Quips

People keep focussing on the theatre part of musicals; let's focus on the music. - Scores that are as good as the old warhorses. An expectation that actors and singers should know a thing or two about music. Pit bands with 20 musicians. Singers that can phrase the music rather than singing notes. Conductors that can balance the demands of the pit and the players. - How do the scores improve? By forgetting the last 40 years of gentrification. Songs that aren't written by formula. Shows that don't have the same tentpole spots. Character arcs that aren't manufactured to a template. It's like BMI and NYU are teaching Save The Cat, not Drat! The Cat! Allowing composers to orchestrate themselves. Not writing movie adaptations that are crummier than the initial score. Seeing classical counterpoint as a necessity. It's not impossible for a Masters paper to teach all four species of counterpoint. Everyone needs to write Bach chorales in order to eventually break the rules. In high school, we sang our chorales as SATB pieces. Teaching operatic style and classical scansion. Lots of modern shows need that level of singing too. Banning smug irony until people can write a heartfelt show. It's all no-brainer stuff; it just takes an outsider to point it out.