So does Neil just drop the accent when he sings?- Page 2

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 11:22pm

I see how this has come to be the line on this, I really DO. However, it is on Broadway now, peoples, with all the requirements that go with it.

Think back. Remember how at the Jane Street, it was the scruffy rock musical that "sounded" like rock, unlike that uptown poseur RENT? I mean, they underscored that with Yitzhak's t-shirt. They talked about it in interviews. "RENT doesn't sound like rock, we ROCK." And they did, owing to the volume and the scruffy lack of diction that you can do in an off-Broadway show. And they MADE FUN OF the precise diction of the early days of RENT. "That's so Broadway, that's not reckless and risky like we get to be." I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of what got said a lot.

Then came the movie. And BOY OH BOY did they clean up the diction in Hedwig! Because, in a movie theater, you need to be able to communicate your ideas clearly. You can't get by on the energy you can create by turning up the music in an intimate off-Broadway theater space. The movie featured the exact kind of clarity they made fun of RENT for striving for.

And now comes Broadway. You want the volume of the live show? Go see the show. You want a souvenir of one aspect of it? Buy the album. You want the risky danger of a club show? Sorry toots, this is Broadway. There's a lotta money riding on this star turn. Do not put it on this production's shoulders to get "rock" people interested in theater. It's on Broadway. People prejudiced against Broadway are already turned off by that.

You've got the Hedwig you've got. You either live with it or you don't. Because your wish fulfillment for what it should be is never going to come and it's not relevant. And I'll tell you what'll happen if JCM ever steps into this production (which he accidentally slipped into his Q interview on the CBC when he talked about how intimidated by Neil's performance he is, how NPH likes to make things harder on himself and JCM likes to make things easier on himself): He will be like the triumphant and just a touch-too-grand return of Charles Busch when he went back into Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. All Grand Dame and an even bigger star turn that Neil is doing as Hedwig. Mark my words.

Updated On: 7/8/14 at 11:22 PM

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 11:42pm

So well said and so necessary . Thanks Namo.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 11:57pm

Not even a little bit.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 11:58pm

Whatever, RuttinSauce.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:03am

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:07am

TOTES!

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:07am

Oh, Troll.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:11am

Oh, asinine child with a toxic personality

Updated On: 7/9/14 at 12:11 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:12am

Is that your next screen name?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:38am

The best thing about getting old is that I got to see some really good SH*T when I was young: Hedwig on Jane Street Charles Busch at the Limbo Lounge. Even Charles Ludlam in Irma Vep. Jump cut to Neil Patrick Harris as Hedwig.

The worst thing about being prematurely bitter is that you don't even have good memories of the good SH*T you saw when you were young, because all you did was complain that all the good SH*T was SH*T. You wanna call me old? Original Follies, suckers. Five times.

I'm looking forward to seeing Charles Busch at 54 Below this week. And, yeah, I know that 54 Below is not the Limbo Lounge. And the drinks are more expensive. But you won't hear me complaining.

Sucks to be bitter. Sucks to be you.

Updated On: 7/9/14 at 12:38 AM

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:59am

He did the exact same thing in CABARET (at least from what I can tell from the clips). I guess he just can't do a good German accent whilst singing.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 8:47am

I remember one of the most striking contrasts between accented acting and "straight" singing was fodder for stand-up jokes in the 70s. Jim Nabors, played the title role in "Gomer Pyle USMC" with a broad, twangy Southern accent, and that role and voice was inseparable from his image. He was also a popular singer of schmaltzy ballads, but sang in a very big, unaccented operatic voice. The contract between the two was comical.



Updated On: 7/9/14 at 08:47 AM

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 9:15am

" You want the volume of the live show? Go see the show. You want a souvenir of one aspect of it? Buy the album. You want the risky danger of a club show? Sorry toots..."

No, it shouldn't be sorry toots. They went to see the show and clearly they loved it, hence the word of mouth and the sold out status. They loved it the way they saw and heard it. And I don't believe we're only talking about the volume level. You can turn up the volume on any recording. We're talking about the style. They want to relive that and are disappointed. Take the level of disappointment on this board, for example. Those who saw the Jane St. show were able to enjoy the music at home from that recording as much as they did in the theater. There's no reason why they shouldn't have the same pleasure with this version. Don't patrons of other broadway musicals get the same sound on the recording as they did in the theater? Yes.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 9:38am

I laid out in my long post why I think each iteration of Hedwig recordings has become clearer, crisper and less "Rock". They already have the edition that helped build the cult by rewarding listeners who played it again and again.

Now they've got the recording that will sell it to the masses. You can decipher all the lyrics on the first listen. I think there's a reason for this. They want a Hedwig that will be produced more frequently than the one they had before this.

To paraphrase Patti Smith, John and Stephen invented it and now they're taking it to the bank.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 9:44am

But my point was that the masses are loving the live version.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 10:08am

Recording a rock show live doesn't guarantee that it will "capture the energy" and raw quality of a performance. Passing Strange is fine example of this. That OBCR is a mess and completely lifeless. Absolutely nothing what it was like to experience it live. Maybe they were scared to put the cast in a studio, but they would have benefited from it.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 10:59am

It's not like we're hypothesizing. It's been done before with this very same show. Twice.

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:40pm

Let's also keep in mind that precisely because this material has been made into a movie already, the TV/film rights may no longer belong to the Authors to do with as they please. I have no first hand knowledge either way, but it's something I've seen in the past -- an audio-visual presentation may simply have not been an option in this case.

As for an audio recording of the show in performance, because of the running around and because they would be sacrificing a fair amount of control over the finished sound, I can understand why a studio may have been preferred, even if it takes some of the energy out of the proceedings. A director would probably lobby for a live recording. A composer could very well want to have more control over making sure everyone heard every note, every arrangement and every word the way he/she intended it to sound.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 12:42pm

I think the Passing Strange album was especially hurt by how it was recorded--live, but with everybody sitting around, with a lot of awkward/inappropriate applause and truncated songs. The audio from the live film makes for a better album! (Forgot about that show in my last post...another favorite.)

Namo, I'm not complaining that I can understand Neil's diction; I think my complaints all have to do with with it being (from my understanding) a really rushed quickie studio album. I'm making it sound like I enjoy the album less than I do. I do like listening to it and it's better than nothing, but I have to be stubborn about this. Neil sounds tired, it isn't very well-mixed, and it just feels soft. I really don't think these are deliberate "sell-out" choices. There seems to be a near-consensus from the TARGET AUDIENCE who enjoyed the production. And I'm not looking at the Jane Street recording with nostalgic lenses--Neil is my Hedwig. I was in second grade during the original production. The first Broadway preview was my first exposure to the show and it was a very cathartic, wonderful experience for me. I didn't expect a "dangerous" Broadway cast album. I just was hoping for what you hope for with any cast album--something that brings you back to the flavor of THAT PRODUCTION.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 4:33pm

At the risk of repeating myself, listen to Adele or Amy Winehouse. I can't think of a German pop group off the top of my head, so let's listen to A-Ha (Norwegian). They ALL sound American when they sing, and then revert to their accented English when they speak in an interview.

Thanks for spelling out the history of HEDWIG, Namo. Very enlightening!

To me, JCM v. NPH is like Merman v. Lansbury in GYPSY. In each pair the former is the definitive recording; but freed from being definitive, the latter adds subtleties that aren't necessarily present in the earlier recording. And we should all own all four interpretations.

Updated On: 7/10/14 at 04:33 PM