On being sung to (redux)

[desperance]

Just back from 'The Producers', which is a pure demonstration of how a great film really can be made into a great stage musical (as against last week's 'Beauty and the Beast', which is something of a demonstration of the reverse). Had an entirely happy time, beginning to end. It is true that Joe Pasquale was clearly only in it to provide the name of a UK celebrity, as he can neither sing nor dance nor act nor even keep a straight face when called upon to do so; but even so he was more charming than we might have expected, and not at all the catastrophe we feared. And him aside, the show was a delight, and Cory English was sensational as Max Bialystock. He could've carried the show on his own, except that he didn't need to.

And as a sequel to last night's raving about 'Don Giovanni', here's a link to m'friend'n'companion Gail's review. Money shot:

"Ward’s Ottavio was a revelation. Looking like a public school prefect, a figure more suggestive of suppression than emotion and scarcely relying on gesture or expression, he simply uncovered the great wells of feeling that Mozart’s music gifts to the character. Direct, pure and clear, his arias were the perfect demonstration that when you get it all right, singing is acting."

Quite so. What I was trying to say, only rather better expressed.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Joe Pasquale, CAN sing and dance..you may not think he does it very well, but he has had lessons and I'm sure if you compared it to singing and dnacing he has done in one man shows//panto in the past, you will see what talent he has

and yes he is charming, hes a lovely guy

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Mmm, okay. Clearly, he has had lessons. I think that's what I meant by the "can't sing/dance/etc" (apart from the cheap Fred Astaire reference: shock horror, he's not Fred Astaire), because he's so obviously not a natural: just on the singing, he doesn't have a voice to speak of (uh, there is more to being a singer than hitting the right notes, yes?), he has no range and he needs a lot of help from the orchestra. In this company - Cory English in particular, but a whole stageful of professional song-and-dance folk - he simply can't compete.

But. Yes, he has done a lot of work for this. He knows his weaknesses, he's learned how to cover them; he's earned the support of the company (conspicuously when he corpsed at some of English's clowning: English got him out of it - literally, gave him his coat and got him offstage - with some quick out-of-character impro and visible affection), and that's not easily done.

So, yes. I went in there prejudiced, more than sceptical, because I only knew of him as a "celebrity" and I despise that fame-for-fame's-sake culture, where you have to have a known name, preferably a TV name, or the audience won't come. And as I say, I came out charmed. It's a good role for him.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

(as against last week's 'Beauty and the Beast', which is something of a demonstration of the reverse)

Did I miss a review somewhere? Because my feelings on BatB are so similar that the idea of reading your commentary fills my heart with snarky glee.