Note 7: Matilda the Musical

Adapted from the ever-popular children’s book by Roald Dahl, Matilda the Musical has been a spectacular since it first opened to packed audiences at the theatre in London. Including original songs from comedian, Tim Minchin, Matilda the Musical is the latest masterpiece from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Based on the grisly tale by Roald Dahl, Matilda is the story of a nine year-old girl, neglected and misunderstood by her family, who discovers she has the magical power to change her destiny. Matilda the musical is one of the must-see shows for all ages, whether you were inspired reading the original book or watching the award-winning film. Packed with hilarious songs, outstanding performances and lots of laughs, never miss out on the spell-bounding story of Matilda, live at the theatre. Winner of five Best Musical awards and with five star reviews, Matilda is a must-see.

How did I find this newly produced (2010) musical, you might be curious? It just happened to pop on the suggest list of youtube, and Matilda the novel used to be my favorite book when I was around 10. After viewing the first music number, I can’t help to search as many clips as I can get from the internet. I think it is a show not just for children, but with some very clever humor makes the adults find something to laugh about.  I love what they do to the set and how they stage it. Fantastic stage set with school desks which popped up out of the floor, building block style letters hanging from the ceiling and manic dance routines. The Trunchbull is superb and the part where "she" swings the little girl around by her plaits only for her to be swung into the audiences is hilarious! I found myself crying with laughter. All the kids in the show are brilliant especially the lead Matilda. Her pitch is amazing, and she played Matilda quite rightly got an outstanding ovation. Not surprised it's won so many awards, it is indeed a funny, fun and heart-warming show.

      

 Here is my favorite song of the show, a lovely entertaining one- Nauty. The lyrics evoke resonance to me-“Like Romeo and Juliet,'Twas written in the stars before they even met. That love and fate (and a touch of stupidity).Would rob them of their hope of living happily. The endings are often a little bit gory. I wonder why they didn't just change their story. We're told we have to do what we're told, but surely. Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty.” Matilda the musical just like what the novel had taught me when I was little, it reminds me that even if we are only one person we can do a lot. We mustn't let a little thing stop us. After all, we are the author of our own story, nobody but us are going to change the story.

Note 6: The Prince of Egypt

A little bit different today is that the musical I’m going to introduce you is an animated one-The Prince of Egypt. Rather than showing you a Broadway or West end production, the reasons I choose the animation is because that much of the animation is stunning and all of the vocal performances are good to great. And it's just much of the passion seems to be in not stepping on anyone's beliefs or interpretations, instead of in telling the story in the most compelling way possible.

Dreamworks Pictures has taken the biblical story of Exodus, put it into cartoon form, and released it on the big screen as an epic animated feature. The Prince of Egypt tells the story of Moses releasing the Jews from Egyptian slavery under the hand of the evil pharaoh Rameses. Think of The Ten Commandments with songs and an all-star cast doing the voices. The story revolves around these two close brothers, Moses and Rameses. While Rameses is groomed to take over the land, his beloved brother Moses is a carefree prankster, until he learns the true secret of his past. His secret, of course, is that he is really a Jew and as a child was floated down the river to escape mass genocide. The pharaoh Seti raised Moses as his son. Upon learning the truth of his past from a burning bush, Moses returns to Egypt with God on his side and demands that the pharaoh (now his brother Rameses) must "Let my people go." With songs written by Oscar-winner Stephen Schwartz and sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, The Prince of Egypt covers all the classic story points of the story of Moses, including the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.

The film was nominated for best Original Musical or Comedy Score and won for Best Original Song at the 1999 Academy Awards for "When You Believe". The song's pop version was performed at the ceremony by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. The song, co-written by Stephen Schwartz, Hans Zimmer and with additional production by Babyface, was nominated for Best Original Song (in a Motion Picture) at the 1999 Golden Globes and was also nominated for Outstanding Performance of a Song for a Feature Film at the ALMA Awards. Though “When You Believe” seems to be the most representative song of the film, my favorite number is ‘”Deliver Us”. This song enchanted me as a child when i first saw the movie and to this day it still paralyzes my soul to stop and listen and float in harmony with the beautiful voices. What triggers me the most is the voice of the mother, who sings with deep sorrow and strong hope. Someone may argue about whether the story is true or not, but let’s just put it aside and enjoy the breath-taking music first.

