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Bombshell Benefit Concert
Bombshell Benefit Concert
#1Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:31amWell, we all knew or hoped it was inevitable. I wonder how much of the original television cast we will see, and if they will be presenting a semblance of book, the way they did for Hit List. Given that the presentation of that show wound up being unexpectedly well received, perhaps this will finally determine if Bombshell works onstage or not.
#2Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:40amWhat a cool piece of news! I always disliked the concept of Bombshell (a Marilyn Monroe musical just doesn't make sense in my opinion) but I did enjoy the songs. I'm glad they're doing this and I hope tickets won't be too expensive...
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henriquefho
Chorus Member Joined: 10/3/14
#4Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:55am
a Marilyn Monroe musical just doesn't make sense in my opinion..
Why not? There have been many historical figures that have had musicals created around them or their lives.
Fiorello H. La Guardia, Leo Frank, Eva Peron, Jesus Christ, Gypsy Rose Lee, Imelda Marcos as well as numerous U.S. Presidents...to name but a few. So why not Marilyn Monroe?
Updated On: 12/18/14 at 10:55 AM
gcal
Leading Actor Joined: 10/19/04
#5Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 11:12amFinally, we'll get to see the Shadow Marilyns onstage!!
rjm516
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/09
#7Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 1:21pmYou're absolutely right Carlos, but I just don't think Marilyn's story is one that could be properly told onstage, is all.
http://puccinischronicles.wordpress.com
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
jacobsnchz14
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
#9Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 1:39pm
Anybody's story can translate to the stage... it's just how it's constructed by book and music/lyrics. 
I have respect for all the writers who write stuff like this and theatricalize someone's life cause it's no easy task that's for sure!
#10Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 2:24pmI'm trying not to be excited until they announce pricing...
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#11Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 2:26pmHonestly, that doesn't really seem to stop you from buying tickets to basically everything.
#12Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 2:30pmHeh, I skip a lot of things because of pricing.
Starship
Broadway Star Joined: 7/29/12
#13Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 2:31pmExciting! I hope they're doing Bombshell though and not Smash/Hit List.
#14Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 2:33pmWell, the press release did say "a one-night-only concert presentation of BOMBSHELL - The Marilyn Monroe musical." So, that doesn't seem to be in question.
#15Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 3:17pm
I can't really explain why I feel that way. 
Maybe it's knowing how it's going to end and therefore finding it hard to root for the Marilyn character? But I am really not sure. Either way- I will probably try to get to this.
http://puccinischronicles.wordpress.com
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#16Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 3:25pmCan't that be said of really any movie, musical, or other literary adaptation based in history? Whether it be a person or event, the "end" or conclusion is usually already known by the audience.
#17Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 3:45pm
That's 100% true...and maybe I am figuring out why I have a problem with this one...is the way this adaptation treats its source material. I feel that the best historical adaptations don't sugarcoat the real story. Obviously you add and omit things for dramatic flow purposes, but the core of what happened is very much there. When I heard "Cut Print Moving On" from Smash, it felt to me like Bombshell was setting up Marilyn to be some kind of redeemed underdog and that her story is an inspirational one. Which, in my opinion, it is not...
I hope I'm making some sense...
http://puccinischronicles.wordpress.com
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#19Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 4:08pmBased on seeing Hit List at 54 Below, I don't think these really hold up well as cohesive standalone shows, so I wouldn't go too deep trying to sort them out. Not to mention, even in the context of the show they were cutting, adding, and moving numbers. So, they aren't all going to fit together well...
#20Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 5:03pm
I thought HIt List worked better at 54 Below than it did on the show, because things were not necessarily "as they were on TV." Changes were made, primarily to book and distribution of songs. Was it seamless? Not exactly, but you could say that of any musical that begins as a concept album and not as a libretto with songs that support it.
The use or disuse of book for Bombshell will be interesting, because the TV show experimented with so many ways of telling Marilyn's story, without ever cohesively showing us exactly HOW they ended up doing it. It moved from a highly conceptual "shadow Marilyns" to a straightforward representational style, but with elements that suggested Norma Jean and Marilyn as distinct personalities.
It took me until seeing the book to "Hit List" to realize that both shows were the same plot: the tale of a small-town girl with relatively good looks and relatively malleable talent, turned into a stylized and highly artificial pop-star symbol by ultimately uncaring media machines, struggling to keep up with the act and ultimately dying of it.
#21Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 9:43pmI wonder who in the cast will be involved. Is it too presumptuous to say Megan Hilty is inevitable? (I for one will not consider buying a ticket if she is not).
#22Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:31pmWe know it won't be McPhee. She is both too busy and not the one primarily featured or well showcased by Bombshell. I would assume Hilty would do the concert barring any bigger engagement, but you never know.
#23Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:44pm
Megan Hilty performing "Don't Forget Me" live will be an event!
Hopefully Bernadette can stop by and sing her songs, too.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#25Bombshell Benefit Concert
Posted: 12/19/14 at 5:31pmI'm with qolbinau. If they get Bernadette Peters to be part of this it will be really something. What's the venue again?
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