Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog on DVD

Okay, I admit that I am way behind the curve on getting into this Internet serial musical. Over the weekend I saw the whole 40-minute story of Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog on DVD with its plethora of DVD extras. I was surprised to find it among the PBS and BBC DVDs at my local library.


This is a warped and wonderful story, that never hesitates to make the most obvious joke or poke fun at its own genre, itself or anything else--just as Joss Whedon did with the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer years before. The music is all very hummable, even if the structure of it is flawed. I like my songs to be verse-chorus-verse-chorus numbers.

The best singing is by Neil Patrick Harris. Nathan Fillion lets his bravado overcome any vocal deficiencies. Felicia Day has a light soubrettish voice that was only slightly annoying at times.

What struck me about this musical was that it would never work on stage. The array of musical styles and the tremendous vocal ranges required would tax any performer in an eight-shows-a-week set-up, and the quick changes between singing to another character versus singing about another character would be confusing without the camera focus to direct our attention.

Still it's another new and entertaining way to tell a musical story. I hope the format catches on.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog
Music, Lyrics and book by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Zack Whedon
Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day

Ghost Light Monday--Into the Wild

I have wanted to see Into the Wild for a while--since I first saw and liked Emile Hirsch in Milk about a year ago. I knew some general stuff about the story of Into the Wild, but not nearly enough to realize what a beautifully photographed and acted film this is, and what a disturbing, yet somehow heart-warming story this is.

Firstly, Hal Holbrook must be now granted not only the status of national institution, but also the position of grandfather of all the most subtle, effective, and nuanced film acting. Mr. Holbrook is on screen for maybe 10 minutes of this film, but he is so heart-wrenchingly wonderful that you forget that he's on screen with someone else.

That sounds like a dis against Emile Hirsch; it is not intended as such. Mr. Hirsch owns this film and deserves every bit of praise it has afforded him. There are other effective performances here, too, from William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden and particularly from Jena Malone who does wonderful work with her voice-overs.

The only aspect of the film that I took a bit of issue with was the use of quotes written over the screen as if they were handwritten. I realize that this relates to the diary we see Alexander/Christopher keeping while living in the Magic Bus, but I thought the technique a bit obvious and got in the way more than it helped. Luckily for me, the practice was not continued in the later part of the film.

Classical Monday--Gounod's Faust at Lyric Opera

It's not actually Monday, but I saw this opera on Monday night and it's been weeks since I've posted anything, so I thought I'd better get this down.

I had never seen Gounod's Faust before, so when I was offered a ticket by a friend, and I realized that Rene Pape was singing Mephistopheles, I was happy to take the ticket off my friend's hand. There are several arias that are excerpted for recitals and discs often--particularly Marguerite's "Jewel Song", which must be the idea that Leonard Bernstein spoofs in "Glitter and be Gay"--but I had never heard the whole work before. The music is lovely and vrai francais. Even the recitative sections are melodic. Fortunately, the music was front and center in this production with a strong international cast under the music direction of Sir Andrew Davis.

That said, I felt a lot of potential in the physical production was missed. I have no idea how old the sets and costumes for this staging are, but even if they are only a couple of years old, they represent staging ideas from a couple of centuries ago. While there were some sections of active staging, a lot of the time it was the "park and bark" style of presentation. If you're not familiar with that phrase, it means to plant yourself center stage and sing at the top of your lungs. I particularly wanted some more from Mr. Pape as Mephistopheles. While the Bass exudes suavity and charm--although not to the same degree as Samuel Ramey, the Mephisto I heard in Boito's Mephistopheles--I felt that attribute could have been played up more, particularly in the garden scene when the devil is getting into the details of seducing and then being put off by the attentions of Marthe. This production was staged by Frank Corsaro, a familiar name in opera direction. And the production had a lot of familiar opera touches, most of which fell flat, like the pyrotechnic flash Mephisto sets off in the final scene of the opera; it added nothing, revealed nothing, was an obvious, dated trick, and seemed cheesy.

The singing was all good, though not often excellent. Rene Pape was obviously the most mature singer in the cast--a complaint I've often had recently with Lyric Opera productions, there is some star power in the cast, but the people who sing opposite them are not of the same caliber or experience. Pape has sung in all the major houses in the world--Ana Maria Martinez (Marguerite) and Piotr Beczala (Faust) have sung in one or two major houses at this point in their careers. With the Civic Opera House (where Lyric performs) holding more than 3,600 seats, you need an accomplished singer and performer to reach the audience.

Not that I had any trouble hearing anyone. Volume was not the issue--color was. None of these singers, including Pape, seemed to have the right vocal color or style for French music. Tenor Beczala, while having all the clarion high notes you could ask for, seemed vocally strident at times, and more a Verdi tenor than a Gounod one.

Clearly, I haven't grown much in my quest to outgrow the bitterness that has crept into my theater-going experiences. With the resumption of the fall theater and opera seasons, I need to see if I can shake that off.

Faust
Music by Charles Gounod

Rene Pape, Ana Maria Martinez, Piotr Beczala, Lucas Meachum
Continues at Lyric Opera through November 7

Kiss Me Kate--1999 Broadway Cast Album

Yes, I am guilty of stuffing the ballot box of late with votes for Brian Stokes Mitchell, but after the disturbing Assassins, I needed some light-hearted musical entertainment, and the revival cast of Kiss Me Kate seemed the right choice. It did the trick, reminding me that Broadway musicals can be smart, witty, and singable without giving you the wiggins.