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.

Note 1: Les Misérables

Les Misérables is nominated for eight Oscars including best picture, best actor (Hugh Jackman) and best supporting actress (Anne Hathaway); and it took home Sound Mixing in addition to Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Supporting Actress. But the gold trophy film is actually based on the musical of the same name by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg which is in turn based on Les Misérables, the 1862 French novel by French poet and playwright Victor Hugo.

        

     Though the musical numbers we heard today were sung in English, the first musical-stage adaptation of Les Misérables was originally released as a French-language concept album, and presented at a Paris sports arena in 1980.  However, the first production closed after three months when the booking contract expired. It wasn’t until 1983 did the British director find the work of Les Misérables amazing. He then assembled a production team to adapt the French musical for a British audience. After two years in development, the English-language version opened in London on 8 October 1985. The success of the West End musical led to a Broadway production.

• Synopsis:

In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, "prisoner 24601," is released on parole by the policeman Javert. For decades, the ruthless policeman Javert has been chasing Valjean for him breaking the parole. Valjean is turned away by many people due to him being a convict. However, The Bishop of Digne offers him food ,shelter and buys Valjean's soul for God. Ashamed of what he did, yet humbled by the bishop's mercy and kindness, Valjean follows the Bishop's advice and began his new life. Eight years later, Valjean has assumed a new identity as Monsieur Madeleine, a wealthy factory owner and mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. He agrees to take care of factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette, because of realizing his part in the ruination of Fantine’s life. Cosette, who lives with an innkeeper, Thénardie ,and his family, Éponine and Mme. Thénardier, was abused by them.

Ten years later, a revolution in Paris is in progress, which is launched by the students, Marius Pontmercy and Enjolras . In the street, Cosette is spotted by Marius Pontmercy, a young rebel who is part of a force that plans to revolt. Though Éponine secretly loves Marius, she still helps Marius to meet with Cosette .Marius and Cosette pledge their love, but Marius decides to stay and fight rather than run away with Cosette. Javert infiltrates the rebel camp as a spy. The rebels lose, and Marius is hurt. Valjean searches for Marius and encounters Javert in a sewer. Although he has the drop on him, he lets Javert go, and Javert, unable to live with the thought of owing his life to Valjean, kills himself. Éponine, who has also been searching for Marius, is fatally wounded, and dies in Marius' arms after confessing her love. Valjean rescues the wounded Marius, reunites him with Cosette, and prepares for his own death in a convent. Valjean gives Cosette his confession to read about his past, then the souls of Fantine and Éponine guide him to Paradise, where those who died at the barricades ask once more: "Do You Hear the People Sing?

• Concert Production:

In my opinion, the best way to enjoy the musical numbers of Les Misérables is to watch the 10th & 25th Anniversary Concert, because the concerts were nearly "complete," missing only a handful of scenes, including "The Death of Gavroche" and the confrontation between Marius and the Thénardiers at the wedding feast. And about the cast if the concerts,it is known as the Les Misérables Dream Cast, assembled from around the world. What's more,the concert concluded with seventeen Valjeans from various international productions singing, "Do You Hear the People Sing?" in their native languages.The cast of the concerts, to name a few, Lea Salonga,Jenny Galloway, Nick Jonas,Norm Lewis and Colm Wilkinson......etc, are all incredible singers.Surprisingly,Colm Wilkinson who had been the original cast of Jean Valjean in both London and New York, starred The Bishop of Digne in the film.And Samantha Bark who starred Épone in the film is  also the cast of the 25th Anniversary Concert.