Post by jackjackjack on Mar 25, 2004 1:48:04 GMT 11
Okay... Technically it's not a show, it's a movie, but I thought it would be of interest to many people here as it is about a summer camp in America for performing teens. There is a large focus on musical theatre. It uses music from Company, Follies and Promises Promises and also a few numbers written by one of the characters (if you know what I mean). Stephen Sondheim even makes an appearance, albeit a very brief one.
The music was used in very clever ways. I'm glad Sondheim agreed to allow Ladies Who Lunch to be used as it was even though it could be seen as a mark of disrespect for the song. The original songs were good and mostly served their purpose in the story. The performances by the kids were uniformly excellent, save some overacting and slightly off notes that I think was directed for the realism of the characters being raw.
All that said, the story isn't great. The main character is largely unsympathetic and many of the emotional moments don't seem earned. Some of the characters make brief appearances only to have no story arc whatsoever. The sports councellor appears twice in scenes (more like sketches) to make jokes about nobody playing sport, but it never pays off.
It was fun though. I'm on the hunt for the soundtrack.
James
The music was used in very clever ways. I'm glad Sondheim agreed to allow Ladies Who Lunch to be used as it was even though it could be seen as a mark of disrespect for the song. The original songs were good and mostly served their purpose in the story. The performances by the kids were uniformly excellent, save some overacting and slightly off notes that I think was directed for the realism of the characters being raw.
All that said, the story isn't great. The main character is largely unsympathetic and many of the emotional moments don't seem earned. Some of the characters make brief appearances only to have no story arc whatsoever. The sports councellor appears twice in scenes (more like sketches) to make jokes about nobody playing sport, but it never pays off.
It was fun though. I'm on the hunt for the soundtrack.
James