watervole | men dancing and musicals

men dancing and musicals

While out working today, I picked up a few second-hand videos. 'Easter Parade' was a must. It's worth it just for Fred Astaire's dance routine in the toy shop, not to mention him and Judy Garland doing 'We're a couple of swells'. It's a superb film for both music and dance.

Then, I came home to watch Gene Kelly in 'The Three Musketeers'. There isn't any actual dancing in it, but Gene Kelly's dance training shows in all the sword-fighting scenes. There's a wonderful grace to the way he moves and the way the fights are choreographed. I'm reminded of 'Singing in the Rain' whenever I watch him move.

Why don't modern films have these fantastic tap-dance routines? Where are the Fred Astaires and the Gene Kellys of today? We have hunky men and violent men and pretty men, but where are the dancers?

And where are the musicals? Another purchase was 'Gigi'. Worth the price just for Maurice Chevalier singing 'Thank heaven for little girls'.

There's nothing like a good musical when you're feeling blue. A good musical has an energy and a vivacity that carries you through it with joy. You forgive all the totally predictable plots and just sit back and enjoy! Musicals are to carry you away, to have you singing 'Black Hills of Dakota' in 'Calamity Jane' (and to set aside all you ever knew about the real history of the period and the character).

There was a time when I grew up and grew out of musicals, and I stopped thinking 'The Sound of Music' was fantastic. I decided they were unbelievable and predictable and cliched. I even thought carnivals were silly and pointless. Then, fortunately, I grew up a little more and realised that parades and musicals had no purpose other than to be enjoyed. So, I'm jolly well going to enjoy them. All I need now is a second-hand copy of Showboat. Ever since

dougs sang 'Old Man River' for the ceilidh workshop at Redemption, I've had a hankering to hear the song again.

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Why don't modern films have these fantastic tap-dance routines? Where are the Fred Astaires and the Gene Kellys of today? We have hunky men and violent men and pretty men, but where are the dancers?

In Bollywood - Sha Rukh Khan, for example.

I obviously haven't grown up enough. The only one I like is 'My Fair Lady', which is refreshingly devoid of whole streetfuls of people suddenly breaking into perfectly choreographed dance routines.

'Pink Floyd: The Wall' doesn't really count, does it?

'Course, there's a musical interlude in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail':

We're Knights of the Round Table, we dance whenever we're able
We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impecc-able.
We dine well here in Camelot, we eat ham and jam and spam a lot."

But you won't appreciate that:)

Fancy lending me one to try?

which is refreshingly devoid of whole streetfuls of people suddenly breaking into perfectly choreographed dance routines.

That's how I used to feel. Now, I want them all to start doing the Lambeth Walk. (I do love 'My Fair Lady' though.)

Gigi is one of my Mum's favourites.
My favourite song in it is still "Ah yes, I remember it well"
All you ever needed to know about men and women in one song.

I love musicals and cry buckets at The King and I, Camalot, West Side Story, Hair and particularly JC Superstar, which is odd as I've been a pagan since I was 11 but I love Judas' part so much and JC too, that's a Jesus I can relate to. Of course, I also find JC Superstar to be wonderfully slashy so that might be why I love it.

And my favourite will always be RHPS, Frank was my first lust object (no wonder I'm warped).

FF, likely to burn in hell, will keep a seat warm for all her friends by the fire.

I'll consult with

sweetheartwhale - she's the expert. Though Main Hoon Na immediately springs to mind as a good choice.

I can't remember the name, which is driving me mad but there was a great recent bollywood style film based on a Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility I think. A group of girlfriends and I went to see it at the cinema and it had lots of the virtues of the musicals: fun dialogue, prolonged flirtation rather than a jump to sex, and several muscial numbers. I wish I coulod remember the title so I could recommend it properly!

I don't like Gigi at all. Its partly the music, but mainly because I find Leslie Caron ugly, and can't see why anyone would chase after her. She ruined American in Paris for me too.

I'm a Rogers and Hammerstein man myself, but you can't beat the male dancing in Seven Brides.

Forget Leslie Caron (she didn't do much for me either) - just sit back and enjoy Maurice Chevalier!

Seven Brides is also on my list to watch again as soon as I can find a cheap copy or it comes up on TV.

And of course, there's all of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Chevalier does even less!

