A Record a Week: Les Miserables

SIDE 1.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
I DREAMED A DREAM
LOVELY LADIES
WHO AM I?
COME TO ME (FANTINE'S DEATH)
CONFRONTATION

SIDE 2.
CASTLE ON A CLOUD
MASTER OF THE HOUSE
THE THÉNARDIER WALTZ OF TREACHERY
LOOK DOWN
STARS
RED AND BLACK
DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

SIDE 3.
IN MY LIFE
A HEART FULL OF LOVE
PLUMET ATTACK
ONE DAY MORE
ON MY OWN
JAVERT AT THE BARRACADE/LITTLE PEOPLE
THE FIRST ATTACK
A LITTLE FALL OF RAIN

SIDE 4.
DRINK WITH ME
BRING HIM HOME
DOG EATS DOG
JAVERT'S SUICIDE
TURNING
EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES
WEDDING CHORALE/BEGGARS AT THE FEAST
FINALE

I've been waiting for this record to come up, the soundtrack to my favourite musical. Ever since I was a little kid, when my mother listened to the soundtrack all the time, I was roped in by the powerful songs and performances. That was followed up by seeing it 3rd row orchestra centre while Michael Burgess was performing in it. I know, I know, Colm Wilkinson is the one to be seen, but he was doing it before I was born, so I have to settle for seeing him in anniversary performances online. Also, he was the Phantom the time I saw Phantom of the Opera.

But I digress. This album, as does any musical, contains a number of misses. When you have to tell a story through song, the boring parts of the story can show through in the musical retelling. However, the power in the songs Look Down, At The End of the Day and One Day More as well as the emotion in I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own and Bring Him Home paint a beautiful story of redemption and love in the time of the French Revolution. Those songs are broken up by the playful Lovely Ladies and Master of the House. Each song is important to the telling of the story in a musical and this one does an excellent job.

When the movie came out last year, there was so much public hype behind it, in addition to my own longstanding love of it, that there was almost no chance of it working out for me. Despite my hatred for Anne Hathaway, I actually thought she did a good job in the movie. However, her character dies SO EARLY in the movie, I can't see how it is Oscar-worthy. It is all for one song, a song that had way more sadness and less anger than any version I had heard before it. Alright, I get that things change and it's nice to get a fresh perspective on things, but this character was so entrenched in my (and many others, I'd imagine) memory a certain way that it just bothers me. The live singing thing just didn't work out for many of the characters and poor Russel Crowe just came out flat. The movie itself has enough character to not need big names to make it a must-see.

Anyhow, in my opinion, the play IS a must-see. See it on Broadway, see it off Broadway, see it in a good theatre town or your local high school. It's just a moving piece of theatre and it gets two thumbs up from this guy.

A Record a Week: Hair (Musical Theatre Soundtrack)

SIDE 1.
AQUARIUS
DONNA/HASHISH
SODOMY
COLORED SPADE
MANCHESTER ENGLAND
I'M BLACK/AIN'T GOT NO
AIR
INITIALS
I GOT LIFE
HAIR
MY CONVICTION
DON'T PUT IT DOWN
FRANK MILLS
BE-IN

SIDE 2.
WHERE DO I GO
BLACK BOYS/WHITE BOYS
EASY TO BE HARD
WALKING IN SPACE
ABIE BABY
THREE-FIVE-ZERO-ZERO
GOOD MORNING STARSHINE
THE FLESH FAILURES (Let the Sunshine In)


When I think Hair, I think 'This is the dawning of the age of aquariua'. Either one makes me think of the other. It also reminds me of the time my wife and I went to see the show in Toronto.

Now, the story is set in the sexually-free era of the 1970's when the hippies were at their peak. However, when the scene where they get naked under the parachute and lift it high in the air (spoiler alert), they looked suspiciously well-groomed.

Like many musicals, this one has a few terrific songs and a handful of songs you couldn't recall by the end of the record if you were offered a platinum plate full of your favourite fresh-from-the-oven cookies. Usually it goes like this: gradual opener gives way to strong second song that carries tune from opener. Two or three songs that carry the story forward, usually including a solo from a b character. Powerful song from main character, possibly including love interest. Two more story-pushing songs, then a steady beat song that includes a reprise of the opening song. INTERMISSION. Repeat similar pattern, except the final song includes multiple reprises.

Maybe I could write a musical!? (Relax, I have to finish my one-person show and my translation of the Odyssey first)