More thoughts about @GreatCometBway and @joshgroban

Spoilers -- Actually, since this whole show is based on War and Peace, which is a well known novel -- and since the whole story is in the program, I'm not sure that people should worry about spoilers, but in trying to delve into the details of this performance, I might give some -- though hopefully only in a way that will help people understand the show.

Also, since I'm quoting things I wrote elsewhere, there's some redundancy.  Sorry about that.  Not my best organized writing.

It should be remembered that this is an opera, with all dialogue in recitative.  As with opera, one can't necessarily understand the whole thing on first listening -- though perhaps the genius, Josh Groban, did.

The staging is highly complex.  With an ensemble of over 20 people running all over the theater, singing, dancing, and playing instruments simultaneously, it's hard to notice a lot of intricacies of the very complicated plot and music.

I found that the first time I went to the show I missed a lot of things. It was only in going a second time, and also listening to the sound track repeatedly that I developed a more sophisticated understanding.

The first thing is the ending.  I really didn't get it the first time.  I only got it later.  I noticed that one of my friends on FB -- a woman educated at Yale, who is a professional level harp player, and trained musical theater performer -- also didn't get it, so I wrote up the following (feeling a bit better at having missed certain points the first time)

This is what I said to her

the first time I heard that last song I didn't get it at all and I also thought it fell flat. Then I went and read the Wikipedia synopsis of War and Peace and discovered that Pierre and Natasha do actually get married at the end of the novel. 

Then I went to the show a second time and connected the last song with Dust and Ashes, where he says he wants to wake up by falling in love after being in a loveless marriage. Then it made sense. 

Also, Wikipedia explained that Pierre really does think he's dying because he's had a series of strokes, which isn't mentioned in the musical. 

Also, it took listening to the sound track several times to see what a sweet, loveable guy Pierre is. He feels terrible for having wounded Dolokhov. He feels remorse when he sees that he's frightening Anatole. He gives Anatole money to run away. Though he's angry that his wife is a slut, he seems bound and determined to forgive her, and doesn't divorce her, though surely he has grounds. He takes André's advice to forgive fallen women to heart, even though André himself does not. He also feels pity for Natasha when at first he was angry at her for hurting André. He loves everyone and gives them money, even though most of them don't deserve it, while dealing with his own depression and self loathing.

It's actually very subtle and complex, as opera is, and I missed most of the details the first time I saw it. 

A lot of the music in the show is recitative, which is inherently musically dull. To me the interesting part of the final number is the evolution of Pierre's emotions as he finds a reason to live. To me, the great genius of Josh Groban is his ability to capture emotional subtlety in his singing. 

Given the extreme complexity of the dancing in this show, it's hard to really feel the subtle emotions the first time. I hear it more when I just listen to the soundtrack.

More about Pierre's letter to André, which reveals a lot about Pierre's character, which I didn't appreciate at first:  I was amused at Pierre's numerology, for instance, but also struck at his referring to Dolokhov as a "good man."  This is the guy who is fooling around with Pierre's wife and who Pierre just shot in a duel.  Yet Pierre forgives him and is relieved that he is recovering.

So ultimately, the heroine, Natasha, goes through two bad relationships, before finding the right one.  The first is to André who reveals himself to be a very nasty fellow in his unforgiving response to Natasha's youthful impulsiveness -- really only to be expected from a young teen -- despite her always being perfectly honest with him, and doing the right thing by him in breaking off as she becomes infatuated with Anatole.  André's family also reveals itself to be cruel and dysfunctional, not at all a good place for the warm and sensitive Natasha.  The second relationship is with Anatole, who is a sex addict who would go through all manner of deception to get his fix with the beautiful Natasha.  Pierre is the right one.  He's older and fat, but he's supremely kind and really loves her, despite her foibles. Wikipedia revealed that the perfidious Hélène will die of an overdose of abortifacient so that Pierre will become available -- to yield a happy ending.  Ok -- granted this is the supreme fantasy of older, fat men, to win the affection of the most beautiful young woman over younger, healthier, and more handsome men.

Natasha's evolution is also intriguing. We see that she's emotional and impulsive, but also capable of real love in addition to being gorgeous -- unlike Hélène  She learns a great deal from her bad relationships.

