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pocketsizedquasar · 4 years

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So, Dave Malloy’s Moby Dick Musical.

Soooo I have a long and weirdly personal relationship with this musical, in the sense that I have been following it and its production super closely for the past several months & interacted with Dave on a very memorable occasion re: potentially problematic elements of the show, and just generally have spent a ridiculous amount of emotional energy worrying about this for the past two months (I’ll get into that more later).

I went to see the dress rehearsal on Sunday, and saw the previews again Friday night. Here’s my thoughts! This will be slightly spoilery, and very long. TLDR at the bottom!

1.) Artistic/technical aspects: needless to say, wonderful. The cast all performed phenomenally, the music was great, the set was beautiful. They were such a delight to watch & you could really tell they were all having a good time and /I/ had such a good time watching them! Both shows I genuinely had fun and enjoyed myself (also shoutout to the lighting and set design, the orchestra, and really everyone involved). The show really excelled here, which really was to be expected — the songs were SO so wonderful. even though I had issues with the way some of the characters were treated, I still absolutely adored watching the actors and the performances, even if the material wasn’t always my favorite. But more on that in a bit. Like, off the top of my head? Starr Busby made me cry in Dusk, Manik and his raw nerdy energy was such a perfect Ishmael, Andrew & Manik were lovely as Queequeg & Ishmael together, Tom’s Ahab floored me, Matt’s voice as Tashtego literally transcended me from this mortal plane... on Sunday I went onstage for the audience participation bit and everyone was just so wonderful and lovely (and like I got to hold hands w some of the cast and I think I can honestly die happy now)... like seriously, shoutout to this whole cast for being perfect human beings (and so sweet to interact with after the shows!)

Anyways.

2.) Race & Moby Dick, in general, and with this musical:

So... I will preface this section with the fact that Moby Dick is already very much a story about race. It’s not always handled well, of course, but Melville deals with race and racism and white supremacy a lot in the novel. So, ANY adaptation of Moby Dick is inherently also going to be about race, and by extension, any adaptation is going to be Relevant to race in modern America. Some adaptations have dealt with it by just whitewashing the characters or otherwise ignoring the racial issues, but ignoring it is still making a powerful statement on it as it is. Cool? Cool.

The way Dave has spoken about the show in interviews & such sounds like he’s wanted to really specifically address & comment on race in modern America. Which, like, okay, cool. A little bit weird since you don’t really have to try to make MD about race, and I question the ability of a white male writer in general to comment on race and racism in the modern US, but I digress.

Around June this year, some friends & I find out about potential plans to change the races of several of the characters — white men being played instead by woc (w/ the exception of ahab), characters of color having races swapped, etc. — sort of similarly to how Great Comet was cast. This raised a few red flags, since MD and GC are Very different source materials and a lot of the characters’ of color’s stories are Inherently About Their Races (re: Pip, Queequeg) & the white characters are Explicitly Racist (re: Stubb, and to a lesser extent the other mates) — changing around characters’ races doesn’t make sense in a story so intrinsically tied to race. A couple of friends go to the preview concert in NYC, where they saw ‘the tambourine’ — a long segment of the show that was then sung by “Pip-Not-Pip” (played by a nonblack actor) and also contained a lot of racist and ableist elements, and just generally...yikes.

Soooo this is where my weird personal story comes in. I won’t get too much into it, but the TLDR of it is, I talked about my concerns w the racial casting a few times here and on twitter; I tried to go meet Dave Malloy in person at the A.R.T.’s open house in October and give him a letter that @starbuck and I wrote with our concerns, and he recognized me as That Person Who Made Those Posts on twitter/tumblr, and I was just overall a very awkward human being.

Anyway.

There Have been improvements made since then, since October, and even since Sunday, so I’m optimistic — most of the changes have been fixing the casting. However, the bulk of tambourine is still there in the show (though it has been changed), & all the mates are still played by WOC, even though they are referred to in the show as white men (I don’t strictly have a problem with this; it’s just an interesting take to have them be ‘metatextually’ white). l’m very glad for the changes that have been made thus far, & I hope he continues to take things like this into consideration. I would have loved it if Dave were a little more transparent about some of the racial issues and their changes (if only for my peace of mind because, truly, the amount of emotional energy I’ve expended worrying about this gd musical is... astounding), but also so that? His audience could know that he’s willing & able to accept critique and make changes? I don’t know; I feel like transparency with issues like this is pretty important.

And then we have... Fedallah.

In the book, fedallah is a very poorly represented Parsi Zoroastrian man — melville really just went ham with the orientalism here. He’s just this badly written mystical exotified mess, and it’s awful.

In the musical, Fedallah’s actor gets a monologue where he talks about his experiences as a Black Muslim man & calls out both Dave & Melville on their respective racism, and just generally goes off about religion & racism. It’s not... terrible? But I’m curious as to a) who it was written BY (the actor? Or Dave? Bc it’s questionable at best if Dave) and who it was written FOR. It felt very self-congratulatory, very “hey look I’m woke for writing this and calling myself out like this, and you’re woke for hearing this.” I as a POC in the audience (specifically an ethnically persian person, so like, literally the group that fedallah is from) felt extremely uncomfortable, (1) with the erasure of Fedallah’s race & religion, (2) with his lumping of all religions together as “bad” and “fucked up” (which like, yikes, yeah you can criticize religion without lumping in indigenous religions, Islam, Judaism, etc with Christianity like that and implying that they’re all on the same level), (3) with the fact that this speech seemed to be taken as a free pass for the audience to just, like. Exonerate themselves of their own racism?? It felt like it was Dave congratulating himself for being “better” than melville (which congrats ?? You’re less racist than a white man from the nineteenth century), it felt like he was trying to Prove Something to a presumed white audience, and in doing so, alienating the audience of color. Like I distinctly remember the feeling of like “this show is not meant for me. I’m not the target audience.” And (4) because the actor did an accent whenever he was actually acting as fedallah and that just really rubbed my persian ass the wrong way.

Anyways.

Idk, I’m still on the fence about the whole thing there. Again, part of my discomfort stems from the ambiguity on who wrote it? And parts of it — calling out Melville’s racism, the actor talking about his own experience — were actually quite good. I just think it needs to be reworked, both from a racial and just a general writing perspective (which I’ll talk about next).

That and cut tambourine. The rest of the Ballad of Pip was fine, even great, without it.

3.) Writing: I’m pretty torn on this one, because there were a lot of things I really really liked, but a lot of things I really didn’t like. A lot of the added dialogue felt a bit clunky and unnatural, for one. I’m really happy with how Tashtego and Daggoo both got more development — their scenes together were great to watch — but it felt like it came at the expense of Queequeg’s character, who felt underdeveloped and like he was played off for laughs, especially in his intro. I ADORED how ishmael was characterized / acted, and I loved how he broke the fourth wall and went in and out of the show like he goes in and out of the narrative of the book, but I feel like his and Queequeg’s relationship (while, again, was acted so so sweetly & honestly made me cry) didn’t get, like, the narrative or emotional treatment it deserved? I felt baited the first time I went to see it, and I felt better the second time, but I still would’ve loved at least some kind of explicit narrative confirmation.

And I’ve talked about this before, but I really do believe that any take that reduces Ahab to just “privilege” is wont to flatten his character — and in this case it did. The performance was phenomenal, like I said, but from a writing standpoint, Ahab doesn’t really get the depth that the book gives him. I figured this would be the case going into this, especially given that he is the only white man on stage and Dave’s apparent take of “white man leading America to its doom,” but still.

So from a character standpoint I wasn’t too happy with how either Ahab or Queequeg were narratively handled (again, they were performed beautifully!)

And then both of the segments I had issues with race-wise (fedallah & the tambourine) also just from a writing perspective felt incredibly out of place and tonally dissonant from the rest of the story, to the point where they jarred me out of the show and even had a negative impact on the parts of the music that I DID like.

I think, ultimately, the show is trying hard to be too many things at once. It’s trying to be a faithful adaptation and a modernized retelling at the same time; it can’t decide which it wants to be and so it fails at both. It feels like at times Dave is trying too hard to prove a point (a point that it’s questionable whether he should even be making at all, as a white writer), and in doing so, loses us on the story. Storytelling should be about posing a question, not proving a thesis.

Anyway...TLDR:

Overall? It was a good show. I had a Lot of fun both times I went. I know the show is still changing a lot in previews, even more than the changes I’ve already seen between Sunday and Friday (apparently they’re adding an entire musical number? holy shit this cast is superhuman); I’m curious to see where it goes and what gets changed before it officially opens. Im much more optimistic about it now than I was.

But I think there’s still some pretty glaring racial issues that sort of drag the rest of it down for me, and from a writing perspective, I don’t believe that it can do the book justice without revisiting some of the characters and the way of approaching the storytelling.

So, yeah.

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operarocks · 5 years

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Operavore: Why do I sing?

Whether you are an opera singer, professional singer of some other kind, or perhaps are in a chorus or only a shower singer, we all experience a physical and emotional surge when we sing. Yet we don’t always pause to reflect on this.

In April I attended one of Joyce DiDonato’s wonderful master classes at the Weill Education Center of Carnegie Hall. I had been thinking about the question of “Why do I sing?” when I read the program and discovered that DiDonato had asked each applicant to write a brief essay on that very topic as part of their application process.

Soprano Alexandra Nowakowski wrote, in part, “I sing for my mom. Thirty years ago, my parents came to America with $30 in their pockets. … My mom had nothing but hope when she came to America. She passed that hope along to me when I decided to pursue singing, and for that I will owe her my career.”

Tenor Aaron Crouch wrote, “My favorite thing about being a singer is being a communicator. I truly believe that music is the universal language. My goal is to always have some sort of effectiveness through my singing — whether that comes in the form of tears, laughter, or simply a smile. It’s not about the high notes or the fast notes. It’s about being vulnerable and having something to say to people. That is why I sing.”

American soprano Madelyn Renée, who has been based in Italy for many years, told me, “Singing is a transformative experience in that it unites the physical, emotional, and spiritual part of us. As our most important means of communication, our voices convey all of our emotions: joy, sorrow, anger, fear, etc. When we sing, we are connected to our respiratory system, and the outpouring of sound is a healthy way to relieve stress and calm the mind and body, engendering a sense of harmony and well-being. As a singer, it is what I love to do best. It brings me back to myself and I always feel like a new person after a good sing! As Ella Fitzgerald always said, ‘The only thing better than singing is more singing!’”

The excellent South African bass-baritone Musa Ngqungwana is as eloquent a writer as he is a singer. He is the author of Odyssey of an African Opera Singer, a candid account of having responsibility for a mighty gift (his voice) that has given him joy, but also of the many challenges he has had along the way. In the book and a recent social media post, he spoke of “how writing and singing saved me from depression as they became my free therapeutic tools and sessions.”

What I have come to love is the way people sing together. In fractious, difficult times such as ours, hearing and seeing people achieve harmony through listening to one another is a model we should all try to emulate.

There are some countries in the world that I think of as singing nations. These are often places that have been subjected to repression. Estonia is such a place. Between 1987 and 1991 its people waged what was known as the Singing Revolution, which included acts of defiance that were often incorporated into singing by individuals or crowds of hundreds of thousands. I first visited there in 1979 when it was part of the Soviet Union. I came to know brothers Toomas and Tarmo Urb, who courageously merged voices in their own language at time when that was dangerous.

