A new musical subject..?

If we were going to create a new musical, what should the title and topic be?






crg

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A quick look at recent Broadway trends might suggest that there are either more and more quirky, eccentric geniuses writing these scores and books for the new musicals, or they really are running out of ideas. But - I suppose you can't argue with great reviews and houses for such shows as 'The Bat Boy' (based on a tabloid newspaper's headline talking about a half-bat, half-boy!!); 'Urinetown' (seriously!! Where a water shortage leads to a character making a fortune from... - you can see where this is going...); 'Seussical' (The Cat in the Hat musical); and of course 'The Producers' (featuring such songs as 'Springtime for Hitler').

But - this probably is testimony to the willingness of producers to take chances - and the success of these shows perhaps means that we in Perth can moot our own show 'Tower!' - a musical oddessey through Court's fallus on Barrack Street...

Or not.

Toby

Toby Malone wrote:
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*A quick look at recent Broadway trends might suggest that there are either more and more quirky, eccentric geniuses writing these scores and books for the new musicals, or they really are running out of ideas. But - I suppose you can't argue with great reviews and houses for such shows as ......

Which suggests to me that Broadway audiences would pay money to go to the opening of a wound. And surely there's a few films left that haven't been given the make over treatment yet.... "Traffic: the musical"? "Back Draft: the musical"? "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: the musical- now with real crouching tiger and a dragon we seem to have mislaid...."

As far as the topic of the New Musical goes, the field is quite broad. What audience are we suppoedsly pitching at? USA, Australia, UK? Young, old, infirm?

Can we have some parameters please??? :-)

Eliot

EliotMcCann wrote:
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Can we have some parameters please??? :-)



No real criteria at this stage, other than to suggest an interesting concept that you'd personally like to see turned into a musical, with title if possible. Humour welcome!


craig

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I would like -- in all seriousness -- to see someone tackle an incredibly serious social, political, moral, or intellectual issue in a music theatre piece.

If Sondheim can effectively tackle a subject like the psychology of political assassins, or the intellectual workings of uber-serious French painters, etc.... why can't someone do something about, say, high-school shootings, or the Holocaust, or the American civil rights struggle, or non-orthodox sexuality, or even -- now here's a curly one -- the concept of death?

Anyone else sick of nothing but fluff? No more love songs, dammit! Let's do something with some meat!


D.M.

hmmm...

what about "Chum: the musical with meat"?

Ignore me. I'm tired.

I agree though. I'd like to see a couple of muscials with no romantic leads.

-Bec

In regards to writing a musical based around a topical political or social issue:

The problem with the "stage musical" format is that it isn't a spontaneous creation. A hell of a lot of work goes into the physical writing of it long after the initial inspiration hits. It requires an almost "mathematical" degree of design to merge the text, lyrics and music in a way that effectively portrays the chosen theme. And more often than not, the amount of time that usually goes into producing a final draft is years. Usually, the original inspiration has been long forgotten - or even necessarily discarded - by then.

Political issues are best served by simpler and more spontaneous forms of performance that can "maintain the passion" during creation.

But even if a writer CAN maintain the passion all the way through to the final draft, there is still another all-important question that must be considered before writing begins: Is that writer prepared to dedicate so much time and energy to a subject that may have lost its topical value by the time the final draft is completed?

Probably not! If they're going to spend so much time on a single work, then they're going to want to get back as much monetary reward as possible (and fair enough, too!). This means that the broader characterisations and topics will by employed, allowing for a wider audience appeal over a longer period of time, and wider scope for creativity during the writing process.

A notable exception is "Bran Nu Dae" (hmm, is that the way it's spelt?), which of course relies on a long standing culture of racial difference as its topic, and had every chance of maintaining the passion of the writers during it's creation.

This is rare, though. And the very message that this show delivers is the very thing that may be its eventual downfall; If Australia finally reconciles the two cultures, then just how much relevance will the story maintain? Of course, reconciliation will probably be a long way off, but you can see what I'm getting at.

Perhaps we shouldn't try to make musicals too deep and topical. Traditionally, they attract a certain audience which enjoys the shows for their music and broad characters, rather than for the chance to exercise their social consciousness. And really, there's nothing wrong with that.

Besides, a new musical can still be gutsy and truly entertaining regardless of the themes employed - "Sweeney Todd" is a story that has been told as Vaudevillian melodrama for at least two centuries, but we now see Sondheim's version as THE story. It's not the material that makes this version great, but the talents of the writer and composer in reworking an old, simple story and its broad characters.

The great thing about Sondheim's creation is that it will never age. But try restaging the dozens of former plays based on Sweeney Todd, and you won't get too much at the box office. Most of those were written to suit the public of the time, mainly drunk Londoners in grotty alehouses.

