Review: War Horse, A Journey Back to Childhood

Growing up in the theater during the 1980’s I was a child of the mega-musical: an era where productions used special effects to enhance shows with simplistic plots. The last show I ever saw do this to do great effect, was the first national tour of Miss Saigon. That is until I saw the current touring production of the Tony award winning Best Play, War Horse, currently performing at Washington, DC’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

War Horse’s plot is simple; a boy grows attached to his horse named Joey, Joey gets shipped off to the front during World War I and the boy joins the army to find Joey.  As one theater friend recently stated to me, “It’s the story of Shiloh retold with a horse.”

What makes War Horse so special is how the production team tells the story. Rather than using real horses (to0 tricky), stuff animals (too camp), they instead use puppets to great effect. The horse is life-size and the design is so successful that you feel the audience’s emotional attachment to Joey. For a non-speaking puppet, there was no doubt as to the kind of horse Joey would be in real life.  I took a friend who was raised on a ranch in Nebraska to see War Horse, and even she remarked that what made the show so believable was the puppet’s behavior was so realistic.

Enhancing War Horse, and adding a sense of epic urgency to the story, is the fact that much of Act I and all of Act II takes place in the battlefields of World War I. Using a combination of lights, sounds and projections, the creative team takes the audience on Joey’s journey through War without using a literal stage design and going overboard on set pieces.  This challenges the audience, in a good way, to use their imaginations to enhance Joey’s surroundings at the British and German fronts.

Watching War Horse I was transported back to my childhood when crashing chandeliers, a turntable, dancing cats and helicopters landing on stage brought the theater to life. Despite its critics, the mega-musical fueled my imagination and forever bonded me to live theater. War Horse doesn’t have a complicated story, what it has is a heart.  And for one theatergoer, it was a journey back to childhood, all thanks to a life-size horse puppet named Joey.

To learn more about War Horse, or to purchase tickets, please visit: http://warhorseonstage.com/tickets/us_tour

Debate Follow-up: Fight Night in America Round 3

“Over…finally!”

That was probably the thought running through both President Obama and Governor Romney heads the minute moderator Bob Schieffer concluded the debate.  After three presidential debates, two conventions, one vice presidential debate and with two weeks remaining until the election, it’s now up to voters to make the ultimate decision.  As per MarqueePolitics tradition, I won’t tell you who won the debate, but will comment on what you just saw.

Tonight’s foreign policy debate was probably the least substantive of all debates.  The debate lacked the tough questions on China, Libya and the national debt’s role in foreign policy. This is troublesome because while foreign policy debates are often based on hypotheticals, they provide great insight into a candidate’s thought process.

There are two weeks left until the election, and the choice now resides with voters as to what happens next.  As MarqueePolitics said after the first debate, think about the choices that are important to you and determine which candidates align with your views.

Debate Follow-up: Fight Night in America Round 2

Last Saturday, the 50^th anniversary revival of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf opened on Broadway.  And while audiences love to see a good fight on-stage, that enthusiasm doesn’t transfer to candidates running for the American presidency.  The demeanor of both President Obama and Governor Romney in tonight’s debate was unbecoming of the office they seek, and a reminder about why Americans find the electoral process so sickening.

Once again on this presidential debate night, I will not tell you who won and who lost.  That is your decision to make.  However, I find it necessary to comment on the in-your-face, you’re wrong-I’m right attitude of both candidates.  The lack of civility underscores why we are divided as a nation.  In having such confrontational attitudes, both men evaporated any chance they had of elevating themselves and winning this debate simply on style.

I enjoyed the revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf when I saw it during it’s out of town tryout at Washington, DC’s Arena Stage.  Seeing two forceful personalities go at it on stage is thrilling.  In politics, it’s just disgusting.  If I could say one thing to both presidential candidates it would be this, “For Monday’s debate, leave the ego at home, and remember, Americans are still hurting and struggling.”

Until then, see you at the stage door.

