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Author Topic: ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT  (Read 43917 times)

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MBarnum

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #60 on: April 08, 2004, 12:45:54 PM »

I certainly don't consider these to be "worst" musicals by any strech of the imagination, however it does seem that a lot of people do not consider them to be very good...but I love them...they are:

APRIL IN PARIS
SUMMER STOCK

I will also add BLONDIE GOES LATIN. I know I have mentioned the movie many many times but have never gotten a reaction out of anyone so either I am the only one who has ever seen it...or nobody wants to hurt my feelings! LOL! But it has some lovely songs sung by Penny Singleton and Tito Guizar (who I would LOVE to find a CD of someday)...and some nice Penny Singleton dance numbers, too!

As for musicals I don't like (I don't like to call movies "worst" because it really is a matter of opinion to me) I can't think of any off hand, but I know I didn't care much for HIT THE DECK and I am sure I have seen some from the late 60s or the 70s that I couldn't get through.
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elmore3003

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #61 on: April 08, 2004, 12:49:19 PM »

Dear Friend BK,  I loved the interview.  Congratulations on an excellent job, and thank you for letting me be a part of it.  In all our madcap adventures, I never got the Kritzer tour, so we'll have to do one when I next get out to LA.  I wish I could be there for the signings at the end of April.

Leslie Kritzer is another CCM graduate, as is my friend Matt Bogart (both of whom I forgot to mention in my CCM post yesterday).   I met her when she did DEAREST ENEMY for Mel Miller around 1995, then she did FUNNY GIRL at Papermill.  Very talented lady.

And I agree:  you should send Joel Grey a copy of the book.
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elmore3003

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #62 on: April 08, 2004, 12:50:44 PM »

Der Brucer has moved on to Baker Street, with a pre-Benson Inga Swenson singing beautifully.  But I think she had better material in 100 in the Shade.

Much better material, and her understudy, singing in "What A Night This is Going to Be," was Virginia Vestoff of 1776 and VIA GALACTICA.
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Ron Pulliam

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #63 on: April 08, 2004, 12:54:45 PM »

WHAT?

Someone doesn't think "Summer Stock" is very good?

Aughghghghghghghgh!

I LOVE THAT MOVIE!

"Howdy Neighbor, Happy Harvest!"  

Phil Silvers and his rhubarb cracks!

A healthy (!) Garland in a great role for her!

Wonderful singing and dancing and a nice romance between her and Kelly!

"Get Happy!"

I've always thought it underestimated, but never thought that anyone hated it.

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #64 on: April 08, 2004, 12:56:34 PM »

Among the film musicals I've never cared for are Doctor Doolittle, Man of La Mancha, and (don't gasp) Oliver.

Yes, Oliver.  I've always thought it bloated and unweildy.  Add to that list the aforementioned Mame and Lost Horizons, and I think we've got a pretty good list of bad musicals, and what made them so.

Want to make a really bad musical about New York City?  Follow the example of all the above films, and have a crane shot that starts at street level and takes us ALL THE WAY UP to the top of the Empire State Building...and then fill every inch of the screen with dancers and singers careening about in the streets below!  Never mind that, at that height, you can't make anyone out as a person, it'll be big and everyone will love it!

Want to know why I love the musical Goodbye, Mr. Chips?  Because the filmmakers knew that less can be more!  With the one exception of "London is London," which deliberately piled on every excess in it's staging (and cleverly kept it all on a London stage), the film is brilliantly minimalist.  
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Ron Pulliam

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #65 on: April 08, 2004, 01:10:51 PM »

I did get most of "Johnny One Note" finished to complete the first half of this Mickey-Judy show.  One problem I have with the arrangement is that it changes key after the minor section ("Cats and dogs . . .") and goes up a half step, which seems to me to negate the title of the song:  if Johnny's only note is A (key of D) or B-flat (key of E-flat), then doesn't changing the key and therefore Johnny's pitch, make the song "Johnny Two Notes"?   It's these things arrangers pull that drive me mad.  But all in all, a good week.

