#musical rant

[comfortablynumb]

So I found out David Corenswet can tap dance and sing. And now I can’t stop thinking about:

**Headline** Mike Faist, David Corenswet, Jonathan Bailey, Bernadette Peters, Joy Woods, Amber Grey, Layton Williams, and Nathan Lane set to star in a new film, said to be an homage to classic technicolor movie musicals!

All the flash

All the extravagant costumes

All the dancing

All the vivid coloring

None of the racism

None of the sexism

Queer storylines are explored

Think Singin’ in the Rain meets Damn Yankees meets An American in Paris

[fritzmonorail]

Shout out to Twelve year old me who was so obsessed with the Les Miserables movie that two separate people got her a DVD of it for Christmas and then a third person got her the soundtrack.

I hope some other kid is going through the same thing with Wicked right now, and beginning a lifelong obsession with musical theater.

I almost feel bad for anyone whose first musical movie is Wicked. It’s like introducing someone to anime with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood or Monster. They’re gonna watch wicked and be like “that was amazing. I wanna watch more musical movies.” And then their theater friend is gonna be like. “Yeah…great…” 

And then the theater friend is going to be scrambling to find the handful of really good musical movies not knowing if their friend is even going to like all of them because they’re technically all different genres. All the while, hoping that they’ll be open to pro shots, and bootlegs, and praying that no one shows them The Phantom of The Opera film adaptation.

[overflowing-with-hyperfixations]

Hi I forgot about this app but hi!!! How are you!! What’s your current main interests?

AAA HI!!!!!

im good,, how are you??

oh my god rn im still spirling on pjo. ive always been into musicals but im going strong with be more chill at the moment (again).

OOOO ALSO a friend of mine watched shadow and bone (show based on the books shadow & bone and six of crows) so she read the first book for it. i borrowed it after bc i was bored and oh my god I LOVED IT!!!!! so i finished the duology six of crows and crooked kingdom. im gonna read shadow and bone soon (literally cannot wait) i also watched the show and UGGHHHH I LOVE IT!!!! 100% recommend!!! i have new gay guys to obsess over btw (theyre canon!!!)

and of course stranger things and it are still spinning around in my mind

[my-ancient-marss]

i just saw my school’s production of all shook up for the first time and must share my thoughts:

- chad is a bi king. confused, but so bi. he falls in love with edd without realizing she’s natalie. i get that it’s played off for laughs but he is valid 👍

- natalie is a genderfluid girlboss who doesn’t need a man and i support her and her identity journey. my goal is to confuse people and make people fall in love with me question their sexualities

- that was the wildest love dodecahedron i’ve ever seen and now i just feel lonely

- the mayor is a girlboss and i want the best for her, she’s absolutely feral and chaotic and her appearances were always the funniest bits, what a great actress

- EARL MY MAN I LOVE HOW HE DOESNT TALK THE WHOLE TIME AND HE JUST TELLS THE MAYOR TO SHUT UP

- miss sandra is bi because she fell for edd too

- how are people falling in love so fast i don’t understand but also arospec so yknow

- loved the choreography, so fun and i’d love to learn it

- not related to the show i felt very hot and mysterious in the outfit i wore and makeup i did

- i made eye contact multiple times with the guy who played chad and i think i died??

- how do college students look like they range from 16-40 years old, i’m like those adults look like ADULTS next to a child

- overall footloose vibes but imo way better plot, super gay, super gender, and really really good for a jukebox musical

[luckyklutznerd]

Out of all the climatic scenes in musicals, I think my favorite is Anastasia. If you haven’t seen it (which I highly recommend you do if possible), Anya is facing down Gleb, who is pointing a gun at her. He wants to finish the work his father started years ago when he helped assassinate the Romanovs. She is dressed in her “I am Anastasia” finery and is completely at his mercy. The doors are closed and locked and no one else is there. As the confrontation happens, the audience can see, behind the glass doors at the back of the stage, the actors who play the Romanov family backing on, followed by soldiers with guns. They stand in the back, not moving, mirroring the present scene. They stand there until Gleb decides (spoiler alert) not to shoot Anya, then, they reverse direction, the soldiers walking backwards off and the family walking forward. 

I love it so much because there are so many meanings to that and so many parallels. It’s a divergence point in history. The first half and second halves of the plot kind of mirror each other, with Dmitri and Vlad meeting Anya as the nexus point. The Romanovs die, Anya loses her memory, she wanders around trying to figure out how to get to Paris until she meets Dmitri and Vlad, they travel to Paris, including some wandering around after they have to ditch the train, Anya regains her memory and name as Anastasia, then Gleb tries to kill her. For it to come full circle, Gleb should have pulled the trigger and let Anya die. I feel like the Romanovs in the background against the soldiers represent what Gleb is supposed to do. When he chooses not to, the circle is broken. It allows us to imagine what might have happened if the guards had known the royal family as anything but enemies of the Revolution. The Romanovs backing on makes me think of nowhere to go, being trapped. Them walking forward at the end seems to indicate possibility and a chance for freedom. 

