On Thursday, 23 January 2020 20:25:29 UTC, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:
When I bought my first betamax video machine a copy of the Sound of Music
came with it.
I watched it once I think. Its OK but not really my scene either. Musicals
are a pretty strange form of entertainment.
The other day I listened to an AD version of Mama Mia all over again, and
apart from the music the rest seemed almost pointless to me.
Stories in musicals seem to be either ones of somewhat modified real life
or completely written to use songs already written. Sound of music is the
former. Flower Drum song is one where the original music is there but with
more modern words of course.
I think possibly t the best musicals are those which are kind of fantasies
already, like Cats, Starlight Express or the Rocky Horror show, I mean if
you have to suspend reality you might as well go the whole hog.
I'm waiting for Shawn the Sheep the Musical myself, or how about Pepper
Pig?
Brian

The standard musical is pretty awful in my view. SoM actually had some bits that worked well and sometimes the songs actually were part of the story and not just bunged in.

Cabaret was another where some songs were natural parts of the story.