{"id":11212,"date":"2019-12-10T16:55:34","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T16:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/?p=11212"},"modified":"2019-12-10T16:56:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T16:56:18","slug":"amelie-the-musical-never-captures-the-right-tone-or-tunes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/2019\/12\/10\/amelie-the-musical-never-captures-the-right-tone-or-tunes\/","title":{"rendered":"Amelie the Musical Never Captures the Right Tone (or Tunes)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Musical theatre composers always say the test for what songs make the final score is rigorous and specific: They have to serve the story. The story comes first and the music needs to help tell it, whether by driving plot or developing characters. If the best song you\u2019ve ever written doesn\u2019t serve a purpose in the story, or just doesn\u2019t fit the rest of the show, it needs to be cut. (That\u2019s how we got the Hamilton Mixtape.) (Also how we got the incredible song \u201cCome Down From That Tree\u201d which we only know from Audra McDonald\u2019s own recording of it because they wisely cut it from Once on this Island<\/em> because it didn\u2019t fit, even though it is a Best Song Ever.) I feel like most new musicals forget this test. Despite having so many productions in so many cities over the past four years, the London production of Amelie<\/em> is full, packed, of songs that don\u2019t pass the test. And the ones that do serve a purpose don\u2019t fit the rest of the show, as the inconsistent tone only becomes more and more chaotic as the night goes on. It\u2019s overall a poorly constructed show (funny since the actual physical construction\/set design is the strongest part) with a confused purpose.<\/p>\n