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| re: Whistle gets a second wind | |
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pidunk 09:34 pm UTC 09/09/07 |
| In reply to: | re: Whistle gets a second wind - Smeghead 11:39 am UTC 09/09/07 |
> The sad thing is that audiences are going to see this > nuetered version and thinks it is the real show. There > was nothing confusing about the London show. Taking the > show and making it family friendly and focusing on the > kids makes it a disneyfied thing killing it's soul. I > remember when the London show came out ALW said that it > was the one show of his he felt was perfect and he > wouldn't change anything. Now he says it needed > changing. One of Jim Cypherd's phrases spoken to me which I remember well, (I love some of his phrases) applies to a situation such as this..."Life changes, things change". Since its inception, it has been experiencing evolutions, as life gives evolutions. I think of WDTW like this: it has a message, that one could not make assumptions, that assumptions can easily be made; it has another message, that mass insanity is a phenomenon that can both originate from and be brought to children, with rebellions on either side. It also shows how one very unethical man can mislead a group of people to his benefit, which upsets the order of everything in their lives, and hurts all involved. The play revolves around a ruse set from a misunderstanding, which is not corrected. The absence of correction, is the very thread that pulls the elements together of the entire story. However this story gets told, and whoever would heed its messages is bound to love the music, and be enchanted by the children on the stage. If the adults are cast well, I would be glad to see it, and I do not know what could be "disneyfied" of it, when Disney themselves put the atrocity of Anastasia on the screen. I ran into one of the men of Disney's heyday yesterday and listened to him talk, and he discussed the ways that Disney was in the forties, and does not consider the Disney of today to be the same. One thing he said was, "They talk too much. In the old Disney, not the Corporate Disney, which they are now, the characters talked just as much as they had to, not all the time. I see Disney things now and say to myself, that there is much, too much talking and noise. It's nothing like Disney used to be." I paraphrase, but this is what he said and I wasn't able to catch his name, as I was eavesdropping on a conversation he was having in public with someone else. I don't like "Anastasia" because it should never have been made, and as made, has elements which are highly misleading, things that are too accurate for my comfort, mixed together in a story about swindlers accidentally stumbling on the genuine article. In it, Rasputin is depicted as a would-be murderer, when his nature was the exact opposite, and whose death brought by the success of several sequential murder attempts, is the single most important element that brought the Russian Revolution to the fore. Vilifying Rasputin in this Disney production, is horrifyingly political, and horrifying at all, because this man had a large family who must bear the burden of false information about their ancestor. Whistle Down The Wind stands on its own without such analogies, and if a cast is made which supports the story, it should be as successful and wonderful as anticipated. > > > Whistle gets a second wind > > Musical transplants popular English novel and film to > > rural Louisiana in the 1950s > > > > By EVERETT EVANS > > Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle > > > > Whistle Down the Wind at last gets a second chance with > > U.S. audiences, courtesy of the national tour that opens > > Thursday at Hobby Center, presented here by Theatre Under > > The Stars. > > > > Based on Mary Hayley Bell's 1958 novel and the 1961 film > > version that starred a teenage Hayley Mills (the author's > > daughter) and Alan Bates, Whistle centers on 16-year-old > > Swallow and her two younger siblings, who encounter an > > escaped convict and become convinced he is Christ. > > > > The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical's pre-Broadway tryout > > opened in December 1996 in Washington, D.C. Interest was > > high, as the show reunited the composer with director Hal > > Prince, who had staged two of Lloyd Webber's greatest > > successes, Evita and Phantom of the Opera, and gave the > > composer a new lyricist in rock songwriter Jim Steinman > > (Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bat Out of Hell). > > > > But while business was solid, the critical reception was > > poor. Even the creators agreed Whistle wasn't working. The > > Broadway opening was canceled. That was the last U.S. > > audiences saw of Whistle, till now. > > > > In the intervening decade, Whistle went on a long journey > > that brings it back to these shores in much-altered form, > > thanks to London impresario Bill Kenwright, best known as > > producer-director of the long-running Blood Brothers. > > > > Kenwright came on board to make revisions to a version > > that premiered in London in 1998. Reviews