Typically full of extensive musical numbers with choreography, a lot movie musicals tend fall into a rut of predictability with spectacle being valued over complexity. Our current era of hyperactive media output, however, has raised the standard for film. With hundreds of new movies and TV shows released each year, viewers crave something new and captivating to watch.

The upcoming and anticipated musical release, “A Star is Born”, takes that challenge head on, bringing an classic story into the present with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper as leads.

To the non-musical theatre nerd, this film may look like a novel release with a fresh take for the genre. In fact, this is the third remake of the original 1937 film of the same name. With Judy Garland at the head, the 1954 remake was immensely successful in weaving music into the story with melodic Gershwin creations. A permed Barbra Streisand and shaggy-headed Kris Kristofferson carry the 1976 version drenched in retro camp and fashion.

The overarching plot line of the film follows the path set out by its predecessors of a musician fostering a young performer’s rise to fame, but the atmosphere of substance abuse and a fraught relationship gives the story a certain edge that the earlier films lacked.

“A Star is Born” is Cooper’s directorial debut and one of the first major big-screen roles Gaga has taken on. The challenge brought out the best in these celebrities, pushing their most innovative work. Although not released in theaters yet, the movie has received widespread critical acclaim for acting and artistic vision.

Cooper adopts a Johnny Cash like gravelly voice as Jackson Maine, an aging musician in the throws of alcohol addiction. After meeting Gaga’s character, Ally, he sees her potential and their relationship blossoms alongside her on-stage presence. The initial apprehensive nature between the two characters grows to intense connection throughout the film, showcasing something truly beautiful.

“Talent comes everywhere, but having something to say and a way to say it so people listen to it, that’s a whole other bag. And unless you get out there and you try to do it, you’ll never know.”

Almost the entire soundtrack is original music written by Gaga herself or associated writers, and is recorded live. There are a few nods to the past versions, with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” making an appearance. A vivid 34 songs round out the film, each stripping down the flashy movie musical trope to reveal something unique and vulnerable.

There have been few songs released for the movie yet, holding out until it hits theaters on October 5th. The sole track that has been released and clear favorite of the film is “Shallow”.

“Shallow” takes the listener on a journey from its solemn opening guitar chords to Gaga’s soulful build at the conclusion. The song starts with Cooper crooning the effortless melody and then passes the helm to Gaga, who belts out the chorus of the song, wielding power and emotion. With rock n’ roll and country roots in its orchestrations, the boundaries of genre in movie musicals are successfully pushed by “Shallow.”

If “Shallow” is any indication, the soundtrack is sure to be a tour de force of passion and lyrical boldness. Classic movie musicals will always have a special place in my heart for their theatricality and fun, but the exploration of narrative and musical style has me thrilled for the upcoming release of “A Star is Born”.

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There is so much diversity on the list of albums that I will be listening to. Some of which are AC/DC, Kelly Clarkson, The Sound of Music Original Broadway Soundtrack, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles (a lot of The Beatles). There’s so much that I haven’t listened to that has been influential enough to sell hundreds of millions of times, and that is sad to me. And so here comes the change that I have been longing for. I am excited for Variety Show, and I hope you enjoy. I’ll be starting with the Music Man Original Broadway Soundtrack.

The Music Man has a pretty impressive background. The original cast performed the musical 1,375 times and won five Tony awards, including Best Musical. The soundtrack won the first Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album and was on the Billboard charts for 245 weeks. For twelve of those weeks, it was #1. There have been two film adaptions (1962 and 2003) since the show stopped running on Broadway.

Overall, The Music Man is something I’ve only ever heard about in passing. I think it was referenced in Friends once, and my ten-year-old cousin has been obsessed with it for quite some time now. The numbers on the original Broadway soundtrack are stunning, but I’ve still never watched it or heard any of the music. It’s probably due to one of my long held secrets/unpopular opinions.

I honestly don’t really like musicals. If they’re just the right degree of cheesy/overrated I may love them, but only the film adaptions. I could recite every line of Grease, and the Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies, and Hairspray is the only way I can really stand Amanda Bynes anymore (“Without Love” is a banger), but I love these in spite of their classification as a musical. I probably wouldn’t even mention it if I didn’t have to write about a few more in the future (including Grease and Oklahoma!), so pretty please don’t come at me with pitchforks.

I do appreciate the musical as a work of art, however, even if I can barely sit through an entire performance. I cannot imagine the amount of work that comes with having to create the composition for the songs that melt perfectly with the plot that has to be written for the cast, along with performing it all live with an audience that will still come up with something that went wrong. The collaboration between different departments in a musical is crazy. That being said, I know that I can’t just look up “The Music Man” on Spotify and just listen to the music. I have to watch it in order to get the full effect.

