Dan the Man, I agree, ADIH/NITU is a wonderful, underappreciated show. It was running when I moved to NY and I saw it more than once (sometimes only the second act because of that well know but little talked about phenomenon called Second Acting whereby destitute actor-types walk in after intermission and wait for the lights to go down and then slip into an empty seat).
Maybe it's not done as often because you need a good Groucho?
If it were revived, I would hope that they would cast someone a little off-kilter as Mabel instead of going for the obvious. The role calls for a good physical commedianne and not just someone who can belt out the songs. Anyone have any ideas?
I won't even comment on being called Miss Skin and Bones.
You know DTM, a bunch of us from a certain agency in Indianapolis were sent out on a call for pirates....so a lot of us wore eyepatches....unfortunately the call was for guys to play pilots.....
When I first read this I thought it said "Miss Skull and Bones".You could always have the ship sail over the edge of the world...no, that's been done (Monty Python's the Meaning of Life).
Then I thought, "Hmmm... Great movie title--"Miss Skull and Bones".
I'm envisioning a Sandra Bullock pic in which she inadvertantly becomes a pirate...maybe she meant to become a pilot--no, no--too derivative...maybe she and her kid brother and sister are taken captive by priates and she's challenged by the pirate captain to a sword fight during which she accidently knocks him overboard. Of course, the crew elect her their new captain. And since she is a former Wall Street financial whiz, she excells at leading her pirate crew on raids and thus gains some well-needed self-confidence. However, she begins to realize the corrupting effects a pirate life has on her brother and sister, and she makes the decision to quit. But the crew won't let her. And the original pirate captain (John Cleese?) has been in hot pursuit in order to regain his position. Not sure how this should climax--maybe a fire on the pirate ship with the kids in danger and Miss Bullock to the rescue. Also need a true villain--the John Cleese pirate captain is a comic villain who Miss Skull and Bones teams up with in the end to rescue the kids and defeat the true villain--her ex-husband? her former Wall Street business partner? Yes--her female ex-partner (Glenn Close? Helen Mirren?), who also becomes pirate-like in her villainy. Must have a sword fight between them! Love interest for Miss Skull and Bones? hmmmm...
Don't mind me--I'm just spinning out loud here...
I love the creative process!
Miss Skull and Bones, that's me. (http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/verkleidung/costumed-smiley-056.gif)
DR BEEKAY, I think that Mack & Mabel is one of those B'way failures that really does deserve a second chance. I've loved it ever since my senior year high school class performed it. I disagree with the experts like Mandlebaum who say that the book and/or subject matter is unworkable--I think it's a pretty solid book. And the score is one of the best around!
If it were revived, I would hope that they would cast someone a little off-kilter as Mabel instead of going for the obvious. The role calls for a good physical commedianne and not just someone who can belt out the songs. Anyone have any ideas?
Mini-frenzy here, but it seems that somewhere along the line I have become a Full Member.
No comments from the peanut gallery, or those of us still waiting for that shirtless A/C repairman.
Good morning all. BK I know it's too late now, but couldn't you just have moved your car (early) on to the next stree?
As for DR Jose's story about the leading actor changing his mind to go on, I can see it from both points of view. Sure it was cruel to do that to the understudy after all those plans had been made. But it's also possible that the leading actor either a) had such a strict work ethic and never wanted to miss a show or b) felt like the audience would be disappointed not to see him.
In addition to the multitude of great, magnifience Jerry Herman tunes mentioned this morning, I'll add "The Tea Party" from "Dear World" as one of the finest musical constructs ever.
I agree, DR RLP, that the Tea Party sequence is a marvel of contrapuntal composition. And that his efforts in this manner are often overlooked (but show up in many of his scores). But it's not a Herman tune that I sing in the shower.
I CAN say that Dean Martin was a superb, highly underrated straightman.
I can’t say I have a Jerry Herman favorite. And obviously some of you don’t have a favorite either, you just like them all. There are some long lists here.
DR Noel, as you approach your G*d hood (only 7 away), perhaps you will be able to float over the touristas on Broadway and 7th Avenue.
BTW (by the way), love the comment. I'll have to use it next time I am stuck behind someone who suddenly forgot how to walk and I end up in his or her back.
Hmmmm....that might be an interesting sound if you did!
I think the recording is a miracle, though....so spacious and all the parts beautifully balanced.
Every time I hear "The Tea Party," I then have to haul out "A Little Night Music" and revel in "Now, Soon, Later."
And "vice-a versa!!!"
...and here I am, a God once more!
You are a prince among men, Elmore. I thank you from the bottom of heart for taking time from your busy schedule to give someone who was so overwhelmed a chance to catch her breath and have have someone to talk to. I said it last night and I'll say it again. You are the highlight of this whole trip.
You and DR Jane who I just got off the phone with (again!). I can't believe that someone would call me long distance just to check on how I'm feeling/doing.
...and here I am, a God once more!
DR BEEKAY, I think that Mack & Mabel is one of those B'way failures that really does deserve a second chance. I've loved it ever since my senior year high school class performed it. I disagree with the experts like Mandlebaum who say that the book and/or subject matter is unworkable--I think it's a pretty solid book. And the score is one of the best around!
If it were revived, I would hope that they would cast someone a little off-kilter as Mabel instead of going for the obvious. The role calls for a good physical commedianne and not just someone who can belt out the songs. Anyone have any ideas?
