OK, who's with me at seeing one of the Philliminated in Spider-Man? I have a 50% ticket offer for previews, and either it's going to be brilliant or a must-see disaster--I'm not sure which I'm actually hoping for at this point.
I went to a school that was overrun with a cappella groups. At the time I was there, I think it would have been accurate to say that to some people, it was popular to be in some a cappella groups. Mainly the ones (a) that had a high concentration of the richest kids in them and therefore were always jetting off to sing in Switzerland or places like that; or (b) were singing degenerates who always had cocaine. There was a lot of overlap between those two groups. And the people who found those a cappella groups alluring were the people in them, their high school friends (a very large population, given the prep-school fertilization of both the groups and the students at large), and the people in the lesser-tier singing groups who wished they were in the higher-tier groups. That was about half the campus. The other half of the campus loathed a cappella groups. We loathed them for their love of terrible music, for their butchery of good music, for their intrusive doo-woppy presence in every dining hall, common room, and echoing entryway on campus. Like fans of Prince, Springsteen, and Broadway musicals, those a cappella groups had an evangelical bent, but unlike the Prince, Springsteen, and Broadway folks, they also thought that it was okay that you couldn't escape from them. Prince never locked the door of my dining hall and shushed me so that he could do a 10-minute medley of his favorite songs, and for that, at least, I thank him.
Anyway, as popular as the kids in some of those a cappella groups were, I don't think there was anybody who would have described the singing itself as cool. It was just cool for some people to hang around really rich people with an endless supply of cocaine.
And I'm not going to believe the Washington Post has any idea of what's cool on campus. This reminds me of that grunge dictionary.
Aren't. Weren't. Regarding Team Nard-Dog, I had a feeling that they weren't nearly as close to Team Side Out as we were led to believe. It's always interesting to read about what happens on the Race, and how and why teams make the choices they make in the middle of the game.
I liked me some a capella music when I was in college and I imagine they had their groupies but, as Isaac said far more eloquently above--and as Team Nard-Dog (and Andy Bernard) demonstrate--their love for their own music blinds them to the rest of the world's apathy. Very little is more irritating than being brow-beaten with someone else's passion when it's not shared.
I'm hoping for must-see disaster. How long has the theater been held for Spidey? How many revisions has it gone through since it was first set to open? This is one I'd be very interested in seeing in previews.
No one wants to see this disaster more than me. (Wanna see my Spidey tattoo?) But even that can't tempt me to lay down the cash for a trip to NYC right now.
"<span>Prince never locked the door of my dining hall and shushed me so that he could do a 10-minute medley of his favorite songs, and for that, at least, I thank him."</span>
But did he try to get you a "Watchtower" subscription?
A cappella singers have always been cool. The rest of y'all were just too uncool to know it.
ReplyDeleteAt Penn they were always cool. The Off the Beat leads were campus celebs.
ReplyDeleteOK, who's with me at seeing one of the Philliminated in Spider-Man? I have a 50% ticket offer for previews, and either it's going to be brilliant or a must-see disaster--I'm not sure which I'm actually hoping for at this point.
ReplyDeleteI would totally take you up on that, but I live in Chicago and a whirlwind trip to NYC is not in the cards for me this fall much as I would love it.
ReplyDeleteI went to a school that was overrun with a cappella groups. At the time I was there, I think it would have been accurate to say that to some people, it was popular to be in some a cappella groups. Mainly the ones (a) that had a high concentration of the richest kids in them and therefore were always jetting off to sing in Switzerland or places like that; or (b) were singing degenerates who always had cocaine. There was a lot of overlap between those two groups. And the people who found those a cappella groups alluring were the people in them, their high school friends (a very large population, given the prep-school fertilization of both the groups and the students at large), and the people in the lesser-tier singing groups who wished they were in the higher-tier groups. That was about half the campus. The other half of the campus loathed a cappella groups. We loathed them for their love of terrible music, for their butchery of good music, for their intrusive doo-woppy presence in every dining hall, common room, and echoing entryway on campus. Like fans of Prince, Springsteen, and Broadway musicals, those a cappella groups had an evangelical bent, but unlike the Prince, Springsteen, and Broadway folks, they also thought that it was okay that you couldn't escape from them. Prince never locked the door of my dining hall and shushed me so that he could do a 10-minute medley of his favorite songs, and for that, at least, I thank him.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as popular as the kids in some of those a cappella groups were, I don't think there was anybody who would have described the singing itself as cool. It was just cool for some people to hang around really rich people with an endless supply of cocaine.
And I'm not going to believe the Washington Post has any idea of what's cool on campus. This reminds me of that grunge dictionary.
Aren't. Weren't.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Team Nard-Dog, I had a feeling that they weren't nearly as close to Team Side Out as we were led to believe. It's always interesting to read about what happens on the Race, and how and why teams make the choices they make in the middle of the game.
This. "Intrusive, doo-woppy presence" pretty much says it all.
ReplyDeleteI liked me some a capella music when I was in college and I imagine they had their groupies but, as Isaac said far more eloquently above--and as Team Nard-Dog (and Andy Bernard) demonstrate--their love for their own music blinds them to the rest of the world's apathy. Very little is more irritating than being brow-beaten with someone else's passion when it's not shared.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who's desperate to know what role Jonathan has in Spider-Man? Villain? Random chorus boy?
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for must-see disaster. How long has the theater been held for Spidey? How many revisions has it gone through since it was first set to open? This is one I'd be very interested in seeing in previews.
ReplyDeleteNo one wants to see this disaster more than me. (Wanna see my Spidey tattoo?) But even that can't tempt me to lay down the cash for a trip to NYC right now.
ReplyDelete"<span>There was a lot of overlap between those two groups"</span>
ReplyDeleteYou had me right there.
....and the attitude that they were cooler than us - they weren't.
ReplyDeleteThe lobby of my senior year dorm was infested with capella groups. If I never hear "Moondance," again, it'll be too soon.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that that group at UC Berkeley who does Lady Gaga is really excellent. Uh... whatever their name was.
ReplyDelete"<span>Prince never locked the door of my dining hall and shushed me so that he could do a 10-minute medley of his favorite songs, and for that, at least, I thank him."</span>
ReplyDeleteBut did he try to get you a "Watchtower" subscription?
LOVE Off the Beat. I still play one of their albums - I should look into buying more of them.
ReplyDelete