Cell Block Tango: comedic or serious?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 5:58pm

Okay we all know there are some funny lines in it but I was wondering which you prefer. In the movie, it's played out more serious and dark with the characters being much less comedic than the current revival in which the moments where the girls sing and some milk it with comedic flair. Do you prefer a comedic version of this song (character-wise) or a dramatic one?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 6:02pm

I prefer it when the actresses just let the lyrics take their performance. I love it when they say the lines very matter-of-factly because the lyrics themselves are so sarcastic, if an actress plays it with a straight face she gets the right effect which is getting the laughs but accentuating the cynicism of the piece.

[jasobres]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 6:03pm

Well, Bob Fosse actually intended the entire show to be a "Musical Vaudeville," so I'd say it is better the way he mapped it out.

[Depaultheatrekid]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 6:04pm

I really hate the way Renee Zellwegger delivers the yea but did you did you do it.. in the film it just doesnt stick seriously or comedicly at all

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 7:32pm

Well I love how they did it in the movie and I love listening to it on the OBC. I really liked how they movie got a Russian actress for the hunyak(or whatever she is called). BTW, what is a Hunyak??????
I don't like it when an actress doesn't try to sound Russian and just do it funny. So I guess I like the more serious movie version.

BTW, I liked how the Movie had "When You're Good to Mama" before "Cell Block Tango" I like the way things flowed with this change.

[justagirl2]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 7:44pm

I agree with ray...the lyrics themselves are brilliant, and if the actors simply allow the audience to interpret them the way they want to, the song has a fantastic effect. I personally like it done in a more sarcastic, dark, way, however.

Hunyak is a scornful term for someone who is Hungarian and Polish (coming from the word Polack).

I suppose I'm a Hunyak. Hmm.
Updated On: 1/10/06 at 07:44 PM

[Dramatic_Irony]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 8:02pm

I agree with everyone who said that the lyrics speak for themselves, and it's better then the actresses trying to make something funny that's already funny (in a dark, twisted sort of way) and thereby making it *less* then it is.

[CJR]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 10:28pm

I love, love, LOVE it when the actresses run with it.

I can honestly say in 6 years of seeing Chicago and I dont even know HOW many performances, I've never seen the exact same monologue twice.

[JakeBraith]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 10:33pm

I love the way it's done in the movie, I have not had the pleasure of seeing the show, but I definitely enjoy the movie way and I remember that many people laughed in the theater during the song so I don't even know if you could classify the darker one not as comedic (sorry that didn't make much sense)

[Janean]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 10:37pm

I prefer the revival Broadway version. I like the little punch they give the punchlines, as opposed to the flat deliveries in the film.

[CJR]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 10:45pm

Well it was supposed to be serious in the movie.... in the show, they have the audience to play off.

[Plum]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 11:01pm

Both ways are fine- the current stage revival is closer to the original vaudeville concept, so it lets the actors run free with the monologues. The movie is a darker, less vaudeville take on it all, so the humor that's left is pitch black. I still laughed at "he ran into my knife 10 times", but it was more sick and uncomfortable.

I liked the film "Cell Block Tango" because, more than most of the other numbers, it was really an adaptation, a totally different take on the same subject matter, which is right when you're moving from stage to screen. I didn't want to just see a filming of the revival.

[CJR]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 11:30pm

Oh most definitely. I LOVED the way it was done in the movie.... especially adding the men to create an actual tango.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 11:53pm

I agree, LOVED the film version.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 11:58pm

Thanks justagirl2!!!!!!

[iliketheater]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 12:07am

I totally agree with plum. The first time i saw Chicago was also the first time i had heard most of the music, and i LOVED the cell block tango for it's humor on such a dark topic, which i think suites the show well. I've seen it several times since & i laugh every time.

But that's not to say i don't enjoy it the way it was filmed for the movie. The darkness works also. I think that movie is one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations of all time.

[neocomposer]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 12:38am

completely comedic. the best song in the show.

[Sant]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 7:10am

Comedic definitely. But letting the lyrics be funny - because they are DEAD funny in a sarcastic way! - and not the actress trying to be funny.

In one of the London casts the actress playing June seemed to realise this. She did this quite "basic" delivery of her speech "I was carving up the chicken..." and got to the punch line "and then he ran into my knife!" Instead of pushing it to be more funny, she just said the words and paused as the audience roared with laughter. She just stood still, stone-faced for like 5 secs or so staring forward before adding that "He ran into my knife TEN TIMES!" It was so brilliantly played as she didn't force it at all, just let the lyrics do the trick.

[CJR]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 12:55pm

I should clarify that my post was to say I agreed with Plum

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 1:57pm

If I had a bomb on me when I saw the stage version, I would have hurled it at the stage during the Cell Block Tango. I hated the way evey monoloogue was delivered as "THIS is a JOKE. Listen to the FUNNY WORDS I asm saying in my JOKE I am telling you."

[lovinlife]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:05pm

I think it's dark comedy either way. The lines are so strong and it's up to the audience to decide if they feel these women are ruthless killers, or just scorned women who got revenge on their mates. The entire show is a dark comedy.

[TinyDancer]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:49pm

Updated On: 2/23/06 at 02:49 PM