CONGRATULATIONS MAYA! You are a great addition to the clouds.
I hate Times Square. I've been known to shout at people. "Hey, it's called a sideWALK, not a sideSTAND"
I LOVE songs that do this, when songs have more than one part sung at the same time. I think someone used the term "quodlibet." I've put together 13 compilation CDs of songs like this (13 so far...I'm already collecting songs for my 14th)!
Wow! As a great fan of quodlibet, I'm envious of such a collection! Hmm... perhaps I should start going through my collection and pulling tracks... :)
I LOVE songs that do this, when songs have more than one part sung at the same time. I think someone used the term "quodlibet." I've put together 13 compilation CDs of songs like this (13 so far...I'm already collecting songs for my 14th)!
DR CharlesPogue - I remember sitting in the theatre watching THE WIND AND LION and thinking it was one of the most exciting movies EVER. A wonderful cast, lovely photography, an interesting story....and MUSIC!
I wish I could see it at the theatre again....it's okay on TV....but in a theatre....it was a movie MOVIE!!!! I was a bit surprised that Brian Keith didn't get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor....or did he?
Wow! As a great fan of quodlibet, I'm envious of such a collection! Hmm... perhaps I should start going through my collection and pulling tracks... :)
DR George, do you know "A More Than Ordinary Glorious Vocabulary" from the Off-Broadway ALL IN LOVE by Jack Urbont? It's a second-rate score with 2 or 3 first-rate items like the quodlibet I just asked if you knew. I'd like that on CD. I believe that Jonathan Tunick once told me some of the recording charts are his.
I just realized I wrote a quodlibet for a production of WINNIE THE POOH in 1972. Pooh sang "It's very very funny but I thought I had some honey" in 2/4, Piglet sang "Cottleston Pie" in 3/4 and then the two songs went together. I wonder where that score is these days? This might be the start of a Guy Haines album!
Shakalaka, maities!
Pirate Panni
I saw a production of MACK & MABEL in London in the mid-nineties. I went to it because it had gotten good reviews and I had always heard the musical had deserved a second chance. Not from what I saw, it didn't...the book just didn't jell. It starred Howard McGillin and Caroline O'Connor, although the night I saw it, someone named Mark Adams played Mack. This was 1996, after it had been running awhile and moved from the Haymarket to the Picadilly, which may've accounted for why the production seemed a little tired and ragged. But even immaculately performed, I still couldn't see the book quite holding together. It wasn't excruciatingly terrible, mind you; but it was certainly in the lower fourth of all the shows I've seen in London.
DR George: Could you post some of the songs on your list. I love those songs too. And I didn't know what there name was.
I wonder where the name "quodlibet" came from?
DR George: Could you post some of the songs on your list. I love those songs too. And I didn't know what there name was.
I wonder where the name "quodlibet" came from?
DRGeorge, are you including any of Sir Arthur Sullivan's numbers from the operettas in your collection? He liked using the form in choral numbers in PATIENCE, RUDDIGORE, YEOMAN OF THE GUARD. I don't know how you'd consider the great "In a contemplative fashion" from THE GONDOLIERS.
Well, neither "Two Fairytales" nor "Baby, it's cold outside" are quodlibets, but Loesser's "Inchworm" is, with its two tunes. The only pop song from the 60s I can think of is Doris Day's "Everybody loves a Lover." I'm sure there are others but I'm not feeling that bright at the moment.
DR Danise's post brought tears to my eyes.
DR Elmore and DR Jane, sounds like you guys made her day that much brighter. Sometimes such simple things can end up meaning so much!
DRJay, the TROVATORE Miserere is basically a soprano solo with choral accompaniment, as I recall. The trio in THE MIKADO< "I am so Proud" is a quodlibet: 3 distinct tunes sung individually by Pooh Bah, Koko and Pish Tush, which then combine together. Does that help?
I hate Times Square. I've been known to shout at people. "Hey, it's called a sideWALK, not a sideSTAND"Yes, Danise, that was Noel you heard shouting.
A question: How does a quodlibet (in the musical theatre context) vary from a duet (or larger ensemble) in opera in which each of the lines is a different melody? (One example might be the Miserere from Il Trovatore.) Or can the term be used in opera, too?
By the way (BTW in internet lingo), I've never heard the term "quodlibet" until today.
Fixed.
Yes, Danise, that was Noel you heard shouting.
Also, only you can prevent forest fires (not a big threat here in Manhattan)Very much a threat out here in Washington. Heard on the news last night that things are already as dry as they are in late July most years!
Sandra: Are we supposed to believe that you scored over a million? If so, HOW? HOW, when all those stupid flaming red tiles start coming one after another and you can't keep up with them?
My first produced musical (back when I was a teenager) was based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - many have written musicals based on it.
It's quite possible I hold the record for having
written the most quodlibets in musical comedies: ....
Congratulations to new and recycled Gods!
I am to enjoy this lovely Autumn day. Back in about 7 hours to check on the many many posts!
TIMES SQUARE
Those people in Times Square may well be the ones that keep the lights on on Broadway! It may also be a "one off" for them to be there in that wonderful vibrant city. Wouldn't you guys be overwhelmed and stop and look if you had read about something all your life and then had your chance to go there?
If anyone talks to DR Danise while she's still in the city, tell her to keep one night free--the Fleet's (http://www.newyorkled.com/nyc_events_Fleet_Week.htm)in! She can do her own On The Town!