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/