THRILLER: The Musical

The Nederlander organization has announced that they will mount a Broadway musical version of "Thriller," the Michael Jackson song made legendary in a long-form music video directed by John Landis in 1983. Definitely mondo, and most likely made of "meh." In a way it's appropriate - Broadway has been full of revenants and patchwork monsters for 20 years now. Michael Jackson's monster-mashing zombies will find very few delicious brains to feast upon in the Great White Way.

It's interesting to re-watch the video now, as Jackson's fey Romeo shyly confides that he's "not like other guys" and soon undergoes a variety of terrifying transformations. Jackson's obsession with radically re-inventing himself is there for all to see, though the world could not appreciate how prescient his character's metamorphosis from skinny black man to creepy werecat (repeated in the "Black or White" video) to pasty-faced ghoul (repeated in real life) actually was.

I had to admit, this video scared me silly when I was 11, even as it tickled my funny-bone. I was au courant with Vincent Price at that age, so his presence on the soundtrack was actually reassuring.

UPDATE! John Landis is suing to stop the production, claiming that MJ owes him big bucks in unpaid royalties. Read all about it.
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Obama On My Mind

Not very mondo, but definitely topical. Playbill.com reports on a new political satire entitled Obama On My Mind.

In other news, God bless America!

PIRACY! Gilbert & Sullivan's Copyright Wars

While Andrew Lloyd-Webber is trying to mount three productions of his Phantom of the Opera sequel at once, it bears noting that today is the 130th Anniversary of another experiment in simultaneous - or nearly simultaneous - premiers.

On December 31, 1879, Gilbert & Sullivan's classic comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance premiered in New York City's Fifth Avenue Theater. The day before, a staged reading was performed at the Royal Bijou Theatre, Paignton, on the southern coast of England, in advance of the show's April 3, 1880 London debut. Why this unusual move? To guard against piracy, naturally. Yaarh!

1878's H.M.S. Pinafore was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic, but in those days of lax copyright laws, the show's popularity inspired a legion of copycats and pirate performances all over the United States. Enterprising hacks would sketch the show's script and music, and mount their own unauthorized productions. Apparently, it was this very issue that inspired Gilbert to base the new show on a piratical theme. Chagrined at the loss of income, as well as the shoddy and unrepresentative productions, G&S decided that they would premier their new work in the US right away. The dual premiers established copyrights in both England and America, and The Pirates of Penzance became one of the most popular operettas in history. It is still performed very frequently by opera companies, high schools and community theaters, and the phrase "the very model of a modern ---" has entered the common lexicon.

Gilbert & Sullivan's experiement was only a qualified success. Though copyright was established, and four official touring companies were dispatched from New York - having been rehearsed by the composer and author themselves - the first unauthorized production was given at Boston's Booth Theatre in September 1880.

The Pirates of Penzance is one of my favorite shows, and while it's not exactly "mondo," its deft spoofing of the works of Donizetti and Verdi plays on theatrical conventions with a great combination of knowing irony and total musical commitment. G&S were pioneers of the meta-theatrical gag, such as Mabel's endless bel canto vocal trills, or when the Modern Major-General disdains "that infernal nonsense, Pinafore."

I shall leave you with Sullivan's own words, in a letter to his mother. "I think it will be a great success, for it is exquisitely funny, and the music is strikingly tuneful and catching." Couldn't have put it better myself!

Happy new year to all! See you in 2009.

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PHANTOM 2 - Electric Boogaloo

Broadway World has an interesting article on Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies, which looks like it is really happening.

Apparently it will be set in Coney Island at the start of the 20th Century, which should be interesting. Whether it's good-interesting or flop-interesting remains to be seen. Also notable is Sir L-W's plan to premier three different productions in three four cities at once - a theatrical first.

UPDATE: The Equity casting breakdown for auditions reveals the lead characters and summarizes the plot thus: "In 1907 New York, the mysterious 'Maestro' who runs the theatre at Coney Island announces a one-off concert by legendary Parisian soprano Christine Daaé. Her arrival in New York with husband Raoul, Victome de Chagny and son Gustave, and their subsequent meeting with the 'Maestro,' bring the cataclysmic events of 10 years earlier at the Paris Opera crashing back into all their lives."

This sounds like a riff on the Jenny Lind concert tours of America, sponsored by P.T. Barnum, who figured that, after making buckets of cash from the Feejee Mermaid and General Tom Thumb, a nationwide tour from "The Swedish Nightingale" would class up the joint. Or to put it in sanctimonious Victorian-speak, "A visit from such a woman, who regards her artistic powers as a gift from Heaven and who helps the afflicted and distressed, will be a blessing to America."

Gorgeous photo of Coney Island's Luna Park, circa 1905, at Shorpy.com
View the Coney Island photo used in the illustration at StudioPhototrope

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REPO! Interview

Now that Repo! The Genetic Opera has opened in selected cities, the good folks over at io9.com have a new interview with creator Terrance Zdunich. Check it out!

UPDATE: Despite playing in only 8 theaters (!) the film is apparently doing very good box office. BroadwayWorld has the story.

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OBAMA!

I am over the moon about Obama's victory last night. God bless America, and here's looking forward to a successful presidency!
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THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN

According to BroadwayWorld.com, it seems that the producers of Napoleon Dynamite and the creators of the unauthorized spoof musical Silence! (based on Silence of the Lambs) will bring the 60s schlock-fest They Saved Hitler's Brain back to life as a sci-fi musical comedy film.

First Mel Brooks, now this - are we going to be in the position, someday, of griping "What, another Nazi-themed musical comedy!?"

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