I am that girl. Odds are, if I see a revival of a musical I will know most of – if not all of – the songs.<\/p>\n
Sitting at West Side Story<\/i><\/a> last night, I not only knew every lyric, but could hum all the musical interludes as well. (My beatbox-esque execution of “Mambo” while waiting for a cab after the performance was especially inspiring.) And since the West Side Story <\/i>choreography CAN NEVER BE CHANGED thus trapping us in the late-1950s until the end of the known universe, I generally know the dance numbers as well. <\/p>\n Assuming Joe the Audience Member isn’t familiar with West Side Story <\/i>to these embarrassing extremes, chances are he would be generally aware of various aspects of the musical anyway: it’s based on Romeo and Juliet<\/i>, it’s about warring gangs, it takes place in New York City, the choreography involves snapping, and somehow, someday everyone has heard “Somewhere”, somewhere. And probably “Maria”, “I Feel Pretty” and “America” to boot. <\/p>\n Does knowing a work either intimately or remotely make for a more or less enjoyable performance experience than not knowing it at all? Or will we simply like what we’ll like, whether or not we’re already familiar with it? <\/p>\n My mom and I saw Rent<\/i> in previews the day the original cast album was released. Consequently, we had not heard any of the music going in (we didn’t have internet at home at that point), though of course we knew the plot (La Boheme<\/i>) and recognized strands of Roger’s one great song (“that doesn’t remind us of Musetta’s Waltz”<\/em>) within the first 5 minutes of the show. I also saw Spring Awakening<\/i> in previews, though thanks to the excellent A\/V content on the show’s website<\/a> had listened to a few of the songs and watched the “Bitch of Living” video. [As an aside, that album was the last physical CD I ever bought. I pre-ordered it on Amazon after seeing the show.] Spring Awakening <\/i>is based on a play by the same name by Frank Wedekind which I had neither seen nor read before going to the musical version, but presumably one could have in addition to seeing\/hearing the streaming web content. Those are two of my favorite musicals to this day, and I went in almost-cold. <\/p>\n [title of show]<\/i> was the last musical I went into knowing not one note of the music. It was the same with Curtains<\/i> before that. Both albums were available before I saw the shows, I just didn’t buy them, for no reasons in particular. Would I have enjoyed either show more if I knew the music? I loved [title of show], <\/i>so bought the album a soon as I got home to my computer, and I was “meh” on Curtains<\/i>, so never bought it. <\/p>\n But when a song comes on at a bar and you know it, the familiarity gives you a small buzz. Same with live performances by artists of any genre; you can’t not smile when a song you’ve heard and like begins from the stage. There is no doubt in my mind that the audience will be energized when the song “9 to 5” is performed in the musical 9 to 5<\/i><\/a>. The role of Emile de Becque in South Pacific<\/i> is nearly impossible to play because the actor in that part has to sell the most famous – if not the only universally-known – song in the entire work, “Some Enchanted Evening”, in the first scene of the musical. It’s all downhill from there familiar melody-wise. <\/p>\n And what if a song is so well-known as performed by one artist – Elaine Stritch singing “The Ladies Who Lunch” in Company<\/i>, for example – that any other interpretation is doomed to disappoint? That was the miracle of Jennifer Hudson in the Dreamgirls<\/i> movie; did not see it coming that someone could create a new touchstone version of “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”. Even when bands play acoustic or solo shows and you think, “well that’s not what it sounds like”; is the thought, “and I like it better”, or are you too caught-up in it sounding different? <\/p>\n