LoC 70: Top 50 Musicals!

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Number 49: Across the Universe

(23 points on 2 of 12 lists. Top Vote #10 by George Harrison)

Synopsis:
In the turbulent 60s, a worker (Jude) from Liverpool heads to the United States to find his long-lost father, who works at Princeton as a janitor.

No, it's not Matt Damon.

While there, Jude befriends a student (Max) and meets Max's sister, Lucy, whom he immediately falls for.  Max and Jude drop out and head to New York to become part of the Bohemian community. Lucy soon follows and the trio become embroiled in most events that occur in the late 60s, with the possible exception of the moon landing. The lovers are torn apart by events, but manage to come together, right now, at the end of the film. Oh, and an ersatz Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix are in there too.

Memorable Songs:
Oh, just pick a random Beatles song. It's probably in there. The Janis Joplin-esque cover of "Helter Skelter" is probably the highlight, although "Happiness is a Warm Gun" and "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite" are memorable as well for their visuals, although not particularly for the singing.

Awards:
Across the Universe appeared in several list of the best films of 2007. 1 Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.

Trivia Notes:
Most of the character names in the film are names used in Beatles lyrics or are related to the Beatles in some way.

Oh, how I wanted to use Bono butchering "I Am the Walrus" in the video, but I resisted.


Coming Soon:
Okay, the only other time I've seen this plot was in Orgasmo.

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Number 48 : Swing Time
(24 points on 1 of 12 lists. Top Vote #2 by George Harrison)

Synopsis:
A gambler, "Lucky", set to marry his fiance is told by her father that he won't allow the marriage unless Lucky can demonstrate his good intentions by raising $25,000, which is a rather sizable sum in 1936. Having lost his last dime on a bet regarding his marriage, Lucky heads to New York City to make a fortune and meets Dance instructor Penny. After a rocky start, Lucky and Penny become a performing duo, but Lucky realizes that he's begun to fall for Penny and feels guilty due to his engagement. Eventually, the engagement is called off and Lucky and Penny dance off into the sunset.

Memorable Songs:
"The Way You Look Tonight" is probably the best known song in the film, but "A Fine Romance" and "Never Going to Dance"  are considered by many to be some of the finest dance routines ever committed to film.

Awards:
One Oscar for Best Original Song. One of EW's Top 100 films of the 20th Century. #90 in AFI's top 100 films. Entered into the National Film registry in 2004.

Trivia Notes:
Penny and Lucky were played by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire  respectively.

Prior to Swing Time, most dance routines on film were performed in the same manner as they would have been on a stage. But the film added horizontal and vertical depth to the staging of the dance routines, as well as adding special effects in the form of trick photography in one sequence.

In one scene, Astaire attempts to steal a tuxedo overcoat so that he's have appropriate attire for an upcoming audition. Astaire would wear the exact same piece of clothing in the opening scene in "Holiday Inn."

Coming Soon:
I can't remember which joke I used here. Look on the prior page for it.

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Okay, back to where we're supposed to be, minus the jukebox musical which almost sneaked on.

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Number 47 : Flight of the Conchords
(24 points on 1 of 12 lists. Top Vote #2 by Kete)

Synopsis:
A pair of Kiwis try to achieve success in New York City and develop an American fanbase.

Memorable Songs:
"Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor", an ode to well, too many dudes dancing. And "Carol Brown" a melodic tune regarding past loves lost.

Awards:
Two Emmys. 6 songs on the Triple J Hottest 100. And the duo was the 2007 Wellingtonians of the year. However, to be fair, only about 2 dozen people and 85,000 sheep live in Wellington.

Trivia Notes:
Sadly, the duo's greatest success was running a music camp attended by  Lisa Simpson and the cast of Glee.

Coming Soon:
32 songs in the musical, but people only remember the one...

[Zombie Monty]

Okay, back to where we're supposed to be, minus the jukebox musical which almost sneaked on.

OK, I am confused.  What just happened?

[Darth Geek]

Ease On Down The Road was my favorite in The Wiz. And for some reason, the Don't Ease street signs after that number just made me laugh sooo much.
I more admire the creativity in The Wiz than actually like the movie itself.

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Okay, back to where we're supposed to be, minus the jukebox musical which almost sneaked on.

OK, I am confused.  What just happened?

