Originally Posted By TheRedhead I love Into The Woods. Definitely Sondheim's most accessible show. Hope they don't screw it up. My friends and I have had a running thing for years - if you go to see someone you know in a show and you have absolutely nothing good to say about their performance, after the show you can say to them, "You really looked like you were having fun up there!" Meryl Streep in Mama Mia is the walking definition of having fun up there. She's game and all, but her singing is awkward and embarrassing. Granted her material wasn't Shakespeare (or Sondheim), but that was a rough rough mess. The witch isn't a heavy singing role, but her two big numbers are the big belty emotional climax song (oy) and a portion in the opening prologue where she does a kind of rap (triple oy). I'll reserve judgement I guess. But what fun is that.
Originally Posted By basil fan This is the first I've heard of this movie. Interesting...I've heard the cast album many times and seen it off-Broadway. I think I'll be buying a ticket to this one. Guilty! Disney's Other Villains <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/villainmisc.html">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...isc.html</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 "I'm a huge fan of the stage musical "Sweeney Todd" by Stephen Sondheim -- it's easily one of my favorite musicals of all time. " Mine too. Saw the original with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury, and it was amazing. Best musical I've ever seen live. "The movie -- eh, not so much. " Ditto. When you've seen the hulking Cariou intimidate an audience of 2,000 using nothing but his body and his voice (not even miked at that time), Depp- much as I usually like him - just didn't cut it. Same with Lansbury vs Carter.
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove JEALOUS of Dabob2, oh, my goodness! And agreeing with skinnerbox: Bernadette Peters *is* the Witch, and I'll miss her. (The way she and Mandy Patinkin worked it in "Sunday In The Park With George"!!! OMG, they're both brilliant performers.) Sometimes, not the very best of singers can coax out a charming performance that resonates. Witness Lesley Ann Warren in Cinderella. Her voice was somewhat thin and reedy, but it worked, at least for me. She was lovely. Ditto Rex Harrison sort of barking out his songs. Loved it. So I have big hopes for Meryl giving the performance of her life. It's that darned Red that has the biggest danger sign on it for me. Not convinced by quirky Wolf. Dang it, he's dapper, he's dangerous, he's a playa.
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove Sorry, one more plug: Pat Carroll, whom I worship for being one of the stepsisters i the aforementioned Cinderella and her pièce de résistance: Ursula. Not your classically trained Julie Andrews' purity and soaring beauty, but oh, what wicked and perfect wit. I love you, Pat Carroll.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I saw Lansbury and George Hearn in "Sweeney Todd" in Los Angeles in 1982. Awesome! Also say "Sunday in the Park with Geroge" on Broadway, close to its end, so did not see Patinkin or Peters. Still Act One is great -- Act Two -- not so much. "Company" is one of my all time favorites. I directed a production at Playhouse Merced a couple of seasons ago. Back in So Cal, I was in the show at Laguna Playhouse and than a few months later at West Coast Ensemble. In fact, George Furth (the co-author) attended a performance at West Coast Ensemble, and I had a chance to say hello to him afterward. Cool stuff. As for Meryl Streep, I'll have to listen to "Mamma Mia" again I guess. I thought she did well. As for Amanda Seyfried -- ech -- she crucified her songs in "Les Miserables" -- yikes.
Originally Posted By magic0214 Jim, you just became my favorite person. Company is one of the best musicals ever. Of any Sondheim show to get a movie, Company should be it. As far as dubbing goes, I know the recent Teen Beach Movie also dubbed the head of the surfer clique and and the head of the bikers. I am loving how Les Mis has brought on a "Movie Musical Renaissance" as now we have Into the Woods, The Last 5 Years, and original musical starring Orfeh coming out soon and a Guys and Dolls and Avenue Q film in the works too. Into The Woods is much anticipated by me. Cannot wait to see how it translates to the big screen!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>As for Amanda Seyfried -- ech -- she crucified her songs in "Les Miserables" -- yikes.<< Agreed. I was only referring to her performance in the HORRID movie version of Mamma Mia. She's good for pop material. More serious stuff, notsomuch. Meryl Streep can't sing anything. Her performance of The Winner Takes It All wasn't belting, it was yelling and flailing. Still gives me nightmares.
