|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Articles
|
||
|
Articles |
Everybody's Gettin' Into The ActBook, music and lyrics by Bob OstDateline: 8th January, 2004Receiving a request to review the soundtrack of a musical can seem a chore for those who are not too keen on this genre. However, avoiding the incessant dancing and bouncing around that seeing this show off-Broadway would require, concentrates the mind on the music and lyrics, which is all to the good. Bob Ost has a great sense of humour and his lyrics often sparkle with sophistication. His chosen method is to take assorted musical styles and weave his own songs around them, often to great effect. The style is revue and the subtitle of A Musical Vaudeville gives more than a clue as to the diversity of outlook. The book is not especially strong: in reality it does no more than string together a series of observations on relationships and more particularly, love and the difficulty in finding it. Plot, though is not really the primary purpose of this show. We hear pastiches of Judy Garland, Noel Coward and Bertolt Brecht amongst others, but best of all is when Ost hilariously chooses to send up Frank Sinatra and New York, New York in A Helluva State. There is also a look at the aspirational life of the party hostess in A Party in Southhampton. This is followed by possibly a post-Carpenters view of lost love, seemingly paired with it because they are badly weather affected. A word of praise is required too, for David Sabella's remarkable vocal range, as the drag queen in Valse Triste. From the hugely entertaining title song onwards, Ost picks at the neuroses of folk, and in particular show folk, with a mixture of ruthlessness and affection. Ultimately, in the show-stopping (dare one suggest Lloyd-Webberesque) Don't I Know You?, he seems to conclude that an acceptance of human imperfection is the key to achieving relative happiness. The performances are universally strong and perhaps this is no surprise, since the soundtrack has 20 Broadway performers, no fewer than six of whom have been nominated for Tony Awards. You can buy the CD from our Bookshop Articles Indices:
|
|
|
|