Thursday, July 21, 2016

095: Sweeney Todd (2007) - A Fairly Expected Number of Cannibal Puns


SPOILERS FOR SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET.

In this episode:
  • Apologies to Mr. Sondheim for the opening. :P
  • We discuss Sondheim's masterpiece horror musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, including the 2007 movie adaptation, the original Broadway production, and the 2005 Broadway revival.
  • How does the 2007 movie fare as an adaptation?
  • The genre discussion comes up again.
  • Craft & theory talk! Overtures, the Ballad, and the opening “number(s)” of a musical, and how they introduce the audience to world, language, form, etc. of the musical
  • Sondheim teaches "My Friends"
  • Ian loves the 2005 Broadway revival. Let him show you his thoughts on it.
    • The narrative layers in the revival
  • Denouements: where have they gone?
THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

  • Apologies for the lateness. Life happens.
  • Also apologies for all the weird car noises in the background; that’s probably on me. – Ian
  • I think what I was trying to say when talking about Anthony is that even with all the circumstances surrounding his and Johanna’s romance, you’re still rooting for them, and it’s partially because of the circumstances. Them running off together isn’t the perfect solution, but it’s certainly better than her staying with the Judge.
  • I also think that a lot of the stuff I say is in the liner notes of the 2005 revival may have actually been in articles I read at the time the show was on Broadway.
  • “Singing that violin line”? Playing. That’s what I meant.
  • UPDATE 7/25: Linked the "Sondheim teaches..." video above. Forgive me for forgetting. (...Sweeney pun?)

Music:
http://archive.org/download/AMOT095/AMOT095.mp3

Thursday, July 7, 2016

094: Evil Dead: The Musical (2006) - Candarian Demons (Ah Ooo)



Not pictured: 15 entire Black Knight's worth of fake blood.

SPOILERS FOR EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL.

In this episode:
  • Early on we talk about the particular energy and the unique complications of live shows. This is not the last time this will come up.
  • Evil Dead is the only example of a musical we'll be discussing this summer where it’s just part of a media phenomenon instead of being the primary text.
  • This is the conversation that Fio was referencing on the podcast regarding Del Toro as a new showrunner for a theoretical Twilight Zone reboot.
  • How it’s impossible for this musical to exist in a vacuum.
    • Minor point about how Ash is Bruce Campbell, he hasn’t really had a chance (nor has anyone really made the attempt) to divorce him from that.
  • Why "Do the Necronomicon" doesn’t really work.
  • We get into a brief discussion about weird things that are integral to characters that show up late in their narratives.
  • The difficulty in suspending disbelief in horror and how it contrasts with the difficulty in suspending disbelief in musicals.
THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

  • Ephemera from the notes and timestamps:
    • BLOOD WEDDING ASIDE
      • From Ian: I know you just mean “we have a long aside about Blood Wedding,” but I kind of want to read this as “BLOOD WEDDING ASIDE, THERE IS SOME CONTENT ABOUT THE EVIL DEAD MUSICAL ON THIS EPISODE, REALLY.”
    • I spent like 20 minutes last episode talking about how much I love that REPO! is “for nobody” but when talking about extreme haunted houses, I’m ranting “WHO IS THIS FOR?”
    • Fio makes an aside to NiN, drink.
    • 100% taking credit for "Ole Billy Shats"

Music:
  • "This is My Design" - Ian Doherty | SoundCloud | Bandcamp |
  • “What the Fuck Was That?” - Evil Dead: Original Broadway Cast Album | YouTube | Amazon |
  • “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons” - Evil Dead: Original Broadway Cast Album | YouTube | Amazon |
  • “We Will Never Die” - Evil Dead: Original Broadway Cast Album | YouTube | Amazon |

http://archive.org/download/AMOT094/AMOT094.mp3