Would I have pulled the trigger if I’d been told? Gleb asks himself. He has his chance to do as he’s told and make his family proud (or so he believes). But he doesn’t. He chooses to see Anya as someone worth the life they possess, not a nameless, faceless enemy. You see, Anastasia is dressed in red. She is easily identifiable. The family is still dressed in their finery, which is all white. We can’t see their faces, which are facing directly sideways, while Anya and Gleb are somewhat turned out to the audience to say their lines. The Romanovs are indistinguishable from each other, but Anya is distinguishable. It’s much harder to hurt someone you know than a nameless, faceless evil. Being Anya, not a Romanov, is what saved her. Gleb being a human being, not merely an enforcer, saved her. This scene allows us to imagine what might have happened if the situation were even a little different. It gives a way to frame the past and move forward to the future.

[writemoment]

Okay but "For Forever" from DEH is about a super beautiful friendship when out of context. With context, it's beautiful and sad and relatable.

[lokemikaze]

RETJ: 2001 vs 2010 vs Hungarian

so it's 4am and i just finished watching the hungarian Roméo és Julia. considering i have in the last week watched the 2001 french Roméo et Juliette thrice (plus working on english subtitles) and the 2010 french revival once, i need to shortly sum up some thoughts before going to sleep. i'll try to keep it brief (tho who am i kidding)

2001, original french cast:

i found this, like so many others have done, through Les Rois Du Monde after being hooked on it for months on end. instantly fell in love (in an ace way) with Damien, who makes such a good Roméo. voice: amazing. bless the boie. i also love Juliette in this one, Cécilia's voice fits perfectly with Damien's. the costumes, which i've seen many say are tacky, are imo kinda endearing. bonus points for having (again, my opinion) the best nurse and Benvolio. also Benvolio running around like "omfg Romeo everyone's always sending me to find you" while Romeo goes "go awayyyy i'm being gloomy and mysterious" is the most accurate relationship ever. nailed the teenage mood

2010, french revival:

aaaah, my boie Damien is back. without the hair - saddest death in the entire musical :c i'm not fond of the new version of Tu Dois Te Marier, as i find the original to be quite a bop. overall, i think the song quality/voice strength isn't as good as the 2001 version, but the acting is better! sparkly costumes are a plus, as is the beautiful intro to Les Rois De Monde - i've listened to that one several times after seeing the entire thing, and the whistling part always gets to me. i'm a little bit on the fence about Mercutio. i know everyone love John Eyzen, and while i love the Aesthetic, i'm uncertain about the character? while in the original, he seemed tough but loving, in this one he seems... plain crazy. which, i mean, i love me some crazy, but i can't decide if it adds to his character or takes away from it. Joy is slightly more emotional as Juliette, but i don't feel like she sings as smoothly as Cécilia

2005(?), hungarian version:

hm. a very strong hm. i know this one is many people's favourite, and i can see why. the acting is quite good, and let's be honest: the rough aesthetics are a mood. also, fire. funnnn. i'm not that fond of the singing, tho, especially Romeo's (tho his best one is Mort De Mercutio - he shines on those high notes). i suspect it's mainly the language, which feels very harsh to my synesthetic brain. i also feel like the entire musical was shifted to be more sexual. the translation of Les Rois Du Monde had me both laughing and crying, bc honestly, what did you do to my Child. the energy is consistent, and a nice change from the french ones, even tho places like Le Chant De L'Alouette i caught myself thinking "woa, chill out". the punky, edgy look is def a mood, and while not everyone's cuppa tea, worth seeing. the added dialogue and songs were interesting. i feel like i learned things about the characters that i didn't learn from the others. fascinating to repeat both On Dit Dans La Rue (the repeat of which is FIERCE. they don't mess around) and J'ai Peur. overall worth seeing, but probably my least favourite of the three.

i'm def gonna watch them more (i have plans to watch 2001 with my partner once i'm done subtitling, and i feel like i need to watch 2010 again to get a better grasp of Mercutio), so i might end up making a follow-up to this ramble. if anyone wanna nerd out about this musical, please hmu, as i need someone to rant to who's actually seen it. if you're a friend of mine and haven't seen it, hmu and i'll give you the link to the subtitled vid once it's done. please. you won't regret it.