Glynn.

Topicality is a difficult one to pull off in any type of theatre. This is probably the reason why I didn't get grabbed by HAIR. (No puns about my high forehead, thanks). Kind of interesting from a historical viewpoint, but I felt that today it has lost a lot of its original relevance.
So why did I like MISS SAIGON, another story set during the Vietnam war? Somehow, the issues seemed more global, less to do with the specifics and politics of the time, and more to do with the characters and the human situation. (After all, it was more closely based on MME BUTTERFLY, a tragic romance)

But I don't think David ever actually mentioned "topicality". Political or social issues can still be addressed and remain relevant, either in the historical context or the more general way that the characters deal with eternal situations. And look at one of his topical examples...highschool shootings...almost 25 years ago the song "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats showed that popular music can be created and endure around such a (perhaps-not-so-topical) social issue.


So - once again, let's relax the parameters (Eliot), apart from wanting to entertain the mainly drunk Australians in grotty theatre bars (Glynn).

Suggestions so far include:
Court's phallic tower on Barrack St (probably too topical/specific)
Films into musicals - Crouching Tiger, Traffic...etc (?)
A desire to see a serious social, political, moral, or intellectual issue.
high-school shootings
the Holocaust
the American civil rights struggle
non-orthodox sexuality
the concept of death
No love songs or romantic leads.
A desire to not be too deep and topical.
Something with meat.

Any other suggestions for a good musical, before we have to vote?


crg

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"Political or social issues can still be addressed and remain relevant, either in the historical context or the more general way that the characters deal with eternal situations."

This is true, but isn't the issue being explored to do with whether such issues can be the main subject matter rather than just an underlying theme?

Take the "boy meets girl" plot and the "good versus bad" plot, and you can place it within any "issue". Base those two plots within the French Revolution, and you've got "Les Mis", base them within Christian history and you've got "Jesus Christ Superstar", base them around man-eating plants and you've got "Little Shop of Horrors".

People don't leave the theatre after seeing Les Mis and scream "Down with the French Aristocracy!". They usually comment on the costumes and music, have a nice tall latte and go home.

None of these musicals are exploring issues. The issues just add colour to typical plots.

So why aren't there more musicals with such issues as their main subject?

Sondheim did the political "Assassins" as well as the melodramatic "Sweeny". Which one is staged more often?

Sol wrote:
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>>isn't the issue being explored to do with whether such issues can be the main subject matter rather than just an underlying theme?

Okay. Why is it that ANY story has the "boy meets girl" or the "good versus bad" plot? They seem to be universal qualities of storytelling. SCHINDLER'S LIST had highly emotive "good vs bad" threads, and not just "Germans vs Allies" but the more complex qualities of evil vs morality within one man's character. Remove these and you are left with a history but not really a story, and I don't personally want to see a musical that has no element of human story.

Glynn thought political subjects would become obsolete because of their topicality, so I suggest that they would need to be more global and less topical.
EVITA is in a political context from which you can draw parallels to today's world situation, while you are lapping at your latte. But to create a story of interest to the theatre-going public, it needs the "boy-girl" element.
Someone could put the events of this weeks newspapers to music, but it couldn't be a musical until you focussed on characters. In fact, perhaps that is MY suggestion for the list - a musical about what drives someone to horrendous acts of terrorism. Sounds like a contender for a Tony, no?


But no, all this was not really the issue being explored. I am less interested in what CAN'T be used as a theme for a new musical, and more interested in suggestions for what CAN.

Craig

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monitorlizard

Hello Craig,

Not wishing to prolongue the "issues" theme, let me just say that it looks as if we're all in agreement: In answer to the past post suggesting that specific real-life problems or situations be the guts of a musical plot, it isn't really a viable option if the production wants any sort of popular success.

I have to clarify your assumption that I was trying to say what COULDN'T be done, rather than concentrating on what COULD.

Really, I'm not being negative about this:

As a writer, the best way to leave yourself open to wider possibilities in storytelling is to not let yourself get stuck on pursuing any one "issue" during the conception and outlining of a plot. If you do, you've automatically hamstrung any possibility of being struck by free inspiration.

Better to discard an initial motivation than to discard the very thing that makes you want to keep writing.

So, I agree! No restrictions! But my advice to anyone out there who wants to write any sort of script is this: Don't allow yourself to be disappointed if the final draft bears no resemblance to your original intention. It may not be the script you were planning, but it may well be something far better!

Have to admit, Glynn, I got excited there when I found myself agreeing with you, too. What went wrong? (!) ;-)


crg
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