remained mixed, > > yet everyone agreed his treatment was more focused on the > > characters and displayed the show to better advantage than > > it had been seen. > > > > "Andrew became this production's biggest fan," Kenwright > > says. "He said, 'I can see the show now. This is the one I > > want to go to the U.S.' " > > > > "Bill has always been passionate about this story," Lloyd > > Webber says. "He gave the show simplicity, stripping it to > > the bare bones. He understands the essence of the piece, > > the delicate balance between the innocence of the girl and > > her sexual awakening." > > > > One might suspect Lloyd Webber initially was drawn to the > > property because of its religious overtones. After all, he > > made his name with Jesus Christ Superstar, and here was a > > tale whose leading man was the nearest thing, someone > > assumed to be Christ by its leading lady. > > > > "No, it wasn't that at all," Lloyd Webber replies. "I was > > drawn to its story of childhood innocence, blind faith and > > adolescent sexuality. We don't know if the Man (as he > > called in the show) is a murderer or not, but that these > > children believe he could be Jesus Christ. And as the girl > > becomes more infatuated, how far will this relationship > > go?" > > > > Early in planning the musical version, Lloyd Webber > > changed the story's locale from Lancashire, in England's > > North Country, to rural Louisiana in the late 1950s. He > > felt transplanting the tale to the Bible Belt would help > > explain the children's leap of faith in mistaking the > > fugitive. > > > > "That kind of belief that used to be found in small-town > > rural England doesn't exist anymore," Lloyd Webber says. > > "What's more, setting it in the U.S. at the time when rock > > music was first coming to backwater Louisiana would give > > it an edge and let me return to my rock roots." > > > > Another factor is that, when Whistle was planned in the > > mid-'90s, it was conceived as an original film musical; > > the U.S. setting was thought to have a broader appeal. > > > > But before the film got under way, the score was offered > > in concert form at the Chichester Festival. "That went so > > well," the composer recalls, "that there was immediate > > interest in a stage production. Hal Prince heard about it > > and wanted to direct. Because of my history with him, I > > let it proceed as a stage musical." > > > > Lloyd Webber says that was one of the problems with the > > D.C. premiere: What had been constructed as a film had not > > been sufficiently reworked for the stage. > > > > "When it opened in Washington," Kenwright recalls, "I went > > to see it, and it was a mess." > > > > That was especially painful to Kenwright, because he'd > > heard some of Lloyd Webber's music for the show early on > > and asked to be involved. "But for many reasons, at that > > point, he was already set to go with other people." > > > > Kenwright's affection for the project goes all the way > > back to the original movie. > > > > "It's one of the most famous and loved films of all time > > in Britain," Kenwright says. "I remember seeing it at 14 > > and immediately going out and buying the Decca single of > > the Wayfarers singing the movie theme, as well as the Mary > > Hayley Bell novel. I've always loved its story about the > > innocence of children." > > > > Viewing simplicity as the tale's great virtue, Kenwright > > cringed when he attended the show's 1996 world premiere, > > which he considered overproduced. > > > > "Simplicity is the greatest gift you can give an audience. > > When you have actors onstage doing good material, you > > don't need to cloud it with a lot of this and that. Seeing > > it in D.C., I was immediately thinking of what to get rid > > of, how to focus it." > > > > After the original London run, Kenwright finally got that > > chance when he took charge of the show for its first U.K. > > tour. > > > > "I sat in a room with the script and score for two days, > > with a couple of actors reading through it, and just took > > the whole thing back to basics. And we toured for a year > > to sold-out houses and standing ovations." > > > > As to the perhaps far-fetched premise of the three > > children mistaking the fugitive, Kenwright says "it's my > > job as director to make the audience accept it. And in > > this production, so far as I've seen, the audience never > > questions it." > > > > Kenwright says that, while Whistle is somewhat dark, he's > > proud it's a show children can attend. > > > > "It's about children. There are 25 kids in the show. And > > it's great that children are coming back into the theater > > to see it." > > > > Kenwright recognizes that U.S. audiences are a "different > > breed" than British audiences. And that, with a new cast > > performing it, the dynamic of the show may change somewhat > > from the version that registered so well during the U.K. > > tour and the show's return to London. > > > > "But I have never been as convinced about anything," > > Kenwright says, "as I am that U.S. audiences will take > > this show to their hearts." | |
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