Klarinet Archive - Posting 000188.txt from 2000/09

From: AnglofMusi@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Cats
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 21:37:22 -0400

Hi! I've stayed silent a long time here, and this discussion brought me out
of my shell...I'm gonna introduce myself, my name's Sheila, I just graduated
high school, and my primary instrument is flute. I began to learn clarinet
along with my younger sister so that I might help her with it.
Anyways...enough about me, on to the discussion!

In a message dated 00-09-05 18:29:47 EDT, you write:

<< Since you have not seen "Crazy for You," you are in a very poor position to
judge the relative merits of the two shows. The dancing in "Cats" is fine,
but the lack of anything resembling a plot bothers me. The script of
"Crazy for You" is brilliant! And George and Ira Gershwin beat Andrew
Lloyd Weber and T.S. Elliott anyday. There is also plenty of action for
the clarinet/sax/flute players in the pit! >>

I've seen both, and in my humble opinion, both are wonderful in different
aspects. The lack of a strong plot in Cats doesn't bother me much, knowing
that it was simply based off a series of poems. Besides, there is some
semblence of a plot thrown in there. Mostly though, I appreciate it for the
music and the dancing (living in a family with a background in dance). Crazy
For You on the other hand, has a great plot, great music, and I agree, it's
brilliant! George Gershwin never wrote a bad piece of music, and Ira was a
fantastic lyricist, the story is wonderful, I just can't say enough about it,
so I won't gush on and bore you all with the opinions of a 17 year old
flutist!

>> The video of "Cats" is already available.
>
>Oh please. Video? As if this could in any way approximate the experience
>of seeing it live. There's no comparison. I'll certainly enjoy the video
>in a vicarious sense, reliving the pleasure of having first seen it live.
>
A poor substitute, I agree. There is something about live theater that can
bring tears to my eyes, something no video has ever done. But it can give
you a fix once in a while as you wait for the revival.>

The video is quite good, though it excludes the whole Growltiger part, and I
agree, doesn't do it justice. To see something live on the stage is an
amazing experience that I'll never get enough of.
As a side note, Cats was the first in I believe a series of 3 ALW musicals on
video. The second was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Having
done a slight bit of research, I HEAR that the 3rd musical due out is Phantom
of the Opera, to be released in a few years. Having seen this musical 3
times, twice on broadway and once in toronto, I'm completely aware that
seeing it live could NEVER replace the experience of seeing it live, but the
video could carry me between shows...for now, I live for the soundtrack (I
have recordings of 4 different casts...Original London Cast with Michael
Crawford and Sarah Brightman is still my fave), the original novel and any of
the spin-off type novels, pictures, old videos, phantom memorabilia (for my
shrine) and just about anything i can get my hands on!
Wow I think I just went off on a TOTAL tangent...Sorry to get off subject,
and thanks for listening to my crazy-broadway-PhantomPsycho'Phan' rant!

flutefully yours (yes i know this is a clarinet list!)
Sheila

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