Note 5: Titanic

Many of you must have seen the well-known film- Titanic, but do you even know it has a Tony Awards winning musical version, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Scenic Design, and Best Orchestrations.

I don’t have to say much about the plot of the story, because I know everyone must at least have seen once the movie in their life. So here is just a simple introduction. The musical is recounted from three perspectives – the steerage passengers dreaming of a better life, the newly minted middle class seeking their fortunes, and the wealthy old guard, who simply want everything to stay the same. Unlike those new and modern musical productions, it’s a treat for lovers of traditional musicals, with classic songwriting and costumes.

What makes the musical different from the film version is the positive aspects of what the ship represented in the musical– humankind's striving after great artistic works and similar technological feats, despite the possibility of tragic failure, and the dreams of the passengers on board: 3rd Class, to immigrate to America for a better life; 2nd Class, to live a leisured lifestyle in imitation of the upper classes; 1st Class, to maintain their privileged positions forever. The collision with the iceberg dashed all of these dreams simultaneously, and the subsequent transformation of character of the passengers and crew had, it showed great emotional and musical expression onstage.What appealed to me the most is that the musical is supposedly about the history's most tragic maiden voyage, in which fifteen hundred people lost their lives, was obviously preposterous. Astonishingly, Titanic manages to be grave and entertaining, somber and joyful; little by little you realize that you are in the presence of a genuine addition to American musical theatre.

Titanic is set on the ocean liner RMS Titanic which sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912, so last year (2012) was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the original ship of dreams. In memorial of the fateful night, here for your information, this summer (2013) at the National Concert Hall (Taipei, Taiwan), National Taiwan University Chorus is going to present the Titanic musical on stage! The clip below is the production that NTU Chorus made in 2010. I believe this year with more experience, they will have an even better performance.

Note 4: Wicked

‘If every musical has a brain, a heart and the courage of Wicked, Broadway really would be a magical place’

-       Richard Zoglin, Time

Walt Disney’s 3-D movie ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ led all films for the second week in a row, taking in 42.2 million dollars, according to studio estimates on Sunday, March 17, 2013.Sam Raimi’s prequel to the L. Frank Baum classic ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ also earned 46.6 million dollars overseas, Fox News reported.

With the data shown above, it seems that every adaption about ‘Oz’ could own good reputation. And the musical I’m going to introduce today is another brilliant adaption of ‘OZ’; it is called ‘Wicked’. Winner of 35 major awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. Wicked tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

The reasons why I highly recommend Wicked is because it contains almost every element that makes a good musical, including choreography with dapper precision, set of elaborate- looking Kingdom of Oz, and of course the enchanting music that you can actually leave the theatre humming. Moreover, the story itself is as well attractive. The contrast between young woman, who wind up as reluctant roomates at sorcery school, is used to examine a society that values surface over substance, the illusion of doing good over the genuinely noble act. And this time the songs I encourage you to listen to is ‘For good’ and ‘ defying gravity’. They are all songs with touching lyrics and beautiful rhythm. Every time when I am down, listen to the songs always help me find my courage back again. Hope everyone could enjoy the songs like I do.

Note 3: Le Petit Prince Musical

"This [musical] goes straight to the heart." —New York Newsday

Adapted from the famous novella written by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince tells the story of a pilot's unexpected crash landing in the Sahara Desert. While in the desert, the pilot meets the Little Prince --- a young boy from another planet. The Prince shares his unique adventures that he experienced while traveling throughout the solar system.

Filled with enchanting music and heartfelt lyrics, The Little Prince Musical has been touted by critics around the country for its sophisticated appeal to all ages. I believe that everyone must have read the book The Little Prince when we’re children, but few of us notice that we can now see the little prince on stage, singing, and dancing! The musical version is a radical interpretation of the Little Prince with music that's just modern enough, and just otherworldly enough. Besides the music, the musical version with its unique features of live drawing as part of the action and a planetarium environment provides a great deal of room for directorial concepts, allowing for either the most elaborate or simplest of productions. 

Now I would like to share some of the musical numbers I highly recommend you to listen. In the opening, the narrator sings a song named <dedication, Dedicace>, the lyrics is about the reason why he dedicate this children’s book to the adult. It points out the theme of the musical: “All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.” I was touched when reading the book, and hearing someone sings out the line still makes my tears drop. Then the little prince talks about the rose in his planet,<By her side, Pres d'elle>. This song is my favorite one in the musical. Not to mention the beautiful rhythm and the warm lyrics, the clean voice of the little singer starred the little prince make the concept of love to be the most purest thing in the world.

If you ever love the novella The Little Prince, then you should never miss it's musical version!

Note 2: The Lion King Musical

We could never be more familiar with the opening song “Circle Of Life” from The Lion King Musical, especially the calling of Rafiki the mandrill 

” Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba [Here comes a lion, Father]

  Sithi uhm ingonyama                    [Oh yes, it's a lion]

  Siyo Nqoba                                    [We're going to conquer]

  Ingonyama nengw' enamabala    [A lion and a leopard come to this open place].

Based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name, the musical debuted 1997,4 years after the animation. Because of its powerful musical score, extraordinary costumes, and heartfelt story, the musical reign as one of the most popular shows on Broadway and around the world. The global phenomenon is the winner of more than 70 major awards worldwide, including the Tony Award for Best Musical, and the Grammy for Best Musical Show Album.

The musical is an adaptation from the film, so it incorporates several changes and additions to the storyline as compared to the film. First, the mandrill Rafiki's gender was changed to a female role because the director found out that there was generally no leading female character in the film. Second, several new scenes are present, such as a conversation between Mufasa and Zazu about Mufasa's parenting and a scene when Timon finds himself nearly drowning in a waterfall while Simba feels powerless to help him.And of course, the show adds more songs to its stage production, including Morning Report, sung by Zazu the hornbill,  "Endless Night”,  and "Shadowland" , etc. Something interesting I found on the internet is that Chinese elements were included in the musical, during the show run in China,  One of the songs was adapted to a well-known Chinese pop song, "老鼠愛大米" or "Mice Love Rice". The cast even cracked jokes and attempted conversations with the audience in Chinese.

I went to see the musical in London 5 years ago; I can still recall the vivid memory of the astounding visuals.  Marveled at the breathtaking spectacle of animals brought to life by an enormous company of international performers, whose detailed costumes, carved masks, and intricate makeup had transported me to the gorgeous trips of the African savanna. What’s even more surprising is that those animals were actually at the touchable distance, I could see clearly how the actors in costume using extra tools to move their costumes to portray the animals. For example, the giraffes are portrayed by actors carefully walking on stilts. For principal characters such as Mufasa and Scar, the costumes feature mechanical headpieces that can be raised and lowered to foster the illusion of a lion "lunging" at another. It was really a thrill to watch The Lion King Musical.