It has been almost a
month since my last post. Life got crazy, and honestly I wasn’t feeling super
inspired. I was listening to Hamilton A LOT, and a lot of other shows that I
like to listen to kind of fell by the wayside, which is bound to happen from
time to time, I suppose
Luckily, I haven't been
hard up for listening delights due to my vocal ensemble hitting rehearsals
really hard in preparation for our next main stage show, Encore Vocal Ensemble of San Diego brings you The Murder, Mystery, Music Show!. We are really digging into some stuff that I already love: Sweeney Todd,
Jekyll & Hyde, Young Frankenstein, and The Full Monty.
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| Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett, the maker of meat pies, in Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd." |
Really trying to bring
some light hearted fun to some dark subjects, like murder and fear. Also some
stuff that we knew would make the fans say “I love that show!”: The Pajama
Game, The Wiz, and of course including the six merry Murderesses of the Cook
County Jail from Chicago
I have found an
unexpected treasure in a piece that wasn't written for a musical, and also has
an interesting history. The Sound of Silence had a lot of crazy ups and downs,
and has really settled into the pop culture mindset with its inclusion in the
1967 film the Graduate. I had only been aware of this song in my life. I don't
think I had ever intentionally listened to this song until we had picked it for
our fall show. It is so beautiful, and it has such poetry to it. I just love
it. I’m so glad to be exposed to this piece of music.
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| from the 2004 production of “Assassins” |
In the planning process
for this show we were looking into a lot of music that didn't quite make it
into the show, but it was fun to think about shows that deal with dark ideas
like crime, panic, and distress. From the true life storylines that run through
Assassin’s (I was hoping for Everybody’s Got the Right) and the animated cloud of
pollution singing “Toxic Love” from Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, because who
doesn't like to think about the rainforest being destroyed? thank you 90’s
children’s movies!
I really enjoyed
thinking about these songs again. It was so much fun! One of the things that’s
so great about musical theatre, and theatre in general in the idea of talking
about (or better yet, singing about) topics that might not be appropriate in an
everyday conversation. I would love to engage an entire courtroom in the matter
of whether or not someone is Gay or European, and i think the world would be a
much better place if we could all sing about how we are “Steppin to the Bad Side”
and have every join us in a dance!
For goodness sake, here’s a TL;DR for all my super busy friends, heading into the holiday season. Encore’s Show is on November 21 & 22 and you should come see it
