{"id":11235,"date":"2019-12-19T17:51:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T17:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/?p=11235"},"modified":"2019-12-19T17:54:23","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T17:54:23","slug":"how-to-fix-sleepless-the-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/2019\/12\/19\/how-to-fix-sleepless-the-musical\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fix \u201cSleepless\u201d the Musical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
It\u2019s Theatre Thursday! Today\u2019s show is Sleepless, the musical based on the movie \u201cSleepless in Seattle\u201d, which ran in London this past weekend for three performances, for hilarious reasons, and will reappear in March.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n Okay, first of all, I know that you (I\u2019m assuming the entire creative team reads this site) have spent almost a decade trying to fix this show and make it happen. You\u2019ve worked really hard and even scrapped the original composers for a new team and new score, so bravo for really trying everything to make Sleepless<\/em> a success. But it\u2019s not quite there yet. Sure, I am absolutely thrilled (and shocked) to say that it was not a terrible evening of theatre, and was in fact mostly enjoyable and often quite moving. But there\u2019s still some work to do so it can be a great show, and not just a show that people go into saying \u201cokay, if it\u2019s bad, I hope it\u2019s really bad.\u201d Since you proved it\u2019s not one of those shows (the people who want that can go see the Cats movie), it needs a few alterations.<\/p>\n Second of all, I must say that as a lawyer (#surprise), I completely adore the reason why I was able to see this sneak preview premiere of Sleepless<\/em> last weekend: because of legal technicalities. The show is opening for real in the London in March, but there were three (3) surprise performances this past weekend at the Troubadour Theatre Wembley Park. Why on earth were there 3 performances 3 months before the official run? Because contractual obligations demanded that the show premiere before the end of 2019 or they would lose the rights (so I was told). This is my favorite detail.<\/p>\n So maybe you were rushing, maybe you know that some of the below must happen in order for this show to be better than not bad. But just in case, since you have 3 months, I\u2019ll share what needs to be done. And obviously this is all going to be critical, but as you know (since you read the site), nothing describes my modus operandi more than the basketball coach in Love & Basketball<\/em>: you think I\u2019d go hoarse for a player with no potential?<\/p>\n ALSO, I must commend you for the changes you made from the movie to the stage. Adaptations cannot be carbon copies, otherwise you get a Pretty Woman<\/em> <\/strong><\/span><\/a>fiasco. I was genuinely impressed with the decisions you made to make this a worthy separate version of the story.<\/p>\n Without further ado:<\/p>\n\n\n THE BAD<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I know, I know, you\u2019ve been trying for yeeeears to nail the score and you thought you finally had it. You don\u2019t. It\u2019s a fine score, and some of it can stay (e.g. the baseball song, contrary to what Falsettos<\/em> would have taught us, is solid), but it\u2019s unmemorable and too lackluster to capture the magic and romance you should be going for. And it\u2019s not fun. Too much of it fell into the Songs As Described By Buddy The Elf conundrum (\u201cit\u2019s just like talking but louder and longer and you move your voice up and down\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n And while I love Sondheim just as much as the next Person\nwith Taste, your lyricist seemed too focused on making internal rhymes than\ncapturing the meaning of songs. And the end rhymes are still haunting me:\nBrando with thunder? Calling it Washington Seattle to rhyme with battle? Eek\nand oh no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n