Riedel on a new musical about Tom Jones

[10086sunset]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 7:43am

http://nypost.com/2017/07/25/get-ready-for-a-new-musical-about-tom-jones-sort-of/

 

I'll say this, it's a more interesting concept over the standard jukebox musical.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 8:13am

Moronic. Should be a big hit.

For what it's worth, the Fielding novel has been musicalized several times, but never with much success.

Updated On: 7/26/17 at 08:13 AM

[ntrackbar]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 8:27am

A new musical just ran Off Broadway based on the novel - Bastard Jones. Considering it was reviewed by the Times (and other major outlets) and has a creative team with some serious credits, you would think it would warrant a mention.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 10:03am

I'm not surprised Riedel neglected to mention Bastard Jones... even though it wrapped up its run just two weeks ago or so and received positive reviews. It featured some really fantastic performances, too, that deserve to be seen.

This idea sounds... so stupid. A one-joke show, essentially.

Also: shame on BWW for just summarizing the Riedel article without mentioning Bastard Jones. You're a theatre site. Do better.

Updated On: 7/26/17 at 10:03 AM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 11:52am

Sometimes... sometimes people just need to say no.

[ntrackbar]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 12:01pm

Kad said: "I'm not surprised Riedel neglected to mention Bastard Jones... even though it wrapped up its run just two weeks ago or so and received positive reviews. It featured some really fantastic performances, too, that deserve to be seen.

This idea sounds... so stupid. A one-joke show, essentially.

Also: shame on BWW for just summarizing the Riedel article without mentioning Bastard Jones. You're a theatre site. Do better.

 

"

Well said, Kad.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 7:29am

Kad said: "This idea sounds... so stupid. A one-joke show, essentially."

Although, part of me wants to be open to this (the source material and Tom Jones's songbook share a retro randy revelry, I agree with Kad that on balance, this seems like a cheap shot one-joke conceit.

Also, it's odd that - particularly in this age of relentless screen to stage musicals - Reidel fails to mention that Tom Jones was at one time a fairly big movie.   The Oscar winning best picture of 1963 in fact.

 

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 8:03am

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Sometimes... sometimes people just need to say no."

Well, it's not unusual 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 11:23am

Also, it's odd that - particularly in this age of relentless screen to stage musicals - Reidel fails to mention that Tom Jones was at one time a fairly big movie.

It's not that odd considering the film really didn't hold up well and has mostly slipped into the pile of forgotten Best Picture winners along with the likes of The Life of Emile Zola, Mrs. Miniver, The Lost Weekend, The Best Years of Our Lives, Marty, A Man for All Seasons, Kramer Vs Kramer, Rain Man, A Beautiful Mind, Million Dollar Baby, Crash, The King's Speech, Argo...

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 11:39am

^agree that the movie doesn't hold up all that well and is largely forgotten; still find it somewhat ("if not all that" odd that Riedel didn't even think it bore mentioning that the novel was made into a movie that was a hit, critically, financially, as well as with AMPAS, when it came out.

 

[newintown]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 11:59am

Personally, I still greatly enjoy the film of Tom Jones; I also don't think it's forgotten at all - it's on TCM's programming somewhat frequently.

(I also enjoy many of the other films identified as "forgotten" above, and think that several of them are still called "classics" by film fans - especially Mrs. Miniver, The Lost Weekend, The Best Years of Our Lives, Marty, and Kramer Vs Kramer.)

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 3:57pm

I also enjoy the TOM JONES film, with a magnificent cast and a very atmospheric soundtrack. Albert Finney was so gorgeous when he was young - no pain to watch him act for a couple of hours.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 8:25pm

Mister Matt said: "Also, it's odd that - particularly in this age of relentless screen to stage musicals - Reidel fails to mention that Tom Jones was at one time a fairly big movie.

It's not that odd considering the film really didn't hold up well and has mostly slipped into the pile of forgotten Best Picture winners along with the likes of The Life of Emile Zola, Mrs. Miniver, The Lost Weekend, The Best Years of Our Lives, Marty, A Man for All Seasons, Kramer Vs Kramer, Rain Man, A Beautiful Mind, Million Dollar Baby, Crash, The King's Speech, Argo...

 

I guess this tells us your taste.  Many of the movies you dismiss are classics, some of the recent ones very entertaining and possible future classics. I am not saying that I feel that every one deserved to win against the competition it had, e.g., Argo and Crash, but they were very well done movies.  And, for crying out loud, don't pick on The Life of Emil Zola; it is an 80 year old biography addressing a controversial topic and is, to this day, very watchable, if you give it a chance and accept that acting on film has evolved.  And, be honest, movie sophistication has evolved dramatically...film was a pretty new art form in the mid-1930s, not even recognized as one until decades later. As for Tom Jones, the movie, apart from Hamlet and A Man For All Seasons, was one of the rare 'art house' movies that won best picture.  It was never a movie that appealed to a broad audience, but it can be a lot of fun if you are in the mood for it.  1963 was also a TERRIBLE year for movies, one of the worst ever.

if they want to throw their money away, we should let them.  But, on the other hand, I saw a delightful farce based on the book 5 or so years ago.  Add the right music to that play and it might just work.  Hopefully, their goal is to play for over the top silliness.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 9:38pm

I guess this tells us your taste.

Oh good Lord, unclench yourself.  I'm saying Tom Jones didn't hold up well (the cinematography and dubbing, for example) and the other films are not among the those Best Pictures most often mentioned and in the minds of the general public when it comes to Best Picture winners.  I didn't say they were bad films or that I didn't like them.  I really wasn't "picking on" any of them.  GAWD.  It's not like they're The Departed or Rocky or Out of Africa...the ones I didn't want to win.  Well...Million Dollar Baby made me roll my eyes until I had a headache, so there is that one.

and think that several of them are still called "classics" by film fans

Of course.  I wouldn't have thought to mention them if I wasn't a film fan.  Because I probably would have said Titanic, Gone With the Wind, From Here to Eternity, Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music, The Godfather, Silence of the Lambs, Lord of the Rings or some other more popularly referenced Best Picture winner.

[hork]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 9:41pm

Mister Matt said: "Also, it's odd that - particularly in this age of relentless screen to stage musicals - Reidel fails to mention that Tom Jones was at one time a fairly big movie.

It's not that odd considering the film really didn't hold up well and has mostly slipped into the pile of forgotten Best Picture winners along with the likes of The Life of Emile Zola, Mrs. Miniver, The Lost Weekend, The Best Years of Our Lives, Marty, A Man for All Seasons, Kramer Vs Kramer, Rain Man, A Beautiful Mind, Million Dollar Baby, Crash, The King's Speech, Argo...

 

I'll give you Emile Zola and Mrs. Miniver, maybe A Man for All Seasons (though it's an excellent film), but I wouldn't consider any of the others "forgotten." Especially Rain Man, which, though it's not a great movie, is still quoted frequently. Even the phrase "rain man" has become part of our lexicon. Driving Miss Daisy would have been a better late '80s example.

 

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 10:06pm

I thought this was going to be about the "other" Tom Jones.

Oh wait, it is?

Updated On: 7/27/17 at 10:06 PM