What’s my motivation?


Generally, it’ll be the most pretentious person in the company who ends up uttering the immortal query ‘But what’s my motivation?’ when asked to move to the side of the stage, sit down or stand in a particular place in a grouping.  Generally the answer should be ‘because I said so’, or ‘because if you stay there, you’ll be in Fred’s way when he comes in’, but many directors will give in and supply a motivation, generally very spurious.  Personally, if I have to do something that doesn’t make all that much sense, I’ll just go with it unless I really, really think that my character wouldn’t do it.  Come up with any old reason, or at least make it look as though you (both actor and character) know why you’re now standing behind the chair, and everything will generally be fine.  There are more important things to worry about, and I have found that if the reason for your character’s actions is at all significant, you’ll already know what it is.

But that’s not the focus of this particular bit of rambling, which is about a different sort of motivation.  Recently I have been wondering what my motivation is for performing in the first place.  Continue reading →

2006
11/30
CATEGORY
Ramblings
Singing
Theatre
TAGS


8 comments

Singing Librarian flashback: Courtenay


It’s time to buckle those swashes, brandish those placards and be generally revolting in an agricultural way, as the Singing Librarian flashes back to Courtenay, performed at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury and the Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks, during July 2003.

This show is quite unique in my experiences.  It’s the only through-composed musical I’ve ever performed, it’s the only show I’ve been in that’s based on a true story, it’s the only time I’ve had a death scene, and it’s the only time I’ve joined a show mid-way through the rehearsal process.  Courtenay is a pretty new show, first fully performed in an outdoor venue (Theatre in the Park) during the summer of 2002.  After some re-writes, the authors (Christopher Neame and Ethan Lewis Maltby) were ready to bring it to the more conventional stage during 2003, and I answered a plea for more men to add to the ensemble.  Therefore, when I came along, most of the company had been familiar with the musical for at least a year, and all (apart from myself and two other fresh recruits) had been rehearsing with each other and the new director for some weeks.  Thus I had to scramble to catch up with learning the music, at the same time as learning Dido and Aeneas.

Continue reading →

2006
11/25
CATEGORY
Musicals
Singing Librarian flashback
Theatre
TAGS






3 comments

Betty Comden


The world of the musical has lost a key figure – lyricist and librettist Betty Comden died of heart failure earlier this week.  Along with Adolph Green (who died in 2002), she contributed to such gems as Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town and Wonderful Townand Jule Styne’s Bells Are Ringing.  The pair also wrote various screenplays, including the wonderful script for Singin’ in the Rain, so their work is certainly going to outlive them by many, many decades.

Some of the more obscure musicals that Comden and Green contributed to (always, always a partnership) are particular favourites of mine, although come to think of it, I’ve only ever heard the music and read the libretti for these, as they are so seldom performed.  Their absolute best, in my view, was On the Twentieth Century, a farce with a score by the great Cy Coleman.  Set on board a train, it’s wonderful fun with a cast of larger than life characters who typify the comedic gifts of Comden and Green.  They created parts and song lyrics which are an absolute gift to the actor and the audience alike.  Their contributions to film and musical theatre will no doubt be greatly missed by a great many people.

I leave you with a verse from ‘Some Other Time’, a poignant song from On the Town:

Just when the fun is starting
Comes the time for parting
But let’s be glad for what we had
And what’s to come
…
Oh, well
We’ll catch up some other time

2006
11/24
CATEGORY
Cinema
Musicals
Theatre
TAGS

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A ‘Very Special Issue’ of Robin


TV comedies, particularly American ones, have quite a history of ‘Very Special Episodes’ which tackle a serious theme in a serious manner, often very badly.  The term is usually applied in a mocking fashion, and seems inappropriate to use in conjunction with an episode that actually succeeds at doing more than preach.  Science fiction and fantasy often get away with tackling more of those serious issues than comedy or even ‘straight’ drama can do, as you can wrap things up so much in metaphor, pretending that since people with bumpy foreheads or pointy ears aren’t really human, we can examine their oddly-familiar prejudices and foibles more objectively.

Anyway, the world of comic books is not immune to the ‘Very Special Episode’ phenomenon, though in this case it’s a ‘Very Special Issue’.  AIDS is now a common subject, as are the many and varied forms of prejudice.  Sometimes this works magnificently (there was bucketloads of social commentary in Green Lantern/Green Arrow back in the 1970s, for instance) and sometimes it’s even more stilted and preachy than television manages.  This month sees an example of a very good ‘Very Special Issue’, in the form of Robin Vol. 2 #156. 

Continue reading →

2006
11/22
CATEGORY
Books & Comics
Mental illness
TAGS




3 comments

A trio of musical treats


Recently, I’ve made three trips to three different theatres (in two different towns) to see three very different shows.  From a classic to a new piece, from a star vehicle to an ensemble piece, they offered very different pleasures.  None of them were perfect, but none of them were a waste of time or money either.  I’m probably not all that hard to please if you throw a musical at me, but I think that all three were definitely enjoyable.