As I began to writeup the last entry for today, I saw Tripe's comment of how he disliked jukebox musicals. The entry I was typing was in fact one of those and my records showed that Tripe voted for it as the top entry. I started to say something, then checked my records and noted that my tally for that entry wasn't what he voted for. I rechecked the math and discovered that the entry I was typing up did not in fact place, so I had to re-insert the correct #50 entry. And if we're not good from here on out, I'm going to lie and say that we are.

tl;dr version: Everything is perfectly okay, but Monty is going insane.

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Number 46: Chess
(24 points on 1 of 12 lists. Top Vote #2 by Cole Stratton)

Synopsis:
At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet chess player falls for the manager of a rival American player  and after the American resigns from the scene in a fit of pique, the Russian defects to England to be with his new love. Years later, the Russian enters another chess tournament in Bangkok where he comes across a new Soviet chess prodigy as well as his own spurned wife. After a new alliance with the now commentating American, the Russian prevails over the newcomer and having tasted a brief bit of fame, defects back to the USSR to be with his wife and to possibly help the still jailed father of his new love.

Memorable Songs:
No matter what I put here, the only thing that will stay in peoples' heads will be "One Night in Bangkok" so just assume that's what I wrote, okay?

Awards:
Several Green Room awards. No, I don't know what those are either.

Trivia Notes:
The plot above is of the original version of the play. In more recent versions, there aren't two chess tourneys, just a single one between the Russian and American, part of which occurs in Thailand and the rest in Budapest. In this one, the American plays poorly during the first matches, but since the Russian is distracted by his new love and possible defection during the latter matches, the American comes roaring back and wins the remaining matches in Budapest, and the Russian returns to the USSR as a broken man. Both version still have the "return to the USSR or we hurt Florence's Dad" suplot as well as a CIA subplot.

Still other versions change the winner back to the Russian and /or just set the entire play in Bangkok. The Denver product of it last year also involves a deaf mute gunman and a gunfight in a water bottling plant and I seem to recall Nick Cage being there too, but I was pretty sick when I saw it, so I may be misremembering things.

Most of the songs were written by Tim Rice and several of the Abba folks.

Coming Soon:
Well, we just can't avoid the Russkies, can we?

[Tripe]

Awards:
Several Green Room awards. No, I don't know what those are either.

Australian.

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Number 45 : Fiddler on the Roof
(24 points on 3 of 12 lists. Top Vote #10 by Tripe)

Synopsis:
In Czarist Russia, a poor Jewish farmer (Tevye)  attempts to maintain his family and protect his five daughters. One is scheduled to wed a wealthy butcher. Another (Tzeitel) is betrothed to a man older than Tevye himself, but she wishes to wed a poor tailor (Motel) whom she truly loves. After a display of courage, Motel declares that he will marry Tzietel and Tevye agrees. During the wedding, Russian troops arrive in the village as part of a pogrom, and disrupt the wedding.

Months later, the butcher is arrested and sent to Siberia, prompting his betrothed to follow him into exile. Another of Tevye's daughters falls in love with a man outside the faith, but as the father and daughter argue, the Russians begin to expel the Jews from their villages, and the family must flee. The married daughters head to Krakow and Tevye, his wife and youngest daughters head to America as the fiddler follows, playing a song.

Memorable Songs:
A gajillion. "Sunrise, Sunset", a song relating how quickly children seem to grow up. "Matchmaker, Matchmaker", the daughters' request that a mate be found for them by the traditional matchmaking process. "The Bottle Song." And, of course, "It's Hard to Be Jewish in Russia, Yo" although that one is a more recent addition to the play.

Awards:
Many, many. The 1971 musical version won 3 Oscars, including one for little known conductor John Williams. I wonder what happened to that guy?

Trivia Notes:
The "fiddler" bit in the title comes from a book and series of paintings created by Sholem Aleichem starting in 1894 about Tevye and his daughters. The paintings often included a fiddler, who was a "metaphor for survival through tradition and joyfulness in a life of uncertainty and imbalance."

The Broadway production of Fiddler was the first to surpass 3,000 performances, a record which it held for 10 years before being surpassed by another thing on this list. And if you're actually reading this rather than just skipping my babbling, I'll let you in on the secret. It was Forever Plaid. Shhh. Don't tell anyone else.

And no, I didn't count the vote for "A Shoggoth on the Roof" a HP Lovecraft related musical version of this, as an actual vote for Fiddler.

