Pop Culture Princess
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
What other pop music sensation should light the lights on Broadway?
While I'm not a big theater goer,the latest trends on stage do not entirely escape from my notice. For the past year or so,the quick and seemingly easy route to getting a musical on Broadway these days is to take tried and true tunes from the mainstream music scene and whip up them into some sort of shape to create a show.
This ranges from old school favorites like Frank Sinatra(Come Fly Away)and Elvis(Million Dollar Quartet)to such current fare as Green Day's American Idiot album. While some of these songs can be refitted to suit a staged story line,it does appear to be on the same level as Hollywood churning out film length versions of TV shows(A Team,anyone?)or remakes of past cinematic successes.
With such razor sharp standards as these setting the bar here,it won't be long before music videos become fair game for Broadway producers looking for a sure thing to set on stage and charge folks several arms and legs for.
Let's take a gander at what might be store for Broadway audiences in the not so distant future if this crazy little concept takes off. Warm up those jazz hands and tuck your tongue firmly into your cheek as the curtain rises on some of these music video musicals:
BRITNEY SPEARS' CIRCUS: Britney stars as the sole inheritor of her family's ragtag circus troop who struggles to keep the show on the road by staging special "after dark" performances for the more allegedly adult members of her audiences.
Dubbed "Cirque de Sexay", word spreads from town to town and her raunchy ringleader act starts to rake in the dough,with the promise of a more permanent home for the circus to set up legitimate shop in.However, the reappearance of Britney's former husband,freak show promoter K-Fed(playing himself,unless Jon Gosselin is unavailable to go on tour)may upset that apple cart in more ways than one:
TIME FOR MIRACLES: The movie magic of Roland Emmerich comes to Broadway in this slight spin-off from 2012 as Adam Lambert stars as a Musical Man from Nowhere who must embrace his destiny as the savior of the world by using his eerily beautiful talents to prevent a deadly prophecy from ending all life on earth.
With fire reigning from above and earthquakes from below haunting his every step and a serious lack of hair care products on hand,our misunderstood musical hero struggles to reach that special spot where he can hit the right note that will turn the tide of destruction back to the beyond from which it came(either the American Idol stage or the Grammy Awards are viable options):
NOT MYSELF TONIGHT: Sunset Boulevard meets Phantom of the Paradise,as an insecure yet talented singer sells her soul to dark forces(not hard to find in the music industry) in order to grab some flash in the pan fame that she once had and envies to recclaim from her sister artists.
Christina Aquilera plays a duel role here as the tormented songstress and her demonic doppelganger who takes over her body and career by stealing and sadly imitating the pop music personae of others and who connives to claim the one true treasure that her hapless host possesses-her voice:
WEIRD AL'S POP CULTURE PARADE: Celebrated parodist Weird Al Yankovic has too many music video mockeries to choose just one for a show,so sit back and let Uncle Al walk you through the past couple of decades in pop culture history via his amusing song and set pieces.
From the phenomenon that was Forrest Gump to the thrill ride of Jurassic Park and the grunge music scene,Weird Al entertains and educates you about those pre-IPad life and times that could leave you whistling several happy tunes when it's all over. At the very least,the mystery of why anyone thought those new set of Star Wars movies were going to be any good in the first place might be cleared up:
No doubt,one day the tide will turn back to bringing original music to take center stage on Broadway but until then we 'll have to make due with whatever scraps of song and dance the powers that be have patched together to make a buck or two.
Inspiration tends to come from unexpected places and strikes when least expected,so don't despair ,theater lovers. Just remember,nobody writes a musical for no reason,as the gang from It's Always Sunny learned the hard way( now The Nightman Cometh would be cool to see on Broadway indeed):
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1 comment:
I would love to be able to see a Broadway play one day! A lot of recent stuff just isn't that interesting though.
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