The first was by far the strangest, being Thatcher the Musical! (exclamation mark essential, and yes, it really does have a website, which includes a couple of sound samples).  Continue reading →

2006
11/19
CATEGORY
Musicals
Theatre
TAGS






7 comments

Release the music!


Lilian recently sent me some information about releasethemusic.org, because she knows that I am absurdly interested in issues concerning music, performance and copyright. This website is run by the Open Rights Group (an organisation which I sometimes agree with, but sometimes think are very misguided) and concerns plans to extend the length of time that sound recordings are protected by copyright. In a rare move for me, I ‘signed’ their on-line petition, so it seems that writing a blog entry about the issue is a good idea as well.

Copyright is a complicated thing, which the library and information profession constantly struggles with. It is bound up with many other issues: data protection versus freedom of information; access to information versus the right to control intellectual property; the conflicting rights of information creator, disseminator and user. In general terms, librarians are often seen to be upholders of copyright, yet are foes of censorship and are sometimes oddly anti-establishment (see the fun and games of the FBI vs. ‘radical militant librarians’). And yet, although I do indeed agree that copyright is in general a good thing, and do not agree with most of the arguments against it, I can see that the term of copyright protection is perhaps excessive (generally 70 years after the death of the author) and that this is particularly true in the case of sound recordings. 

Continue reading →

2006
11/15
CATEGORY
Library
Music
Ramblings
TAGS




3 comments

Rodgers and Hammerstein – at last


It seems to me that Rodgers and Hammerstein are rather under-rated these days.  People tend to pass their shows off as trite, dated, old-fashioned or twee.  Well, either that or assume they wrote everything from Anything Goes to Fiddler on the Roof, and only gave up when Andrew Lloyd Webber came on the scene and wrote all the new shows.  Both views are, in my considered opinion, absolute rubbish.

Continue reading →

2006
11/13
CATEGORY
Musicals
TAGS


11 comments

Fun and flimsy?


Oh, dear.  Another post that isn’t the promised musings on Rodgers and Hammerstein…  That will come.  It really will.   But before that, my attention was drawn to an article in the New York Sun which discusses the imminent return of Les Miserables to the Broadway stage, a few short years after it left.  The article discusses the various merits of the show, and quite rightly (in my view) praises it for its weight and ‘heft’.  However, the main thrust of the article rather got up my nose. Continue reading →

2006
11/09
CATEGORY
Musicals
Theatre
TAGS

7 comments

The 21st century’s when everything changes…


…apparently.  According to Captain Jack Harkness, that is.  Having mentioned dreaming about John Barrowman being at a recent audition, I thought it would be polite to mention his latest televisual exploits in Torchwood.  Now I like science fiction, me, as it can do things that other genres of literature, film and television just can’t.  It can take a perfectly ordinary relationship difficulty, moral dilemma or whatever and take it far beyond ‘realistic’ genres.  Plus, it’s an awful lot of fun.

Now Torchwood is a spin-off from Doctor Who, if you didn’t know.  The titles are anagrams, isn’t that clever?  Well, maybe not.  Anyway, it tells of the adventures of a fictional paranormal investigation team who are ‘beyond’ the government and the United Nations, based (for very sensible reasons, which have nothing to do with convenient shooting locations in the area) in an underground complex in Cardiff.  It’s led by Captain Jack (said Mr Barrowman), a character who appeared in the Doctor Who series, and it all happens in the same universe.  The Doctor, the TARDIS, Cybermen and other ideas from the main series have been referenced, but it’s an entirely different beast.  For a start, it’s an adult show, definitely not suitable for the Doctor’s family tea-time audience.  The characters say naughty four-letter words (though not to excess, it has to be said), do a lot of kissing, get their kit off from time to time and most definitely have active sex lives.  None of your metaphors about ‘dancing’ here.

But the show is adult in more than just a certification sense. Continue reading →

2006
11/06
CATEGORY
Television
TAGS



5 comments

Normal service will be resumed shortly


It has been very quiet around here recently. Sorry about that.  The ‘singing’ part of life has been rather, shall we say….interesting over the last few days, and is going to remain so for a while.  It would be deeply inappropriate to use this forum to go into it, so I’ll just say that Kiss Me, Kate is no longer on my horizon and that I’m rather hoping a full night’s sleep is on the horizon.  That’s as much as I’m prepared to say, and (now this is where I pull out that trusty over-the-glasses stare that librarians do so well) that goes for the comments section of this post as well!

I fully intend to bounce back into blogging life with my usual mildly interesting and sometimes nearly amusing posts.  Soon.  Very soon.  I’ve got some ramblings about Rodgers and Hammerstein to share, for a start.  I’m sure that’s got you salivating!

2006
10/31
CATEGORY
Meta - about this blog
5 comments