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| re: Hal Prince on WDTW | |
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rockfenris2005 06:24 am UTC 10/27/10 |
| In reply to: | re: Hal Prince on WDTW - rockfenris2005 06:17 am UTC 10/27/10 |
> > > > > When was Jim fired? Was that after the Washington D.C. > > > production when it didn't move on to Broadway? Or was it > > > after the West End production when Andrew Lloyd Webber > > > wanted to make it more family-oriented for the UK tour? > > > > It was when they were first putting the show together in > > the UK when Jim was living in a very expensive suite at > > The Dorchester. Although he only found out much later that > > he had been fired and then rehired without him being told. > > Ha ha. He went off to Europe without leaving any contact > > details and by the time he came back, ALW had changed his > > mind. > > Ah, yet another example of how capricious Lloyd Webber can > be. Apparently there was one moment in the rehearsals of > "Love Never Dies" where he became so angry, so insecure, > so uncertain that he threatened to shut it all down and > pay everybody off. > And of course there was the legendary outburst in the > "Phantom of the Opera" rehearsals but because the score > was so heavy to lift he had no choice but to give up in > frustration and calm himself down (It's funny that > "Phantom" was opening in the same theatre as "Jeeves". He > must have been so nervous and superstitious, and he seems > so nervous as it is.) > > He seems to have huge temper tantrums on* Why did I write in? If ALW was having temper tantrums in his shows, I would pay good money to see it. I can't imagine him being angry for some reason and it would be interesting to see what it would be like, especially with an audience. most of his shows > before they open, sometimes at the most crucial points, > but the show somehow always manages to go on. > > This doesn't surprise me. And if I couldn't find Jim, my > lyricist on my musical, I would have been pretty annoyed > too, though probably not THAT annoyed. > > Its similar to the time when ALW lost his temper and > > fired Hal Prince while they were putting Phantom together > > (although Hal knew that). Cameron Mackintosh had to go and > > beg Hal Prince to come back two weeks later. > > Didn't he fire Hal Prince because he wanted Trevor Nunn to > direct and he couldn't make up his mind? I wonder what > "Phantom" would have been like if Trevor directed. > Andrew and Trevor had originally been working on "Aspects > of Love" but Andrew wasn't happy with the music so he > recycled bits of the score he had written into "Phantom", > and suddenly "Married Man" with Trevor's lyrics became > "Music of the Night". So not only did he reuse the music > on Trevor but Hal wound up becoming the director also. > > I wonder how he must have felt. But that's show-business, > isn't it. > > > > > Because I know when Bill did the UK tour, he removed > > > possibly the finest lyric from the entire show, > > > "Annie/Charlie Christmas" which is the reason why I will > > > never see that version no matter where it travels, no > > > matter what anybody says. > > > > Bill is famous for making a fortune out of low budget > > shows. His production of Joseph in the early eighties was > > super cheep. There was one large triangle as the only > > piece of set and practically no lighting. I saw it in a > > theatre in Cambridge. But it was packed, so yes he made > > more money by being cheap. Thats why he has been able to > > afford Everton Football Club. > > > > But I really don't understand why the great ALW would give > > shows to Bill. Joseph, WDTW and now Wizard of Oz. Are > > there any others? I hear that Love Never Dies will not > > open on Broadway (is that true - have you heard anything > > about it?). So probably Bill will tour that round the > > States too. > > They need to do something about "Whistle". It can't just > be Bill's production. They have to try to fix it and > perhaps revive it at the Menier Chocolate Factory in > London. It deserves another chance. Really, the music is > quite stunning, and the lyrics of course. > > > > > I can see why Jim would have been fired at that point > > > because he wouldn't have gone along with those silly > > > changes. Poor Jim, because that's the only version of > > > "Whistle" you will ever see nowadays. And it still hasn't > > > been released to amateur/stock groups who might have been > > > able to remove some of those awful changes. > > > > You'd think it would be. > > > > > It's a shame that they only wrote the one musical together > > > (Andrew wrote two musicals with Ben Elton who is nowhere > > > near as good as Jim, in fact "We will rock you" must be > > > one of the worst musicals of all time to have ever > > > succeeded, IMHO), but they did try to develop an > > > interesting project called "Metal Philharmonic", though I > > > have never been able to find much information on this. > > > Others would know more about it, I'm sure. > > > > Elva and some of her friends hate We Will Rock You with a > > passion, mostly because of the Ben Elton book. Chris > > Renshaw (who as you know directed We Will Rock You) was > > going to direct "BOOH The Musical" but Jim fell out with > > him. Although apparently there are groups of fans who keep > > going back over and over again. A bit like the huge cult > > followings for "Tanz" and "Wicked" (except that "Tanz" and > > "Wicked" are much better shows). Why do you think they > > keep coming back for more? Is it merely the power of > > Freddie's music? > > It must be. People aren't stupid. They must put up with it > because they want to hear the Queen music in a theatrical > setting. > > > > I would love to hear more about "Metal Philharmonic". You > > can find their version of "A Kiss Is a Terrible Thing To > > Waste" from WDTW at the link below. Someone comments that > > its better than the Meat Loaf version. > > Yes, that's the recording with Kyle "Scarpia" Gordon on > vocals. He also did the vocal on the "Seize the night" > demo. It's brilliant, though I still like Meat's vocal for > some reason. > > BUT the ultimate version of this song is the stage > version. It has so many more haunting lines that didn't > make the Celebrity CD. > > | |
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