Wednesday, March 16, 2011

YOU'LL HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE:  After recognizing that Legally Blonde, The Musical swept Britain's equivalent of the Tony Awards this year (with Project Broadway presenter Denise van Outen learning how to bend ... and snap as Paulette), Tom Scocca notes that come this summer there will be two musicals based on Patrick Swayze films on the London stage: the long-running Dirty Dancing, The Classic Story On Stage and, in June, Ghost the Musical.

Your two-part challenge: suggest song titles (lyrics?) for the world's favorite clay-sculpting story, or other Swayze films which belong in musical format ... other than the one that's been done already.



Added: Wow.  Lisa's not kidding:

33 comments:

  1. I had the pleasure of seeing Dirty Dancing the musical in Chicago. It was, by far, the worst musical I have ever seen, and I am including my kids elementary school performances. My sister and I could not stop laughing.

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  2. Paul Tabachneck10:16 AM

    I'm at work, can't listen.  Is it called "Left Boot?"

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  3. I haven't ever seen it, but I feel sure "To Wong Foo" should be fertile ground here, right?  Given that the first line of the film, according to imdb, is "Ready or Not, Here Comes Mama" I think we've got our opening number.

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  4. Heather K10:37 AM

    I too saw it an Chicago and it is bad bad bad bad bad AND TOTALLY AWESOME.  It blows past terrible SO hard and SO fast and it does not look back and it is completely sincere.  Not winkingly bad/silly, totally straight faced sincere.  And a joy to experience in all its shiny turd gloriosity!

    My friends and I laughed and laughed and bounced in our seats with glee.

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  5. Heather K10:39 AM

    I was going to go with Point Break.  I mean there is already a stage version of it (kind of, I mean loosely), just stick some music up in that.

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  6. Carrie10:50 AM

    Is the opening song of Ghost: The Musical called "Ditto"?

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  7. Related question: why did Legally Blonde succeed in London when it didn't so much here (though I liked it) (and we all enjoyed the MTV Search for Elle Woods)?

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  8. Joseph J. Finn11:10 AM

    It's "A Patrick Swayze Christmas" and it's AWESOME. (From the episode "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians."

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  9. Marsha11:25 AM

    But she carried a watermelon! And they felt the need to show it to us three times in that video! How bad could such a show be?

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  10. Someone I know just went to a preview of the Priscilla: Queen of the Desert musical and said it was great. It should not shock anyone to hear that apparently the costumes are spectacular.

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  11. D'oh, I haven't had my coffee and was just commenting on films that should be (or are) musicals, not Swayze films turned musicals. Oops.

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  12. Marsha11:36 AM

    Well, there should be a big "I'm Henry the 8th, I Am" production number.

    The Subway Ghost will have a power ballad called "It Wasn't My Time."

    Oda Mae and Sam have a duet called "You in Danger, Girl."

    Can't wait to see the chorus dance with their pottery wheels.

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  13. Tosy and Cosh11:48 AM

    And in that vein, the abandonment of the Guettel/Goldman Princess Bride has to be one of Broadway's great losses, no?

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  14. Tosy and Cosh11:49 AM

    An entire musical based on the SNL Chippendale's sketch? It's already got music and dance, and musicals have hung on slenderer threads . . .

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  15. The Full Monty, only without the nudity?

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  16. They apparently retooled and streamlined a bit.  Also, sometimes, shows that are big in London tank in the US (a lot of the more recent Webber shows were big in the UK and missed in the US, Blood Brothers has run forever in London but was at best a recouper in the US) and vice versa (Drowsy Chaperone and Avenue Q both tanked in the UK).

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  17. They were talking about this on a major national radio station on Monday after the awards sweep (I live in England).  A somewhat hilarious attribution was given:  Because of the credit crunch and economic problems here, people were loving a chance to escape into a couple of hours of fun and pink...  
    You know, because the US is having such great economic times...

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  18. Genevieve1:12 PM

    YES!!  Please, someone, make it happen again!  It's only mostly dead....

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  19. Matt, is it so much better than before?

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  20. Joseph J. Finn1:19 PM

    I've never quite understood why Blood Brothers didn't do better over here.  Fine book, some really good songs; maybe it needed a better cast.

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  21. Music by Loverboy?  Per Wikipedia, they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and performed at the 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

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  22. Heather K1:37 PM

    it is a literal, shot for shot recreation of the film, so yes how bad can it be?  But it is really bad in a kind of delightful way--although I must say I had free fourth row seats, so if I had paid actual money to watch it, I may have felt differently.

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  23. The Other Kate2:32 PM

    RED DAWN. Combining the thematic power, athleticism, and loud explosions of  "Black Watch," with the plucky, can-do defiance of "Newsies" and "Legally Blond," the cheerful xenophobia of "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut," and revolving-platform group-marching of "Les Miserables." 

    Songlist includes
    "Buenos Dias, Kolorado"
    "Wolverines!"
    "Power in the (Deer) Blood"
    "If the Fox Stole Your Chikens, Would You Slaughter the Fox?"
    "Hashmark on the AK Stock ("They say, kid/This hate's gonna burn you up/But it keeps me warm inside")
    "Park Bench Requiem" (the 11 o'clock number)
    "The Way to Free America"

    Wow ... the imdb quotes on this one...it could almost write itself.

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  24. Only after the much-delayed remake (with Adrianne Palicki, Chris Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson) comes out.

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  25. I've got a post about that in the queue for tonight.  Patience!

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  26. Professor Jeff4:39 PM

    Moving a penny
    To show you I'm here
    I know it seems strange
    But there's nothing to fear

    Moving a penny
    To float in the air
    That tear in your eye
    Tells me that you still care

    Can't you see that this coin's not a coin, it's my soul?
    Don't you realize Carl is a massive a-hole?
    Oda Mae tried to warn you, "You in danger, girl"
    But could she move a penny? Not in this world.

    Moving a penny
    A pretty neat trick
    (And now cue the soundtrack
    And lay it on thick)

    Please take this penny
    It means I'll always stay
    And now get those lips ready
    While I possess Oda Mae

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  27. Tosy and Cosh4:40 PM

    I've always thought The Princess Bride would make a great musical, and, Because I Am a Nerd, in my gawky teeanaged years actually took the trouble to write the Inconceivable song:

    Inconceivable
    Inconceivable
    This situation is
    Inconceivable
    It is well-known fom Northern France to Southern Venice
    That I'm a man whose intellect can not be matched
    And yet this man in black is something of a menace
    Menace!
    Inconceivable. . .

    Gawd.

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  28. Anonymous5:23 PM

    I can't think of Blood Brothers without thinking of Forbidden Broadway's absolutely SCATHING parody of David Cassidy's performance, set to the tune of "I Think I Love You"

    I'm singin', I'm right in the middle of a good scene
    When all at once I go up
    Because so many lines are in my brain
    I think I've gone insane cause they're all muddled in my head
    I look around with dread, and repeat what I've just said
    I think I'm acting!

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  29. Aimee5:28 PM

    Oops, the guest above is me.  I forgot to sign in.

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  30. Joseph J. Finn8:01 PM

    "<span>t is a literal, shot for shot recreation of the film"</span>

    Well, there's the first problem.  It's an awful, awful, movie except for the joy that is Jerry Orbach.

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  31. Joseph J. Finn8:06 PM

    You know, I'd almost be on board with this if it means a Javert-esque solo for the Cuban Commander (I forget the actor's name, but he rocks that role with a lot more interesting seriousness and sympathy than the movie deserves).

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  32. Marsha1:06 PM

    Thus proving definitively that Joseph J. Finn is not now and has never been a teenage girl.

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