ASPECTS OF LOVE

Justin Hammond wrote: A HUGE ESSAY!!!


> Okay. Now let's qualify things. Firstly, how dare you
> attack me and my opinion without uttering one word in
> rebuttal other than 'naa, you're wrong'.

I never said that. I think I said that I disagreed.

> The 'tripe' I enjoy? Sondheim's
> 'Assassins', 'Sweeney Todd', 'Into the Woods', 'Sunday in the
> Park with George'; Schmidt/Jones' 'The Fantasticks';
> Schwartz's 'Godspell'; and Bernstein's 'West Side Story' to
> name a few favourites. Compared with this list, in my
> opinion, 'Aspects of Love' is a diabolical failure.

Well - it did only run for 3 years, which is twice to three times as long as most Sondheim shows. Not that I'm bagging Sondheim, I love him dearly.

>There was very little to 'Aspects' - Lloyd Webber was trying far
> too hard to create an epic for his dear wife

Wasn't that Phantom? Lloyd Webber was on the verge of divorcing Sarah when this was written so I hardly think that.

>A little too intellectual for me? I hold two degrees, including a >Bachelor of Music and am currently working towards a Ph.D. Watch >your mouth before you start flinging statements like that around.

Wow - I have a Bachelor of Music too. Small world, huh?

> As for your statement about the Academy-Con system. Well,
> well. Sounds like someone's a little bit bitter that they
> were never accepted over in Mount Lawley... Sigh.

Ah...lucky for me, I never auditioned for WAAPA and don't intend to.

> Shai as Alex: didn't say he set my world on fire, but stated
> that he was excellent as he seemed to carry the role off with
> more confidence than most. And bagging a young kid for not
> having the technical prowess yet to pull off a large role?
> How petty are you? I thought, for his age, he was just
> fine.

For his TRAINING I thought he was boring. Age has nothing to do with it. Look at Mark Desebrock. He's in the school and at least portrayed his character with some depth. Again, well done Mark.

Incidentally, if anyone catches me mounting a
> professional adult production of this show, assume the
> frontal lobotomy went as planned.

Judging by your opinions, I assumed it had already. ;-)

> Now: where was I? Ah yes, the music and story - 'beautiful'
> and 'best ever'. Right. Your beautiful story is about a guy
> whose girlfriend marries his uncle, and then he fools around
> with his uncle and ex-girlfriend's daughter (15 years old,
> mind) and ends up going off with his uncle's ex. Hmm.
> 'Beautiful'? Well, the phrase 'creepy incest' comes to my
> mind more than anything. I have no idea whether this was an
> original story, or was adapted from somewhere, but myself and
> my wife (Oh, and we are both in our twenties, in case I was
> going to be accused of 'old fashioned ideas') were mildly
> uncomfortable with the whole set-up, and more importantly,
> unengaged with the story.

Aw... Sounds like someone's been a little too sheltered. VIVA THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL.

> I didn't care when George died. I didn't care when Jenny was >dumped by Alex. I didn't care when Rose was shot. I just didn't
> care.

Yes, well....that I agree with. I was YEARNING for George to die. Put the audience of our misery. And the other things are to do with time and music, neither of which happened well.

> It was supposed to be about love, it was supposed to
> glamorise the bohemian world of France, but George and Alex
> are so remarkably unenaging that it all seems like a long and
> drawn out subterfuge to distract us from the fact that they
> are related but Alex is wanting to sleep with his first
> cousin. Eek.

Oh dear...ditto...how sheltered we are. Don't forget that the Egyptians (and some members of our society) sleep with their siblings!

> Apologies everyone else for this rant - 'erik' has niggled me
> and I don't like being bagged. It just makes me want to bag
> back. And that's not polite.

Diddums.

Oh - I'm bored with this.....

*Erik disappears forever in a cloud of smoke waiting for the next show to haunt*

Thou warped swag-bellied boar-pig!