Estonians still gather to sing songs such as “Tuljak," which gives them an opportunity to share identity and revel in their language, and had been suppressed by the Soviets and other occupiers. To sing in this way, for Estonians, is to breathe as one.

One of my favorite examples of how singing unites people is of male and female firefighters who went from South Africa to Canada to help put out huge fires. They used music to form a remarkable bond of solidarity.

Sometimes music of identity is performed by groups of only one gender. South Africa’s all-male Ladysmith Black Mambazo exemplifies the deepest expression of self and of identity with its singing, whether in unison, harmony, counterpoint, or call and response. The women’s choruses of Bulgaria have achieved a huge worldwide following.

In the United States, singing has a long tradition of resistance and affirmation. Sam Cooke sang in many genres. He is famous for his powerful solo rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come." Cooke began as the lead singer of The Soul Stirrers, a gospel group that harmonized beautifully. They often performed a cappella or with minimal instrumental accompaniment. Listen to them and think about how they use their voices as instruments.

Pete Seeger’s classic song “If I Had a Hammer” was first recorded by The Weavers (with Seeger) in 1949. Peter, Paul and Mary did a famous version in 1963. Sam Cooke sang it solo, and soulfully, in 1964.

Each version of this song is deeply moving and emotional for different reasons. The lyrics are eloquent in their simplicity, but also for the power they wield. The melody, too, is simple and sweet, but it accommodates the words and allows each person who sings it (and hears it) to feel a special glow. It is the magic of this song that makes one feel happy and connected to others when singing it.

As I was completing this article, I happened to attend a new work, Octet, by Dave Malloy at Signature Theater, described as a chamber choir musical. Eight superb performers, with voices ranging from soprano to bass, play participants in a support group for people who have difficulty coping with the impact of communications technology in the 21st Century. So beautiful is the music and so sublime were their a cappella performances that I almost found the words pedestrian and intrusive, even though they were meaningful.

One of the simplest and most eloquent expressions of why we sing was also one of the first I encountered, in the film version of Carson McCullers’ The Member of the Wedding, in which Ethel Waters consoles two distraught children by singing the gospel song “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” You might wish to watch the whole video, which includes the scene leading up to the song, which starts at 6:40. The words and music say it all: “I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free.”

#joyce didonato #singing #opera #opera tag #Alexandra Nowakowski #Fred Plotkin #Operavore

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mobydickmusical · 5 years

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Every book chapter a song is named after: Loomings (Ch 1)

Since most of the (most recent) tracklist is named after chapters of the book, I’m going to attempt to work through the whole of the show this way, talking a bit about my thoughts on each chapter’s translation into a song. Based on the tracklist chronology rather than the book chronology. Skipping the songs we’ve already heard, for obvious reasons.

Also fairly obvious, but even though I’m using the chapters to imagine the songs, I naturally can’t be sure how closely they’ll follow the text of that specific chapter (see, The Pacific, which actually follows completely different chapters).

TW for brief mention of suicidal ideation

Loomings is very different from Extracts, in that I can pretty easily envision it fitting into a show of Dave’s, and imagine what it might be like as a song.

This chapter is our first direct introduction to what to expect from the body of this book, and it has four-ish main sections:

1. Ishmael introduces himself as the narrator recounting this story, and explains his general path in it (going to sea because it’s what he does when he’s exceedingly depressed)

2. He dwells on mankind’s inevitable attraction to water, and that this is due to how it represents the unknowable to us

3. He details his reasoning for why he always goes to sea as a simple sailor, as opposed to a passenger or a crew member of higher rank

4. He describes his “choice” to go on a whaling voyage in particular as actually designated by fate. He does, however, then explain his personal attraction to going on the voyage, that could make it appear like free will to him.

So, there is a lot being set up in this chapter. I can very much feel this becoming my main issue to accept (i.e. get my head out of my ass) with reconciling the adaptation with the book overall - there is so Much in Moby Dick and there is only so Much you can fit into a musical. Even a 4+ hour one. But yeah, that’s seen on a smaller scale with Loomings, in how it sets up a lot of background information about Ishmael and how he thinks, as well as starting some thought process about a number of important themes for the book (fate vs free will, capitalist and power dynamics, the limits of mankind’s knowledge… all that important shit). Where the song draws its focus from will just depend on what Dave chooses to emphasise the most.

I'll go through the chapter, and mention where I connected things to either comments Dave's already made about the musical, or to his writing in general.

Coming into reading Moby Dick because I knew Dave was writing his musical, and reading the opening paragraph of Loomings where Ishmael introduces himself by launching headfirst into the details his depression, I naturally went straight to “so this is an introductory solo for a character played by Dave”. It’s not only something that leapt out at me straight off the bat, but one of the more ludicrously famous sections of Moby Dick, so I have to imagine it’s likely to make an appearance.

The further thing I wanted to point out while I’m on this section, is that despite how famous this little piece of Moby Dick which clearly describes Ishmael’s depression and suicidal ideation is, the majority of Moby Dick adaptions have little to no other reference to his depression. Or they just have none at all if they’re really eschewing the narration. I’m not saying that it’s a deal-breaker for an adaption or anything of that kind, but mental illness definitely has a presence and impact in Moby Dick (I’ll just, leave it at that for now) that doesn’t especially get a lot of attention. On the other hand, it’s something that I, personally, will notice and think about. Anyone who’s familiar with Dave, however, knows that his shows almost consistently revolve around mentally ill characters (and what’s probably the most famous solo he’s written is about depression/suicidal ideation), and portray them in ways mentally ill fans relate to and appreciate. If an adaptor was to make a specific effort to earnestly portray Ishmael’s depression, and how that relates to his role in this story, it’d be Dave. (I could potentially even argue that The Pacific and Cetology already suggest ways in which he’s doing this but. Mm.)

But, anyway. I said Loomings is a good fit for that song that can be found in almost any Dave Malloy musical, where everything is just starting out, and someone (who is often played by Dave) sits down to pour out all their frantic thoughts and unstable feelings and draw you into their story - so, how I imagine the song is strongly based off the pre-existing examples of that type of song. Namely, I drift to Pierre and The Astronomer.

Both songs have aspects I like for an imaginary Loomings. They’re both ruminative, emotive introductions to a character and their brain’s inner workings. They’re both at least somewhat depressed and ranty. I like Pierre for its emotional tumult, its inquisitiveness and desire for something more, its explicit descriptions of the effects of his depression on his behaviour, its moment of curiosity about mankind, and its drama. I feel like Pierre barging his way into his introductory solo, the first time we ever hear him sing about himself, with “It’s dawned to me suddenly, and for no obvious reason, that I can’t go on living as I am...” is not worlds away from how Ishmael can come across. I also like how it’s piano-driven (because I unimaginatively imagine Ishmael as a pianist in the show), unlike The Astronomer, but on the other hand, I prefer the less dense instrumentation of The Astronomer (maybe not quite that sparse though. Intermediate). I also like The Astronomer for its slow-paced style ranting, its dreaminess, its dwelling on Big Ideas, and the way it is more an explanation of who this character is through exploring his beliefs. Which is relevant as Loomings goes on.

Both songs, particularly Pierre, channel more anger and resignation than is really relevant to Loomings, however. A part of this is that they’re both dwelling inside the emotions of an unhappy/unsatisfying present, describing that to us as who they are, now. Ishmael is outside of his present self because he’s a narrator. Throughout Loomings he is... recounting his past, but also describing the future of and influences on his past self, moreso than his past self’s present or who he was at that particular time. And, from that more distant position, opening these influences up to us, and the rest of the world. Uh. How relevant or sensible this is to point out I don’t know, but it seems like a very different emotional experience to convey.

The second section of Loomings, where Ishmael discusses water, moves the furthest from talking directly about himself and his story, I suppose, but is a big bit of theme/motif/setting foundation, and is also just very beautiful writing. I love it a lot, and I’d love to hear some of it put to music... A few little quotes from it because I like them:

What do you see?—Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.

///

They come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues,—north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?

///

There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries—stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water

///

Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.

///

But though the picture lies thus tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this shepherd's head, yet all were vain, unless the shepherd's eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him.

I also like the abundance of rhetorical questions in this section, and how that invites the reader in as if you were in a conversation. Those could fit well into a theatre song, where you have Ishmael sort asking himself, sort of asking the audience (also a bit Pierre, tbh). This, combined with how much switching up of sentence length there is in this section, give it this lovely gentle-paced, meandering, breathing rhythm that makes me think of it being sung. There’s probably a better, more technical way of describing that, but I don’t know that smartness, so essentially - I can almost hear it simply because of the way it’s already written.

The conclusion of this section is where Ishmael draws together his claim that the reason we all find water so magnetic is because to us it represents the things that’re unfathomable and unreachable in life:

Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.

It’d definitely be a way to get us onboard this ship, swept up in this journey, while we’re inside a theatre: “Come along with me, into this huge, intrinsic thing, come, and try to obsessively chase down whatever inscrutable thing is still maddening you in the craziness of the world today!” Mmm.

A little thing I find interesting, however, is how this little piece, and how it’d be presented in the context of the show, relates to some pre-existing lyrics from Cetology: “And the ocean is too deep for me to fathom/ And life is just to big for me to bear/ But who am I to compare my despair to the shaking of the sea?” These lyrics have no root in the chapter Cetology itself, and I can only assume they’re actually rooted in this section here. The weirdness of that is how Ishmael makes the comparison he lays out in Loomings, but then immediately questions his right to make it. He paints his own personal experiences as insignificant in the scheme of it all, even if he does harbour those feelings about the ocean which are due to feelings about the unknown. Which is intriguing and opens up a lot of shit. There’s a lot going on in Cetology which can explain why he says that in the context of That Song, but it makes me wonder if this claim will appear in Loomings and then reappear later with the catch on the end, or if it’s sole appearance is in Cetology. It shall be seen. And I’ll probably discuss those Cetology lyrics more when I’ve... actually heard Loomings! Or, oh, you know, the full show for legit context.

The next thing Ishmael does in this chapter is discuss why he makes the choice to go as just a "simple sailor" every time he goes to sea, in doing so telling us a bit more about himself and his opinions. I won’t expand on these hugely, but I do think it’s a fair enough point to say that Ishmael makes statements in this section which could act as starting points for themes that Dave has specified he’s discussing through this show - namely capitalism, democracy and race/systems of power, in this situation.

One of Ishmael’s reasons is money. He doesn’t have the money to pay to go to sea as a passenger, he needs/wants to be paid for it as a sailor. The actual pay for which, by the way, is really, really not that much considering how dangerous a job he’s signing on for. But we have to survive somehow, we suppose...? And, his opinion on the money-making in general?

The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven.

Another of his reasons is that he prefers not to go to sea in any higher rank because he doesn’t care for the honour attached to these positions, and doesn’t want the level of responsibility involved. He goes on to explain that while it can be unpleasant to be ordered around by one’s superiors, he accepts it, and there’s no sense in striving for superiority when he is in essence no lesser than them, since, he states, everyone is inevitably under the command of someone else.

With very intentionally provocative wording in the context of a book published in America in 1851.

Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain't a slave? Tell me that.

He finally says that it’s the ordinary sailors rather than their superiors who get the first, freshest breath of that revitalising ocean air. He then leans deeper into the thought:

He thinks he breathes it first; but not so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it.