I'm not certain I agree with the orchestration changes Don Sebesky made to this score. The notes in the liner booklet go on an on about how the new orchestrations (and slight alterations to the score) helped to place the music more specifically in the time-frame of the play (Shrew--Elizabethan), or of the play-within-the-play (Baltimore 1940s-50s). While I hear those differences, I don't think they were needed for a good ol' time at the theater. And what justifies the very modern version of "Another Opening Another Show" with its American Idol-inspired vocals? Adriane Lenox sings it well, so I suppose you can justify anything.

What I don't have to justify is the cast--top-notch throughout. Perhaps one of the benefits of remounting a Broadway classic in a high-profile revival is that you have access to professionals who have heard and sung this music all their lives and know how to do it. Marin Mazzie proves herself particularly versatile, in a role which requires both belt and legato singing.

Kiss Me Kate
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Samuel and Bella Spewack
Opened originally in 1948
This revival opened in 1999
Cast: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Lee Wilkof, Amy Spanger, Michael Berresse, Michael Mulheren

Assassins--2004 Broadway Cast Album

With the recent release from prison of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme it seems as good a time as any to dig into the stack of albums waiting for my Thinking and put Sondheim's Assassins on the player.

This is the only Broadway cast album of this show, because the original 1990 incarnation was produced by Playwrights Horizons and never produced on Broadway, although that cast was recorded.

I have heard bits and pieces of this show before--I have a vague recollection of a video clip of Patrick Cassidy (from the Playwrights production) singing "The Ballad of Booth"--but that was all I knew of the show. Given that musical snippet I was hoping for a show with some pastiche musical styles fitting the eras of the various assassins, and while there is quite a bit of that, there was not enough to keep my ears riveted.

Neil Patrick Harris is the vocal stand-out of this vocally good cast. Besides singing more than anyone as he portrayed both the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, NPH has the right vocal tone to sing Sondheim's music well. By that I mean he has a lightish, forward-placed voice that can hopscotch around the turns in Sondheim's melodies.

My problem with this show is probably more thematic than musical; I don't find the exploration of the mind of a killer to be interesting. At first I thought the show was exploring how Presidential assassins are really just footnotes to history, but the end of the show with Lee Harvey Oswald and the reprise of the opening "Everybody's Got a Right" were too creepy for that interpretation. Whether you believe guns kill people or people kill people, there are lots of both on display.

This is the first appearance of one of my favorite actresses, though, Becky Ann Baker. I've never seen Ms. Baker live (and don't actually know if she's been in other musicals besides this production), but I loved, Loved, LOVED her in the television series Freaks and Geeks from the late 1990s. The whole series is one of my favs, but I digress...

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Originally produced in 1990
Opened on Broadway in 2004
This cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Becky Ann Baker, Michael Cerveris, Marc Kudisch, Denis O'Hare, Mario Cantone

Flower Drum Song--2002 Broadway Cast Album

I've previously watched the film version of this show, so I thought I knew what I was in for when I popped the cast album of the 2002 Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song into the player. Turns out this revival was a very different show from the original, as evidenced not only by the synopsis of the show and the notes by Ted Chapin provided in the booklet to the CD, but also by the music itself. The score is re-orchestrated, the book re-written, characters re-arranged, and songs re-assigned.

All of this is thanks primarily to David Henry Hwang who approached the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization about reworking the show for a contemporary audience. I don't know if that means that the show is no longer set in the 1950s, the notes don't discuss that. But from my recollections of the film, several characters are missing, and the notion of arranged marriage from the original story has been taken out.

Lea Salonga starred as Mei-Li in the version, and her singing on this disc is very good from beginning to end. Ms. Salonga has a warm and lovely music theater voice which general traverses well into her head voice. The character of Mei-Li is given the song "Love, Look Away" which was sung by the character of Helen in the original version. This is a wonderful song, and Ms. Salonga sings it well, although I have some slight issues with the tempo and some of the rhythms taken in this version. Other good singing from this cast is given by Jose Llana as number one son Ta (although if there is a number two son, he's not on the disc), and Sandra Allen as Linda Low.

Less successful to me is turning "Don't Marry Me" into a duet. Jack Soo was so droll and funny in his delivery of this song in the film version, I missed the character of Sammy Fong in the 2002 arrangement (two characters have been combined here).

There is a moment in the second act finale that I need someone to explain to me. The actors seem to step out of character and announce where they were born. I suppose this is to show how diverse the Asian community is, but I wonder how it worked on stage. I certainly can't blame the R&H Organization or Mr. Hwang for wishing to rework Flower Drum Song for a new incarnation, but I do wonder if they went too far.

Flower Drum Song
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by David Henry Hwang
This version opened in 2002
Cast: Lea Salonga, Jose Llana, Sandra Allen,

Ghost Light Monday--Julie & Julia at the Multiplex

How could I not talk about the uber-blog and the movie which it spawned? I did encounter Julie Powell's blog before the book was published, but after she had completed her 365 journey. Safe to say that Ms. Powell is the woman who launched a thousand blogs--including this one.

Well, the film incarnation of Julie & Julia is delightful. Some have criticized the inclusion of Ms. Powell's story in this film. They believe that Julia Child is worthy of her own film, and while I agree with that comment, I think the Powell parts of the story help put Mrs. Child's accomplishments into perspective, which we wouldn't get just from the 50s portion of the tale. We also get some information about the Childs that it would be ackward to reveal in their section of the film.

Meryl Streep captures all the joie de vivre and determination that is Julia Child, along with her vocal and physical mannerisms. We only see a bit of the saucy (pun intended) Julia, apparently she was not adverse to four-letter words and strong sexual innuendo, as I learned when I read both My Life in France and another biography called Appetite for Life.