Hi Friends! It's hard to believe it is May already and a lot of exciting things have happened since last week, the most thrilling being the end of classes this week. All that remains of the semester is my semester review, commonly referred to as "crit", where I make a pretty display of the highlights of my academic and production work for the semester and then present/defend this to an audience of captive faculty and peers. We do this at the end of every semester in order to reflect on our previous work and set goals for the next year. If you talk for too long the head of our option will drag a chair, start coughing, use an air horn, or find some other creative way to make your session come to a dramatic finish. Every faculty and staff member in the department then has the opportunity to give you feedback on your work and suggestions for further improvement. I attest it is far more stressful than one can explain, but an enlightening experience. It's also a much appreciated opportunity to see the work of my peers, especially those in the design department. A picture of my shoes will surely be taken.
In recent news, I went to see the movie version of the Tony Award winning musical Memphis this afternoon after a failed attempt last evening where the entire theatre was sold out. I found out today that there is an ensemble member from Pittsburgh in the current Broadway production and his mother bought out the entire theatre for a party and then invited the audience back to her house for drinks. This sounds like something my mother would do so I guess I can't fault her.
I had the pleasure of seeing Memphis live this summer on Broadway and it quickly became one of my favorite contemporary musicals due it its excellent writing, character development, and high-spirited music. In New York I was able to rush in for around $30 on the day of the show. In Pittsburgh I had to pay $20 to see it in the movie theatre. At this point I contemplated why I didn't just get a $10 bus ticket and go see it live again. Regardless of the cost, I was extremely excited taking my seat and passively sat through the "backstage look" before the actual movie started where they interviewed David Bryan and Joe DiPietro. Memphis committed two cardinal and classic movie-musical sins. The first was the fascination with the closeup. Particularly in a production with such a complicated and frequently moving set, it was a touch disappointing that they continually focused on tight shots of the actors, so much of this was missed. Projections never had a hope of making it. Shot types aside, it was well edited and I never felt angry that I was missing something important on stage (other than the scenery and lighting). I'm unsure how I felt about the inclusion of the black and white processed video shots in Act II made to look like period camera shots.
The second sin was the sound. I was impressed with the "backstage look" where they played a sample of the original movie recording and then the actual movie track with the sound engineers' ability to locate voices and instruments to help give a more dimensional feel to the movie. While an expert surround design is increasingly important in movies where we need to feel enveloped in the environment, it is even more of a requirement in recordings of live performances so that we feel like we are actually sitting there in the house. My biggest criticism of the sound, actually, was that it was too good. It was clear they took the live feeds from everyone's body mics and did not include much, if any, sound from other mics. Such pure sound gave a bit of lip-syncing feel to the movie that perhaps is a product of other contemporary movie-musicals where the soundtrack isn't performed live during recording. Actors' location on stage, proximity to scenery, and interactions with each other were not reflected in their voices. As an example, when an actor runs upstage in a theatre facing the back wall, their voice takes on a different quality. When this happens in the movie their is no change in their voice. For me, at least, this seemed a bit fake. The blending was excellent and although the purity of the sound made me twitch a few times, it was not nearly as disappointing as the lack of wide shots.
These two sins aside, I would qualify this as an excellent recording and a rare opportunity to see a stage production of a musical on film that isn't in some way modified artistically for the recording. Most shows only get a one camera archival shot from the rear of the house that then gets locked away in the basement at Equity and the Lincoln Center, so this deserving show now has the opportunity to quickly and indefinitely reach an international audience. The movie will only play in theatres again on Tuesday, May 3 and I highly suggest you go (order your ticket now before the show moms do)! Click Here to find your local showtimes and locations.
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