatload of fun. There are only three musical numbers in the film, but they are extravagant, fun, and very well done. I wanted to applaud after “That’s How You Know”.
The vocal performances are excellent. Overall, all the music has a highly polished, smooth feel.
Julie Andrews narrated the film. Idina Menzel played a main character, but did not sing or dance. Amy Adams did an excellent job as Giselle. James Marsden (Corny Collins in Hairspray) played the prince. Patrick Dempsey played the NY lawyer.
Overall, very enjoyable! Oh, I forgot to mention that there’s plenty of comedy in the first two-thirds of the movie…
As I type this, I’m listening to the cast recording of The Pirate Queen, which closed this past June after only 85 performances. I must say, I’m a bit stumped.
Judging by the cast recording, this musical sounds like a great musical! I”ve listened to the first 12 tracks so far, and it’s got some great stuff. Definitely similar to Wicked and Les Miserables.
With a little help from Wikipedia, I can follow the plot pretty well, I think, and it seems good. The singing is superb.
The critic’s reviews were pretty negative on The Pirate Queen - they seemed to view it as a Les Miserables wannabe. The viewer reviews were mostly positive, but confused. The viewers disagreed sharply. Most viewers praised the dancing. but other user’s said the show was good except for the choreography.
The only things that the viewers seemed to agree on was that Stephanie J Block did well.
Sadly, I don’t guess I’ll ever get to see The Pirate Queen myself…
Here’s an unusual musical video - it’s a scene from The Time Travelers Convention, a new musical by heidi heilig. What makes it unusual is that it’s filmed in Second Life, a virtual world. The music and vocals are “real” though.
It’s a documentary looking at the process of creating and launching a new musical. It follows the story of four musicals: Wicked, Taboo, Caroline Or Change, and Avenue Q.
I thought the DVD does a great job capturing the atmosphere of the theatre district in NYC. It also presents the tension of Broadway - the great gamble taken by everyone involved in a new musical. It spends quite a bit of time covering the all-important critics, including interviews with quite a few of them.
It focuses on the creative process more from a business standpoint - will the musical succeed or not? Will it get a Tony? I would have liked to see more coverage of the artistic side - choreography, set creation, music, etc.
Overall, a great, educational DVD. I think any Broadway fan would enjoy seeing it.
Content: The DVD gets a PG rating for Language and some sexual references. It has a smattering of language in it, quite a bit of cross-dressing (clips from Taboo), and a few other sexual references.
