Dale's News and Ideas Blog: August 2011

$65 Million does not buy you what you used to. I am not going to go through the origin of Spider-Man, one because he is a pop-culture icon, and two that you would not need a huge amount of it to understand the soundtrack.

However I will give a little bit of background in regards to the show- as stated above the show is estimated to have cost roughly $65 million dollars now with an original budget of 50 million, with a production team of Julie Taymore (who you might remember as getting a lot of praise for her work in bringing Disney's Lion King's artistic direction- and who would ultimately leave the show- but retains the position of director), and first time musical composers- Bono and the Edge of U2.

The show is a mixture of musical, circus and studio experience. The musical comes through the songs, the circus through some of the quite beautiful acrobatics and stunts and the studio experience links to the interaction with the audience by having Spider-Man swing out over them, and fight a 'flying' Green Goblin. To undertake all of things within one show obviously makes this show quite different to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson that I reviewed before, and explores the possibilities of stage shows.

The GFC has reduced the spending on luxuries in America- perhaps we should have a more theatre/musical creating centre in Australia, so each show that opens up there is usually tied into a recognisable or marketable commodity and are trying to deliver as much to audiences as possible. Spider-Man has also not been helped by the vast amount of injuries related to the cast members- mostly stunt people - which has added to the cost and delays to the show- but most big musicals have accidents- for instance a member of Lord of Rings had there leg caught in some moving aspects of the stage, and an actor playing Elphba from Wicked had an accident with the trapdoor during the melting scene, however Spider-Man's have taken a more public form.

Here is link to Niel Patrick Harris at the Tony's making jokes about mostly the accidents.
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQIVxqSa4qQ&feature=related">

When I was looking and listening to this show and thinking how I could review it, I came up with two different comparisons that I kept coming back to. Comparing it to a show that had a similar mixture of elements in the stage version of 'The Lord of the Rings' (yes, you read that right), and the other was comparing the show to works from another rocker who has branched into musical theatre composition Elton John.

Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man

Both shows are spectacles- with a large visual aspect that is lost when the only way to connect to the show is the soundtrack. Each had circus like aspects where we have performers dangling from cloth and they are able to crawl up and slide down over the stage- similar to some aspects of Cirque du Soleil. Lord of the Rings had a stage that would move and change according to where they were in the show, Spider-man has the line-work (OK, a lot of line-work) and the interesting visual illusions and technology. The visual tricks and the same idea to make the show spectacles were one aspect that joined them together, and the other was the non-musical score.

Non-musical in the sense that they are not what you would expect from a musical. If you were to compare the score of these shows to the 'Golden Age' of Broadway shows such as Guys and Dolls and basically anything from Rogers and Hammerstein you would be left a little confused, and wondering why?

The Lord of the Rings was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber's protege of sorts- A. R. Rahman with the help of Finnish band, Värttinä. Rahman worked with Webber on Bombay Dreams and won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards for his score on the film Slumdog Millionaire. So in accordance with this background the film has sort of the big emotional film score type feeling.

It sounds like a feat of Celtic music with a spice of Indian mysticism (http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href="> for a peak), to which I felt aided in creating a unique score, with some extraordinary chorus numbers and hauntingly beautiful solos from Laura Michelle Kelly (who plaid Galadriel- you might remember her as the UK Mary Poppins, or as the Johnny Depp's wife in Sweeney Todd). There are lots of drums and usage of the Elvish language to create something unique, but however vastly different. The show had its critics and did not last in Toronto very long- there is actually an amusing clip with Nathan Lane trying to show how to make Lord of The Rings more like a normal Broadway show- href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPDoNJqJgTg">
It was rewritten and shortened before it went to London, where its cost and unusual style caused it to close after a year. However there are still fans on the Internet calling for it to be filmed for prosperity- but us theatre fans always say that.

Spider-Man has a similar unusual style- with rock songs that are interesting by themselves- but just like the first time I listened to Jonathan Larson's 'Tick Tick Boom', you cannot get the story of the show from listening to the musical, and for those who cannot see the show it does grate somewhat.

The music does have the feeling of U2 hinting at some of their great past works, and at other sections through the guitar solos linking two sections of songs to a little indulgence. Some of the more harsh critics have called the soundtrack the c'list of a U2 Album, but perhaps like me the music will grow after a few repeated sessions.

U2 And Elton John

Sometimes the songs in Spider-Man feel a little overproduced- and you know that compared to other albums that their voices have been altered, and this takes away some of the essential human/emotional connection that draws me to musical soundtracks because I know that this is what the person sounds like- there is less editing (this is probably wrong, but I like to think if someone can fill a theatre with their voice that they can sink into a microphone in a studio). This is not to say that some of the songs from Spider-Man do not have any emotional impact, some are just lost in 'loudness'- which a lot of rock is doing nowadays.