Having laid out his justification for this choice, Ishmael moves onto why a whaling voyage specifically. He essentially accounts it to the mysteries of fate - though his desire to experience new, remote things could trick him into exaggerating the role of his free will.

There’s a part towards the end of the chapter that I specifically wanted to point out, where Ishmael actually uses a piece of theatre as a metaphor for his voyage. It’s not as famous/iconic as some other parts from this chapter but it’s very entertaining in the context of an actual musical, and I’d love if it were referenced:

“And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this:

"Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States "Whaling Voyage by one Ishmael

"BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN." Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces—though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgement.”

This little piece fits well with the metatheatricality Dave has said he’s interested in exploring in the show. In terms of this concept, he’s mentioned both Ishmael vs Meville antics, but also broadening the idea of character vs writer with the added layer of him as the composer playing Ishmael. This quote specifically refers to theatre, and referencing one’s own role in a performance, which obviously becomes increasingly funny when you’re a narrator in and composer of a musical based on the book. Pondering over your “shabby part”, and why it was given to you, while you’re existing in theatre you composed yourself… strikes me as in line with Dave’s humour. In the song Cetology, Ishmael already actually laments that “this could be an amazing song...”, in doing so pretty heavily suggesting that he’s self-aware of being in a musical he wrote. So I don’t think Dave using this quote for metatheatre’s sake would be that surprising.

I also like this quote because of the quite bizarre, almost eerie throwaway piece of modern foretelling we’re given in the layout of performances in the “bill”. It’s interesting enough for a modern adaption to point out as it is, but especially since Dave is highlighting connections between the book and modern America, it feels like something he might reference.

#moby dick musical #moby dick #moby-dick #dave malloy #ishmael #loomings #mdtracklistchapters #my post

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mamsellechosette24601 · 6 years

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Detailed description of Brazil's Great Comet of 1812

This is the stage with the denominations I gave to make it easier to follow

VERY LONG POST ahead, about “Natacha, Pierre, e o Grande Cometa de 1812”, the Brazilian version of Dave Malloy’s “Great Comet” which opened last Friday August 24th in São Paulo. In this post I will detail how this version differs from the Broadway one (keeping in mind that all I know from it comes from the YouTube bootleg), make some analyses and from time to time bring up War & Peace, because I can’t help myself. So of course, SPOILERS (for W&P, I won’t go beyond the part where tgc ends).

The Main Differences:

1- In this version, Pierre/Natasha was even more canon than in the book. I will explore the details in chronological order, but keep this in mind;

2- There were, of course, changes to the lyrics, driving it further away from the novel, and also making use of more explicit language;

3- Characters had more defining good/evil characteristics, so I think some of the subtlety was lost, but at the same time it helped to draw out more clearly some of the themes.

Because of my sitting position, I sometimes couldn’t see what was going on in the right, but had a privileged view of the actors walking around the tables to go up the central stage.

Once you arrive, there’s folk Russian music playing, waiters are bringing people food, and for the countdown, you hear ras, ras dva, and finally ras dva tri.

Act 1

Prologue

The Prologue is on YouTube, so I won’t go over it in detail, but a few observations: before the music begins, you see some soldiers fighting. The one in the center is Andrei, who seems to have been wounded – was that a reference to the novel, where Andrei is treating himself from the wound he received in Austerlitz? Also, Nikolai’s name (Natasha’s brother and Sonya’s fiancé) appears in the cast list, so I imagine one of the soldiers must have been him, as he doesn’t appear in any other moment.

When the chords started playing, I looked around and Pierre was standing right next to me. Status: choked by tears of joy.

During the stanza “And this is all in your program…” dancers come singing and playing instruments, walking around the tables, looking people in the eye to make sure they understand.

Pierre

Also on YouTube, so the only note I’ll make is: throughout the song, Helene is there laid back on the stairs next to Dolokhov, flirting openly with him and laughing at Pierre.

Moscow

The Akhrosimov residence is on the left stage, while the Bolkonskys live on the right.

The impression I got of Marya was that this version of her was nicer, less strict than Grace McLean’s. Yes, she worries a lot about the family’s name and cares for decency, but she’s not only old-school, she’s also out of fashion. During Prologue, the word they use for her is “careta”, which has this double meaning, and it shows. Her style is different from everyone else’s, brighter and floral, and during Moscow she shows off some dance moves and you just know that she’s doing it to embarrass Natasha and Sonya. She can be endearing and didn’t seem to hate Sonya that much.

Private and Intimate Life

So, turning entirely to the right stage now, we see Old Bolkonsky sitting on his chair and Mlle Bourienne dancing gaily to his right. He drools, and she cleans it from the floor. Instead of “a young suitor” or “some cheap French thing”, Old B. says he’ll look for a whore. He turns to the audience, asking if there are any whores there, and then turns to Mlle Bourienne. The whole show in general is quite explicit, which I will detail further.

Natasha and the Bolkonskys

Natasha arrives and the awkwardness of the moment is shown by Mary going down the stage and getting lost as she wanders through the right-side tables trying to reach the central stage. Once they meet, they say their famous greetings and Mary just looks back at Old Bolkonsky and shakes her head, like saying “err... this girl is CANCELLED”. They keep silent, just smiling a lot in the fakest way possible, and they walk a bit around the central stage, one getting in the way of the other, before Mary starts “AND FROM THE FIRST GLAAAANCE”. There’s no sitting at the table, as it wouldn’t work, once only the people on the right would be able to see it.

About Mary’s character: she’s self-assumedly plain, but her costume is quite glittery. The Mary we meet here is haughty, I sensed in her more pride than in the book or in Gelsey Bell’s version. The audience stands on Natasha’s side, and her quick escape from the house seems more rightful than childish.

No One Else

Also on YouTube, so everyone can go there and see how beautiful it is, with the blue lighting and Andrei coming to dance with Natasha and lift her up in the air to fly away. An important detail about the translation: instead of “The Mooooooonnn….”, right in the beginning, Natasha sings “The Bluuuueeeee…”. The Moon is still very much present during this song, but this change connects with the deep significance blue lighting has in the play in general, and even more in this version specifically. On Broadway, blue lighting appears during No One Else and by the end of Dust and Ashes. For me it always seemed an indicator of purity, honesty, real love, as it was put in contrast with the dominating red and yellow lights, the two-faced and ill-meaning aristocratic society. Now this view was enhanced, for when Natasha acknowledges the colour, it becomes something else: the sky. Those who have read War & Peace or at least watched BBC’s 2016 miniseries, will remember the deep connection there’s between Andrei and the “lofty, infinite heavens”. Throughout the novel, the sky is a symbol of God, joy, eternal love that knows no bounds, love for the world, for our fellow men, for those who have done us wrong. Natasha lives this sky, lives the blue. She’s already found what Pierre is looking for, and from now on we will watch as she loses touch with it and attempts to regain it.

The Opera

Sonya began singing and detailing everything and I didn’t even remember that it wasn’t in the original language. It was so good. Now, a few book characters appear in the cast list, such as Vera, Berg, Julie, Boris, Anna Mikhailovna, Anna Pavlovna, Prince Vasili, Denisov… I think they were all just named extras in The Opera. No references to them at any other moment.

After Helene talks to Marya and the girls, Marya turns to them and says Helene is a snake, followed by hissing sounds. Beautiful. I think Helene was also wearing a snake-shaped necklace but I’m not 100% sure.

The ballet and the actual opera were everything you could expect.

Something that happens in the translation all throughout the play is that most of the time in Portuguese, you can’t say as much as in English with the same amount of syllables. An example is “tickle”, which in Portuguese is “fazer cócegas”. I’m mentioning it because I was very curious about this translation, and so “I’d tickle you all if I could” became “I’d like to dance with you all”, because a literal translation would never work. For me, it became less dream-like, and so that’s an example of how translation can get in the way.

Anatole’s entrance was not as remarkable, as in the stage there is no door, and so he just walked up the stairs, but he walked up-stage just as he should (no contact with the audience, however). Instead of “good-looking”, Helene calls him “gostoso”, which is a more explicit form of “hot”.

Natasha and Anatole

This one, even the interactions, were very similar to Broadway. But the impression this Anatole gives is quite different from Lucas’. Watching the Broadway version, I can never get very angry at Anatole, simply because Lucas Steele is too charismatic and has this “good guy” aura around him. I would call him ignorant, cocky, selfish, but not evil. One can even believe he’s in love with Natasha (in a shallow way). Now, someone would have to really distort everything to defend Brazil’s Anatole. It’s impossible not to realize that he’s only seeing Natasha as an object, he’s very vulgar in his gestures, and yet you can also understand why she is being fooled, what she sees in him is not what he’s showing the audience. Of course, I can’t speak of it universally, but I watched the play with some family members who didn’t know anything about the story, and they all felt pity for Natasha, none of them accused her of being “dumb”. Maybe it was to their own credit, maybe to the actors’. I personally liked this version of Anatole a lot, as it better suited my Pierre/Natasha/Andrei sensibilities, and was in a way still able to redeem Natasha’s actions – the trap throughout the play was just too well set.

Natasha didn’t sing the part that isn’t in the album (“nothing, it was nothing…”), which made me a bit sad.

The Duel

Let’s talk a bit about Pierre. Most of the time he’s sitting down in the middle circle, he has a drowsy, drunk look, as if almost falling asleep. In “Pierre” and “The Duel”, people don’t call him “old-man”, but refer to him rather as “imbecile” and “buffoon”. It makes him all the more pathetic in the club, dancing and drinking, pretending he belongs in the group, when deep down he very well knows everyone there is just laughing at him. And because at first glance he does look blind to the insults, people just find him more and more pathetic. In a way, this version of Pierre reminded me of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot, but I will talk more about this in “Pierre and Anatole”. Also: “Oh, dear Andrei’s betrothed?” was ON POINT.

So, more examples of how this production was more explicit. Anatole says “I’ll possess her”, instead of “I’ll make love to her”. For contemporary audiences, the second one is an euphemism for the same action, but in the 19th century it’d be understood as “courting”. There’s an ambiguity in English which is lost in the Portuguese translation, and in this case it further condemns Anatole. The same happens in “Pierre”, for “he’s charming, he has no sex”, would have meant that Pierre had no gender, but in Portuguese they translated it clearly to mean that he no longer practices the action of having sex. I’m detailing this because I find translation fascinating and all in all, I think all these little changes helped set up Natasha and Pierre as a more obvious pairing than they originally are (genderless old-man vs sad buffoon... I mean, there is a different feel to it, isn’t there?).

A bit now about Helene. She wore tights, black boots, a bathing suit and an army’s jacket for all the “party” scenes. She was literally all out there. And while this contributes to making her more “slutty”, her reactions during the actual duel were quite redeeming. Before realizing that he had not been shot, Pierre crumbles into a semi-fetal-position, and so, adding to a very long cry when Dolokhov shoots, Helene also rushes to Pierre to make sure he’s okay. So yes, Helene is full of malice and loves tricking people so she can have things her own way, but she doesn’t want anyone to die. Not for her. When Anatole says that she “brings out the beast in men” and she replies with “what can I say, it’s a gift”, she seemed tired, to me. Like she has to keep this evil reputation and has maintained it for so long that at this point doesn’t even know how to act any other way, but is still capable of some regret. I don’t know, I like to think this about her.