Notes from the Stage Door: Oct. 10th edition

With the weekend coming up, and the weather making it perfect to sit outside with a cup of coffee and read, it’s time for another edition of Notes from the Stage Door. These are the best articles from the last week which you might have missed:

“Inside The Campaign: The Romney Rebellion” from Politico – 10/9/2012

When the campaign is over, after the advisors have moved on and the press corps is gone, the last person left standing with the candidate is their spouse. Angry over the mismanagement of her husband’s campaign, “The Romney Rebellion” tells of Ann Romney’s frustrations with the general election campaign and how she sought a course correction with the Romney/Ryan ticket.  It’s a fascinating story behind Ann Romney’s fight to save her husband’s campaign before his first debate.

“The Contemporary Musical Theatre Songwriters You Should Know, Part One” from Playbill – 10/9/2012

Often times, I review shows from established composers such as Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber.  However, I would be doing theater fans and music lovers alike a disservice by not talking about the next generation of musical composers.  Playbill, one of the great theater websites, published a feature story on the up and coming artists sure to make their mark.  Take a moment and read the story, because your next ticket or cast album purchase maybe for their show.

“Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ Theme Will Hit #2 on Singles Chart” from Celebrity-Gossip.net – 10/11/2012

Last week I wrote about how composer John Barry helped save the James Bond franchise with his music.  While John Barry has passed on, his legacy of using music to tell Agent 007’s story lives on.  Last Friday at 12:07 am ( or 0:07 in military time), music songstress Adele released her new single expressly written for Bond #23, which comes out in four weeks.  Entitled “Skyfall” after the film, the song jammed itunes and raced to the top of the charts.  While last week’s post focused on James Bond composer John Barry, and how his music shaped the celebrated espionage franchise, it safe to say the 007 legacy is far from over.

To read the stories mentioned above, please click the hyperlinked titles.  To watch the music video for Adele’s new single ‘Skyfall’, please watch the Youtube clip below:

The Secret Agent and the Score

***Note: The Youtube clips are designed to enhance your experience, please watch them while reading this post***

How do you re-introduce one of the world’s most beloved characters, when the actor most identified with the role has jumped ship?

It’s the problem producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli faced when they started production in 1968 on the sixth James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (OHMSS).  Sean Connery, the man who created Agent 007 on film, had left the franchise and Saltzman and Broccoli were committed to showing fans that while actors may change, the character’s core doesn’t.  And so on this October 5, 2012 – International James Bond Day– a day dedicated to celebrating the film franchise’s 50^th anniversary, MarqueePolitics wants to recognize the composer who helped save James Bond.

Music has always been an essential element to the James Bond films.  Regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the movies, you’ve at least heard the theme song and/or title songs.  One of the franchises creative stalwarts was Oscar-winning composer John Barry, who scored 12 Bond films.  For OHMSS Barry needed to not only create a sound for the new Bond (George Lazenby) but also use the film’s score to show that this was still the martini drinking, Aston Martin driving, Walther PPK carrying James Bond.

To introduce Lazenby as Bond, Barry began by re-scoring the legendary gun barrel opening.  This means the overall theme doesn’t change; Barry just modified the way it sounded by adding a synthesizer.   For the film’s title sequence, Barry decided to return to previous Bond movies Dr. No and From Russia with Love, by featuring an action theme rather than a title song.  The theme also entitled “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” not only incorporates the synthesizer from the opening, but takes a cue from the movie’s Swiss Alps setting by featuring numerous alpine horns.  Please watch the Youtube clip below to watch Barry’s work.

The result was not only the best score in the James Bond franchise’s 50 year history, but also a signal to fans that Agent 007 was indeed back, and reporting for duty.   By using the Bond theme and tweaking it a little, the sound reinforced a continuity of character while allowing an actor the freedom to define the role.  It was the technique Barry would employ to introduce the next two actors to play 007, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton.

For those not old enough to have seen OHMSS in theaters, it’s hard to remember the task producers faced by introducing a new Bond after Connery.  Bond was, and remains, an extremely valuable franchise, and the actor who portrays 007 is crucial.  While music is usually used to tell stories, in this case it saved one of the cinema’s greatest heroes.  Composer John Barry may not have been a secret agent, but he was the man who saved James Bond.

To listen to the music of James Bond please check: Best of James Bond 50th Anniversary 2 CD Set, available online at Amazon.com.

Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond movie will be released in the United States on November 9th.  To learn more, please visit: http://www.skyfall-movie.com/site/

Debate Follow-up: Fight Night in America

MarqueePolitics watched the presidential debate while sipping a dirty martini.  I will not use this post to tell you who won and who lost.  The “horse race” aspect of politics is best left to the characters on cable television.  What I will do, is help you to make sense of the madness.

Watching a presidential debate is a lot like seeing a Broadway show for the first time.  You have a general idea about what to expect, but there are still details and questions you want to hear addressed.  So if you’re still digesting the debate and pondering who to vote for, ask yourself the following questions:

• What issue is most important to you in this upcoming election and what makes this issue so consequential in your life?
• What other topics matter most to you as a voter?
• On those topics, what would you like to see happen?
• Did any candidate address those topics during the debate and if so how did you feel about their response?

The post-debate spin has only begun, but only you can answer the questions above.  Keep in mind that there are still two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, so if something you care about wasn’t mentioned, stay tuned.  Below is the debate schedule.  For now, MarqueePolitics, is turning off the television spin rooms, washing the martini glass and heading to bed.

October 11^th at 9 p.m. EST – Vice Presidential Debate

October 16^th at 9 p.m. EST – Presidential Debate (Townhall on foreign and domestic politics)

October 22^nd at 9 p.m. EST – Presidential Debate (Foreign Policy Debate)

Tis the Season for Nightmares….

I love fall for many reasons, but none more so than because it’s the perfect season to watch one of my favorite movie musicals The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Set in the mythical worlds of Halloween Town and Christmas Town, The Nightmare Before Christmas is the most unconventional Disney musical of all-time and yet it’s cleverly written, with spectacular visuals, wonderful music and the most unforgettable characters.

Every day the citizens of Halloween Team, led by the “Pumpkin King” Jack Skelton, focus on creating the scariest Halloween ever.  Yet after years of screams, Jack gets bored and laments that he longs for more.  One Halloween night, Jack takes a stroll through the cemetery and stumbles upon the world of Christmas Town, ruled by Santa Claus.  Enthralled by this new holiday, Jack plans for the citizens of Halloween Town to abandon Halloween and take up Christmas!

The Nightmare Before Christmas was the result of a partnership between Walt Disney Pictures and Tim Burton.  Originally developed as a television special, The Nightmare Before Christmas, soon evolved into a movie musical.  Burton commissioned his composer-friend Danny Elfman to write several songs for the movie before even finishing the script.

The score in The Nightmare Before Christmas is fantastic in the way that it mixes the ever familiar sounds of Halloween and Christmas while maintaining their distinct identities.  Completing the score are songs which enhance each characters emotional appeal, while always progressing the film forward.  My personal favorite, “Jack’s Lament” does a great job at making such a fictitious character’s emotions seem so real and human.  See the youtube link below for a clip of “Jack’s Lament,” the song starts at 57 seconds.

What adds to Nightmare’s charm is its design.  Unlike prior Disney musicals, the movie is shot using stop-motion animation.  This means that each scene in the movie is shot frame by frame, a painstaking process if ever there was one.  The Nightmare Before Christmas had a crew of 120 workers, using 20 sound stages and taking more than 109,440 frames for the movie.   It should also be noted that movie is only 75 minutes, short when compared to most musicals which are two hours in length.

I remember first seeing the movie in theaters when I was seven, and can recall the sense of awe with the film’s visuals.  These were not drawn-out cartoon characters with the breathtakingly beautiful princess’ and the ripped always-wins-in-the-end hunk.  No, The Nightmare Before Christmas characters were real to me, even if their origins were based in Halloween mythology.  It takes real genius to make characters who are often portrayed as scary to seem approachable and friendly.

Ironically when The Nightmare Before Christmas was released it was deemed ‘too scary for children,’ and Disney choose to have the movie distributed by Touchstone Pictures.  The movie has always been seen as Disney’s bastard-stepchild musical, even though it was big hit.  As the years have gone by The Nightmare Before Christmas has become more accepted by Disney, and even more beloved by its fans.  To this day, when the days grow shorter, and the temperature cooler, I know it’s time to relive the nightmare.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is available anywhere movies are sold.