The Fly

At one point in Act II, Mr. Okulitch, his skin now covered in hideous scales, is suspended by wires. He enters his studio upside down, crawling along a ceiling crossbeam and then slithering head-first down a metal column, singing all the while. This is something voice students are not prepared for in conservatory training. ~ New York Times.

Just about any subject is ripe for opera. The film world and lyric stage have been influencing and stealing from each other since the days of silents. Brundlefly is no less reasonable a character for musical amplification than Rigoletto. ~ L.A. Times

Thrill Me

The story is familiar, the script and lyrics are not especially innovative, but somehow "Thrill Me," Stephen Dolginoff's pocket musical about the Leopold and Loeb murder case, lands like a well-placed punch, arresting and a bit breathtaking... every time Mr. Kreeger and Mr. Bauer blend their voices in close harmony, it's a reminder that evil often looks and sounds beautiful. ~ New York Times.

Here, Loeb is the self-loving one, and it's not always clear why his pal doesn't rumble him as a prat from the off. We have to take Leopold's sexual obsession on trust.  ~ The Guardian

''Roxie Hart a mother? That's like making Leopold and Loeb  Scoutmasters!" ~ Velma Kelly, Chicago.

The Turn of the Screw

Are the ghosts of randy servants possessing the children to tryst with each other?

Are the children simply rebelling against their strict upbringing?

Is the boy's infatuation with the male servant a sign of possession or merely budding homosexuality?

Is the Governesses' infatuation with the master causing her to see ghostly men everywhere she turns?

One of my favorite ghost stories has been adapted and interpreted in many ways. Putting the ghosts on stage, and letting them sing, is a rsik. You reduce the ambiguity of the story. The opera still has great fun playing with who exactly can and can't see them.

The Visit

The macabre and the misty-eyed vie uneasily for supremacy in “The Visit,” a musical adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1956 tragicomedy about vengeance and venality... Claire is a kind of female Sweeney Todd. Her heart was singed by betrayal in her youth; now she is bent remorselessly on brutal revenge. But as reconceived here, she wavers between sentimental musical interludes and glinty-eyed commitment to retribution. ~  Charles Isherwood, New York Times.

Sweeney Todd

100th Comic! That's 300 panels of musicals!

My favorite horror musical manages to surprise on a first viewing and provide new discoveries on repeated viewings. We're very fortunate that the controversial film is not the only record as Lansbury, LuPone and Thompson have all had their stage productions broadcast.

Intermission

"I can't. I'm in tech."

I'll be taking a break this week, returning on Monday, 10/27, with my 100th comic! (That's 300 panels of musicals!)

I've got some more horror musicals in my sites as we head towards Halloween, and then I'll be looking for my next topic. Are there any particular musicals or composers you'd like to see on the blog? Mention them in the comments!

Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark

Julie Taymor wrote a meta-theatrical libretto in which four comic book fans debate the connections between modern super-heroes and Greek myths. The mythical Arachne creates Spiderman and his foes, toys with their fates… and sings a song about shoes.

After a skyrocketing budget, an extended preview period, defiant critics, backstage battles, onstage accidents, casting changes and a lawsuit the new writers scaled down the ambitions. The revised Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark followed the arc of the 2002 film. Spiderman gains his powers, pines for Mary Jane, and defeats the Green Goblin.

Would the more ambitious libretto hold up in a concert staging, without the burden of expensive sets and dangerous stunts? Did the Greek myth/Comic hero parallel have potential? Now that it is tied up in legal red tape we may never know.