Dated Musicals

[ceebeegee]

I was reading on ATC about the musical Silk Stockings, Cole Porter's last musical. It's considered problematical to revive, even though it has a terrific score, because it takes place during the Cold War (it's based on the movie Ninotchka) and the plot (and jokes) are seen as pretty dated. The same thing is said about Chess, a great favorite of mine--fantastic score but the plot is said to date it.

Now here is something to ponder--South Pacific came out a few years after World War II had ended. Why hasn't that show ever been seen as dated? After World War II ended, American culture went full-bore ahead--expansion into the suburbs, the rise of consumerist culture, the highly structured couture designs on the post-War era, the baby boom--it seems they wanted to put the past behind them and not remember this truly terrible war that had decimated their youth. (Although America, the psychological toll of Pearl Harbor notwithstanding, wasn't hit nearly as hard as Europe, especially Russia. Russia was SLAMMED. Read about the sieges of Stalingrad and Leningrad sometime--Leningrad went on for over TWO YEARS. And the pathetic death of little Tanya Savicheva--"only Tanya is left." Russia was hit so hard.) Anway, you'd think America would want to forget World War II--so why was South Pacific so successful? Why has it never been considered dated?

I wonder if it has something to do with our too-soon involvement in the Korea War--such a dreary war, not even a war, a police action, with none of the romance of World War II, the "Good War," where we clearly understood what we were fighting and why. We were conspicuously triumphant in Word War II, whereas the Cold War just sort of collapsed.

Comments

[king-duncan.livejournal.com]

Maybe because South Pacific was post-war?
Silk Stockings and Chess both came out mid-cold war, as "current event" stories with the expectation that it would continue indefinitely. Chess, of course, attempted to continue being au courant even as the world was rewriting the plot around them- I saw a touring company in 1990-something (with Carolee Carmello as Florence) where they'd attempted to incorporate the world changes into the already shaky libretto.
And post-cold war, there's this politically correct sense that we shouldn't be making fun of Russia anymore now that we're no longer warring coldly.

...actually, maybe the problem is just that the books of Chess and Silk Stockings are not as good as the music, which is not the case with South Pacific.

[dry-2olives.livejournal.com]

I think people are more willing to accept musical drama than musical comedy as being timeless. I think Silk Stockings has a very good musical comedy book with some terrific gags. I think it has a better book than score. The ballads especially lack the Porter finesse. Chess is harder to figure out because it gets rewritten with just about every major revival. I didn't care much for the London album of Chess but I really liked it on Broadway. But I think the Broadway production failed because it was so different from the London production and alienated the already established fan base.

[dry-2olives.livejournal.com]

Also, keep in mind that South Pacific was slightly, but significantly, rewritten for the Broadway revival.

[wonderpanther.livejournal.com]

Cabaret is also very dated historically, but still incredibly impactful today. The last moment in the last revival was astounding to me.

I do not have a theory as to why some shows stand the test of time. I did read an article about Chicago and how it was considered too dark when it came out but it really succeeded in the revival post-OJ because there was a realization that murder trials were a circus so the show was better suited to that time.

[dry-2olives.livejournal.com]

But if the original 1966 version of Cabaret was revived on Broadway instead of the revised version it might not have been as successful. At least the authors were alive to approve of the changes (unlike the current South Pacific)but when discussing how musicals get "dated" the fact that the people who own the rights frequently give permission for the work to be changed is an important factor to consider.

Chicago is an interesting matter. Cynicism was definitely not in style in the mid-70's, with A Chorus Line & Annie being the huge hits of the day. Chicago was doing decently at the box office, but when Gwen Verdon was injured, Liza Minnelli was rushed in to take her place until she recovered. Minnelli wasn't given time to work with Fosse on acting choices and establishing the dark subtext, so when she played Roxie is was a surface performance of entertainment and warmth. 70s audiences liked the show more that way and even after Minnelli left that positive word of mouth helped it run.

Yes, the post-OJ thinking has certainly helped the Chicago revival run, but also this revival replaces Fosse's Brectian vulgarity with lean, mean sex appeal. It's a less complicated interpretation of the material that lures you in with its attractiveness instead of flaunting its social commentary in your face. Chita Rivera and Gewn Verdon were playing two women who spent their lives using their sex appeal to get what they wanted, but now face the reality that they're becoming too old for that game to work. That is way more interesting than casting the roles with sexy young stars, but I don't know if you'd get a ten-year run out of it.