Also, my friend on FB was troubled by how the music sounds.  Malloy makes very subtle use of discord.  The first time I heard it I didn't understand what he was doing either.  This is what I said about the discord and the benefit of listening to the soundtrack several times.

also listening to the soundtrack helped me see the musical meaning of the more discordant passages. For instance, the opera sounds ghastly because this is where Natasha is becoming intoxicated by the unfamiliar environment and falling under Anatole's spell. 

Also, when Pierre confronts Anatole after the attempted abduction, there is a wonderful moment of discord when Anatole asks Pierre to take back his words, so that Anatole can leave Moscow with "honor." The discord symbolizes the anger in Pierre's mind as he thinks about what Anatole has done, but realizes the expediency of apologizing if it will get Anatole out of Moscow before André returns. 

Listening to Pierre's letter to André several times gave me a lot of insight into Pierre's character. 

Also listening several times gave me a lot more appreciation of who Natasha is. When you have someone ten years older playing a teen, I think it's hard to understand how impulsive and vulnerable she is. Denée was obviously selected for her beautiful, light voice, but, still, she's not 17 or whatever Natasha is at the time. 

Listening several times really helped me hear the brilliance of several performers, especially those playing Sonya, Marya, and Hélène. The subtlety of those performances were amazing. 

Also, listening several times makes me realize that André's father was right about Natasha. She is dumb.

Another friend on FB was claiming that Oak actually sings better than Josh.  I don't think so, really, having listened to the bootleg recording on YouTube and comparing it to Josh's recording.

I realize, though, that Josh makes subtle use of tremulo to express extreme emotion -- when he's in fact on the verge of sobbing.  I suppose that a person listening for the first time might not get that. They might think that he just has too much vibrato.  It's only if you listen to more of his singing that you hear that he can sing without vibrato as well, or at least much less vibrato. It just depends on what emotion he is trying to convey.

When I listen to Oak, to my ear he conveys less range of emotions in his singing.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to see him perform.  He may be more expressive in his physical acting than Josh. I don't know.  Josh is physically awkward.

Of course, the real character of Pierre would also have been physically awkward as he has suffered a series of strokes, at least according to the wikipedia synopsis.

In any case, listening to the soundtrack made me again appreciate the multi-textured nature of Josh's singing -- something you don't necessarily hear the first time.  This is particularly evident in the last song -- when he says "and your love" in such an emotional voice.

All in all this is a very intellectual production.  It's not for the simple minded -- though I think anyone can appreciate the very complex staging and dancing.

P.S. I also think there are other aspects's of Josh's genius: in particular his skills with the piano and composing -- but when I talked about his genius above I was referring to the aspects with respect to his voice.

open letter to @joshgroban 170707

Dear Josh,
I have just seen this piece by John Oliver about the takeover of local news by Sinclair.

This has me really terrified that the fascists are controlling the media even more.

I am remembering how struck I was, when there were riots in London, that you knew at least 12 hours before the mainstream US media reported it, because, through social media, as a celebrity, you have access to instantaneous information from your many fans.  Your network was superior to that of the mainstream media.

It seems to me that celebs, like you, are in a position to gather and disseminate information that may be blocked at other avenues.

I'm not sure where I would go with this, but I hope you will keep it in mind and possibly brainstorm with other celebs about how to use this power.

--Arrow

Cast recording of Comet cc @joshgroban

I got the cast recording of "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812" ("Comet")  I saw this show twice already, and blogged about it

April 2017 viewing
October 2016 viewing

This is the very first time I have ever seen a Broadway show twice.  When I was there, one Grobanite told me she had seen it 12 times -- or maybe it was more.

It's really an amazing show and Josh is amazing in it.  I was thinking of going again on July 2 -- his last day, but I see that there are only premium seats available that day.  I guess I'll pass.

But listening to the cast album allows me to re-experience it.  Listening has also clarified the show a great deal for me.  I notice a lot of new details: subtleties of plot, exactly how each performer is using his or her voice to achieve mood, how the complex instrumental arrangements supports the plot.

