February 29, 1792, was the birthday of the genius composer Gioachino Rossini, whose operas count as some of the most popular of all. Even today, people who'd claim no knowledge of or interest in opera know the William Tell and Barber of Seville overtures, and have heard somebody somewhere sing "Fiagro, Figaro, Figaro, Fiiiiiiii-ga-ro!" As befits a Leap Day baby, Rossini was best known for his sparkling comedies. He eventually retired from the theater and dedicated himself to food - a man after my own heart.
Here's the frantic finale to Act One of Il Barbieri di Siviglia. "Il Cervello Poverello" (My Poor Brain) where the characters all babble endlessly about how they wish the others would shut up and give them some peace. Thanks for the music, Maestro, and happy 55th birthday!
Back when I first started Mondo Musicals, one of my first posts was to celebrate the birthday of Frederic, the protagonist of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance (1879). A Leap Year baby, Frederic was heartbroken to learn that he was apprenticed to the Pirate King until his 21st birthday - not his 21st year - so duty dictated that he follow the letter of his contract and live the pirating life until 1940 ("It seems so long," Mabel sighs).
And indeed, the February 29, 1940 New York Times printed a brief notice headed "Frederic Goes Free" commemorating that he was at last out of his indentures and free to live a blameless life forevermore. No word on whether Mabel did, indeed, wait for him.
So, happy birthday Frederic. You might be 156 by some calendars, but as we both have now reached our 39th birthdays, permit me to say we're looking fresh as ever!
On this Valentine's Day, I'd like to link to the Little Shop of Horrors screenplay by Howard Ashman, which according to the title page was completed 27 years ago today. We certainly miss the talented Mr. Ashman but his work lives on in the beloved modern classics Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.
Here, he makes his first foray into Hollywood screenwriting, and I hope that fans of the film will enjoy this look at the story in a stage halfway between stage and screen. Among the notable differences are the inclusion of a short scene showing Audrey and Orin's date to the drive-in movie theater (which made its way into the comic book), and a finale that is quite different from either of the two endings that were filmed. One might also notice that the tone of the screenplay is quite a bit darker and more melodramatic than the finished film, and wonder about the script doctoring Frank Oz did before he agreed to direct. I look forward to hearing comments on this trove of Little Shop lore!
View the screenplay here. Would be awesome if a PFD of this, along with Mike Ploog's storyboards, were included on the Blu-Ray, hint-hint.
The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly has an interview with Frank Oz (illustrated with links from yours truly) in which he discusses, at length, the decision to change the ending of Little Shop of Horrors and explains why it is that the black & white workprint was all that was available for release on DVD back in 1998. (Apparently the preview copy of the original ending was disassembled when the new footage was edited in, and contrary to Geffen's supposition the clips were not stored.)
But more importantly, ninja spies attending Oz's Q&A at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 16 report that Oz confirmed that the original negatives for the sequence do exist and that there will be a Blu-Ray available for Halloween 2012! Audio recording of the interview will be made available shortlyis now uploaded (thanks to Kawlen Dram!). I am overjoyed at this news, as I've been obsessed with that "lost ending" for 26 years now! Just in time for my birthday, too.
Oz's interview also sheds light on why the Blu-Ray will apparently be billed as "The Intended Cut" instead of "The Original Cut" or "The Director's Cut." The true original cut was not saved, so this will be a new edit of the ending "as intended," and Frank Oz himself is not involved in the project, so it's not a true director's cut. He also mentioned that he doesn't know if other lost clips such as the "Meek Shall Inherit" dream sequence and shots of the plant eating Steve Martin's head still survive.
In other news, it appears that Little Shop will be remade with personnel from Glee and the charming Joseph Gordon Levitt as Seymour. I receive this news with mixed feelings, as I fear a slick, homogenized CGI-fest. But JoGoLev would make a great Seymour. I'd be much more interested in seeing a bloody and weird non-musical remake of the Roger Corman black comedy.
ORIGINAL POST:
Some interesting things are afoot in the world of Little Shop of Horrors.
At his career retrospective at the Museum of the Moving Image last fall, director Frank Oz said that WB Home Video is working on an original-ending Blu-Ray for the musical. This got everybody's hopes up, but there has been no announcement or confirmation of this project - until now, it seems. Eagle eyes have caught this mention of a PG-13 rating for something called Little Shop of Horrors - The Intended Cut for late 2012. If this is true, then it will be truly epic! This news is so exciting I can hardly even bring myself to think about it, just in case my hopes are dashed once more.
Just in case this is really happening and anybody from WB might be searching the net for "what the people want," here's my Blu-Ray wish list of what I'd love to see on the disc, including the very rarely seen storyboards by the legendary comic book and concept artist, Mike Ploog.
To tide us over, the original 1960 film is being released on Blu-Ray soon from Legend. Let's hope this is a nice presentation of the original, which is in the public domain and thus suffers from a glut of cheapie home video releases of appalling quality. (For my money, the best version currently available is the one packaged with Trailers From Hell Volume 2 - and you get a ton of entertaining vintage trailers, too!)
And here's one more taste of Little Shop goodness: a TV spot for the LA run of the original stage show.
Back when I first started Mondo Musicals, one of my first posts was to celebrate the birthday of Frederic, the protagonist of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance (1879). A Leap Year baby, Frederic was heartbroken to learn that he was apprenticed to the Pirate King until his 21st birthday - not his 21st year - so duty dictated that he follow the letter of his contract and live the pirating life until 1940 ("It seems so long," Mabel sighs).
Here, he makes his first foray into Hollywood screenwriting, and I hope that fans of the film will enjoy this look at the story in a stage halfway between stage and screen. Among the notable differences are the inclusion of a short scene showing Audrey and Orin's date to the drive-in movie theater (which made its way into the comic book), and a finale that is quite different from either of the two endings that were filmed. One might also notice that the tone of the screenplay is quite a bit darker and more melodramatic than the finished film, and wonder about the script doctoring Frank Oz did before he agreed to direct. I look forward to hearing comments on this trove of Little Shop lore!