BBC2 did the the complete G&S canon about 15 years ago, and I listened to them all again on cassette tape over the winter. The good is very good, and the bad (Utopia Limited and Princess Ida) is very dull. One day I'll consult a concordance and find how many times the word 'duty' appears in the operettas.

There are some of the Savoy Operas that aren't worth the space and some that I adore. The Mikado and Iolanthe are always favourites of mine, and Pirates and Pinafore.

I do like ones where the patter songs are modernised. I saw a good performance of the Mikado in that regard. G+S took digs at things that were topical and it makes sense to do likewise in songs like "I've got a little list"

"Bride and Prejudice"?

Iolanthe is my favourite, but I've always felt the Mikado over-rated. I've got a 2 volume commentary on the Operas, and its interesting seeing how the performances have changed over the decades, with rapid cutting during the first few performances, then ad-libs sneaking into the libretto over the years to come.

I'm with you on this, never liked Chevalier, and never enjoyed Gigi.

My love of musicals was instilled in school. My middle school always put on a musical every year, and for the four years I was there they put on Oliver, West Side Story, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. West Side Story is still my favourite musical, closely followed by Oklahoma. I never felt I grew out of them. When it comes to the dance routines, I'd agree they are hard to find these days outside of Bollywood, though Moulin Rouge had some good sequences. As for the musical style, there have been some unexpected examples, I'd seriously include South Park:Bigger, Longer, Uncut in any selection of the best musical of the 90's.

The musicals have migrated to Disney films, where all the dancing is in animation. Not the same at all. But we still get some good songs. I'm rather fond of "Beauty and the Beast".

Do you mean the Jonathan Miller production of the Mikado, set on Brighton Pavilion with Eric Idle?

"All weighlifters and bodybuilders, people of that sort / Bankrobbers who run off to Spain the minute they get caught / Archishops who don't believe in God, Chief Constables who do..."

See, it's out of date already.

There was a modern dress production done by the English National Opera. That was the performance that converted me to The Mikado. I borrowed it from my library last year. The other version I'd seen wasn't nearly as good.

Yes, I liked that production for many reasons. The patter song has dated already, but it's still more relevent than the G+S original. "People who eat peppermint and puff it in your face"

My son's school just did a great performace of 'Guys and Dolls'. He was a gambler. The year before, they did Jesus Christ Superstar.

I forgot to include the musical episode of Buffy. That qualifies.

Maybe musicals are now seen as being for children rather than adults, as a result of being used by Disney?

Ironically, this happened to puppetry in the UK when puppets were used by an enthusiasts for many early children's TV shows. There ceased being any puppet shows done for adults, though many countries have a tradition of puppetry for all ages.

Yes, that's it. I really liked that film, all the best lines are pinched from Austen of course, but it had loads of colour and energy and somew great dance routines.

I want to see it badly. I hope you don't mind, but I friended you. I read some of your journal and you seem interesting. :-) If it bothers you, I will un-friend you, but I do like to let people know I have been reading their journals.

Well, animation itself has been seen as children-only in the West; wheras in Japan, anime has no age limits. An apt demonstration of the silliness of confusing the medium with the message.

No I don't mind at all :)

I thought you didn't like satire:)

I don't really see it as satire.

Sorry to change the subject, but you're in the right area to know the answer. While I was down by Chichester last week (all right Chichester isn't that close to you, but I'm further away) we saw a lot of cuttle fish bones washed up on the beach and some cuttle fish bodies not yet eaten by gulls. So is this a regular sight or has there been an isolated mass stranding?

G&S were satirical, no doubt about that. The Monty Python of their day, in fact. Iolanthe rips the shit out of the aesthetic movement. HMS Pinafore made more than a token poke at the Admiralty, and the Mikado was a parody of British upper class values. 'Gentle but genuine satire' was one description I came across, somewhere long ago. It's because of that satiric dimension that I like G&S.

Sorry, I don't know anything about that one. It doesn't sound natural, but I'm not prepared to swear that it isn't.

If you happen to be logged on right now, could you confirm that the right show size is 38? In Swedish measure, of course.

I was "Angie the Ox" ... my line was "Sky Masterson's in town"!

But I sang and danced too!

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men dancing and musicals

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Bollywood musical

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Mikado

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