When the duel is over, one of the extras gets out of the stage helping Dolokhov. They came right past me and couldn’t move through, it was too narrow for two guys at once, so the one carrying Dolokhov told me “excuse me, he’s badly wounded”. I moved out the chair, they passed, Dolokhov in pain, and this one interaction that I got made me extremely happy.

Talking to Pierre, Anatole says “be glad, YOU live to love one more time”. I’m telling you this show has a Pierretasha agenda.

Dust and Ashes

The beginning of the song was very good, more than ever I felt Pierre’s tiredness of living in ridicule, but I didn’t think the ending was as impactful as in English. My favorite line, “did I squander my divinity, was happiness within me this whole time?” didn’t make it into it, they translated to something I can’t quite remember. Now, Pierre sang “They say we are asleep until we LOVE”. Yes, this happened so it could fit into the syllables, but I really like this shift from romantic love to a more general love, maybe the same pure love I talked about in “No One Else”. And of course, by the end of the song, lights shifted to blue.

Sunday morning

I don’t have much to say, except that the three remained in the left stage, with Sonya holding two mirrors and Natasha a candle. We don’t see them going to church, it’s just mentioned.

Charming

There was no change of clothes nor Helene giving Natasha her necklace, but Helene’s actress gave a complete show. She was there using the entirety of the of the central stage, lights turned green and were flickering by the end, it was hypnotical and the song people applauded the most. There was this very funny moment when Helene starts raising her skirt and Natasha is blushing and thinking “wait, is she really doing it”, and then just rushes to her and puts her skirt down, embarrassed and smiling.

The Ball

During the ball, Natasha wore a white and red gown, which matched perfectly with Anatole’s suit. You just really want Natasha to escape from Anatole’s clutches (I’m not going solely by my biased views. That’s the impression my aunt who had no idea of the story got. She really hated Anatole and really shipped Pierretasha). Throughout the song, Natasha is saying that she must leave him and other similar things. Then, in the end, after they kiss, Natasha says something in the lines of “I don’t leave him”, and so when they rush to leave the stage there’s this feeling I didn’t get before that maybe something more would happen between them. We know it isn’t the case, but for someone who was seeing it for the first time, it could have been ambiguous. The play had certainly been so far explicit enough for it to be a possibility.

Act 2

Letters

This one was very nice. Pierre was in the central upper stage, Natasha in the left, and Mary in the right. There were extras around them holding paper and a plume, writing the letters as the characters dictated. Pierre says he’s found the number of Beelzebub (which is me second favourite name for Satan after Mephistopheles) and actually says “six-hundred and sixty-six”, which brought some peace to my soul. When the Golden Trio sings together (Natasha, Pierre and Mary are a golden trio, hear me out), they’re not meeting round the circle and looking at each other in the eye, something I always loved about the Broadway version, but each in their own corner, the holophotes shining bright upon them. In a way, it intensified how lonely they were at that moment, while also hinting that they would come to cross paths in their parallel journeys.

While the Golden Trio is singing, Anatole and Dolokhov climb up the stage, and you see Dolokhov composing the loooooove letter. The letter then makes its way to Natasha, going through the hands of the people sitting nearer the upper part of the stages, and only gets to her when it’s time for her to reply. So, during the entire “Natalie, Natalie” thing, Anatole is in the central stage making sexual gestures. You really don’t want Natasha to fall for it. And then she does. Nothing new under the sun. Natasha and Anatole didn’t share the stage, Anatole remained in the central and Natasha in the left, glancing at each other voluptuously across the room. This happened a lot in the play in general, there’s much less people crossing one another when they are not next to each other physically.

Natasha and Sonya

Not much to say, it was heart-breaking and similar to Broadway.

Sonya Alone

It was beautifully sung and there was a sad purple lighting, but I think this song suffered a bit from translation. Instead of “I’ll stand in the dark for you”, Sonya would say “I’ll guide you through the darkness”, which for me is something less Sonya-like. I don’t think she believes she’s capable of guiding anyone, she herself is afraid of the dark, but even so she’ll stay there for her cousin, and for me that’s what makes the song so powerful.

Preparations

The translation was surprisingly good, like in The Opera, it took me a while to remember it wasn’t in English. Dolokhov’s actor did an incredible job overall, and this song had one of the funniest scenes: instead of Natasha appearing to Anatole in a ghostly light and almost making it seem like he might care for her, Anatole sings that part to Dolokhov as if he were Natasha. He hugs him from behind and points out his “traits” suggestively (quel pied, quel regard!) while Dolokhov is just like “hey man, no homo now, I’m mad at you”. It was a great scene.

Balaga

I must say that “Balaga” was the most well translated song, because just like in the original, I couldn’t understand a word of what was being said.

The Abduction

“Adeus meus bons ciganos, a festa agora é outra; adeus Matryosha, deixa eu te beijar; lembra de mim, Steshka, adeus, adeus, adeus; au revoir, meus bons ciganoooos, agora adeus, adeus, adeus”. I might have been the only one singing along to Anatole’s goodbye, but it was lovely. Then, everyone started dancing and they were so energetic and there was this violent orgy and one of the dancers was dressed up as a bear… yeah, we got some chaos. But I was sad that it wasn’t The Chaos we get on Broadway, once the other main characters didn’t join up. Marya was there, dancing by herself and having the time of her life around the left-side tables, while Helene, Anatole and Dolokhov were in the central stage doing what they are best at. Unfortunately though, at no moment did Helene come down to meet up with Marya, something I was actually hoping would happen. Now, I imagine there was someone dancing in the right-side as well, but I couldn’t see who they were. By the show’s logic, it’d have been Mary. If anyone knows, please share this info, I appreciate it, thanks a lot.

In My House

“Não entra no meu LAAARR, VermEeee”. “Verme” means worm. Another word they used at some point referring to Anatole was “crápula”, and I’ll adopt it from now on.

Anatole runs from the left stage, where he had been face to face with Marya, and goes to the central one, where he’s still able to see Natasha, grab her hands and try to pull her, but a servant stops him. Anatole escapes leaving Natasha with the fur-cloak (which was actually just a mantle, because “casaco de pele” is too long).

This song was not as scary as when Grace McLean sings it, but still amazing, and Natasha’s acting was heart-breaking, all of her a wounded bird.

A Call to Pierre

Pierre’s “Whaaaaaaat” was very funny, he had been asleep when the servant called him and was probably facing now a hangover, so it sounded a lot more like someone who had been awoken in the middle of their sleep cycle and is still trying to decide whether they care enough about what is going on in real life, rather than sheer surprise. But then he goes to Marya and by then is fully energized and ready for the job.

The “Natasha, and ANATOOOOLE KURAAAAGIINN” part was more sung than said with anger and disgust.

Instead of “so I’m not the only man chained to a bad woman”, Pierre said “so I’m not the only one suffering in the hands of the Kuragin”, which I thought was a nice change. Pierre loves his Natasha and it’s counter-nature for him to vilify her.

Find Anatole

When Pierre meets Anatole and Helene, he calls them “bad blood”. As you can see from the changes I’ve mentioned so far, the Kuragins were really set up as a team of vulgar evil incest-ish siblings.

Pierre and Anatole

During the discussion, Pierre and Anatole stand on opposite sides of the main circle, just like in the duel. Pierre chocked Anatole Darth-Vader-style, and also holds an imaginary object to “smash his head like this”.

So, in “The Duel” I mentioned that Pierre reminded me of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot. In a nutshell, The Idiot is someone so good and pure that society can’t help but see him as pathetic and stupid. Before, Pierre was a bad kind of idiot, fooling around with people who despised him, but now he’s a good kind of idiot. When Pierre takes back his words and asks Anatole for forgiveness, the latter feels completely superior, like he’s just made a complete fool of Pierre, but the more arrogance he shows, the lower he gets. Anatole, in his small-mindedness, is incapable of perceiving the magnanimity of Pierre’s actions, and more than ever I felt how out-of-place Pierre was in this society. People will always see him as a buffoon, but at least now he can recognize in himself that it isn’t the case.

“Para PETERSBUUURGO” was great. Anatole’s actor in general did a wonderful job, he could hold very high notes and sometimes really sounded like Lucas musically.

Natasha didn’t appear taking poison, we only hear about it later through Sonya.

Natasha Very Ill

Natasha, indeed, was very ill.

Pierre and Andrei

This was a very emotional song. Maybe it was just me, but you could really see how heartbroken and shattered to pieces Andrei was. We don’t see him taking his father’s chair; instead, when he tells Pierre goodbye, in the upper part of the main circle, Natasha is there in the lower one, glancing at him. Their eyes meet. I died.

Pierre and Natasha

Amazing, brilliant. My heart stopped during Pierre’s speech, it was so special to hear it word by word, in the language I had read the book. They’re standing next to each other and Pierre actually kneels down. He kisses Natasha’s hands, and she softly touches his face. Natasha cries “tears of gratitude, tears of tenderness, tears of LOVE” (romantically, or the “infinite heavens” type of love?). When Natasha leaves the room smiling, Pierre tries to get up, but stumbles and almost falls. He takes a long while trying to put on his cloak, but no one in the audience laughed. We just had silly smiles on our faces. It was magical to be so close to Natasha and Pierre that you could actually see their tears. I feel like my crops have been forever blessed.

The Great Comet of 1812

Oh wow. So, the lightning. The lights don’t go fully out, as on Broadway. Instead, there’s this opaque white light and the comet is reflecting on the light-bulbs of the central “chandelier-complex”, turning everything silver. The sky Pierre describes, is not only starry, but the moon is also there, Natasha’s symbol, shining alongside the comet. And then guess what. The lights turned blue and Natasha was there across the main circle. Pierre and her look at each other and at the “chandeliers”, which are now lighting up yellow, bursting with new life… only, instead of “into a new life”, guess again what was it that Pierre said? “I. Woke. Up”. That was the final line. Pierre woke up to the sky, the sky Natasha used to live so vividly, and is now regaining the capacity to do so. Andrei’s sky, which he now couldn’t be further away from. This show really broke me.

During the applauses, they all sing goodbye my gipsy lovers. I was singing along with them, even though I had no voice left from emotion. I looked around to see the faces and I don’t think anyone had cried, I hadn’t either, but people’s eyes were shining and we all smiled.

10/10, because I will never give anything tgc-related a grade lower than that.

PS: sorry about grammar mistakes, I know my prepositions are a bit messed up.

#natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #natasha pierre e o grande cometa de 1812 #war and peace #natasha rostova #pierre bezukhov #andrei bolkonsky #anatole kuragin #helene bezukhova #marya dmitryevna akhrosimova #sonya rostova #fedya dolokhov #mary bolkonskaya #são paulo #brazil #broadway #great comet #tgc

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rosewaterbaptism · 5 years

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Why I Love Hadestown

Under the cut because I literally made myself nauseous with how obnoxious I am

There a two major reasons why I love Hadestown. The first is that I’m Greek. I know that I talk about being Greek on this blög ad nauseam, but.. I’m Greek. I’m Greek I’m Greek I’m Greek. But if you think that I love Hadestown Because I’m Greek and It’s About Greek Mythology, you’re wrong. If I stanned every single piece of modern media that was about/included Greek mythology, that would honestly make me kinda a shitty Greek. Why? Because 99.9999% of modern media about Greek mythology is absolute dogshit (these r real stats, don’t ask me my sources). Modern media doesn’t get Greek mythology. Sure everybody likes Greek mythology, but nobody actually understands why these stories are so compelling in the first place, or why they’ve endured and remain relevant in the modern era. I’ve had a Tumblr account on and off since 2012, so I’ve seen more than my fair share of Bad Greek Mythology Takes (and my God are they bad). But bad Greek myth takes aren’t just limited to Tumblr! Most of the most popular book and comic series that centre around Greek mythology completely get it wrong! Enter Hadestown. When I first listened to the Hadestown cast album, I was veeerryyy skeptical. I thought it would fall into the traps that all modern adaptations of Greek mythology eventually fall into. I had my guard up. I was Not prepared to like it.