Unfortunately, it isn’t 1957 anymore and even if it was I probably still couldn’t afford a Broadway ticket. There also isn’t a recording of the original Broadway performance anywhere on the internet, naturally, so I watched the 1962 film rendition of The Music Man. I did my best to pretend that I was watching it on Broadway in the 50’s.

The premise of the musical is simple enough: a traveling salesman lands himself in River City, Iowa to scam an entire town into buying musical instruments to save their soon-to-be-corrupted youth. This corruption is supposedly going to ensue because of a pool table? Anyways this salesman, “Professor” Harold Hill, lays his eyes on Marian, the town librarian and piano teacher. He tries to woo her and (spoiler alert) eventually succeeds. She convinces the town not to tar-and-feather Harold after they inevitably find out that he isn’t a musician, but a salesman. The story finally (after two and a half extremely slow hours) ends with Harold’s change of heart, leading the town’s newfound marching band into the distance.

I am so sure that The Music Man would’ve been much more spectacular on a stage in every way. The recordings from the Broadway cast were light-years better than the film soundtrack. I loved how rhythm-based the songs are from the very beginning of the musical with “Rock Island” and throughout the musical with “Pick-A-Little, Talk-A-Little” There were also a ton of brilliant harmonies in barbershop quartet style in “Sincere” and “Goodnight”. The songs (mostly) all included brass instrumental backgrounds. The main title of the movie was spectacular, and was reprised at the end of the musical with “Seventy-Six Trombones”.

The musical overall is very predictable. The handsome man and beautiful woman end up together and the people end up content in their corn-surrounded town. The musical is also (naturally) very outdated. There are several songs that have sexist themes, and at least one very racist scene. A woman must have a man to make her complete, the librarian must go out with the salesman just because he’s asking, and of course Native Americans wore those headdresses all the time. You can’t really expect anything different from a musical that was written over fifty years ago, but it still makes me cringe watching it.

The verdict: The Music Man didn’t convince me to love musicals, but I wasn’t really expecting it to. I did find an album that was extremely calming to listen to, however. The voices on the Broadway soundtrack were extremely soothing, and I would listen to them again if I also wasn’t watching the play/movie. My favorite songs were by far “Main Title/Rock Island,” “Seventy-Six Trombones,” and “Pick-A-Little, Talk-A-Little/Goodnight.”

Listen to The Music Man Original Broadway Soundtrack on YouTube here or on Spotify below.

https://open.spotify.com/user/elaineleigh/playlist/0g73lzOx9BlfiP8p5NhqHm

Variety Show is a weekly column that is in the midst of analyzing the best-selling albums from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. One of the top 10-20 albums from each decade will be reviewed, discussed and/or analyzed each week in chronological order. The column aims to draw cultural, musical, and other contextual connections between artists and albums over time, as well as go on a broad but refined journey. Next week we’ll be talking about “Hymns” by Tennessee Ernie Ford, the ninth best-selling album from the 1950’s.

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A 21st Century Ode:
An Open Letter to Music and What It’s Made Me

This is an expression of gratitude to the phenomenon we frequently take for granted. The part of our lives we do not even recognize as a phenomenon. But how else do you explain the entity that is music?

There’s a realm that exists as a bridge between mankind and mind, and that realm is music. An integral chemistry of words with the sounds that words could never be used to fully encompass.
There is emotional engagement,
there is spiritual embodiment,
there is a mental reach
that comes with any body of music.

In order for music to exist, there must be a root of its growth. This starting point is not an instrument, nor is it the human voice. It is a voice of the soul — or more plainly stated, an emotion.

You do not pick up a guitar by means of its strings, but instead by the means of an internal urge. This is the urge to make what you feel within become an entity outside of yourself.
It is the grueling stomachache of loss
that wants to manifest within a groaning bass line.
It is the airiness of first kisses
that are dying to be whipped across a drum kit.

I deeply respect this process – of giving life to something that harvests from somewhere we cannot touch, and making it available to others. And, more importantly, to ourselves. A process that reaches people.

As humans with intricate lives, we carry heavy burdens. We are taunted by our own degree of demons every day.

The amazing thing about music: artists can use the weight of a song, an album, a lyric, to lessen those burdens and diminish those demons.

You hear a song on the radio
in which every lyric has a place in your heart.
And you turn up the volume.

You’re standing in a crowd at the foot of a stage,
bellowing the words with a stranger you’ve never met.
Their eyes are closed,
and they sing it with similar fervor.
And that makes you sing a little prouder.

You are perched at the edge of the stage,
and the lights are blinding,
making the individual faces of a crowd into one shadowed sea.
But they deliver your song in one unified voice.
And you smile.