I've always thought the song was someone singing about "Johnny One Note" and not intended to be representative of Johnny singing his one note...which was "ahhhhh" with no words.

It's always been my impression that the key changes were part of the song "about" this one-note person named Johnny.  :D
« Last Edit: April 08, 2004, 01:13:00 PM by RLP »
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Jrand73

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #66 on: April 08, 2004, 01:18:54 PM »

Here is your Allison Hayes picture of the week:  a studio arranged Beach Date with Mr Race Gentry in February, 1956.  The other couple?  Mark Damon & Beverly Tyler!  ;D

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elmore3003

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #67 on: April 08, 2004, 01:27:04 PM »

I've always thought the song was someone singing about "Johnny One Note" and not intended to be representative of Johnny singing his one note...which was "ahhhhh" with no words.
DR RLP, to me "Ahhhhh" is the sound to sustain the pitch, which is Johnny's one note, namely the 5th (dominant tone) of the chord:  Johnny could only sing one note, and Richard Rodgers, in the permutations of the tune, never takes Johnny's note off that dominant and the song as written stays in one key.   As the song is written, Johnny's one note is constant, and any arranger who decides a modulation to another key will improve the song or make it more exciting is missing the point/joke of the song.  As it turned out, in the arrangement I just finished scoring, Johnny had three notes!
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TCB

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #68 on: April 08, 2004, 01:31:55 PM »

I, also, love topics like today’s topic because, from the very start, we can all agree to disagree.

NOT MY FAVORITES
[/b][/u][/color]

Lost Horizon -- IMHO the worst movie musical of all time.  Impossible to believe that anyone thought before making this movie.  Enough said.

Chorus Line –- Living proof that it is possible to ruin a near-perfect musical.

Hello, Dolly! and Annie –- Kelly and Huston should be ashamed of themselves.

Moulin Rouge! –- Like watching a train wreck, but not as interesting.

The Pirate -- When I first saw this movie, when I was a kid, I figured I was too young to appreciate it.  When I saw this movie, as an adult, I figured I was too old to appreciate it.  Either way.......  A mess.

GUILTY PLEASURES
[/color]

Can’t Stop The Music – A totally awful, but somehow enjoyable Gay nightmare.  Not to mention Bruce Jenner in cut-offs and a half-shirt.

Camelot -- I know a lot of people find this movie horrible, and it’s true that Richard Harris at times behaves like your cousin, Larry (lovable, but so embarrassing); but Franco Nero breathing life back into the fallen knight, and Vanessa’s Guinevere remembering the forgiveness she used to see in Arthur’s face make me weep every time.


Who is Race Gentry?
[/size][/font]
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Matt H.

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #69 on: April 08, 2004, 01:32:44 PM »

Inga Swenson definitely had better material in 110 IN THE SHADE. I think that's a musical ripe for rediscovery. I love that score. The score for BAKER STREET has never been one of my favorites.
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bk

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #70 on: April 08, 2004, 01:35:33 PM »

Back from lunch.  

RLP: Mr. Capuccino seems to have left the room.  So predictable.
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William E. Lurie

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #71 on: April 08, 2004, 01:36:21 PM »

Matt---
Mufti did BAKER STREET about three years ago.  The book was a bore and the score had a lot of differences from the LP due to re-writting it during the original engagement.  The one thing the show is noted for is being the first Broadway show with a color Playbill® cover.
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Dan (the Man)

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #72 on: April 08, 2004, 01:37:26 PM »

Yes, Oliver.  I've always thought it bloated and unweildy.  Add to that list the aforementioned Mame and Lost Horizons, and I think we've got a pretty good list of bad musicals, and what made them so.

Want to make a really bad musical about New York City?  Follow the example of all the above films, and have a crane shot that starts at street level and takes us ALL THE WAY UP to the top of the Empire State Building...and then fill every inch of the screen with dancers and singers careening about in the streets below!  Never mind that, at that height, you can't make anyone out as a person, it'll be big and everyone will love it!