Originally Posted By leemac <<JEALOUS of Dabob2, oh, my goodness!>> You and me both! I'd love to have seen Lansbury in one of her marquee musicals. I have now seen her in a play though (Gore Vidal's The Best Man revival). It was the same as watching Bette Midler recently in I'll Eat You Last. Phenomenal play but I just kept hoping she would break out into song! Hopefully one day she will tackle a musical on Broadway. I still think she is too old for Hello, Dolly! but otherwise she seems perfect for the role. I skipped the Sweeney Todd movie - the casting didn't excite me at all. I'm not much of a musicals fan at all (although I usually see 20-25 plays a year) and I'm almost embarrassed to say that I've never seen a Sondheim musical.
Originally Posted By leemac <<HORRID movie version of Mamma Mia.>> The musical itself is no better and it started the obsession with these jukebox musicals that are still popping up everywhere. Tired and lazy.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>The musical itself is no better and it started the obsession with these jukebox musicals that are still popping up everywhere. Tired and lazy.<< Sounds exactly like the approach taken by Across the Universe, yet that one came out incredibly well. I don't think it was a huge box office hit (I hadn't heard of it until a couple years later), but it seems like it's gotten nothing but positive reviews. It's not nessecarily the overall concept of a film, it's the execution
Originally Posted By TheRedhead I love "Company," but I can't imagine that ever being made into a mainstream movie. I did see a well-filmed production of Sam Mendes's version - the whole show was basically a coke-fueled dream of Bobby's. It was awesome, but no one would pay to see that in a movie theater. I've always been interested in hearing how that Neil Patrick Harris version is, the one that played in movie theaters? Can't say I know anyone who saw it. "Sunday in the Park with George" is my favorite musical of all time. I missed the original on b'way but I did see the original cast reunite and do the whole show for a one-night tenth anniversary AIDS benefit. When "Move On" ended I thought people would never stop clapping. It was nuts.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Count this witch in as someone who also thinks Meryl Streep can't sing. In Mama Mia it was surprising that they didn't dub her singing voice. But it was down right SHOCKING that they didn't dub Pierce's singing voice....
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I'm gonna have to take issue about 'Mamma Mia!' being horrid. First, taking existing songs and creating a coherent story line is mind-boggling. With 'Mamma Mia!' they did an amazing job of putting all those 'ABBA' songs in there. Second, the 'ABBA' songs - for pop music - are actually quite good. Well constructed and more sophisticated musically than you might imagine. My only problem with 'Mamma Mia!' when we saw it in Los Angeles, is that they didn't just play it 'straight' (no pun intended). They played it in a post-modern, 'look how silly this material is but we're doing it anyway' type of approach. To me, the music and storyline have enough heart that you can play it 'for real.' I realized that we reviewed 'Mamma Mia!' on our now, almost defunct website. My thoughts are at the link for those who care. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.2adults1child.com/what_we_think/Summer_Movies_2008/Mamma_Mia.htm">http://www.2adults1child.com/w..._Mia.htm</a>
Originally Posted By kennect well just finished "woods" on Netflix. can't imagine how they can possibly make it appealing to an audience after thirty years later.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: My sisters and I loved Mama Mia too, Jim, duckling! In fact all of our friends loved it, as well. We agree with your assessment of it. It was brilliant the way they were able to take all those songs and weave them into a story.
Originally Posted By lesmisfan I love Mama Mia, but I have to drink to it as well But i was excited for this film, but after seeing who they ended up casting, I have very little hope for this film. I do not like having jack and little red as kids, the point of them are they are young adults trapped in a kids minds and the events of going into the woods forces them to grow up. And making them kids defeats that purpose. I do have hope for who they cast as cinderella, the baker and his wife. I do think meryl will hit the character on the head but she does not sing that well and the song last midnight is such a powerful song! And i have no idea what they are going to take out of this to make it 90 minutes long.
Originally Posted By lesmisfan and do not get me started on having sophia grace as little red. she is a cute little girl who I got to meet at work and she was delightful but she is so wrong for the part.