First I Thought: This is gonna suck.

Which Was Paired At Fist With: This sucks.

Then I Thought: So this isn’t actually all that bad.

And Then: This is actually kinda good.

And After That: This is actually really good. This iteration of the myth is almost as good as Actual Greek Mythology. Almost.

And Then: I can’t believe I’m saying this but…. this iteration of the myth might just be better than the actual myth upon which it’s based.

You cannot possibly comprehend what kind of revaluation that is for me. It’s almost blasphemy for me to say an adaptation is better than the original myth. In fact, Hadestown is the only adaptation I feel this way about. It turned my world around, I am a proud Greek, and a proud Greek mythology snob, and I after years upon years of wading through shit masquerading as Greek mythology adaptations, I finally found the one and only modern Greek myth adaptation that not only does the original justice, but even surpasses it while still displaying the utmost reverence for the source material.

It got the point where I actually dubbed Anaïs Mitchell an honorary Greek in my mind. I’ve never bestowed that honour onto another person before.

Never before have I felt so understood. I don’t think I ever will again.

You know what would actually make my argument legitimate? If I provided sources on a) what the original Greek myths were really About, b) how other adaptations of mythology take the bare-bones plot elements of the original myths but leave behind the integral underlying Themes, and c) how Hadestown succeeds where other adaptations fail in its preservation of Greek themes but… I do Not have the spoons for that rn and also this post is just for fun and not an academic paper so. You’re just gonna have to trust MGO (My Greek Opinion).

The second reason why I love Hadestown so much is because it gave me something to be excited about, in a time where I had Nothing. Not only that, it introduced me to the whole world of Great Comet and Dave Malloy through Amber Gray. But we, quite literally, Do Not Have Time To Unpack All That, so you’re just gonna have to content yourself with my Greek snobbiness. Sorry. 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

#also. literally nobody has to reblog this #i would actually prefer that people didn't #i mean @ kira you can rb if you want!! but you don't HAVE to is what i'm saying #but it is quite personal and also not my best bit of writing because i didn't provide any sources to back up my arguments #also it's too emotional and not logical enough which i don't like #also if anyone tried to argue with my idk how to say 'I'm Greek and I know more abt Greek mythology than you On The Basis Of Being Greek #so don't try me'#hhhgggg sry this is a mess i'm not having a good day :(#i wanted to do Something for today rather than just leave it empty #but this is honestly too personal and i don't like getting that personal on my blog fshsdahfjk so i feel weird posting this #anyhoo #hadestownweek #personal #this is my brain on no sleep. this is what i do. i embarrass myself on tumblr dot colm

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ellie-valsin · 6 years

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Okay, you guys know what this means, right? (Other than the fact that I will surely end up arranging a trip to “visit family” in Tokyo in January 2019.) That’s right, it means that Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 will be getting its first post-Broadway production in Tokyo next year!

Congratulations to the show, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t going to make every earthly effort to get there to see it. Because my husband does still have family living in Tokyo, we’ve been there a number of times and I’ve been lucky enough to see several Broadway-style shows there. Let me give some straight-talk insight on what to expect from a Japanese production; those who are offended by straight-talk may stop reading now. ;)

-The company producing it: Toho Stage. If I’m being totally honest, this fact has kept me up half the night worrying. To be fair, they have produced plenty of what I would call “legit” musical theatre, including, coming soon, Fun Home, as well as everything from South Pacific (I know, whut) to Secret Garden. The problem is that they also produce tons and tons of Bway flops and Euro-pop musicals, which is mostly my personal experience with Toho. (Anytime a French musical is licensed in Japan, I know before even looking that it will be with Toho. No exceptions.) And they are usually veeeeery loose adaptations of those shows, so I am a bit concerned. But probably I’m worrying for nothing on this point...We’ll see.

-The staging: Japan does many musicals, both old and new, American, European, and Asian, but when it does first run versions of recent Broadway musicals, it usually makes some attempt to replicate the staging, stage design, and/or costumes. You see much more slavish imitation productions out of Shiki musical productions than out of Toho ones, but that’s because Shiki holds the rights to every Disney musical ever, and Disney is very particular about such things. When Toho puts on Les Mis, they do have an exact replica production of whatever’s playing in other countries, because Cam Mac is similarly particular about it--however, I’ve also seen them change many production designs for other shows. It all depends on who’s granting the rights and what restrictions are placed on those rights. The Natasha, Pierre rights holders would be very wise to insist on a similar production to the American one, imo, but then again, I really can’t see any of the immersive stage designs working in the theatre that Toho uses...Not because the stage couldn’t be adapted to, say, the A.R.T. configuration they used in Boston, but because I don’t think the interactive elements/jokes would go over that well with typical Japanese audiences (I think the majority of Japanese musical fans would be very uncomfortable with it).

Whatever the stage and costume design, I imagine it will be beautiful, since I have always been impressed by that aspect of every production I’ve seen there, whether imitation staging or new staging.

The only thing that worries me about the staging is, well, the stage--or, more precisely the theatre. Toho’s usual theatre is huuuuge compared to your standard Bway theatre. We always knew this would be a problem if this show toured, since most touring houses in America are also huuuuge, but I always secretly hoped they’d go back to a tent format and do sit-downs in big cities that way. I...don’t think a tent is what Toho has in mind. We’ll have to wait and see, but I will say I don’t think I’d want to be in the back of the balcony on this one.....

-The casting: Yes, they will all be Japanese, except for the Koreans they hire. So, in that sense, yes of course it won’t resemble the diverse ensemble from the OBC. On the other hand, I am quite confident they can find a girl who can look and act the part of Natasha, since most of the female leads I’ve seen in musicals there are quite ingenue-typed sopranos. They will also make a killer Anatole.

Also, I forgot to mention: it will likely be double-cast, meaning there will be two separate actors or actresses cast for each of the most demanding parts (in this case, probably Natasha, Pierre, Anatole, Sonya, and maybe Helene), and they’ll rotate their schedules throughout the run. This is typical of Japanese musicals, and should be interesting.

-The singing: Compared to the OBC, it will most likely suck. Japanese musical theatre voices are trained to sound a bit different from contemporary Broadway voices, so they usually already sound pretty different when singing regular Broadway scores, but this one? I predict that this’ll be baaaad. But you may say, ‘everyone in the OBC sounded “different” from a standard Bway voice, why couldn’t that work for the Japanese, too?’ to which I say, well, it’s a different kind of different. The OBC had distinctive voices, interesting voices (which, personally, I feel like we’ve been missing more and more on Broadway in these past 10-20 years), but they were hitting very specific notes, often weird ones, since it’s Dave after all. ;) Not only have I not seen proof that the average Japanese musical singer can sing a score of this complexity (I’ve never seen them do Sondheim, for instance, though I know it does exist), but they seem to be mostly trained to do a sort of “Rodgers & Hammerstein” style of singing in which everyone attempts a pretty classical musical theatre sound with lots of vibrato and a woman’s break occurs very low, that is, the head voice is used where often the original show belted the notes (see: the painful rendition of Evita’s “A New Argentina”). High belting is not even a lost art in Japan, because I’m pretty sure it was never found to begin with: clips from shows as disparate as Aida, Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and Wicked have made this clear to me, and certainly every experience I’ve ever had mixing Wildhorn with Japan (Scarlet Pimpernel, Jekyll&Hyde, etc.), or even the more poppy French musicals in Japanese. Does every actor/actress belt flat? No, of course not--but plenty of them do. New contemporary musical theatre continues to move into the realm of American Idol, producing beltier and beltier music, so it’s only bound to become a worse problem over time...

But anyway, even with bum notes and heavy vibrato being consistent annoyances, will that really affect Nastasha, Pierre, which is not really an example of the “belt it higher/longer” Wicked school of musical writing? Well, of course it will, sometimes. Don’t expect anyone who can tear into Maria Dmitrievna in Japan. Don’t expect Natasha will be able to powerfully slam those top notes in her “argument” scenes. Don’t expect the end of Dust & Ashes to sound great. And certainly don’t expect to get a reliable “PETERSBUUUUURG!!!” out of anyone (though one might say that for most actors working on Bway, too ;)).

And even if they somehow find a miraculous cast hidden away somewhere who can sing the shit out of the notes, there will always be:

-The translation: This shit will be difficult as all hell to translate. Between Malloy’s own writing style and Tolstoy’s text, I really don’t know how it will be done. I’ve attempted it myself, so I’ve already seen the challenges first hand... Japanese is acknowledged as one of the most difficult languages to translate English lyrics into, mostly because the structure of the two languages differs so greatly: in Japanese, you can usually express pretty much any of the same ideas you can in English, but you usually can’t express them in as few syllables. When my husband and I made a project of translating “No One Else,” it proved almost impossible to fit every idea expressed in the English lyrics into the translation without running waaaay too long to fit the meter. This is usually solved for in professional Japanese musical translations by cutting out whole lines from the original libretto and taking, say, two lines to translate one line of English text. It can also be solved by pretty much ignoring the English lyrics and just making up some different ones in Japanese that fit the meter and don’t sound too out of place thematically. These methods work fine for shows that were lyrically insipid to begin with, like the Euro-pop musicals (yes, Romeo & Juliette, I am looking at you), but on Dave Malloy’s libretto??? Why bother if you have to do a hack job to make it work...? There’s a reason Sondheim is so infrequently produced in Japan......

Now, for many of you, the translation will not affect your life in the slightest. For my husband and other bilinguals, it will be excruciating to listen to. He already gets annoyed enough listening to Japanese Les Mis...I don’t know how I’m going to get him to listen to a translation of lyrics he actually loves to death in English. ;)

Anyway, if it sounds like I’m very wary of this production, that’s because...I am. It’s scary not only because it’s a Japanese production, but also because it’s the first production post-Bway, and nobody knows quite what sort of adaptation to expect. I’ll try to keep the faith, while still keeping it real... The good news is that you all will likely be able to judge it for yourself, because Toho usually puts out at least a cast recording for its musicals, and sometimes even a DVD of them!

And will I be attending, in spite of my serious concerns? Yeah, duh, if I can swing it. XD I can already tell you there will be tears at the end, which is one thing I fully expect them to get perfectly right. :’)

#Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 #npatgco1812 #great comet #dave malloy

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crazy-noonoohead · 6 years

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My top 10 shows I saw in 2017.

This is in no particular order, and to prove that, I’m sticking one of the best in the middle and saving one for last. I’m mostly focusing on shows I saw for the first time in 2017, but I’m making two exceptions (four if you count Broadway transfers that I saw in previous incarnations) and you probably already know what those two are. I’m also sticking to plays and musicals as opposed to concerts, comedy performances, etc., but I’ll include a few of those in my honorable mentions. So here goes!

