Musicals and Parades: a thought

[browngirl]

So I was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, because, and it struck me that the selections from older musicals (Pippin, The Sound of Music) moved me much more than the selections from the new musicals (Matilda, Memphis, Kinky Boots). The performers were all fairly talented (except for Patina Miller, who is orders of magnitude beyond merely 'talented' and into the realm of being a goddess come to earth to bless us with her glorious presence) so it was the music I was reacting, or not reacting, to. I don't want to indulge in a cheesy nostalgiafest, but I find myself hoping that this is just an effect of small sample sizes and that I could find new musicals which would blow my socks off as effectively as "Magic to Do" does.

Comments

[redbird]

One thing that occurs to me is that with older musicals, there's selection bias: you're getting songs that have lasted/caught on for decades. Musicals from the same year as The Sound of Music include Gypsy and Fiorello, which I knew about because my father liked to sing one of the songs from it, but also First Impressions, Juno, Lock up Your Daughters, Redhead, and Saratoga. (This is just from poking around Wikipedia, which is good for that sort of list; my memories of such things aren't good for "when did that come out?" rather than giving me some lyric snippets from Fiorello.)

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Not to mention the breakaway hits that have stood the test of time and which no one remembers were once part of now-largely-forgotten musicals ('Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,' from Roberta).

[brighteyed-jill.livejournal.com]

How amazing is Patina Miller!? I mean, for the love of the flying spaghetti monster, she is fierce. I agree with 's point about selection bias. Very few songs from recent musicals crank me up the way the old classics do, but there are a few stand-outs from more recent shows: Lot's Wife from Caroline or Change, or Light from Next to Normal. But we may have to wait to see what stands the test of time.

P.S. I go to school with the guy who's playing Rolf in that Sound of Music special-- he's taking a few weeks off of school to do the rehearsals/performance, and the parade, of course! He's a cutie.

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

Heee! I know the vocal coach (if I'm remembering correctly) who is also one of the nuns so she could be on stage leading them. (She may have some title/position other than vocal coach per se. I just know she's a nun and sort of directing/leading the chorus.)

[circ-bamboo.livejournal.com]

Patina Miller is so awesome.

[circlingfreedom.livejournal.com]

If you ever get the chance to see the musical "Dusty" I highly recommend it. I didn't think I knew who Dusty Springfield was but turned out I knew every song in the musical.
I don't know if it was just the performers we had but at the end everyone stood up in one fluid motion and gave them a standing ovation. It was amazing.