I read the wikipedia excerpt of War and Peace and was surprised to see that Natasha and Pierre eventually end up together, which I didn't expect.  I've been fantasizing that maybe after the book she outlives Pierre and ends up going to look up Anatole, who I think is younger.  I want to believe that eventually he is reformed, regrets his mistakes, and really loves her.  But that's, I think, a reflection of the power of the performances, that they capture my imagination like that.

I feel Josh has learned to bring more acting into his singing, over time, with this performance. Another Grobie remarked to me that she thought he had really grown in this role.  Listening to his voice, I feel that I hear the Josh who I think I know, or at least the Josh that I hope he really is.  Pierre has become a much more lovable character than I felt he was during the previews.

There are some exceptions to the similarities of the real Josh to Pierre; Josh is thin; Josh doesn't have big hands; I don't think Josh would duel -- and, especially, I don't think the real Josh is so free at giving away his money, except to kids who need musical instruments.

Maybe people don't understand Grobanites. I believe we are people who like musical innovation and complexity, but not of the loud rock variety, more of the modern classical variety.  I just adore the way discord is used to create conflict and suspense in this musical == and also how really strange sounds are used to create mood.  I feel this is done masterfully.

I was thinking I really should go see the "Dear Evan Hanson" thing, because it won so many Tonys.  On the other hand, I looked at the Tonys performance.  Yeah, this guy act and sings well.  On the other hand, musically, this work seems pedestrian compared with "Comet." It's more like business as usual for Broadway.  I saw another song from the show, and it was of the same ilk.  The Tonys went with the more formulaic, traditional show. Bah humbug.

Do non-Grobanites understand that Josh has always been musically innovative? There is this stereotype of these goofy older fans who have crushes on him, but, IMHO, these fans are actually looking for something musically new more than younger fans are.  We've heard a lot of music in our lives.  We want intellectual stimulation.

Personally, I have never really liked most of the music that I've heard in my life.  I'm really grateful to Josh that he has led me to so much music that I do like.

The remarkable thing here is that there are so many fans who want to hear this complicated, exotic music.

Another thing I'm noticing is the rich female characters in this play.  I have had a concern about discrimination in the context of Josh's music: blog about discrimination When Josh performed in "Coffeetown," I was very critical (blog about this movie) of the character breakdown there.  The female was a love interest.  Most of the action was about the interactions between the guys. When he was in "The Hollars," (blog about this movie) there were still more male characters than female, though at least there were two female characters including one who was -- miracle of miracles -- older, though, predictably, dying.  It was nevertheless a step up from Coffee Town in that respect.  Here in "Comet," the female characters seem equal. There are lots of them.  They interact with each other in interesting ways.  I don't know if Tolstoy was really feminist, but there is much to celebrate here in the context of feminism.  There is even an older female character (Marya) who is even not dying; tho, rather predictably, she is played by a woman who seems a lot younger than the character.

Josh said he waited a long time to find the right show for him.  I was wondering, while listening to the album, whether perhaps the rich female characters had any influence on his choice -- and whether, perhaps, my blog might have influenced his thinking. Meh. Probably not. Probably just the amazing music -- and the fact that the Pierre character is well suited to his type.




Spoiler alert: Don'r read the following if you haven't seen the show

I'm also intrigued how there are plot twists that keep looking as there will be tragedy. Someone might die in a duel.  An innocent virgin might be destroyed by a cynical cad.  A heartbroken young girl might succeed in committing suicide. Yet, ultimately, they all seem to be tempests in a teapot.  I like that.

Addendum:

The wikipedia article also had some interesting points about Pierre that aren't clear from the play

First, Pierre was allegedly really dying because of a series of strokes. This brings some clarity to the song "Dust & Ashes," but the play doesn't really tell us about the string of strokes.


Second, Pierre was the bastard son of a nobleman, yet he was able to recover some inheritance from his father's estate, prior to our segment -- which is why he has so much money.  This is a difference with the law of England, which I'm more useful to reading/hearing about. In English law, the bastard son of a nobleman would not necessarily get anything in inheritance.

I'm used to the topic of bastard sons coming up in Shakespeare, where they are mostly depicted as Biller and jealous because their 1/2 sibs have so much more money, power and status.  Here Pierre is depicted as the nice guy, which is not the trope I'm usually expecting to see.