The Book Of Mormon with Dom Simpson as Elder Price: Let me start off by saying I adore Nic Rouleau. He’s been in various productions of BOM since its very beginning, and he still continues to get better every time I see him. And when I say this next thing, I don’t want anyone to think I’m tired of him, because that couldn’t be further from the truth. The day he leaves the show is probably the day the world ends. But since he’s been with the show for so long, he’s the Price I’ve seen the most often, by a long shot, so seeing a new take on the role was a refreshing experience that I’ll always cherish. When I met Dom at the stage door, I found out that I had seen the show more times than he had done the show. I hope he has more opportunities to go on, because he gave a wonderful performance! (Quick shout-outs to the other two times I saw it this year, especially when I went on my birthday.)

Falsettos’ closing performance: Having frequented this show consistently since the first preview (for...no particular reason), it was such a privilege to watch this cast of seven give it their all every single time. Still, that final show was probably everyone’s best performance. Andrew’s final “The Games I Play” was definitely the best I had heard him sing it, and the fact that I was sitting close enough to see the tears in his eyes was both a blessing and a curse that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Anthony powered through even though he was getting over an illness (which I would not have realized if I hadn’t already known) and had to call out earlier that weekend. Stephanie had to take moments during “I’m Breaking Down” and “Trina’s Song,” but somehow made it through “Holding To The Ground.” Brandon teared up during “A Marriage Proposal.” Everyone was emotional during the curtain call. And of course, I started crying the moment the lights went down for the first act and rarely stopped. The woman sitting next to me was a friend of William Finn’s and had lost friends during the AIDS crisis, so the show resonated with her in a way that it never will with me. I’m grateful that the production is on Broadway HD and that I can watch it whenever I want to, but it’s not the same as being there. It’s been almost a year and I still miss it a lot. What more can I say?

The Play That Goes Wrong: After seeing this in London with my mom and stepdad, we all loved it so much that we jumped on the chance to see the Broadway transfer as soon as possible. It goes wrong in all the right ways! I have now seen it three times on Broadway, and the jokes are still fresh and hilarious. Even while laughing at all the mishaps, I find myself sympathizing with these characters and admiring their determination to keep going. Sometimes it cheered me up, and other times it made an already good day even better. I hope I can go back soon to see the new cast.

The Great Comet: I went into this one knowing nothing about the plot, just that a lot of people loved it. I was also seeing it 12 days after Falsettos closed, so you can probably guess the state of mind I was in. But I loved this show! The music was like nothing I’d heard before (in a good way, obviously), the set felt intimate and elaborate at the same time, and the cast was incredibly talented AND one of the most diverse I’d ever seen, if not THE most. Somehow they made it easy for me to relate to characters living in 19th century Russia, despite living as a millennial in 21st century New York. I saw it twice, once with the original Broadway cast and once with Dave Malloy and Ingrid Michaelson, and I would have gone more if it had the long, successful run it deserved. But unfortunately, just like a comet, it lived up to its name and shone brightly for a short amount of time before disappearing. Also, the pierogies they gave out before the show were delicious. And I’m just now realizing that they missed out on an opportunity to make “Pierre-ogi” puns.

Bastard Jones: I have to admit this one grew on me. Once I found out that a former member of Toxic Audio was in the cast, I knew I was going to see it multiple times no matter what I thought, so thank goodness it was a good show! The first time I went, I enjoyed myself, and of course I loved getting to see René perform for the first time in ten years, but I wasn’t blown away. But that second time...maybe the performances got tighter. Maybe the jokes just landed better. Maybe it was because I was with the first friend I ever took to a Toxic Audio show. I’ll never know for sure. But I liked it a lot more the second time. While most of the draw for me was still seeing René in a role that is absolutely perfect for him, I ended up falling for the whole show as well. The slapstick humor, word play, and dirty jokes are completely up my alley (there’s a dirty joke somewhere in the phrase “up my alley”), and I found two songs I want to use for auditions once the sheet music becomes available. I saw this one four times during its month-long run, and the only reason I didn’t go more is that it sold out super quickly after getting rave reviews. The team is hoping that their next step is a longer run in a bigger venue, and I will definitely revisit the show when that happens, especially if René is still playing Partridge.

Sunday In The Park With George: I watched the DVD of the original production a few years ago because my friend was very nice and lent it to me, and I was so excited that I could finally see a live production. It. Was. Fantastic! Annaleigh Ashford and Jake Gyllenhaal were both wonderful and almost definitely would have received Tony nominations if the production had decided to compete. Andrew Kober, whom I’d seen in a few other things, was a swing in the show and got to go on for the first time the night I was there, which made it even more of a treat. This was a great production of an already great show, and although it was always going to be a limited run, I wish it could have lasted longer. More Sondheim on Broadway, please!

Jitney: My mom and I saw this one together, and it took a while to get going for us, but once it did, we were hooked. A super talented group of people sharing a compelling story? Yes, please! We both left the theatre pleasantly surprised, and everyone who signed at the stage door was very nice. Most of the actors didn’t have Sharpies and I got to lend them mine, which was a nice bonus. Of course, it’s always great to see BOM alumni continue to be successful, and I saw it the day after my BOM anniversary on purpose. The alumnus in this show ran over and gave me a big hug that night.

Brigadoon: This weekend-long City Center production looked ready to transfer and get an open run! Stephanie J. Block’s solo number was the stand-out for me (partially because she’s Stephanie, but her song would have been my favorite anyway), and Kelli O’Hara and Patrick Wilson were amazing as the two leads. Yes, the show has that “falling in love after knowing each other for one day” thing that annoys me about a lot of older musicals, but it still has a beautiful score and a unique premise.

The Band’s Visit: I loved this show when I saw it at the Atlantic Theatre last November, and I was very excited when I found out it was transferring to Broadway, but I also had my reservations. I was concerned that the show would lose its intimacy in a larger space. Boy, was I happy to be wrong! They picked the right theatre, as it most likely would have lost the intimacy in a bigger house, almost the entire cast is the same, and somehow the show was even better the second time. It’s a heartwarming, simple but effective story that we could all use right now. It’s not a “see over and over again” show for me, but I will definitely return to Bet Hatikva (with a B) at some point. I can’t officially endorse it for Best Musical until I see more of the new musicals this season, but if it doesn’t at least get nominated, I’m rioting.

Groundhog Day: Will I get through this paragraph without crying? Won’t I get through this paragraph without crying? Civilization once again hangs in the balance. Wow. What an unlikely love story! And contrary to those corny Hallmark movies where you figure the love story out in the first 30 seconds of the trailer, this love story was ACTUALLY unlikely. For me, at least. This was the show that got me excited about theatre again after Falsettos closed. I found something else I couldn’t stop gushing about or recommending to friends. At first most of that excitement came from the novelty of the first preview (Google the story if you don’t already know; this post is long enough already) and the awesomely professional way the team handled such a stressful situation, but as I listened to the cast recording more, it became clear that it wasn’t just that one experience that I loved. It was the whole show, and everyone involved. They took the story of a beloved, seemingly flawless movie, and in my not-even-living-in-the-same-neighborhood-as-humble opinion...dare I say it?...made it even better? I made Twitter friends because of this show. I crocheted Phil and Rita dolls and got to give them to Andy and Barrett. The closing notice hurt, and attending the final performance was one of my most bittersweet experiences, but it was worth it. This show was definitely a highlight of 2017. Six months and a day was not enough time, but I’m grateful for the time it had and I miss it every day. (For those of you wondering, I did not get through this paragraph without crying.)

Honorable mentions, also in no particular order:

Andrew Rannells’ and Stephanie J. Block’s Live From Lincoln Center concerts: An hour each, watching two of my favorite performers do solo shows that will later air on PBS was such a treat! Andrew’s set was completely full of songs I’d never heard him sing before, while Stephanie’s was a mix of new things and songs she’s known for. After hearing Stephanie sing “Some People” from Gypsy, I want her to play Rose one day. But first I want her to play Fanny Brice. Andrew is one of the only people who could make me cry by singing “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen (the others, of course, being the members of Toxic/Vox Audio). And he did.

Indecent: I almost made my list a top 11 so I could include it, but I insisted on having a round number. This was a powerful one-act play about making and producing God Of Vengeance, which was very controversial at the time because it was the 20th century and two women fell in love. Taking place during the Holocaust, the use of sand was very effective, and was probably both my favorite thing about it and the most difficult part to watch. It was my pick for Best Play this past season, and again, it deserved a longer run.

White Arab Problems: One of my friends from acting class wrote and performed a 45-minute comedy act about the struggles of being Arab but passing for white. In the piece, she humorously acknowledges the privileges that come with being white while also really dealing with the frustration of people thinking she’s trying to appropriate her own culture. I first met her in class in 2015 and recognized some insecurities that came across as ones I also have. Watching her grow over the years, seeing her perform this piece, and knowing she was proud of what she did made me a proud friend/classmate/scene partner, and I look forward to seeing it again whenever I can.

The Skivvies: Not much to elaborate on here, but I see as many of their concerts as I can, and it’s always a super fun time.

Prince Of Broadway: While this one was billed as a musical, it was technically a revue, which is why I didn’t put it on the official list. Watching a super talented cast of nine people perform songs and scenes from multiple Hal Prince shows definitely made for a great night! I went to the last preview, and I went again during the final week. I want Chuck Cooper to play Tevye, and I want Brandon Uranowitz to play Georg Nowack. And the Emcee. And Molina. And any other role he wants to play because he’s amazing.

So there’s my list. I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t include more plays, but hopefully next year. And with that, “ba da ba ba ba suck my balls, I’m out.”

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helenekuraginaarc · 7 years

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the great comet hélène vs. war and peace hélène

@carnovalesque said: i would kill for a post where u talk about differences btw tgc helene and w&p helene

here it is! i’ve talked in passing many, many times about my displeasure with great comet’s interpretation of hélène, but i’ve only mentioned in passing my problems with it. it’s about time i actually laid out my critique and sorted out the differences! because, really, it’s not that i don’t like great comet’s hélène, it’s that it’s just... not hélène kuragina. i think dave malloy took a lot of liberties with the characterization in great comet and it often makes me wonder why he didn’t just write something completely new, like ghost quartet, instead of adapting war and peace, since it’s really so far from the original work. great comet is an incredible work, don’t get me wrong, but it’s really ingenuous to the novel and it makes it hard for me to enjoy.

now to the actual analysis. in the blockquotes i’ll summarize/quote great comet, and beneath that, without blockquotes, i’ll counteract that with the novel. here we go. under the cut because this got long as hell. i have a lot of say about my girl, alright?