This is in comparison to Elton John's music which seem to be able to grasp emotionality a little easier. Elton's work on Billy Elliot, Lion King and Aida have all been successful and have been able to take the rock touches of his style and marriage them with the Broadway style of song. This is not to say that every show that Elton touches is an instant success- for example does anyone recall- Lestat? I liked some of the songs from this show, but I can see where it at times over-indulged in certain styles- namely opera.

Spider-Man might be better to see now, because we are currently in Version 2- I think. Which is the rewrite that had to occur after Taymore left the show, it is supposedly more clear now, but it is missing some of the boundary pushing of Taymore's original.

CAST
One of the first things you will notice from listening to Spider-Man is that Reeve Carney (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) sounds very similar to Bono- I'm not sure if this was a creative choice, but OK. He and his band the Carneys opened for a U2 show sometime in 2008 and I am assuming this lead to him being considered for the role.
- Also a plus; he does not sing with the mask- Nice call Taymore because that would have been unnecessary and made the audience laugh. He is not a name that I had heard of before- but he has a lot of songs, and is being used heavily in the marketing of the show- just type his name and find videos galore- some even with Bono and the Edge.

But the more interesting member of the show for me would be the talented Jennifer Damiano. Name should ring a bell for fans of the sleeper-hit Next to Normal, as she originated the role of the angsty daughter Natalie Goodman (a role for which she was nominated for a Tony), also for Glee fans she was an understudy for Lea Michele for the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening. She plays Mary Jane, and she brings a strong soft voice, to bring joy to her duets with Carney. She is sadly under utilised, and I find myself mostly listening to songs that feature her...in short I like Jennifer Damiano.

It does help that she looks like this and has a voice like that.

The Green Goblin, Patrick Page features in a limited amount of songs, and is heavily edited, which makes his song 'Freaks like me' very annoying to my ears. Which is a shame because according to other reviews he has been a highlight of the show, unfortunately it does not come through on the soundtrack.

It is also a shame that the album is so short, and that all the songs from the show are not included- I guess it is for the CD capacity or so that the twists of the show are not given away- but I felt that if they had included all the songs, that perhaps the listening experience- especially trying to understand the story would be easier. Maybe that will be a future release- a deluxe album.

So in conclusion the show, loses something without the visual umph, and quite a few people will not like it upon their first hearing. However after repeated sessions I have enjoyed some songs so much that I have placed them on my ever increasing mp3 player playlist. So in short- give it a chance if you are willing to experiment.

SONGS TO SUGGEST;

Rise Above 1 and 2, are probably the best songs on the CD, and capture the best elements of the show. I am actually quite glad that Rise Above 1 with Bono and the Edge has been the song performed on the TV Circuit, as it is engaging with a nice message that ties into the motto of Spider-Man- 'With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility'. Rise Above 2, reminds me of Lothlorien from the Lord of the Rings Musical, that is more powerful than 1, because of the chorus- I like chorus numbers- the force of all the voice I guess.

No More, is a song that builds itself up and is probably the song that best explains our two romantic leads somewhat- by showcasing their troubled lives, and because of this as well as having the two leads causes the song to stand out.

DIY World has a simple melody, but it uses it very well, and with the excellent use of the cast it is able to build and drop, and then build again taking the listener on a journey. It explains the genetic engineering that ties into the fateful spider.

If you like one-sided love songs, there is the haunting 'If the World should end' sung by Jennifer. I like the song, however it is slower than the majority of the rest of the show, and since it is a solo it feels a little out of place on the album. Besides the benefits of the song, I concede that it probably was not the correct song to bring to this years Tony Awards. If you watch the Tony Presentation and the songs performed by the other shows- mostly group chorus numbers with a dance portion, you will see how a solo love ballad which takes place sitting that it highlights how different this musical is.

Honorary Mention
Pull the Trigger- when Osborn (The Goblin- keep up) starts to think that Spider-Man might have taken his research, and the Military starts to push him to accelerate his research. I like the development of Osborn in the song, and the music is some of the less jarring when the chorus is singing, however it does have a guitar solo aspect to it that just seems like filler to me. That is why it is not up there, however the last minute of the song is rather catchy.

SONGS THAT ARE NOT THAT GREAT
Freaks like me, I mostly do not like this song because of the editing they have done for the Goblin's voice.

Bouncing off the walls- Repetitive and loud,for a show that delves into creative areas this seems the most redundant and reminds me of songs from Vertigo.

Thanks for reading my review- please feel free to comment or suggest albums.

Here are some links to videos
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A brief taste of some of the songs.

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Tony Awards Jennifer Damiano and Reeve Carney

http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=">
Music video of Rise Above 1

http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=">
Rise Above 1 Featured on the still continuing American Idol (seriously that's still going?)

Oh and for last minutes comparison, I am not sure if Marvel did this on purpose but compare the hairstyles of Reeve Carney and Andrew Garfield (from The Social Network, and has taken Toby Maguire's place as Spider-Man in the upcoming reboot- the Amazing Spider-Man) and tell me it was the hair that got him the part wasn't it?