Wonder Woman and the Quixotic Quest

Spoiler alert: probably not such a great idea to read this if you haven’t seen the movie yet

The concept of a childlike faith: in this case the belief that war was a god called Ares and that if Ares could be killed war would end.

This brings up so much stuff for me.

First, the Quixotic Quest for the World Anthem, that I’ve been pushing on this blog for several years.  

Michael Jackson had a childlike faith that getting the whole world to sing together would bring us closer to peace — that people could be transformed by singing and dancing together.  He had this faith, because of what he had seen in his audience during his performances.  And, in fact, many people who were in those audiences did feel that something transformative had happened to them.  

I think he was right. I don’t know that the event that he proposed, an event where the whole world would sing and cry together, would permanently end war, but it would certainly start changing how we see each other — bringing us closer to a world where it isn’t us versus them, but only us.  As I’ve said, I feel there’s a more general action item here: creating international holidays or cultural events that we could all share, so that we could feel like one people, rather than multiple peoples.

Second, pagan gods.

I grew up in a Protestant environment.  In this environment, the idea of pagan gods was threatening.  They were violative of the first commandment.  We would be punished if we believed in them.

In the fictional world of comic books and comic book movies, Gods become superheroes or supervillains.  They have great powers but they are no different from The Hulk or Superman, at some level -- fiction.

Personally, as an eclectic universalist, I have a dislike of the mentality that people will be punished for their honest attempts to worship the divine in the best way that they knew how.  I am attracted to the Baha’i’ belief that all religions worship the same God — that any apparent differences are due to a universal human failure to understand God, not due to failings of selected groups of people to worship the correct God.  The Baha’i’s teach a God centered approach to religion that looks at the individual worshipper’s personal relationship with God.  Many religions adopt a more coercive approach, where the worshipper tries to pressure others to have the same beliefs or worship the same way -- and, moreover, believers tell those with different beliefs that God will punish them.

As I mentioned in a recent blog, I never actually became a Baha’i’, but I’m still attracted to this concept.

I was intrigued with an Internet meme that attributed the ascendancy of Donald Trump to the intervention of the Norse God, Loki, a sewer of chaos, associated with the color red.  The red of Loki was likened to the strawberry blond color of Trump’s hair.

The Nordic peoples are predominantly Protestant now.  But someone in Norse history recorded the Norse legends for posterity, so they can be remembered — unlike, for instance, the Druidic tradition, which is obscure and poorly understood, because details were kept secret.

And, because someone took the trouble to write down Norse legends, they persist.  Thor and Loki appear in movies.  Similarly Greek Gods are constantly featured in drama.  Witches, vampires, werewolves, and other monsters are also featured. 

Fundamentalists are often disturbed by such drama.  

Wonderwoman posits that Gods might die. Can Gods die? Can the memory of them be suppressed? If they are remembered can they not always be used as the metaphor for reality that they always were? What, in fact, is wrong with the concept of such metaphors?

Fundamentalists condemn Hindus, for instance, for worshipping more than one God.  Some Hindus counter that they believe in only one God, but they use these other personae to focus their minds during worship on the needs they are trying to address at the time -- as a sort of metaphor.  

So, similarly, the idea of Donald Trump as a manifestation of Loki, has the threatening implication that such metaphors could be acceptable — that coercive monotheism is wrong.

So, ultimately, Wonder Woman’s actions and her childlike faith are moving, yet we suspect they are futile. Still, we like the metaphor.  Still, we want her to keep fighting, trying to kill Ares, all the while suspecting that he’s likely to return in another movie, even if apparently dead.

And I suspect that even if my proposed event were to occur — the annual event where the whole world cries and sings together — war will not really be gone.  Still, I think it will make war harder. 

Re-seeing The Comet 170423 cc @joshgroban

I went again to see Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.  This is absolutely the very first time that I went to see a Broadway show twice.  I just don’t do this.

There was a convention of Grobanites.  They met for lunch before the show at something called Russian Samovar.  I didn’t hear about the lunch until after its as full. I wasn’t checking my twitter enough.  

