They must've written the room number wrong...

[ceebeegee]

...I'm looking for someone named Christopher Scott
317--well, I'm sorry, unless--
Well, of course it must be, you're John's wife, are you not?

I have no idea why, but those lyrics are running through my head. I never saw that show, Miss Saigon, although I would've liked to. I preferred that show to Les Miz. The prosaic lyrics and modern instrumentation made a lot more sense in a show that takes place during the Vietnam War. (Side note: why do we call the war the Vietnam War, as opposed to the Vietnamese War?) I wouldn't mind playing Ellen, although she's a mezzo. It's all over, I'm here, there is nothing to fear/Chris, what's haunting you?/Won't you let me inside what you so want to hide?/I need you too... My favorite lyrics never made it into the show--I read in a book somewhere that originally John was supposed to be a journalist, and there was a scene between him and the Engineer:

Engineer: Well, Mr. John, how's the newspaper game?
Still writing lies?
John: Yes, it's always the same.
My editor still thinks we'll win the war
He doesn't print what I write anymore.

I love the...directness of those lyrics.

Comments

[king-duncan.livejournal.com]

I saw it with Don after Lea Salonga left, had sex, did Les Miz and a Disney movie, and then came back. She was amazing.
The show was beautiful to look at, and a lot of it was good, but the love songs were still incredibly cheesy.

The Engineer was played by an actual Asian actor (instead of, say, Jonathan Pryce), which I gave them props for. I then had to take their props back when said Engineer could not be understood. Fortunately I knew most of the lyrics already.

The modern instrumentation never bothered me in Les Miz, though I've heard from a lot of people with the same objection.

[darksheik.livejournal.com]

Had sex? Rrr?

I like the modern instrumentation in Les Miz. It's what opened my eyes to Broadway back in 1996, that it wasn't all the conventional showtunes that I thought I never much cared for.

But Miss Saigon... eh... Nice helicopter.

[king-duncan.livejournal.com]

Well, "fell in love and got married", and thus could really understand what the role was about.

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

Did you know that Hinton Battle was the original John on Broadway? I didn't know that. I know him! (Sort of. I've worked with him. Two years ago I knew him.) I love that song "Please."

[king-duncan.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that, either. Kickass.

I had no idea that's what that song was called, but I love it, too.