I've often envisioned what Sweeney Todd could become in the wrong hands, and I see something along the above happening to "Nothing's Gonna Harm You".  A la "Consider Yourself" and "Thank You Very Much", Mrs. Lovette and Tobias would prance and cavorte throughout the streets of London, meeting up and exchanging verses with various shopowners, beggars and whores.  Of course there would be the requisite Punch and Judy show (perhaps foreshadowing Todd and Lovette's final confrontation).  Then the final shot as all (and I do mean ALL) of the denizens of Fleet Street are parading their way to the end of the song, now transformed into a march.  Cut!  Print!
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Matt H.

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #73 on: April 08, 2004, 01:38:21 PM »

I spent a lovely afternoon with the new DVD of FOR ME AND MY GAL. The film looks simply grand with a very sharp picture and no blemishes to speak of. Mono sound solid and reliable.

John Fricke's commentary track is marvelous when he sticks to the background and making of the picture and biographies of the principals and supporting players. A couple of times he gets weirdly segued into giving some historical information about what was going on in the world during the making of the film, and I found that a bit tedious. Still, an enjoyable track and one that doesn't simply tell us what's happening on the screen as we see it.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2004, 01:40:54 PM by Matt H. »
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Matt H.

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #74 on: April 08, 2004, 01:42:19 PM »

Sorry, bk, I must have misread your comments about I COULD GO ON SINGING and MAN OF LA MANCHA, and the original aspect ratios.
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Stuart

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #75 on: April 08, 2004, 01:43:55 PM »

Matt---
Mufti did BAKER STREET about three years ago.  The book was a bore and the score had a lot of differences from the LP due to re-writting it during the original engagement.  The one thing the show is noted for is being the first Broadway show with a color Playbill® cover.

I too have thought this score to be fairly boring as preserved, except for "I'm in London Again!" which was written by Bock & Harnick anyway.....

The color Playbill cover (depicting one of Miss Swenson's fabulous Irene Sharaff hats, or were they by Motley??), yes.  But don't forget the Bil Baird Marionettes doing the entire Victoria Jubilee.  Kinda like Phyllis Newman re-enacting her entire pageant  in a 3 minute song.....
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Dan-in-Toronto

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #76 on: April 08, 2004, 01:48:39 PM »

There are lots of worst movie musicals I've never seen/never wanted to see - notably Little Night Music, Lost Horizon, Moulin Rouge, Man of La Mancha.

Chorus Line, Mame and Paint Your Wagon are the worst ever seen.

Mad Magazine did a great parody of Lost Horizon ("The World Is a Rhomboid without a Circumference, and Nobody Knows What This Simile Means.")

I'll be e&t over the weekend. Will be spending Easter with Gord's (Protestant) family, while I try to observe the dietary restrictions of Passover.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2004, 01:49:55 PM by Dan-in-Toronto »
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Stuart

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #77 on: April 08, 2004, 01:54:16 PM »

Will be spending Easter with Gord's (Protestant) family, while I try to observe the dietary restrictions of Passover.

I sympathize and empathize, DR Dan.  My partner's family's Easter festivities now include a turkey (or london broil) and a box of matzah in order to placate me.  They are Roman Catholic, and quite thoughtful about my restrictions.
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Robin

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #78 on: April 08, 2004, 01:59:19 PM »

As to the topic of the day:

Unless I missed it, I can't believe not one person has mentioned Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, hands-down my choice for The Most Wretched Movie Musical in the History of the Universe.  There is absolutely nothing good about this film; awful cast, loathsome performances throughout, and FUGLY* sets.  

Can't Stop the Music at least has blantant homoeroticism, which counts for something, at least.  

By the way, Matt...I've actually seen Song of Norway recently, and on the big screen, as part of a "private screening" with some friends of ours who just happen to own a movie theater.  It's astonishingly bad, and Florence Henderson's voice goes through you like a nail in the temple.  And the lox who plays Edvard Grieg sits there like so much fish.  Do you need to see this movie?  Absolutely, you do.  It's drop-dead hilarity.  

*I know this is a family site....can I use the word "fugly"?