“hélène is a slut. anatole’s sister, married to pierre.” — prologue. the audience is immediately informed of this “trait” of hers and essentially is made to view her in that light for the rest of the musical. dave malloy did try to defend it by saying she’s reclaiming the term, but it is not clear enough in the slightest. additionally, she isn’t the only one to say it, the entire cast does. that one gendered slur is meant to be her defining trait, said like a fact as simple as anatole being her brother or pierre being her husband.

while it is true that hélène does have a few affairs in the novel, most notably with dolokhov and boris drubetskoy, this contrasts with the book interpretation in a couple of ways. first of all, using this as an introduction to hélène’s character goes completely against what tolstoy did. the first descriptions of hélène talk about her calmness, her embarrassment at her effect on men, even her insecurity and vulnerability. she isn’t brazen or outwardly cruel, she’s human, soft, shy. it’s only later that her flaws are revealed. “but, charlie, that’s because great comet takes place in the middle of the book, she already grew out of that!” okay, but? her reputation was still fairly unscathed. in fact, at this point, her reputation was on the uptick. relative to war and peace, great comet begins right after pierre and hélène reunite after the period of time they spent apart after the duel. she’d come out of just fine, passing any blame from the conflict with dolokhov onto pierre and painting him as a jealous, angry husband and herself as innocent in every way. and in some ways, she’s right — her affair with dolokhov is never even canonically confirmed. but more on that later. the point is, she’s still seen as kind and innocent in society, just with the added on qualities of also being charming and confident. virtually no one knows of her promiscuity.

moving right along into the second point, how can she reclaim something that hasn’t been used against her? no one is calling her a sl*t in society. she isn’t known that way at all. additionally, it is not something she would want to reclaim. if you don’t believe me, look to the end of her life. when she becomes pregnant from a man other than pierre and her affairs begin to be impossible to hide, she panics. this eventually leads to her overdosing and killing herself. i really don’t think she wants to be known like that.

disclaimer: i’ve received a lot of flack of this in the past, so let me be clear. i have no problem with reclaiming the term! at all! women owning their sexuality is fantastic! it’s just not hélène.

“hélène and dolokhov, arm in arm. pierre, the cuckold sits at home!” — the opera, along with hélène and dolokhov’s flirting/obviousness in the duel. it makes it clear that hélène does not care for pierre’s opinion of her, nor that he knows she is being unfaithful. in fact, she rubs it in his face. she is completely smug about it and without shame.

now, in the novel, the duel and dolokhov and hélène’s supposed affair is closer to the beginning of their marriage, perhaps a year or two after if i remember correctly? meaning, it is the first hint at hélène’s unfaithfulness to pierre. it’s not a pattern. it’s never happened before. as previously mentioned, hélène’s reputation is still unscathed, she remains a soft-spoken and innocent girl, albeit with a newfound confidence from her marriage and rise in status. still, she very much values her marriage and bezukhov’s name and her relationship with him—not in a romantic sense, of course, but in a respectful and appreciative sense. she knows she would not be where she is without him. she knows she owes him for raising her status. she really doesn’t want to jeopardize her relationship with him, meaning if she were having an affair with dolokhov (which, again, it is never entirely confirmed, only assumed, and the reader is told of it through rumors spread at the rostov’s house) it’s highly unlikely she would be rubbing it into pierre’s face.

hélène would not be seen with dolokhov in public without pierre by her side, fearing for her reputation and the opinions/assumptions of others, however right they are. in canon, she goes as far as to express her displeasure at dolokhov staying with them and makes it seem to pierre as if she despises dolokhov. it is dolokhov’s actions entirely, alluding to himself being hélène’s lover, that sets pierre off. hélène does everything to hide it. it is important to note that the attention and admiration from society is hélène’s only source of validation, not being shown love from her family or pierre and only being wanted by lovers for sex and status. she does whatever possible to keep the false sense of love she receives from society. she tries this with pierre at first, but it becomes impossible for her to keep up, as the image of herself she displays in public is so different from the deeply troubling and angry truth of her mindset.

“keep drinking, old man [...] god, to think i married a man like you!” — the duel, showing hélène’s contempt for pierre and making it clear that she doesn’t care about hiding how she feels about him. she feels ashamed to be married to him and tells him directly. “he will kill you, stupid husband!” — also from the duel, showing that she exhibits the tiniest bit of worry for pierre, but mainly showing that she thinks he’s a fool for engaging in the duel at all.

as i previously mentioned, hélène doesn’t show her dislike of pierre outwardly at any time in the novel. throughout their marriage, while it’s clear she showed hostility towards him and commented on his way of life and certain things he did, she never makes it seem as if she does not appreciate him or what he’s done for her. she knows he’s a good husband to her, even that he’s a good man. it isn’t really him that causes her dislike of him, it’s the fact that she’s married to a man she never wanted to be married to. both pierre and hélène were completely shoved into the marriage by hélène’s father, prince vassily. neither wanted this, but they make their peace with it, even if it leads to a cycle of anger and depression and avoidance. but, all in all, the two do not fight. when things go wrong, they separate and don’t see each other, which is... rather mature for how dramatic they both can be. give them some credit, dave!

now, on the latter quote, hélène doesn’t even find out about the duel until after it takes place. it is only then that she approaches him and tells him he’s foolish. again, she tells him how he only merely assumed that she was having an affair. it’s then that he suggests that they part and hélène merely states in her own cruel, teasing way that she wouldn’t mind in the slightest. that is the point where he threatens her life, throwing a marble slab at her and literally shouting “i’ll kill you!” at her. but, in great comet, we are never shown his violence towards her, only her offhand cruelty to him. hmmm, interesting. i’m not excusing her actions in the slightest, but it seems like a bit of a double standard, given that they rarely fought and, when they did, the majority of the anger came from him. just my onion.......

“she’s first-rate, my dear, but she’s not for you. you’d better wait ‘til she’s married.” — the duel. in this part, hélène actually shows some insight into the affair and warns her brother of the consequences. the quip about waiting until she’s married is supposedly meant to allude to her own affair taking place during her marriage.

this actually gives hélène credit where it ....... is not due. this line is originally from dolokhov in the novel. the kuragin siblings share the same amount of intelligence—which is, not much. hélène seems to understand the way things go a little more than anatole, simply because, as a woman, things have been harder for her, but in reality she wouldn’t have this kind of insight. she rushes into things as quality as anatole does, only having brief thoughts of their outcomes, often thinking in bias of her desired result. the line makes much more sense coming from dolokhov, who says in the novel that girls like natasha aren’t for them, not just for anatole. the quip about affairs during marriage even makes more sense, given his experience with hélène. with married women, there is no chance of anything coming of it more than they want to, if you catch my drift.

i’ve seen someone say that they could have given this line to hélène to add in that she doesn’t want anatole to go after natasha because she wants him to remain loyal to her, which is? frankly disgusting. don’t ship incest, kids. not to mention, the incestuous relationship between them assumed in many adaptions is? not canon at all? again, there’s mentioned rumors, but that’s just nineteenth century for you. with the siblings’ reliance on each other and their flirtatious nature with others, people will come to their own, in this instance incorrect, assumptions. not to mention, these rumors are taken from pierre’s perspective as he attempts to convince himself not to marry hélène, so, uh? it’s biased. hélène and anatole were not in love. they loved each other as siblings do. as family does. that is it. in fact, their closeness at all was likely a result of their parents harsh/abusive nature, so... don’t. thanks. they’re just siblings

hélène’s pronunciation of “charmante” in charming is purposefully incorrect. from dave’s genius annotations, it states that it was originally just his mistake, but turned into being kept because, in his words: “hélène is bit of a dilettante, and it’s actually kind of hilarious to me that she is so confidently butchering the french in the chorus of her big song, so… in the end this works for me!“

it’s true, hélène is really unintelligent, but! she’s honestly not bad at french. there’s only a handful of skills she’s listed at having in the novel, two of the most notable being her french and her ability to dance. her only fault in french is that she speaks with a “coarse precision of speech,” having basically no correct intonation. she speaks the words correctly and can speak fairly fluently, but just speaks incredibly monotonously. this one isn’t really a big deal, i just think it would’ve been interesting for dave malloy to show her unintelligence in another way, rather than something she’s canonically alright at! though, i guess, a charming where she speaks the french monotonously might not have the same comedic effect as pronouncing it entirely incorrectly. it’s whatever. just a difference to note. there were still probably better and funnier ways to show her ignorance/unintelligence.

the rest of charming is pretty much directly from the text level accurate. it could be gayer, as it seems to take a “oh she’s only manipulating natasha” angle, when tolstoy does make a point in the novel to point out hélène’s genuine adoration for natasha. while i do think a part of it was only to help her brother, the book makes it seem as if there’s a very real possibility that part of hélène’s motivation was selfish and in order to be around natasha herself. essentially, the book makes it way gayer

the hélène/marya dmitrievna kiss, taking place in balaga, as part of the wild and dissociative imagery of the scene, probably for some wlw fan service and ??? other reasons i honestly have no idea what they were trying to do by putting this in

as shown by a line that even makes an appearance in the musical, marya dmitrievna does not like hélène in the slightest. she scolds natasha for being around her and advises heavily against it. being, well, the iconic marya dmitrievna, she sees right through hélène’s act—or, more accurate, she sees what pierre sees her for. she knows she is dishonest and fakes her personality and that’s enough for marya to dislike her and not trust her nor her intentions. not to mention, while they’re played by actresses around the same age in the musical, in canon hélène is around 26-27 at this point, while marya dmitrievna is in her 50′s to 60′s. that’s like. a twenty to thirty year age difference. it makes me highly uncomfortable and also makes no sense. i get it’s all about the wildness™ of the scene itself, but it would’ve made much more sense to have hélène and natasha kiss at this point, imo, having her “stand in” for anatole while he kisses dolokhov. that woulda been ideal and still get the same results that i think dave was goin for?

“ah, pierre, sweet husband, you don’t know what a plight our anatole has had!” — find anatole. this is a dramatic shift from earlier, during the duel, when she called him “stupid husband” and was cruel to him. it’s, i guess, meant to symbolize how quickly she is willing to manipulate him when she wants something, like the safety of her brother.

i’ve already commented on hélène’s treatment of pierre, so i’ll just reiterate that the shift shouldn’t be so dramatic. in reality, she is usually like this, acting kind and gentle towards him and attempting to keep him happy with her. it’s very rare that she shows her frustration towards him, that’s too honest for her. she’s usually all manipulation and falseness which, y’know, isn’t good, but she doesn’t do so out of cruelty, only insecurity and paranoia. still, not good.

other than that, which is really just a problem with the earlier lines in the duel rather than anything about this line, i really love this part. what makes it a difference is what malloy didn’t add in. in the annotations, he mentions almost adding a line about her retracting after his reaction, knowing not to anger him because she’d seen his anger firsthand and GOD do i wish he’d kept that in! in canon, she becomes very meek and quiet and does not go against him any further. this shows his effect on her and how scared she becomes of him. it balances the scale again and shows that the cruelty here is not one-sided. pierre has tried to hurt hélène before. she knows he is capable of hurting her and it scares her. it’s also a humanizing moment, taking her down from her ever-confident state. if pierre’s able to give that reaction just with an angry tone and a throwaway insult towards her? what does that say about him? about her?

well, that’s it! a tl;dr version would be — the great comet of hélène reduces her to a trope, in my opinion. she loses her complexity. in the novel she is soft, but angry. she seems confident, but she’s insecure. she hungers for love and seeks it in affairs, looking for any kind of validation or adoration she can get, but trying her best to keep her desperation a secret. just for her. great comet hélène feels boring in comparison. she’s the evil seductress alto we’ve seen a million times before. there’s none of the originality that tolstoy gave her. don’t get me wrong, i hate that son of a bitch tolstoy, but? he knew how to write complex women. he made hélène into a real, complex character and i love her too much to really accept what malloy wrote her into.

but anyways i also love amber gray and would die for her and would kill to see what she’d do with a novel accurate hélène. it’d make me die for sure i love her

#hélène kuragina #w&p #natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #the great comet #dave malloy #commentary #i had so much 2 say damn #here's my 2k word / 25 paragraph rant ......... holy fuck #i'm so sorry for this i ..#ANYWAYS FEEL FREE TO RB!#LEMME KNO WHAT Y'ALL THINK ABT THIS!#meta: hélène kuragina #hk #*

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fourteenacross · 7 years

Text

ghost quartet - nytw next door - october 8, 2017

H'okay, so, this may all be a little blurry around the edges because the circumstances in which I traveled to and from New York on Sunday were not ideal and the anxiety around them muted parts of my brain more than I would have liked. BUT. Here we are.