And that is just the beginning.

I feel privileged to live in a world where music exists—something with the complexity and carrying capacity of a thousand internal dimensions. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to investigate and interpret it as intimately as possible in relation to the artist and myself. Every person owes it to themselves to let their emotions and mental spirits engage in something that matters to them. In many ways, that is what music is all about.

It’s honest,
it’s pure,
it’s an intangible bridge between
what we can access
and what we haven’t quite figured out yet.
It’s a way of discovering parts of yourself
that are genuinely and authentically you.
And it’s worth every ounce of energy it takes to bring that out of yourself.

Last month’s column: Poetry straight from the journal. Read “The Entries” here.

The post Diary of a Wallflower: A 21st Century Ode to Music appeared first on KRUI Radio.

When I first saw the film, I decided to hold off on writing about it, in order to give myself some time to really digest it. Even after this, I can only say that Chi-Raq is a complicated, or perhaps more accurately a “messy” film, that still has moments of Lee’s indubitable brilliance.

The plot of Chi-Raq is a little difficult to explain. It revolves around the Spartans and the Trojans, two fictional street gangs in Chicago. Lysistrata, the girlfriend of the leader of the Spartans, organizes a sex strike between all of the women of Chicago; they will refuse to have sex until the streets are cleared of all guns and violence.

To top it off, the entire story is told in verse. That’s right. In the style of the Greek tragedy that it is based on, every piece of dialogue rhymes. Samuel L. Jackson plays a smooth-talking narrator of sorts, and the film features quite a few moments that exist outside of the story world; with characters speaking directly to the audience. I think that two particular characters, and the different aspects of the story they represent, best highlight what works and what doesn’t in the film.

The first is Jennifer Hudson’s character of Irene. Irene is a mother whose daughter is killed while playing in the streets; she is hit by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. She represents the more serious side of the film, that is committed to taking on the causes and effects of the marriage between gun violence and gang culture in America. There is a long funeral service scene, in which John Cusack plays a white reverend in a black church based on the real life Reverend Michael Pfleger, that delves deep into the political causes and potential solutions to these issues. Scenes where Irene literally cleans the blood of her own child off the streets are powerful, if borderline over-dramatic, but seem to at least treat the serious issues they discuss with respect.

On the other hand, Nick Cannon’s character of Chi-Raq represents where the film really goes wrong for me. Chi-Raq is the leader of the Spartan gang, and of all the actors in the world to use to represent a hardened gang leader, Spike Lee chose Nick Cannon…For the most part, Chi-Raq sulks about in the film missing his girlfriend. The sex strike is a ridiculous concept, and it is treated as such in the film. This story line is farcical, and serves as a sort of comedic relief for the more serious moments.

The problem is, there are more moments focused on the increasingly wacky state of the sex strikers, and many of these moments lose their likability when bogged down with constant sex jokes that quickly lose their humor. Its difficult for the viewer to jump between the seriousness of Irene’s story line to the insanity of the sex strike. It doesn’t help that the film occasionally tries to inject a more serious tone into Nick Cannon’s story, and at times it feels dangerously close to trivializing an already extremely controversial issue.

The truly awkward tension between these two story lines can most poignantly be felt in the climax. I won’t spoil it for anyone, but as you can imagine, trying to somehow marry these two widely different tones is more than the film can handle.

There are a few other bones that I have to pick with the movie, and points that many others have raised as well. First, there is the status of Spike Lee as a famous New York based film director, making a movie as an outsider about the problems of Chicago.

There’s also some issues with gender. While the film goes out of its way to try to portray Lysistrata as a hero and a powerful female character, I can’t help but feel that this point falls flat when in reality, her only power comes from her sexuality. Sure, she might wield a lot of influence: she even starts a world-wide sex strike revolution. And the idea of the sex strike comes from real historical events, in which women made a real and powerful difference in the history of their communities. And I don’t want to write those stories off. That being said, it still definitely feels like the film is unable to see much in its female characters beyond their roles as sex objects or mothers.

Lastly, there is one final idea I’d like to posit. I don’t claim this as total fact, but I don’t remember at any point seeing the phrase “A Spike Lee Joint” during the film. To my understanding, Lee only uses this phrase on films in which he feels he has total creative control, which is not a lot in his long filmography. However, he did use the phrase in the new story mode of the video game NBA 2K16, which he wrote and directed. It’s hard to believe that he was given creative control over that title, but was somehow at the mercy of the studio in such a strange film as Chi-Raq, but it’s an interesting idea nonetheless.

Click here to see if Chi-Raq is playing in a theater near you, and check out the trailer for the film below:

The post Cinema Spotlight: Chi-Raq appeared first on KRUI Radio.