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bk

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #79 on: April 08, 2004, 02:10:50 PM »

Actually, mentioning Sgt. Pepper reminds me of how awful The Wiz wuz.  Or should that be how awful The Wuz wiz?

I saw the Mufti Baker Street - it was awful.  That's the only Mufti I've seen.

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Jrand73

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #80 on: April 08, 2004, 02:21:53 PM »

Oh THE WIZ....oh....all I could think of during Lena Horne's big number in closeup and out of synch....was even in Beach Blanket Bingo, Annette's mouthing matched her lyrics!
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Maya

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #81 on: April 08, 2004, 02:23:03 PM »

Loved the interview, BK!  I'm sure Joel Grey would be thrilled to learn how much both his Littlechap and personal kindness meant to you.

Movie musicals that are painful for me to sit through:

A Chorus Line
Camelot
Annie
Moulin Rouge (although I love Caroline O'Connor)

Guilty Pleasures

Mame

I REALLY need to see Man of La Mancha and A Little Night Music.

Well, I open in "Where's Charley?" tonight.  I'm a bit nervous, but I think I'm ready.  Really, I'm really only worried about the dancing and the locker room scene, as I'm onstage in a camisole and slip; I've never been that scantily-clad onstage before!  
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Matt H.

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #82 on: April 08, 2004, 02:26:51 PM »

No, I've never seen SGT. PEPPER, but after I read about who was in it and description of its contents, I had NO desire to see it.

I forgot to mention MAME which is almost as terrible a butchering of a Broadway musical as A CHORUS LINE but not quite. It did give us Bea Arthur and Jane Connell redoing their orginal roles (both of whom had left by the time I saw the original Broadway production) and that wonderful song "Lovin' You" for Robert Preston to sing.

ANNIE as well did have a few things to recommend it. But the made-for-TV version was SO much better.
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TCB

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #83 on: April 08, 2004, 02:27:28 PM »

Jrand -- I am still waiting to find out who Race Gentry is and / or was, and while we are on the subject..... What other couple???
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TCB

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #84 on: April 08, 2004, 02:32:24 PM »

[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%]BREAK A LEG,[/move]




[move=RIGHT,scroll,6,transparent,100%]MAYA!!![/move]
« Last Edit: April 08, 2004, 02:41:56 PM by TCB »
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Jrand73

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #85 on: April 08, 2004, 02:32:50 PM »

LOL....Race Gentry was an actor from the Henry Willson stable - the picture was from a "Show" magazine layout from February 1956.  The magazine was a small-type magazine that cost 15 cents.

Just for you DRTCB is a bit more of the layout.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2004, 02:38:08 PM by JRand53 »
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Jrand73

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #86 on: April 08, 2004, 02:42:04 PM »

I can't listen to the Radio Show either.  I downloaded the software AGAIN....but I keep getting a box that says it can't find the clip.

My system must not be compatible with something or other.
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bk

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #87 on: April 08, 2004, 02:55:33 PM »

e-mail Mr. Bakalor, Jrand.  

Yes, we'd have to add Mame to the pile and I'm not too fond of Camelot either.

Break a leg to our darling dear reader Maya!  And be sure to post a photo of you in your  camisole and slip - if you don't, nefarious Jed will never forgive you.
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TCB

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #88 on: April 08, 2004, 02:58:51 PM »

e-mail Mr. Bakalor, Jrand.  

Yes, we'd have to add Mame to the pile and I'm not too fond of Camelot either.

Break a leg to our darling dear reader Maya!  And be sure to post a photo of you in your  camisole and slip - if you don't, nefarious Jed will never forgive you.

Knowing Jed, he probably already has a picture!





Can you say n-e-f-a-r-i-o-u-s ?
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Ron Pulliam

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Re:ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT
« Reply #89 on: April 08, 2004, 03:02:37 PM »

"Oliver" is fabulous!

John Green worked miracles with that score!

A perfect case of a movie musical being better than its theatrical source!

:D  :D  :D  ;D  ;D  ;D
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