1776 Redux

[howeird]

A few weeks ago Amazon.com gave me free 2-day delivery, so the CD of 1776 which I ordered just in case they called me back for Ben Franklin arrived last night. Playing it in the car on my way to work & to & from lunch, I am now elated I was able to back out of the show gracefully.

The music sucks.

I would call the lyrics juvenile, except I do not want to insult my friends who write young adult books.

There is a disturbing running theme of "I want to get home and jump into bed with my wife" which is all out of proportion to what one would expect from a bunch of convention-attending politicians. To show how out of touch with reality this is, there are only two women in the show (both at home, writing to their husbands) and one of them is Mrs. Jefferson. Ahem. She sings a song about how "Tom's" fiddle playing won her heart. Double ahem. I don't think the authors had his other kind of fiddling around in mind.

Nothing in this score is remotely operatic, so far there are no memorable melodies. IMHO it's not worthy of the company formerly known as the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of San Jose.

Comments

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Is this truly your first exposure to 1776?

Is this truly your first exposure to the reality of the randy founding fathers? (and they were! Very!)

And it's not, fyi, the constitutional convention - it's the regular congress session that's happening here. (I realize that might be a slip of the type)

It is true that the soundtrack loses much of its power without the visuals (true of most story-musicals that don't pander to the "album sales" idea that needs a hit single) to back it up. I'd suggest renting the dvd and check your reaction to that.

Or ask around at BASFA, I think a large number of BASFAns own a copy.

[howeird]

I rented the DVD from Netflix a couple of years ago and was completely unimpressed. Which is why I got the CD - just in case I had missed something. I hadn't.

Randy as the founders may have been, they didn't yap about it during congressional sessions, or use it as a public excuse to shirk their duties. They lived in enormously hypocritical times that way.

Yup, my mistake about constitutional. It's the declaration of independence which is the focus.

And we're talking about a stage musical here, not a movie with a soundtrack with a full-length underscore. A musical needs as many of the songs to be memorable as possible. The main reason I auditioned for Jekyll & Hyde is I heard a couple of songs at another audition, got the CD, and was blown away by how good the tunes and lyrics are. There is nothing in 1776 I'd enjoy singing, and a couple of numbers which would drive me up a wall.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

You're right. "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" has so much more profound lyrics than "Hey Momma".

:)

To each their own tastes, of course.

[howeird]

Actually, I think it does. The song isn't "Hey Momma", it's "Momma Look Sharp", and the lyrics are so poorly written they hurt my brain.

There is the potential for a great musical here, and the thought behind that particular song is profound and touching. The song itself just isn't. YMMV.

[targeter.livejournal.com]

I have a soft spot for that musical, but I think it's one of those things you have to be exposed to in your childhood, so that you have fond memories of it later on and are willing to overlook some things.

I can't stand the violin song, though. I skip over that every time on the dvd.

Does the CD include the "minuet" song that all of the conservatives sing?

[quaryn-dk.livejournal.com]

You may well be right about the childhood exposure thing. I think I was 10 or so, and it's a longstanding favorite of mine.

I love the minuet song, but the violin song is entirely annoying.

[howeird]

Yup the minuet song is in there. It has its moments but it rambles.

[quaryn-dk.livejournal.com]

I personally happen to love 1776, but I can understand your gripes. IIRC, part of the point of the musical was to humanize the founding fathers, right down to the fact that, if they'd been separated from their wives for half a year and were faithful, they'd be dying to run home for a shag.

In addition, I don't think the lack of women in the cast is all that unrealistic, given what they're portraying. Note the extreme lack of women at the 2nd Continental Congress. Unless they wanted to add in a bar wench for Ben Franklin to flirt with, wives were pretty much it.

I will grant, however, that it does seem an odd choice for an operetta society. If it were a foo-centennial year, I could grok it, but it does seem a bit out of whack.

[howeird]

Oh, I wasn't complaining that the plot needs more women, I was complaining that it's a sad thing for me because I really only do theater to meet women. ;-)

It's also a poor choice for a theater group which traditionally has to beg for any still-breathing males on the street to play roles. Matter of fact, a very tall female friend of mine (she's an alto) has played male roles there.

[quaryn-dk.livejournal.com]

All that, and you *didn't* get called back for Franklin? Yeah, that shit is whack. Blow that popsicle stand, tout de suite.