LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA -- Is it a musical?- Page 3

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 3:56pm

Interesting, bwaysinger...cause another example of what I consider a play with music...actually, a movie with music...is the film of CABARET.

All of the musical moments comment on the action without ever being of the action. For example, the title song. As done in the musical, it propels Sally to make the choice of terminating her pregnancy. In the movie, the abortion has already taken place and it just seems to be the voicing of Sally's credo in life. In other words, dramatically the number functions as a performance piece that happens to comment on the character's thoughts and not as character development.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:03pm

i've always felt a musical has music created for it and the production cannot be told without that specific music. imagine doing west side story without bernstein's score, but still calling it west side story. you cannot perform this version of piazza without the score that was written for it, and thus, to me, it is a musical. that gets back to my question of the eligiblity of the pillowman's score for a tony. does that mean that with every production of the pillowman they will have to use this score?

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:10pm

By that respect, Robbiej, I'd also say Company is a play with music. In fact, I think it was labelled such when it premiered.
I think a traditional musical uses the music when a scene has heightened to a point where a song feels necessary.
In Cabaret and Company, the songs comment, more or less, on what just went on or is about to occur.

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:12pm

The Tony category is simply for Best Score...meaning that any score written for a show (usually a musical, but sometimes, as is the case with PILLOWMAN, a play) can be considered for the Tony. Same with Choreography. I don't know if a non-musical has ever had their choreography nommed, but I imagine it's possible.

Anyone want to field that one?

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:13pm

bway...

True...but then BARCELONA throws it ALL outta whack!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:14pm

Robbiej, that might just be because I can't think of a single straight play with actual choreography.
Since they deemed Contact a musical, I think it was our closest chance.

Want to re-point out that Jeanine Tesori's 1st Tony nom was for her score to a new staging of "Twelfth Night."

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:24pm

"Imaginary Friends" had choreography (by Jerry Mitchell, no less).

"Company" is certainly a musical, IMO. The songs are not incidental to the story, but integral to the narrative and serve to reveal the character's mental states. In addition to "Barcelona," think of "Getting Married Today" and how the music and lyrics inform us of her anxious mental state. Musicals do that, not plays with music.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:37pm

Yes, I would say Company is a musical. "Getting Married Today", as Margo said, reveals new aspects of the character. It's also hard to call Company anything but a musical because of "Being Alive" -- a full-fledged 11 O'Clock Number that shows a complete character arc in five minutes.

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:39pm

A complete...and some might say unwarranted...character arc.

But yes...you're right about that.

[Up In Lost]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:40pm

Oy. I was supposed to go to DRS on Sunday, but something happened, so now we're going to LitP. Hope I like it!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:41pm

I want to find original billing, but I really do think they called Company a play with music.
Of course, a lot of early musicals were called this because the term musical wasn't really in full effect. For a long time, they were also called musical plays...it really comes down to whether or not, simply put, your show is a musical or a play. A play with music is, in many ways, still just a musical.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:44pm

"A complete...and some might say unwarranted...character arc."

I might be inclined to agree with those 'some'.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:49pm

If the music in a piece doesn't serve to advance the plot or inform character and is merely there for decoration or help set the mood or tone of a piece, then the piece is not a musical. Just because "Pillowman" has music (and very good music at that) doesn't mean it's a musical.

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 4:51pm

And since the award isn't Best Score for a musical or even Best Songs, but Best Score (which PILLOWMAN has), then it should certainly be considered.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 5:00pm

When I saw LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA I felt that there were two distictly different shows onstage at the Vivian Beaumont Theter: one was a well-written play and the other was a musical with some exceptionally fine music. The sad thing is that the two don't mesh.
The dialogue doesn't flow smoothly into the music and the music is too complex and sophisticated for the characters who are singing it. (Okay, we'll take for granted that the Italians are opera lovers, but the Mid-Western mother is given what amount to arias.)

There are many good things in this show, but it just doesn't "work" for me.

[bob8rich]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 5:10pm

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA is a musical in the true sense of the word. It is a sophisticated, articulate piece where music, song and dialogue blend into a perfect whole. It has a book with depth, poignance and wit - and a score to die for. It is in short what musical theatre ought to be.

It is in my opinion the best new musical to open on Broadway for many years. If it does not win the Tony for best musical, there is no God. (LOL)

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 5:40pm

Well...it certainly is a musical...but the rest of the stuff you mentioned was just your opinion on the work (which some do and don't agree with). It doesn't make it any more or less a musical. I mean...THE RED SHOES sucked and it was still definitely a musical.

[TheColorOfFlame]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 5:55pm

Amazing thread . . . I have a question:

Where does the "chamber" in "chamber musical" or "chamber opera" come from?

Thanks!

Posted: 5/20/05 at 6:09pm

Flame - the designation 'chamber' (for either musical or some form of theatrical performance) usually means that it is intended for performance in a private room or small auditorium. Basically, it is used to reference the size of the piece being presented - in other words, 'not on a large scale'.

As for how it started getting used, I believe it can be traced to the 1600's or so, when royalty (or other wealthy patrons) commisioned works to be performed for them in their private chambers - which were usually smaller in archetectural scale, and therefore necessitated smaller artistic works.
Updated On: 5/20/05 at 06:09 PM

[MusicMan]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 8:10pm

There is nothing really operatic about TLITP at all. It's not sung-through, it's not through-composed, it doesn't require heavily cultivated voices and its emotional current falls far below the radar of typical operatic fare (no larger-than-life passions, murders or immolations). Its songs are strophic as in most Broadway musicals but for the fact that they are slightly more elaborate in structure. One could argue, perhaps, that it treads on operetta territory by virtue of its 'exotic' locale, romantic narrative and legit score. But the dramatic naturalism of its libretto keeps its story rooted in psychological realities rather than reveling in the high-flown rhetoric of operetta. It's a book musical through and through.

Posted: 5/20/05 at 11:30pm

Is there emotion so hight that it can only be expressed in song?

Oh, and where is the dance?

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 11:33pm

No dance Jose, dance does not a musical make.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 11:34pm

Well, Berresse and Morrison do a bit of dancing in "American Dancing". There's the dance.
Updated On: 5/20/05 at 11:34 PM

Posted: 5/20/05 at 11:48pm

Compare PIAZZA to DO I HEAR A WALTZ.

When you listen to the recording, which work best for you, and why?
Updated On: 5/20/05 at 11:48 PM

[zoran912]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 11:51pm

This is the best thread I've seen on here in ages.

As for PIAZZA, I have yet to see it. I am planning a trip to see it this summer. I am a big fan of Adam Guettel's music. I am so happy to see his work produced. I am happy to see any intelligent musical theatre actually get a broadway production. Guettel. Brown. LaChiusa. Gordon. Tesori. We need more from these composers. They are maintaining the artistic integrity of musical theatre. Thank God for them.