we are doing a production of the seagull by chekhov @ my high school(I'm Irina yay!)and someone was talking about the seagull the musical..I started thinking that I have yet to see a serious drama with music. I don't know if the music would distract from the plot or help in furthuring it. What does everyone else think??
it doesn't work. I did a production of The Little Prince A 'drama with music'. It made the play longer than it needed to be. Not to mention it got you in a nice mood and then you have no music, no lights. nothing special anymore. And then later when you finally appreciate the normal acting. They bring music back in. It's never a good idea to have a drama with music. It's too uneven.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
I think (from memory) that the National Theatre of Great Britain's revival of An Inspector Calls (seen on broadway in 1996) had taped music. Though not a drama but light comedy, Ernest Thompsons West Side Waltz had piano and violin music throughout.
There is of course Tom Stoppard's "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" with music by Andre Previn. This is a great play and the music works well as it is an integral part of the plot - the play concerns two "patients" sharing a room in a mental hospital in the USSR, one of whom is a political dissident, while the other is a mental patient who believes he is an orchestral conductor and conducts music throughout the play.
THEATRE 2020: CURTAINS**** LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS***** WICKED***** KEITH RAMSAY TAKING NOTES WITH EDWARD SECKERSON***** KAYLEIGH MCKNIGHT CONCERT***** RAGS***** ON MCQUILLAN'S HILL** DEAR EVAN HANSEN***** THE JURY***