American Idiot follows Johnny (Aaron Brewer), Tunny (Sage Spiker), and Will (Skyler Matthias), three angsty youths who – sick of pop-culture controlled suburban life – decide to break out of their mundane lives and take control of their destinies.

Each main character makes his own personal journey throughout the show. Johnny escapes the suburban hell he’s trapped in and finds love in the form of Whatsername (Niki-Charisse Franco), only to lose everything to drugs. Tunny deserts Johnny to join the military. He is quickly injured and spends his rehabilitation and had a great experience then falling in love with his nurse, The Extraordinary Girl (Madeline Asher). Will never escapes. He decides to stay back and care for his pregnant girlfriend, Heather (Maya Bassuk), who eventually leaves him for a cooler, newer man. At the end, the three men are reunited. Tunny with a new girlfriend, and Will and Johnny with new perspectives on life.

As a huge Green Day fan, I enjoyed the musical/rock opera. Do I wish there had been a more concrete plot? Yes. Do I wish there had been more real dialogue? Hell yes. Are either of those things at the fault of the department? Absolutely not. Every person involved in this production – whether they were part of the artistic team, cast, band, performance crew, scenery and props, electrics, costumes, or production staff – did a great job bringing this show to life.

That’s not to say there weren’t a few hiccups here and there. A shaky opening number does not a comfortable audience make. Brewer was able to get his vocal back on track relatively quickly, but an opening like that tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth – er, ears.

I could go on about the instances of pitchy vocals, the technical acting oopsies, and the missing chemistry that made me die a little on the inside, but I won’t. There was so much that impressed me about this performance that I don’t want to waste time nitpicking.

I happened to be sitting next to what I can only describe as a, “mini-stage.” Basically, it was a decently-sized piece of stage set up right at the end of the first five rows. Throughout the show, many performers hopped on and entertained from the unique space. The character frequenting the mini-stage the most was Tunny.

Major props to Sage Spiker for playing guitar and singing six feet away from me. I was staring at him and scribbling furiously in my notebook.

While I’m administering props, I’d like to acknowledge the following:

• Further props to Spiker for doing such a great job on the silks during “Extraordinary Girl”
• Also props to Madeline Asher for her work on the silks
• Super props to Brewer, Spiker, and anyone in the Company for being able to play the guitar. Such a great element of the show
• And really, props to all the guys who ended up in their underwear on stage and kept it down, especially the one who had women feeling him up the whole time. I’ve been told this isn’t difficult to do, but I remain impressed

Back to Tunny. I think one of my favorite parts of the show was being so close to Spiker while he played the guitar and sang. He was so connected to his character the whole time, and getting to watch and hear him so closely was truly a pleasure.

Franco also provided a spectacular performance of her character. Because I did a ton of research on the show beforehand, Whatsername had become my favorite character. Niki-Charisse Franco, you definitely did her justice. What a gorgeous voice, and what amazing intensity and depth she brought to the role. She was absolutely perfect. Post script props to both Franco and Brewer for their on-stage sex scene. It was a little short lived, but they played it honestly without making it too uncomfortable.

And now for my favorite, St. Jimmy (Christopher Matheson). St. Jimmy is Johnny’s drug-addict/dealer alter ego. He kick starts Johnny’s descent into addiction, and ultimately stands in the way of Johnny’s happiness with Whatsername. St. Jimmy becomes so central to Johnny’s life that, after a while, Johnny is never seen without St. Jimmy close behind.

Matheson brought so much flair to the role that I was reminded of Dr. Frankenfurter from Rocky Horror Picture Show. Matheson made the character his own and emitted a kind of sexiness in the unapologetic attitude of the character. “I’m a bitch and I’m fucking up your life, but goddammit I love what I do.” Matheson even carried this attitude through St. Jimmy’s “death” scene.

While I’m on St. Jimmy, let me just say that the giant puppet was amazing. I was in awe. For those who didn’t attend, a large-scale puppet made out of paper mache and fabric and dressed like St. Jimmy was brought out during the number (I believe – the musical numbers tended to run together) “Know Your Enemy.”

As it loomed over Johnny, coming closer and closer, enveloping him in the murky embrace of addiction…There really is no eloquent way to put this. I lost my shit. It was cool. I sat there and had my mind blown because there was giant version of the most rock ‘n’ roll musical villain I’d ever seen taking up half of the stage area. I don’t care if you hate Green Day. I don’t care if you think it’s devil music. The musical is worth seeing just for that puppet, if nothing else.

This production was fantastic. So much talent was showcased, and I’m very excited to see what these actors, artists, technicians, and production staffers do in the future.

For more information on the Theatre Department, tickets, and their upcoming shows and events, visit their website.

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