I did hear soon enough to get the last seat on the stage.  And I got to have dinner with some of the convention group after the show at Juniors on 44th.  I saw quite a few Grobies I knew both in the theater and after the show.

The previous time that i saw the show, I was in the upper balcony, quite far from the stage.  This time I was actually on the stage.  

It was an interesting contrast.  I felt, on the stage, that I was part of the show more. The performers seemed less like they were bigger than life.  They seemed more immediate, more human.  Sitting behind Josh and seeing him mostly from the back was different, as well.  I’ve seen his back before, because he does concerts in the round.  His slightly rounded shoulders, which he got from his dad, seemed very appropriate to this role.

The sound was very interesting. They use computer effects and the wave properties of sound, to project the sound right where the performers are, making the sound seem to come from them.  I didn’t notice that so much in the upper balcony, because I was far from the soloists most of the time.  On the stage, it was very noticeable.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I was hearing, because the sound seemed to come from the performers, and yet it also sounded amplified.  Later someone told me that there was something written somewhere about the special sound effects used in the show.  It is really quite remarkable.  i have a background in physics and engineering, so someday I should read up on how they achieved this effect.

The voices are all very interesting and different.  

Brittain Ashford who plays Sonya has a very unusual sounding voice.  It’s interesting, because it’s more of a folk sound, rather than a Broadway sound.  Of course, you can see her on YouTube. 

I’m clueless as to why these talented performers don’t have recording contracts.  Her song is really riveting IMHO 

She sounds like someone I’ve heard before, but I can’t figure out who.  I was just going through some YouTube videos of performers who I’ve heard before (Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, Ronnie Gilbert, Holly Near, even Grace van der Waal) and none of them were quite the same.  Can someone tell me who I’m missing here?  Probably Ronnie Gilbert was closest?

It’s intriguing that they cast a low alto to be the “good” girl and a very high tenor to be the “bad” boy.  Usually, lower voices are used for bad characters.

Lucas Steele, the “bad” boy is an extraordinary singer: incredible high notes.  He also plays violin during the show.

Yet, you can see why he’s cast as a villain.  Despite his being so handsome and having such a beautiful voice, there is something very sinister about him.  I guess he was still in character when signing autographs?  I certainly never saw him crack a smile at us.  He might have been trying to save his voice also, because he signed silently, not saying anything to anyone.

Josh by contrast was very social and chatted casually with fans.  He didn’t allow any selfies this time. I guess he now is putting a priority on autographs.  Maybe also his management wants people to pay for a meet and greet to get a selfie?  

I found the story easier to understand this second time round, because i knew what was coming.  They make a point at the beginning to say that you should consider yourself at the opera and refer to the libretto in the program to follow the action.  This time I really didn’t need to.

I got to see how they used discord in the music to correspond to discord in the plot.  This was what I found most interesting about the music, when it sounds more like modern classical and less like Broadway.  I really like the “opera” scene, where they make the opera bizarre, spooky, discordant, and ominous, because something bad is happening to Natasha in the audience during the performance — 

Josh recently called this show a “circus,” which is apt in a way.  There are all kinds of amazing things going on.  Dancing, playing instruments, varieties of costumes — and performers running all over the theater.  I couldn’t see the ones out in the audience as well from the stage. 

Sitting on the stage has the disadvantage that you’re especially not allowed to be up and about, because performers are trying to run by.  They had warned us not to be in the aisles even in the rear balcony, but they’re especially worried about that on stage.  The ushers were all asking everyone if they were sure they didn’t need to go to the bathroom before the show as it would be an hour and a half before intermission.  I did go, some didn’t, but, being one of weak bladder, it was a bit nerve-wracking knowing that I couldn’t get out of my seat without totally bollixing up the show.  It turned out not to be an issue.  I didn’t have to get up, but I was worrying about it all through the show, which detracted from enjoying the performance.  

Also the restrooms are up on the mezzanine, which is a hike from the stage.  

The line extended down the stairs almost to the stage when I went out at intermission.  They had people directing traffic throughout the line and in the bathroom, where there were 16 stalls.  They had to keep reassuring us that we would all get in.  That this happens at every intermission for them.  They must have had at least six people dedicated to managing the intermission restroom line.  The line did move fairly quickly.  Still it was an adventure.

