The Woman in White- Page 3
The Woman in White
#50re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/15/09 at 8:04pm
I agree with much of what you say about WIW, Eric.
If ANY project was suitable for Don Black, Chris Hampton or Charles Hart it was WIW, whereas SUNSET BLVD was ideally suited to Zippel. It seems ALW is 10 years out of step with those choices. Zippel proved with the bad-to-abhorrent GOODBYE GIRL UK, PRINCESSES and WIW that CITY OF ANGELS was a fluke as far as his mastery of lyric-writing is concerned, I think. A shame. He showed such promise.
I still think David Yazbeck, a collaborator with ALW on the new material for STARLIGHT EXPRESS and some of BOMBAY DREAMS, should have been involved with THE BOYS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH. BEAUTIFUL GAME proved that Ben Elton was no great shakes as a lyricist, though since he directed BOYS I can understand why another lyric writer was not brought in to polish and make amendments to his previously existing work. Another great, missed opportunity.
P
bwaylvsong
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
#51re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/15/09 at 8:30pmThe melody set to "I close my eyes and I still see his face" was literally stuck in my head for a full month after the show.
#52re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/15/09 at 8:40pm^it's a beautiful moment.
...everyone was doing the mambo and drinking golden cadillacs...
#53re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/15/09 at 8:47pm
^ I agree. That, along with "All For Laura" and "You Can Get Away With Anything" were the only moments in the show I truly enjoyed.
P
P.S. I LOVE your signature, iamchanging! SWIWS rocks!
#54re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/16/09 at 4:28pm
I've got a very secret secret.
It's a secret no-one else must know.
Andrew told me these songs don't belong here;
That he wrote them for a different show.
#55re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/17/09 at 5:59pm
Does anyone think that WIW was miscast for New York, with 2 British leads? Friedman is a accomplished lead in British musicals and got rave reviews in New York and Michael Ball is musical royalty in Britain.
Would the show of run longer if it had at least one well known American lead?
Or did the illness of Michael and Marie, hastened the shows demise?
#56re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/17/09 at 6:23pm
Zippel proved with the bad-to-abhorrent GOODBYE GIRL UK, PRINCESSES and WIW that CITY OF ANGELS was a fluke as far as his mastery of lyric-writing is concerned, I think.
Goodby Girl UK is dreadful and I haven't listened to Princesses, but Zippel's work on Disney's Hercules was wonderful and the collaboration with Menken seemed a natural fit.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#57re: The Woman in White
Posted: 12/17/09 at 7:27pm
Yeah, I was very impressed with Zippel's lyrics for Hercules. It really came as a surprise to me when I got the WIW cast album and realized how poor the lyrics really were.
I was also kind of disappointed that the original cast album had Michael Crawford's Fosco on it rather than Michael Ball's, because Michael Ball was the reason why I was interested in the show in the first place... I just think that Crawford's voice is too thin and high-pitched for the role of Fosco, although I still enjoyed his turn.
I was surprised by how few really memorable songs there were in the score, but I had chills and goosebumps the first time I listened to the album all the way through. The songs don't work that well as standalones, but the whole is so engrossing. My favorite piece in the score besides "You Can Get Away With Anything" is "Evermore Without You." It's repetitive, but I love the melody... especially the way Martin Crewes performs it.
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
#58re: The Woman in White
Posted: 5/25/11 at 1:51amBumping a thread from way back here! I recently just got interested in this show. I read that the design was changed for Broadway, and that the doors in the curved walls were altered. What exactly was changed? If anyone has any photos or diagrams or the set, I would be very interested. I know there was a section of the screen that tracked on and off of the turntable for smaller scenes, but other than that how many screens were used?
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#59re: The Woman in White
Posted: 5/25/11 at 3:05amNot sure if this helps you, but there are some clips on youtube that show the set to an extent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDebiGIXQxA is London, and the video for Broadway can be found in the video archives here at BWW.
