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| B'WAY TO H'WOOD: TOO LATE? |
| Posted By: Michael Barrett on September 26, 2009 - 10:00 PM |
I'm not really such a cast-album person but neither do I eschew them. I've heard some things, he says chewing a nail. When I listen, I imagine a movie in my head, and sometimes I wish that movie had been made. Is it too late? What are shows that would film well? A few idle suggestions:
HIGH SPIRITS
This is Martin & Blane's musical version of Noel Coward's BLITHE SPIRIT, which already did make a great movie. That's what makes me think a musical would score, as it were. There has recently been a B'way revival of Coward's play with Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati, and as long as she's still standing, that's a perfect casting opportunity if anyone wants to take advantage of this moment finally to film the musical, because she could do that one too. Madame Arcati sings a number about the joys of riding a bicycle that I imagine turning into a panoramic, cast-of-dozens spectacle like "Let's Go Fly a Kite," as she leads a contingent of motley bicyclers down a green hill, her scarf flapping behind like Isadora.
BTW, I really, really love the London cast album of this. Actually I haven't heard the B'way cast, but the London sure gets it. The prohibitively expensive OOP CD of same tosses in bonus cuts of Coward himself singing some of the songs in his beautifully dapper yet aching style. If only there were somebody (ahem, cough, ribbit), I say if only somebody out there specialized in reissuing classic show albums (achoo!), if only we could see a pretty reissue of this London show, which I only have on a tape I made from the public library's copy. Wouldn't that be sweet?
THE GRASS HARP
There was a film a few years ago of Truman Capote's novel and I think it even had a soundtrack CD, but I'm not familiar with them. I'm familiar with the cast album of Kenward Elmslie & Claibe Richardson's musical. The show is set in a tree, but it's the nature of the material to have lots of fantasies and flashbacks, expressed in song, like "Floozies" and the martial "Yellow Drum" (which has big number written all over it) and the wonderful "Brazil" (which would lend itself to a spectacular montage).
PAL JOEY
I know what you're gonna say. I was going to suggest Rodgers & Hart's CONNECTICUT YANKEE (with its marvelous "To Keep My Love Alive," a catalogue of widowhood), but why not this Rodgers & Hart show instead? After all, the movie with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak really wasn't the show by much. Then we might as well mention Cole Porter's CAN-CAN, which not only switched out a lot of songs but, if I recall correctly, doesn't even have the song "Can-Can" in it! Or we could bring up the de-musicalized IRMA LA DOUCE.
Cole Porter wrote some odd musicals, ALADDIN (for TV) and OUT OF THIS WORLD. Maybe some committed soul (or some soul who deserves to be committed) could turn these into films.
I repeat, I'm not even a cast-album maven. I'm sure many more could be suggested. |
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Today in Film Score History:
October 5 |
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| Alex Wurman born (1966) |
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| Alfred Newman begins recording his score for Leave Her to Heaven (1945) |
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| David G. Russell born (1968) |
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| Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Timeless” (1998) |
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| Harold Faltermeyer born (1952) |
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| Jerry Fielding's score for the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles" is recorded (1967) |
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| Malcolm Lockyer born (1923) |
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