Sunday, January 30, 2011

Synthesis

I just finished reading Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the International Hunt for His Assassin. This is how history books should be written. It's always amazing when you read a book in which you know the outcome manages to be a real page-turner. I did not want to put this book down. Sides manages to weave together the stories of Eric Galt (a.k.a. James Earl Ray), Martin Luther King Jr., and the FBI in the days leading up to April 4, 1968 flawlessly. In so many books like this, I usually find myself more interested in one of the stories, but that wasn't the case with this book.

And then I discovered that PBS had done an American Experience on this topic: Roads to Memphis. It's basically the same story, exactly--Sides even pops up. But it was fascinating getting to watch the players in action. Particularly moving was the footage of the speech King gave the night before he died. I'm pretty sure I had heard parts of it before, but in context, it's fascinating.

Today I was at the National Museum of American History and went to see the Kinsey Collection, which relates to African American history, and found myself staring at a sign held by marchers just after King's death. As I was leaving after working in the American Presidency exhibit, the program on the Greensboro sit-ins was going on, so I stopped to watch...and wound up singing "On My Way to Freedomland," which I had just heard in Roads to Memphis. It just all came together, and really has piqued my interest in the civil rights movement.

Monday, January 24, 2011

On music and history colliding inappropriately

On my way to the Metro on Saturday, as I headed downtown to volunteer at Ford's Theatre, I found myself listening to the Beatles Past Masters - Volume 1. Which is how I found myself standing next to the gun that Booth used to kill Abraham Lincoln, dancing slightly to "I'll Get You." The chorus?

"It's not like me to pretend,
But I'll get you in the end,
Yes I will, I'll get you in the end"



Yeah. Disturbing.

Hey, at least I didn't have the children's song "I'm Gonna Catch You" by the Laurie Berkner Band. Super cute, but they chorus of THAT is:

"I'm gonna catch you, you better run
I'm gonna catch you, here I come"



Cute for my 3-year-old niece. Less so when discussing assassination.

Monday, January 17, 2011

It's called acting, Nick. Look it up.

I was conflicted when I heard that Nick Jonas not only was portraying Marius in Les Mis, but that he'd be part of the 25th anniversary concert. I justified that it wasn't really stunt casting because he had played Gavroche when he was little; plus, he's clearly the talented Jonas Brother (at least, he's the one who writes their music; plus he plays drums AND guitar!) (and probably piano?). (Though it isn't like Les Mis hasn't resorted to stunt casting in the past but LA LA LA I can't hear you.)

Anyway, someone linked to a clip of his performance in a discussion of the British series I'd Do Anything, which followed the search for a Nancy in the West End production of Oliver! Apparently, one of the runners-up not only ALSO was in that concert (Eponine), but she and Nick are an item.

ANYWAY. So I heard the clip a bit and was actually impressed. He didn't sound bad at all! So that's good. And then I watched the clip. And dude did NOT impress me with his acting. He seemed very...samey. His character in JONAS was very dry, and maybe that's just his personality, because watching that clip, I just saw Nick Jonas. Not Marius. I mean, he's obviously trying to act. It just looks odd (his entrance is at about 3:00).



And then, of course, is the originator of the role, My Boyfriend Michael Ball. Here he is in the 10th anniversary concert, when he's both too old and too puffy for the part. But because he has actual theatrical training, he is Marius (entrance around 2:00). Just because you can sing a role doesn't mean that you're necessarily acting it.



(Need to keep going? "A Heart Full of Love" is here.)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

To make an impossible choice

New York Magazine is doing countdowns this week--greatest NY athlete, greatest NY tv show, etc. The one that interested me, of course, was greatest musical. Nora Ephron, Frank Rich, Jonathan Tunick, and George C. Wolfe debated the greatest American musical--I assume on Broadway, not off, but I'm not 100% clear. Anyway, that means no imports.

It's a fascinating discussion, and makes me want to see She Loves Me, which I am not even a little familiar with. I also now feel bad that I really don't know Porgy and Bess. I will, however, say that having seen Showboat somewhat recently, that its book is just not good and therefore should not be the greatest musical. I will accept the argument for it being the first. And I also totally agree with the uncomfortableness with Carousel due to the whole "Abuse is OK!" theme.

Also, having just read Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit & Biggest Flop of the Season, 1959-2009 (which was a fascinating read, by the way; I definitely recommend it if you're a fan of musicals), it's lovely to have Sondheim mentioned so much. Oh, Sondheim. All of his are my favorite.

Anyway, it boils down to this quote--why I love theater:

Wolfe: Wait, I’m confused because if you isolate the elements it’s not a musical. A musical is what happens when text collides with motion collides with song collides with spectacle. And spectacle can be the human heart; it doesn’t necessarily have to be a helicopter crashing. You can go see ballet in its purity; you can go to a recital to hear music by itself. But what the American musical does so thrillingly is bastardize these forms into something that is exhilarating and compelling and deeply moving.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Comedy requires tragedy

I've written before about how much I like How I Met Your Mother because I can relate to it. For a group of characters who are supposed to be my age (fairly exactly--I graduated college the same year Marshall, Lily, and Ted did), they seem about dead on. Sure, I don't spend nearly that much time in a bar, but they're people I relate to.

SPOILER ALERT

There's some debate about the ending of last night's episode--the sudden death of Marshall's father. One reaction that I just don't understand is that people don't want to watch the show for tears and didn't like the unexpected ending and "I don't want to see a sitcom do that" or "I watch this to get away from real life." There are certainly shows that I can see for that, but HIMYM has always been more to me.

To me, it's an amusing look at people growing up. You see them deal with their careers and relationships that involve hard choices (the Ted/Robin "I love this person, but we ultimately want different things") and parental issues (Lily, Barney). The situations can be comical, but there's a layer of realism that's very much there.

For the past couple of seasons, it seems like the show has drifted. It's still been enjoyable, but the characters have become too sitcommy. A show that had real people became one with cartoonish characters. This season has been a return to form, and it peaked with this moment. Of course, where they go from here is an issue, but I have faith in these writers.

The other major complaint I see is about the countdown. Honestly, I didn't even NOTICE the numbers until a friend on Twitter mentioned them. Then, thinking about the episode, I remembered some numbers sticking out. I've seen people being all, "It so SO OBVIOUS and DISTRACTING!" But...no. I mean, yes, some people noticed from the beginning, but it was subtle enough that a lot of people didn't. Inappropriate? I didn't think so. Co-creator Carter Bays said that it was done to create some foreboding in the episode. Because really, you never do know when those big moments are going to happen (as Whistler said on Buffy so many years ago). A countdown in life like that might be nice.

Anyway, it's nice to know that the cast of the show also appreciates it. Also, Josh Radnor needs to marry me.