First of all, it was humid as dicks and the house manager was very kind and let us inside the air conditioned lobby like, twenty minutes early, bless him.

Obviously "sixty-five seat black box theatre" implies that the space is small, but...man, the space is small. That was excellent, really--it added to the intimacy of the show--but it was still weird to walk into a space the size of my living room and dining room combined and have that be all. We sat in the section next to the door and, as I implied yesterday, I was directly behind Brent. If I could do it again, I probably would have sat in either of the other sections, just because that meant I really only saw Brent during "Fathers and Sons," but the place is so tiny it really hardly mattered. And, speaking of tininess/hardly mattering, the reserved seats were just the first row of each section and definitely not worth the additional thirty bucks, imo. This run is over, but if you're going to another Next Door performance that does a similar seating style, just...fyi.

The set dressing is great. It would have been cool if the seating was a little more informal, but it still felt like you were hanging out in your friends' basement, listening to them tell you an elaborate story. There were neat little touches around all of their stations--there was a little bear and a little pot of honey on the table next to Brent, as well as a mason jar, which I initially took to be a reference to his verse in "Four Friends," but it turns out Brent just takes water in his whiskey. (I mean, it might have ALSO been a nod to that, but it also served a practical purpose.)

I had listened to the music a few times last spring and a few times in August and a few times this month, in preparation, so I was familiar with the story and the songs, but seeing it live definitely adds another dimension. There were certain bits of staging that were surprises to me, and certain bits of staging that made things that pop up on the McKittrick recording make a lot more sense, heh.

Anyway, I'm gonna do this old school.

I Don’t Know - This song felt almost like a frame story, setting the stage for what's to come, except that the structure of the show is such that, with all the narratives twisting together, it was like framing a frame framing a frame. It was like an MC Escher frame, all twisted around and then turning into birds. I have theories about how this and "Four Friends" and "Any Kind of Dead Person" fit into the timeline(s) of the show, but I'm still trying to twist them into words.

Anyway, I was sitting right behind Brent and he's really good at the cello, in case you were unaware.

The Camera Shop - This opening is so interesting because of where it takes place in the larger narrative(s). Brittain/Rose comes in very, very nervous and unsettled, but as Gelsey starts behaving strangely, she starts to get more comfortable in the way you get comfortable when you assess that someone is kind of off-the-wall and you are a Rational Being and thus above them. There's still some of that nervousness as Gelsey starts to go into the story, but it comes off more as nerves from being around someone eerie than the nerves that we know Rose has around what she just did (or didn't do, as the case may be.).

Brittain and Gelsey work so incredibly well together, and this was the first time that the complexity of this piece, on an acting level, really set in. Everyone's playing at least four characters, sometimes several at once, and this is a good example. Brittain goes from Camera!Rose to Rose Red to Starchild within minutes, sliding seamlessly between them as the narrative dictates. It was pretty awesome.

Starchild - confession: I love Brittain's voice, I love her solo music, but this song didn't click with me on the cast recordings? Which is crazy, because it's super my jam, both musically and narratively. Seeing it live definitely changed that and I'm low-key obsessed with it now. She really acts with her whole body, as anyone who's seen Great Comet knows, and seeing all of that poured into "Starchild" just squeezed my heart.

Subway - This is one that I assumed worked better live than it does on the recording and I was right. The rhythm is a little clunky as a purely aural experience, but seeing the four of them perform it adds this incredible mounting tension. You can feel it in the room, the way that Gelsey bangs that drum and everyone sings over each other, the lighting flickering. (And, this is a whole other post, but I feel like that's maybe at the core of why some of Dave's stuff just doesn't click with people who are just listening to it. Fans obvs embrace his aversion to rhyme and the way he plays with rhythm in sort of non-traditional-musical-theatre ways, but when you're more a traditional-musical-theatre person and you're just listening to it instead of watching it, it's harder to grasp? idk, it's something that I've been thinking about, vis-a-vis friends saying, "I listened to the GC cast recording and it was fine and then I SAW IT and everything clicked and weird choices on the recording made sense!" and even my own feelings about listening to GQ vs. seeing it. Obviously, cast recordings are never going to substitute for actually seeing a thing in person and aren't 100% meant to, but I think that it's a particularly strong divide in GC and GQ. Anyway, I just said this needed to be a whole post in and of itself, so I'll stop now.)

Usher, Part 1 - I have not read this story since college, which was *mumblemumble* years ago, and I meant to re-read it before coming to the show, but I...didn't. Which is maybe better! Who knows! Anyway, this starts with just a light on Gelsey as she recites the opening monologue and plays the harp. It's simultaneously creepy and a little funny? She definitely plays up both sides of it, the funny and the creepy, which makes it get more creepy and less funny as time goes on, so by the time Dave comes in for the song, you're getting full-on chills.

Soldier and Rose - Gelsey is full-on Gelsey in this one. Which I say as the highest compliment, obvs. The juxtaposition of Brittain/Rose being awkwardly, desperately flirtatious and Gelsey/Soldier's utter Doneness is hilarious. Rose lays it on thick to a very impassive soldier who responds to all her entreaties by shaking a thunder tube at her.

Any Kind of Dead Person - This is just a fun number. Brittain hams it up and Gelsey gives out a succession of percussion instruments over the course of it, to people sitting all over the room, which just intensifies the feeling of this being your four weird friends telling stories in their basement and trying to get you to join in.

The Astronomer - Dave came out from behind the piano to sing this in front of Gelsey and Brittain's station and took some time to praise the other three as he got into position. He also tripped over the rug and then could not get it to lie flat. Otherwise, the patter is almost identical to the live show.

ANYWAY, I fucking love this song a lot, okay? It was my favorite song before seeing the show and remains my favorite after having seen it. I don't have much to say about it, performance/staging-wise, just lots of gushing about how much I fucking love it. The universality (is that a word) of the lyrics is just so sadly haunting, especially when you think of it as coming from the Astronomer, who's kind of a dick, but now also has this depth that I appreciate.

Family Meeting - Just as hilarious as you're picturing it in your mind, for sure. Brent and Brittain as kids are excellent, and Brittain's monologue is stellar. The transition between that little-kid-ness and flat out anger and frustration at the end is fabulous. (And the "and no Brent, it's not so perfect it's boring!" made me snort-laugh.) The "you're gonna be dead in like, thirty years" got a BIG laugh.

Four Friends - So, during this song, Dave pulled out three bottles of Evan Williams and plastic cups and passed them around, which was amazing, I would like all of my shows to come with a shot or so of liquor with the price of admission. I would prefer if it wasn't whiskey, which I don't particularly care for, but as I said yesterday, when Dave Malloy hands you whiskey, you suck it up and drink it, even if it's physically impossible for you to get over to the ice so you have to just drink it straight. Anyway, the sort of informal whiskey drinking again compounded that feeling of just hanging out with your buddies, so it was almost hard not to sing along. I was def bobbing a little. At the start of each verse, they poured a shot of the whiskey they were singing about that they handed out to the audience, which I probably wouldn't have noticed except when Dave went to hand out the Lagavulin, the girl who jumped up to get it was hilariously into it. I actually ended up standing near her when she talked to Dave after and she was like, "Uh, sorry if I was disruptive when I asked for the Lagavulin, I just love it and never get to drink it because it's so expensive?" which he commiserated with her about.

Fathers and Sons - They moved the drums to the center of the room, facing each other, and Brent and Dave moved to stand in font of them and play. Brittain and Gelsey held the mics out for them and I know I keep talking about how low-tech and "hanging with your buddies" this show is, but...I really love that aspect of it and I think it super adds to the narrative(s).

Usher, Part 2 - This was very eerie, overall, but "I'm right here" got a big laugh anyway. It's interesting, as Roxie's dying, the way that the walls of the narrative for this story, tenuous as the walls between the narratives in all these stories are, start to slip down. With Scheherazade being an "ancient" and all, it makes sense that the lines between narratives are more blurry there, and in the "Camera Shop" plot line, Pearl is already aware of what's going on, so despite a few references, "Usher" feels the most cut off from the other stories, but here that begins to fall apart.

The Telescope - This song is such an interesting counterpoint to "The Astronomer;" the dude seems like such a sleaze in this song, whereas we get him at this sort of open bareness earlier, where he's relatable and joyful. As Rose points out new stars, there's a spotlight on one of the lighting fixtures (the show is largely lit by lamps and a variety of thrift story chandeliers). Rose's intensity is breathtaking, but the music gives a very eerie quality to the shared refrain, even moreso when you take into account the upcoming split between Rose and the Astronomer.

Tango Dancer - This plotline was the one that it was most difficult for me to wrap my brain around from listening to the cast recordings, and seeing it def helped iron out some of that. I love the interactions between Brittain and Gelsey here--again, I love both of their ability to shift between these characters so fluidly and shift their chemistry just as fluidly as they change characters. The stiffness between them here is really the beginning of the end for me--Rose's awkwardness and the audience's knowledge of how these timelines are starting to come together. It's played really well.

Anyway, Gelsey really nails this, as if I even have to say that? And Brittain's awkwardness as she watches and tries to interpret all of it is excellent. "Myself didn't have time for me / didn't have time for anyone so used up" is too fucking true and haunting.

Monk - When sitting and seeing this bit live, for the first time it occurred to me that Rose's "Were they outside, in a park or something?" and Scheherazade's confirmation are Rose's past lives starting to leak through, giving her that knowledge. (Also "doesn't Lady Usher have a security system?" got a big laugh) Anyway, this is a nice little interlude before shit gets real. I was so into it that I almost forgot that shit was about to get real.

Light’s Out - It was fucking DARK. Which I did not realize was going to happen. I loooooved it. My eyes were def playing some tricks on me, the longer we stayed in the dark. Also, there was some light of something somewhere behind me (maybe the exit sign?) that kept reflecting off the inside of my glasses that was distracting me. Def a problem with my glasses rather than the show.

Anyway, this bit always makes me think of Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear?, so much so that I might ask Malloy about it on Twitter.

The Photograph - Goddamn this is creepy in the dark. And Gelsey going full Gelsey made it ninety times creepier. I want to hire her for my Halloween parties. I love the balance of the creepiness and rationality when the things that Rose believes in are rattled off. It's the sort of thing that makes me think of a horror novel, in the tense moments where the protagonist has to confront the impossible and spends a moment clinging all the more harder to their beliefs as if those beliefs will fight off something supernatural.

Bad Men - Super tense and frenetic. Rose losing it is so foreboding and perfect and intense. The confrontation with the bear as she reaches the pinnacle of losing herself to revenge and accepting that she wants this enough to do it herself. