Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration at Royal Albert Hall on DVD

Well, I suppose since it is at Royal Albert Hall and it is Andrew Lloyd Webber, I shouldn't be surprised that this Celebration is over-produced and involves a somewhat larger battalion than was used in the D-Day invasion. That said it must have something to see live. It's something to see on DVD.

Some quick observations and questions are all I have time for now:

Is Sarah Brightman some kind of cross between a cupie doll and Stevie Nicks? Why does she sing "Music of the Night" from Phantom, rather than a man? Her overly rounded vowels are distracting to watch and are some kind of bastardization of vocal technique.

Donny Osmond is cute. He sings well. He's charming with the children's choir backing him up.

Antonia Banderas is also cute. He doesn't sing well. His circling around everybody is a little odd--is he a herding dog?

I like Elaine Paige's singing. While her Evita gown probably "read" well live in the hall, it's a little much for close-up television.

The roller skating musical hasn't improved with age.

Was that Bonnie Tyler? I'm sure there are credits, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I eventually did get to them and, yes, that was Bonnie Tyler. Which leads to my next question; why was Bonnie Tyler there?

I don't know who any of the British rocker men or boys are. Labels would have been nice. Then again, so would me finishing watching the whole DVD before writing this entry. The cast is listed at the end, and a song by song list is given if you scene select on your DVD player.

There are things I very much like about Andrew Lloyd Webber's theater music. Some of the themes are lovely, but don't developed enough to keep me interested.

The same is true for the Requiem: the "Pie Jesu" for soprano and treble has some beautiful moments and I would appreciate them more if they weren't repeated 10 times in a 3 minute movement; the "Hosanna in excelsis" (I could have that Latin wrong) is exciting and needs a really good tenor, but again let's vary some of the musical motives, Andy.

I want to hear more of the cello concerto, or whatever the piece is referred to as. It's called Variations for Cello and Orchestra.

Glenn Close might not be the best singer out there, but she surely outshone everyone else in the acting department; I couldn't take my eyes off her. I would not have wanted to sing "Memory" after Ms. Close's songs.

Michael Ball is not as cute as I had hoped.

Two show of Webber's that I don't know but need to hear more of are Sunset Boulevard and Aspects of Love.

What kind of name is Tina Arena? It sounds like a pole dancer. And was her song from Whistle Down the Wind repeated to give some sort of closure to the event? It seemed anti-climatic.

If anti-climatic is "against the climax", how does one state "against the climate"? Well, I just looked it up and anti-climatic is "against the climate"; anti-climactic is the word I meant for the repeat of Tina Arena's song. Learn something everyday--that's my motto.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration at Royal Albert Hall
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: all his collaborators, from Tim Rice on...

Filmed in 1998, released on DVD in 1999
Cast: Elaine Paige, Donny Osmond, Antonio Banderas, Sarah Brightman, Julian Lloyd Webber, Michael Ball, Glenn Close, Tina Arena, Kiri Te Kanawa

Phantom of the Opera--film on DVD

I held off on seeing this film when it was released in 2004 and have held off seeing as part of my Year. I have to confess I liked the stage production of Phantom of the Opera when I saw it on tour back in the early 1990s. I feel a bit of a counterfeit liking something that is so populist, but I do. And I'm a bit disappointed by it at the same time. I want this show to be a better middle point between musical theater and opera. I want it to bridge the gap for some people, and introduce them to more "serious" music dramas. And despite my mother thinking Phantom is an opera because it's all sung, I know it's not; nor does it help usher anyone into the opera house. I speak figuratively, of course.

There are many aspects of this film that I very much like. The world of the Opera Populaire, with it's cavernous basements, ever-reaching catwalks, and uber-Gothic decor is fantastic. It's a place I want to explore; it's a world whose inner workings I want to understand. How do the gas-jet lights work? What does the guy in the catwalks do? Why is the chandelier on a pulley?

This is a very attractive cast. That's part of the problem. Frankly, Gerard Butler is so sexy as the Phantom, I'd choose him in a second over Raoul--facial scars and all. I saw The 300, I know what Gerard is packing! So what if I'd have to live the rest of my life in a dank basement. I think the Gothic extreme of the set decor and costume is totally justified, for this is a Gothic tale. About the only set that holds more candles than this film, is for a Barbara Walters Oscar special.

The voices are disappointing to me, mainly because I want them to be more operatic. Minnie Driver as Carlotta is dubbed with an opera voice that is as over-the-top in its cliched portamento as is Ms. Driver's acting performance. I don't know if Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds are dubbed when singing or not, but either way they mostly speak the music. Gerard growls too much of the music for my taste. Patrick Wilson is bland as Raoul. I like the way Emmy Rossum looks as Christine, but her singing is a bit limpid for my ears--even if Christine is supposed to be 18 years old. While she doesn't really sing, I liked Miranda Richardson as the ballet mistress who knew the past of the Phantom. Is this aspect new for the the film? I don't remember it in the stage version.

Phantom of the Opera
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Charles Hart
Opened in New York in 1988
Film released by Warner Bros. in 2004
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Cast: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Simon Callow, Ciaran Hinds, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat television production on DVD

I think this was produced for television, but it may have been a feature film release. Either way, it's a very lavish, colourful production, basically recreating the stage production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that swept across the planet in the 1990s. The film was made in 1999, thirty years after the show was created for performance by schoolchildren, and 18 years after if first appeared on Broadway.

I've known versions of this show since the early 1980s when a church in my hometown produced the children's version. I've seen the adult version of the show twice, once in a professional summer stock setting, and once in a community theatre production (where my sister played the hairy Ismaelite--get some waxing already!). In any version this show is a delight--witty without being self-pretentious and telling it's wide-ranging story with a lot of verve.

This film version stars Donny Osmond who has done somewhere around 2000 performances as Joseph around the globe. He was in the Chicago production that was here for seemingly ever, but I never saw it. Hats off to Mr. Osmond. In 1999, he would have been 42 or so; he looks good. And we see quite a bit of him as he spends a lot of the show bare-chested in a loin-cloth. That clean Mormon living has some benefits. More to the point he sounds good singing as Joseph, rarely relying on pop-isms when not appropriate and showing good lyric lines in the big ballad "Close Every Door".

The rest of the cast is also good. Maria Friedman as the Narrator is a new name to me, apparently with a busy musical career in England. And deservedly so; Ms. Friedman has a lovely voice, capable of both belt and lyric singing without an obvious break. She is also a lively performer, although I felt sometime she was overused in the film when she was not singing, and the focus should have been on other performers.

In the cast as Simeon is Jeff Blumenkrantz, whom I will make a point of finding again for my Year--if only to name-drop a bit. Jeff and I did summer stock one year on Cape Cod. He was a star in everything, I was an enthusiastic but unfocused chorus member. Some Google-stalking has shown that Jeff has a successful and wide-ranging career, both as performer and song-writer. His song "I Won't Mind" which I first heard on an album of Audra McDonald is beautiful and haunting.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Film in 1999
Cast: Donny Osmond, Maria Friedman, Richard Attenborough, Joan Collins, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Ian McNeice, Robert Torti.

Cats London production filmed for the tele

Don your leg warmers and shred your bath mat, because it's now and forever. It's Cats.

I believe this filmed version of the show was created with a mixed cast from several world productions and some notable returning actors who originated roles--most notably Elaine Paige. Having grown up listening to the Broadway cast album, with Betty Buckley as Grizabella, it was nice to hear Ms. Paige sing the iconic "Memory". It's interesting to think that Ms. Paige is singing this song that she first introduced 17 years earlier--she sounds vocally strong.

This may be the only time TS Eliot appears as one of the labels in my entries, unless there is a musical setting of "The Wasteland" that I've yet to discover. The poems that form the basis of the libretto for this show are delightful and full of whimsy. The irony is that while the poems are about cats on the surface, Eliot was actually commenting on the social structures of early 20th Century England--the structures of PEOPLE! But social commentary doesn't make for a good musical spectacular, so let's make them all cats.

I actually like much of the music from this show, and regretted any time the production values of this taping got in the way of watching and listening to the performers. There are several poorly edited moments in this DVD and some of the effects added to the taping that wouldn't have happened in a live stage performance which took away from my enjoyment of the show, rather than adding to it.

I received this DVD through Netflix and I think I'll hold on to it over the Thanksgiving holiday. Apparently my niece and nephews love singing along with the recording of Cats, but have not seen the production. I feel I should introduce them to the treacle before I show them the treats.

Cats
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by TS Eliot
The DVD says it was released in 1998.
Cast: Elaine Paige, John Mills, Ken Page, Rosemarie Ford, Michael Gruber, John Partridge and a lot of other furry folks

Evita film on DVD

Out of respect for the recent announcement concerning the future of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Ritchie, I offer what may be Mrs. Ritchie's only appearance in my Year. Of course, I mean Madonna's portrayal of that other powerful and over-reaching 20th Century icon in Evita. Oddly, this is Antonio Banderas's second appearance in my Year, previously having been discussed in the cast of the revival of Nine.

This film feels very much like an MTV music video, with much of the singing covered by visuals of other action, presented in quick-cut shots. With non-singers playing the two lead singing roles, that may not be surprising. Both leads are very visually satisfying, though, with Madonna wearing very attractive 40's era dresses on her petite frame and Mr. Banderas just being angry and hot.

Jonathan Pryce, as Juan Peron, out-acts and out-sings both of his cast mates, offering subtleties in both acting and singing, even if his is not a traditional baritone voice.

The song written for the film, "You Must Love Me" doesn't really offer anything new and isn't a pretty enough tune to warrant its inclusion.Does someone have a cabaret show of all song cuts from out-of-town tryouts, or songs added for films or revivals? An interesting idea.

One very nice addition to the film that I don't recall from the stage version (which I saw years ago) is the inclusion of dance, particularly tangos, expecially the "dream tango" that Banderas and Madonna dance during their only duet, "High Flying Adored".

Evita
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Book and Lyrics by Tim Rice
Film released in 1996
Directed by Alan Parker
Cast: Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce

Jesus Christ Superstar film on DVD

I grew up with the original Broadway cast album of this show, without having seen the show in person, so watching the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar I had some different voices in my mind's ear. Only Mary Magdelene (Yvonne Elliman) and Pontius Pilate (Barry Dennen) are holdovers from the stage version that ran from 1971 - 1973.

This was the first Broadway cast album I heard for a show that was entirely music. I naively thought that made it an opera. Well, I've since discovered that is ain't necessarily so. There are many operas that have dialogue, and lots of through-sung musicals don't meet the musicological threshold to be opera. Of course, now opera companies often produce musicals, and contemporary operas often don't meet that same musicological threshold. That's a bad phrase (not to mention, a bad sentence), but I hope it makes my point. Which is really to say, that in a strange way Jesus Christ Superstar led me to explore opera. Go figure.

I remember seeing the film for the first time when I was a senior in high school and realizing how easy it was to side with Judas, which I have to believe is part of the point of the show and the film. Following Christ wasn't easy, and (not to make too strong a point) maybe it still shouldn't be.

This is the first appearance in my Year for composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Love him or hate him, he'll be back.

Jesus Christ Superstar
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
1973 film directed by Norman Jewison
Cast: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen