I don't know about you, but the idea of someone imitating Prince and doing his songs just does not do it for me.

Frankly, I can't see ANYONE playing Prince.

Y'all? Are you excited to check out the bound-for-Broadway musical?

Nope, I've never been into musical theater in general and even a Prince-themed musical isn't moving the needle for me. Even if I was interested, I'm sure ticket prices will be outrageous.

I just want the damn estate to release more of the man's unreleased music. That's all I'm asking for. I know the estate has to pay the bills somehow but it seems like the music is the last thing they care about.

peedub said:

databank said:

peedub said:

I wouldn't watch out my window if they performed it in my back yard.

Same

databank said:

peedub said:

I wouldn't watch out my window if they performed it in my back yard.

Same

That makes four of us.

peedub said:

I wouldn't watch out my window if they performed it in my back yard.

Me either. But I would call the cops to come remove them.

No

djThunderfunk said:

I would. Theatre is magic, and I didn't hear or see y'all throwing up over the MJ musical or anything. Or were you? Must've missed it.

Jukebox musicals are very popular right now from Carol King, Tina Turner, Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, etc. Why not make one about Prince? It's good for business.

No, Purple Rain is too pedestrain. I'm sure others will enjoy it. I cringe thinking about it. I would be more interested in seeing a musical Prince himself had worked on (Come).

maybe.

I'll have to wait and see how it turns out.

TrivialPursuit said:

peedub said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I would. Theatre is magic, and I didn't hear or see y'all throwing up over the MJ musical or anything. Or were you? Must've missed it.

Jukebox musicals are very popular right now from Carol King, Tina Turner, Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, etc. Why not make one about Prince? It's good for business.

Lovesexy napkin rings might be good business...doesn't mean I gotta support, enjoy, approve of or pay for product that isn't music that I've never heard before.

Exactly. As I said earlier in the thread, I know that the estate has to make money and keep the lights on somehow, hence this musical. The problem is that they aren't making any real attempt to capitalize on unreleased music, which is all that most Prince fans really want. Everything else should be secondary to the music.

Once the theater performance becomes such a big popular hit that it brokers the producers a deal to air it on a network or public television program, I would tune in 2C it.

I'd rather be up for a 'Graffiti Bridge' stage adaption.

Seriously, that was taylor made for Broadway!

TrivialPursuit said:

I would. Theatre is magic, and I didn't hear or see y'all throwing up over the MJ musical or anything. Or were you? Must've missed it.

Jukebox musicals are very popular right now from Carol King, Tina Turner, Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, etc. Why not make one about Prince? It's good for business.

No dis intended to people who dig'em, but TBH, I consider musicals to be an archaic form of art that somehow made its way through modernity.

.

Musicals remind me of those old Star Trek: The Original Series episodes when Kirk and co. end-up being welcomed on some new planet and they're given fruits while some alien plays the harp or something, and they're completely delighted: when I rewatched TOS some years back, I remember thinking there's no way anyone would find fruits and a harp entertaining in the 23rd century (or today, for that matter), and that however visionary ST may have been, those scenes betrayed the fact that the show's creators were men who'd grown-up in simpler times, when it didn't take much to entertain people.

.

Rogers: The Musical pretty much summarized my idea of how absurd this artform is: https://www.youtube.com/w...nel=CMedia

I'm looking forward to it. There is no greater form of live entertainment than theater, IMHO. If they create a great stage production and have great performers, the musical could be great. Imagine the pub Prince would get if the musical garners attention like that of Tina or MJ The Musical -- and possibly even win a Tony award. When these musicals are good (or very popular, at least) they do morning show circuits and national, even international touring. I saw MJ The Musical recently and the story wasn't spectacular, but the performers were really good. (Spoiler: no one sounded even close to Michael Jackson, but the show was pretty good, and very well-received by the audience.)

databank said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I would. Theatre is magic, and I didn't hear or see y'all throwing up over the MJ musical or anything. Or were you? Must've missed it.

Jukebox musicals are very popular right now from Carol King, Tina Turner, Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, etc. Why not make one about Prince? It's good for business.

No dis intended to people who dig'em, but TBH, I consider musicals to be an archaic form of art that somehow made its way through modernity.

.

Musicals remind me of those old Star Trek: The Original Series episodes when Kirk and co. end-up being welcomed on some new planet and they're given fruits while some alien plays the harp or something, and they're completely delighted: when I rewatched TOS some years back, I remember thinking there's no way anyone would find fruits and a harp entertaining in the 23rd century (or today, for that matter), and that however visionary ST may have been, those scenes betrayed the fact that the show's creators were men who'd grown-up in simpler times, when it didn't take much to entertain people.

.

Rogers: The Musical pretty much summarized my idea of how absurd this artform is: https://www.youtube.com/w...nel=CMedia

Rodgers: The Musical is pretty funny. I remember that from the Marvel Hawkeye spin-off.

If this is your experience with theater musicals, though, you're missing out.

Performing in theater is entertainment without a net. No do-overs, no cuts, no lipsynching, no CGI. Either you can sing or you can't. Either you can dance or you can't. Either you can act or you can't. And do ALL THREE, AT THE SAME TIME, in front of a packed house every night or pack up your production.

I have seen some GREAT theater productions. Some musicals, some not, but movie counterparts sometimes pale in comparison. Musicals aren't always the happy go-lucky campy stuff. Some are very serious music with very serious acting and subject matter.

The best that I've seen that come to mind are:
Ragtime

Miss Saigon

Lady Day at Emerson's (Billie Holiday)

Newsies

Mary Poppins

Ain't Too Proud to Beg (Temptations)


Any dis to musicals in general falls on deaf ears to me, especially when so many times I've seen people converted after having seen a great one. "I didn't know it would be like THIS."

Silver lining -- the less people there, the better seat I can get! 😁

pdiddy2011 said:

databank said:

No dis intended to people who dig'em, but TBH, I consider musicals to be an archaic form of art that somehow made its way through modernity.

.

Musicals remind me of those old Star Trek: The Original Series episodes when Kirk and co. end-up being welcomed on some new planet and they're given fruits while some alien plays the harp or something, and they're completely delighted: when I rewatched TOS some years back, I remember thinking there's no way anyone would find fruits and a harp entertaining in the 23rd century (or today, for that matter), and that however visionary ST may have been, those scenes betrayed the fact that the show's creators were men who'd grown-up in simpler times, when it didn't take much to entertain people.

.

Rogers: The Musical pretty much summarized my idea of how absurd this artform is: https://www.youtube.com/w...nel=CMedia

Rodgers: The Musical is pretty funny. I remember that from the Marvel Hawkeye spin-off.

If this is your experience with theater musicals, though, you're missing out.

Performing in theater is entertainment without a net. No do-overs, no cuts, no lipsynching, no CGI. Either you can sing or you can't. Either you can dance or you can't. Either you can act or you can't. And do ALL THREE, AT THE SAME TIME, in front of a packed house every night or pack up your production.

I have seen some GREAT theater productions. Some musicals, some not, but movie counterparts sometimes pale in comparison. Musicals aren't always the happy go-lucky campy stuff. Some are very serious music with very serious acting and subject matter.

The best that I've seen that come to mind are:
Ragtime

Miss Saigon

Lady Day at Emerson's (Billie Holiday)

Newsies

Mary Poppins

Ain't Too Proud to Beg (Temptations)


Any dis to musicals in general falls on deaf ears to me, especially when so many times I've seen people converted after having seen a great one. "I didn't know it would be like THIS."

Silver lining -- the less people there, the better seat I can get! 😁

While I haven't seen many live plays in my life, I enjoyed the few I saw tremendously, so I respect the discipline.

.

My problem with musicals is, well, that they're musicals, regardless of whether they're live onstage or in the form of a movie with special effects and/or a sophisticated direction. I never even liked the songs in Disney movies when I was a kid. I don't like operas either for the same reason, but they exist and they were important in the history of Western music, so OK, I can understand why people want to keep making and seeing those classic masterpieces, same way I can understand why one would want to watch Singing in the Rain or West Side Story. All that stuff is part of our shared heritage (as are epic poems such as Homer's Illyad and Odysseus, which I wouldn't read in the text, but I understand some people may).

.

But composing and seeing new musicals in this day and age? Nah. IDK, I guess it's just that I think singing a story makes no sense whatsoever in the 21st century. It looks like a childish and simplistic form of art to me, one that's incompatible with my conception of what sophisticated (or even not so sophisticated) storytelling should be. Either I want to hear people sing songs (as in short musical poems), or I want to see them act a story (as in a play or a film).

.

Just my vibe, of course, I don't mean to demean anyone who likes musicals, but I just don't understand the point.

[Edited 6/17/24 15:11pm]

Oh, and just to be clear: I have tremendous respect for the skills of the artists performing in musicals. Indeed anyone who can dance and/or sing and/or act deserves admiration: it's a lot of hard work. I just think their talents could be put to a better use

PJMcGee said:

I did enjoy the Tina Turner musical. The jury's still out on a Prince musical...

peedub said:

Musical or not musical, who cares? Did Prince write it? No. But Florence Foster Jenkins did, so it matters? Good business? What goddamn business are y'all in? Right...making money. To what end? Printing more purple rains? Whoop dee do. There is exactly one thing that the estate could produce that is not the physical release of unheard music that I would spend money on, and that is a McFarlane toys sculpt of prince performing while my guitar gently weeps at the rock n roll Hall of fame induction ceremony. Prince was a musician. His business was selling songs. He spent the bulk of his career distancing himself from the purple rain era. He was a true talent and a maverick, and the estate does not respect that. They are exploiting his art, not sharing it. And this stage adaptation of his art at the peak of his commercial success, that prince would absofuckinglutely roll his eyes out the back of his head at, is exhibit one.

LOL What Prince are you looking at? He performed Purple Rain songs on just about every tour he did except The Ultimate Live Experience and maybe a couple others.

Even in the Rave Un2 The Year 2000 video where he mocked the audience saying "Some of these folks think it's 1984 up in here," yet he performed "Let's Go Crazy," "Take Me With U," "Purple Rain," and "Baby I'm A Star," not to mention The Time performing their two songs from the movie.

And you don't know what Prince would've rolled his eyes at. Do you not remember him writing songs for a stage musical long ago???