KayeA

I’m a Royals fan so I feel your pain. Mostly, I’ve put off watching things on Netflix. Instead of reading my news and political sites with my breakfast, I’ve been doing the course modules; my mental health has probably improved for it.

Yes—one of the reasons I signed up (besides my love of musicals) was to experience the MOOC. I teach online and have enjoyed being on this side of the keyboard. I’d also like to know the numbers.

I'm noticing the sets and costuming more--looking at the entire production as a unified work. Also, I'm thinking more about the sound. I love musicals, so I had watched many of these before, and I was an English major, so I'm trained to look at things like books and movies with a critical, analytical eye. But even with that background, I'm noticing many things I haven't before. With literature, this kind of thing can hurt the experience of reading--It's hard to turn of that analytical approach. (When I want to unwind with a book, I read things like sci-fi and mystery series instead of "serious" fiction. That way I can turn off the critic.) However, I've found that the insights I've gained here have enhanced my experience watching musicals, and I'm sure that will carry over into other genres as well.

You can also watch movies on the TCM app.

I love this musical, and I’m impressed with the way that they brought it to film. Theatrical productions that I’ve seen use a mostly bare stage with costuming similar to what they used in the movie. Some productions use a theatrical trunk that the actors pull clothing from, sort of like kids playing dress up. It reminds me a bit of the production style of The Fantasticks. Given the bare stage origins, I like the way that they transported it to NYC. I recently saw a production of Godspell at our university, and apparently somewhere along the way they changed some of the lyrics and added some material. I suppose that happened in a recent revival. I hated it, as did the others who attended with me who were familiar with the original version. The altered version is darker, sort of angrier. It doesn’t have the joy and optimism of the original. I’m glad we have the movie version to keep that joyous celebration alive.

With today’s focus on the composers, I wish there had been some discussion and clips of biopics of composers. After working my way through the class, and especially after reading and thinking about today’s materials, I think the biopic I’d really like to rewatch is Words and Music, about Lorenz Hart. I’d like to watch for how the movie deals with (hints at or hidesj his sexual orientation, and to watch it through the lens of musicals as disruptive. What composer biopic would you lime to rewatch, or to recommend now that we’re nearing the end of the course?

Here’s a tough one, and maybe a movie that can help us define musicals. Is Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? a musical?

One of my favorite movies is Executive Suite—which has no music.

Is the stage play different than the movie of Pygmalion? I just watched the movie on TCM, and the last scene is exactly the same as in MFL. Eliza comes back to Higgins.

Watching My Fair Lady again, I noticed that after the Ascot debacle when everyone is urging Higgins to stop the experiment, his mother comments something like, “The only reason you would continue this is if you are potty about her.” How did I miss that earlier? Clearly she knows her son. What other foreshadowing/clues about Higgens falling in love did I miss? And on another note, I always wonder what happened to Freddy. I know that when a play is done, it’s done, but I do sort of feel sorry for Freddy. He’s practically made himself sick over Eliza. Let’s face it, he’s basically stalking her. And he just disappears. I hope he married a New York heiress and had a much happier time of it than people in Henry James novels.

I agree. A friend who is also into movies told me that I would love it, but I just didn’t. He said, “If you like Singing in the Rain, you’ll like LaLa Land.” Nope. It might have been better with other actors, who knows? P.S. I really wish that Patrick Swayze had had the chance to make real musicals. Imagine a Gene Kelly biopic starring Swayze.

This class has given me a new appreciation of Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy, so I guess I have to take them off my “dislike” list. I really tried to watch Good News again for this class, but I still couldn’t get past the first 20 minutes (which is actually longer than I ever made it into the movie before). Just something about Peter Lawford and June Allyson that sets my teeth on edge. I mentioned this to a couple of my movie-loving friends, and they agreed, so at least I know I’m not alone. And I can’t stand Grease, either. The stage version I can deal with, but the movie—nope.

Jack Wild was my only preteen/teen crush. I’m not sure why, but the others never appealed to me. (Well, David Cassidy came close—and he could actually sing.) I remember that I saw Jack Wild in a show at the Muny in St. Louis. (The Muny—Municipal Opera—is an outdoor venue like the Starlight in Kansas City that Dr. Ament mentions. We lived a few hours from KC and my grandparents lived in Illinois about 45 minutes from St Louis, so I saw shows at both venues every summer.) I even got his autograph on my program. The funny thing is, I don’t remember what show he was in. I do remember seeing William Daniels in 1776–so that’s another musical for this week.

A couple of people have mentioned The Last Starfighter, which is interesting to look at in the context of this course—and especially of Music Man. I saw The Last Starfighter in a movie theater when it came out, and the draw for me was Preston. He was marvelous, as usual, and I have always assumed that the role was written for him. I haven’t seen the film again, but I noticed many similarities between Professor Hill and Centauri.

Just finished watching Pal Joey for the first time too. (Thank you dvr.) I’m intrigued that Gene Kelly played the role on the stage. I love Kelly, but I have to say, this role seems like it was written for Sinatra. Rita Hayworth was terrific, and the score terrific. I was struck by how different this was in its look/ feel from the other musicals I’ve watched for the class. I can’t put my finger on it, but maybe slicker? different camera work? With Nelson Riddle doing the arrangements, it certainly sounds different. I’m a regular listener to “The Retro Cocktail Hour” on our NPR station, and the music definitely had the “space age bachelor pad music” vibe. I have the feeling that this has more in common with musicals of the 60s than of the early 50s.