Coming Soon:
The first of many, many pony related things on the list, although this one was accidental.

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Awards:
Several Green Room awards. No, I don't know what those are either.

Australian.

Ah. Since a Melbourne production got them, that would make sense.

[Mrs. Dick Courier]

I haven't seen any of these.  Not even The Wiz, and I love Jackson.

But that Chess song kicks ass

[Darth Geek]

I haven't seen any of these.  Not even The Wiz, and I love Jackson.

But that Chess song kicks ass

Yeah, One Night In Bangkok kicks ass.

The Wiz is worth watching, even if you don't end up liking it as a whole.

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Number 44 : Into The Woods
(25 points on 1 of 12 lists. Top Vote #1 by Cole Stratton)

Synopsis:
A narrator presents a series of interlinked tales. A young maiden (Cinderella) who wishes to attend a royal festival, a farmer (Jack) who wishes for a more milkable cow, and a baker and his wife who yearn for a family. Connecting them all is their neighbor, an ugly witch, who has placed a curse on the baker's line after she caught him stealing magic beans from her garden. In addition, the witch had stolen the couple's child, Rapunzel. She will lift the curse, but she requires several items first- "the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold", all before the clock strikes midnight three days hence. So, the Baker, Cinderella, Jack, and  Red Riding Hood all head into the woods, with the wife discretely following.

Cinderella receives gift of  magic slippers and gown from her mother's spirit. red encounters a gigantic wolf, who devours her grandmother and then Red herself, but is then slain by the Baker, saving the pair. In gratitude, Red givers the Baker her cloak. Jack encounters the Baker while in the woods, and sells his cow to him for a handful of magic beans, which the Baker doesn't think are magic. Cinderella attends the ball, flees and encounters the wife, who spots the golden slippers and chases Cinderella as well, who escapes, but in the chase, the wife loses the cow as well. Upon arriving home, Jack gives the beans to his mother, who tosses them out and a beanstalk grows into the sky. Jack goes a climbing.

The next day, Jack returns to the Baker will gold stolen from the Giant's castle and tries to buy back the cow. The Baker refuses and Jack climbs back into the sky to get more gold. And then the brother Princes meet to discuss the Princesses they met the night before...

...yeah, this is going to take forever. Super fast mode. Rapunzel has her hair cut and banished when she refuses to leave the Prince. The Baker's father has been helping his son remove the curse, but dies. The Baker and his wife get all the items and the curse is removed. Jack gets the cow back. Rapunzel has twins and is found by the Prince. Cinderella finds her Prince too. Her stepsisters are blinded and cut off parts of their feet. The witch has lost her powers in all thing not pertaining to groceries. And the Baker's wife is pregnant.

But they are all still wishing.

Jack misses the castle in the sky. The baker and wife want more room. Cinderella is bored. And Rapunzel is a bit loopy. The Princes lust after two more maidens, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. So they all head back into the woods and...

..oh dear lord, I'm still at the beginning of act 2. Okay, the Giant's wife appears, wanting vengeance on the people who killed her husband , kills half the cast and is finally slain by the remaining cast members who vow to rebuild their lives together. But the Baker is visited by a spirit who gives a final lesson- Tell the children of the woods and learn that actions have consequences, even for future generations.  And be careful what you pass onto the children. And the musical ends with one last wish...

Memorable Songs:
'Children Will Listen", the show's penultimate song, which warns that the lessons that you try to teach aren't always the lessons that will be learned. And "Ever After" which will seem awfully familiar to fans of certain brightly colored ponies.

Awards:
A bunch of Tony awards and Olivier awards.

Trivia Notes:
There is a shorter, child friendly version for younger children to perform, which removes large parts of the plot (and the second act) and retunes the songs so that kids can perform it. It's titled "Into the Woods Jr."

Disney is currently scheduled to begin shooting a film version of the musical in September. Johnny Depp is playing the Wolf. and Meryll Streep plays the Witch, so if you enjoyed her performance in Mamma Mia, well, you get some more of that.

Coming Soon:
Look, look, look at my crotch.

[Tripe]

Awards:
Several Green Room awards. No, I don't know what those are either.

Australian.

Ah. Since a Melbourne production got them, that would make sense.

Yes they're actually specific to Melbourne.

Love Fiddler on the Roof as far as turn of the century eastern European Jewish musical extravaganzas go, it's definitely the best.