I feel 15 again
Jun. 7th, 2013 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chocolatepotHulu Plus is running like crap all the time lately. I can't tell if it's weather-related or if Hulu Plus just runs like crap.
Just stumbled across this collection of drawings by Henri Bendel from the early 20th century. Unfortunately not all of them have the designers written on them, and most of the ones with designers written on them don't seem to have that included in the description, so they're minimally searchable ... but it's still great.
So I've listened to the Newsies Broadway soundtrack, and I have to say that I don't think it's as good as the original. It comes down to two things: the lyric changes, and the casting. On the lyrics, most of them just come across as unnecessary changes for the sake of changes ("It takes a smile as sweet as butter/the kind that ladies can't resist/it takes an orphan with a stutter/who ain't afraid to use his fist" vs "it takes a smile that spreads like butter/the kind that turns a lady's head/it takes an orphan with a stutter/who's also blind and mute and dead" - why?), with a rare few that seem like editorializing ("A pair of new shoes with matching laces/a permanent box at the Sheepshead races/Havana cigars that cost a quarter/a Saturday night with the mayor's daughter" vs "A pair of new shoes with matching laces/a permanent box at the Sheepshead races/pastrami on rye with [something] pickles/[something about my face on wooden nickles]" - oh no, can't have kids smoking or very old-looking teenagers wanting sex!).
With the casting ... I think a big part of the reason the original has/had such a hardcore fanbase is that the actors are very good. Especially Christian Bale. I mean, duh? Of course Bale is great. There's so much more real emotion in his singing than Jeremy Whatshisname, not to mention a more realistic accent. Everyone in the movie pulls off the accent to a better extent than the Broadway cast, who force it and make it come across way too strong. And I have to say that the overall quality of the singing, the fullness of it, was better in the original.
The addition of Katherine was a good idea, though. I liked Sarah, but she was too passively not a part of the story. But she contributes to the issue, too, because her voice absolutely anti-wows me.
Just stumbled across this collection of drawings by Henri Bendel from the early 20th century. Unfortunately not all of them have the designers written on them, and most of the ones with designers written on them don't seem to have that included in the description, so they're minimally searchable ... but it's still great.
So I've listened to the Newsies Broadway soundtrack, and I have to say that I don't think it's as good as the original. It comes down to two things: the lyric changes, and the casting. On the lyrics, most of them just come across as unnecessary changes for the sake of changes ("It takes a smile as sweet as butter/the kind that ladies can't resist/it takes an orphan with a stutter/who ain't afraid to use his fist" vs "it takes a smile that spreads like butter/the kind that turns a lady's head/it takes an orphan with a stutter/who's also blind and mute and dead" - why?), with a rare few that seem like editorializing ("A pair of new shoes with matching laces/a permanent box at the Sheepshead races/Havana cigars that cost a quarter/a Saturday night with the mayor's daughter" vs "A pair of new shoes with matching laces/a permanent box at the Sheepshead races/pastrami on rye with [something] pickles/[something about my face on wooden nickles]" - oh no, can't have kids smoking or very old-looking teenagers wanting sex!).
With the casting ... I think a big part of the reason the original has/had such a hardcore fanbase is that the actors are very good. Especially Christian Bale. I mean, duh? Of course Bale is great. There's so much more real emotion in his singing than Jeremy Whatshisname, not to mention a more realistic accent. Everyone in the movie pulls off the accent to a better extent than the Broadway cast, who force it and make it come across way too strong. And I have to say that the overall quality of the singing, the fullness of it, was better in the original.
The addition of Katherine was a good idea, though. I liked Sarah, but she was too passively not a part of the story. But she contributes to the issue, too, because her voice absolutely anti-wows me.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-09 09:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-09 12:46 pm (UTC)