Tommy C – Music Snob

When I have kids I hope they appreciate what a stunning musical education they’re going to get.

My French-speaking dad had a brief obsession with the French version of Les Miserables soundtrack. Last night I was treated to a surprise trip to the West End to see the real thing, with scant knowledge of the story but a memory full of grand French choruses ready to burst back into my consciousness. 

To my horror, I was confronted with nothing short of the Disney stage version. I knew it was going to be in english but I was not prepared for the travesty that is currently on show in London.

Its been a while since I’ve been to the West End for a good musical, but it seems the producers of this version have come over all Simon Cowell and ended up one bar short of a chorus. 

Unlike opera singers or stage actors, actors in musicals have to be true all rounders – singing solo, harmony, dancing, acting, so I accept there are bound to be weak spots. But communicating the story is fundamental, and for the English musical version of a French novel set in the time of the revolution, you simply shouldn’t get the accents wrong. Sadly, what we got was an unholy mess of Mary Poppins awright guvner and Lloyd Grossman posh american english, with the lead as the main culprit. Just because the audience is made up of crass American tourists, doesn’t mean you have to ditch the integrity of the historical dream. My mind kept switching between Bart Simpson and the boy Grossman and as a result I couldn’t take it seriously.

Which is a shame, because when the choruses do kick in they’re powerful. The early story is the most interesting, but with the following link you have all of that in 4 and half minutes along with the best number of the night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_04HBYmZJo&feature=related

Criminally, they skipped past all this to focus on the sugary solos and getting the whoops and applause for the solo spots for each character and in particular the little urchins. Am I the only one who thinks that child actors should be banned in professional theatre?

The other development in musicals is the use of microphones.  You don’t get to hear the chorus in pure form, you hear it through the speaker above your head. Which makes you wonder if they’re miming. Having heard classical choral music at its most powerful (when I had no idea I was at a choral music concert, yep only I could manage that), this was never going to compare and in then end i could have been watching it on DVD and had the same experience.

Consequently, by pandering to the trends of Broadway, There’s Something Wrong with Maria, modern technology, and the base musical intellect of the tourist flock, what should have been a compelling story enhanced by a passionate multi-talented chorus, ended up like an extended version of an evening with Peabo Bryson.  

Whole New World: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2CVLWOoNsY

To keep things light-hearted, here’s one of the happier numbers. Master of the House: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdavdTKfCo4&feature=related