Normally, I choose aisle seats, so I can dash out at intermission and get near the head of the restroom line.  This time I took the last seat on stage, so I wasn’t on an aisle, plus we were told to walk down the stage, rather than backstage (which was where we came in from) to get to the restroom, so I had to walk to the back of the theater, across the back, and then back up toward the front to get to the end of restroom line, which was not the shortest way at all, and made me get more toward the back of the line.

There was a handicap restroom near the stage, but it was guarded by someone who was making sure only handicapped people used it. Perhaps I should have brought a cane.

Still it all worked out.

Anyway, I do like the show, though i think it was less affecting from the stage than from the audience, because being on the stage was de-mystifying.

Now if you’ve been following this blog, you know it’s been characterized by criticizing Josh’s singing errors.  So I would not be true to myself if I failed to note that he did go nasal a couple of times during the show, though generally he sounded good — very commanding, with a great aura of gravitas.

More concerning to me was that both he and Grace McLean did some rough singing.  Now I have never been a fan of rough singing and one of the things that attracted me to Josh was that he didn’t do it. Apparently, he has found a way to do it that he feels doesn’t endanger his voice, which may or may not be true.  Still, I suspect now that he’s gotten into it he’ll be doing some rough singing in his concerts as well. That’s not going to make me a happy camper.

I *am* hoping that the reason that Josh is leaving Comet is that he’s planning on doing some touring this summer.

He does actually dance during the show.   For those of us following him for a long time, this is a bit surprising in and of itself. And, curiously, his kicks are actually getting quite high, almost shoulder level.  During the Marvin Hamlisch memorial at Lincoln Center he had asked to be excused from high kicks — and characterized his having been excused as “merciful.”  I gather he has a history of falling while dancing, from the stories he’s told.  He didn’t fall. He certainly doesn’t look as graceful as the other dancers, but that is in keeping with his character, still I think he kicked higher than I could, and I do yoga and consider myself fairly flexible, so I was surprised.

He does play piano and accordion.  I may be mistaken, but I think he was playing more this time than he did the last time I watched, or maybe I just noticed more, because I was closer to him.  There is another guy there who can play, but I think Josh really likes to play the piano.  He starts out playing the accordion at the beginning, but doesn’t play long.  This time I could see that he used the accordion  at least one other time during the show, though one of the ensemble — a very attractive, and scantily clad woman — seemed to be playing that instrument more often than he.

As to his acting, he did seem very natural to me.

At the end, he and Lucas Steele went out on stage to ask audience members to donate to Broadway Cares.  Lucas spoke quite movingly of the medical services he received there when he couldn't afford other healthcare -- and said he didn't know if he would be here at all if they hadn't been there.

I took some pictures during the autograph signing

I didn't get photos of most of the performers, because I was too busy getting signatures -- and, also, didn't think of it until Josh came out.  Then I had to spend a bit of time getting my phone turned back on.

Here's my signed program

It's hard to decipher who is who, but I think the other performers left the white part with the title blank so that Josh could sign there.

They're very strict about not taking pictures in the theater.  I saw them making one woman delete photos from her camera. I was very good.  I had my phone completely turned off during the whole show.

****

Addendum 10/25/17

So I posed the question above as to who Brittain sounded like.  A reader from twitter,  @Gennyxxxx kindly offered that she was reminded of Judy Collins singing "Turn Turn Turn."  

Yes, there is some similarity, though I don't think that this was what I was thinking of.

Alumni Survey cc @joshgroban

I'm going back for my 40th college reunion.  They sent out a popular culture survey.  One part was on popular musicians.

You will note that Josh Groban is listed for the 2000's, but not for the 2010's.  In fact, no musician seems to be listed for more than one decade.  Still I only care about Josh.  Well, at least he made the list for the 2000's.

Jackie Evancho vidoes

I'm trying to keep track of some obscure Jackie Evancho Videos, so I'm putting them here.  I know I wanted to tell someone about them, but now I can't remember who.

I wonder how many performers are trying simultaneously to do opera and pop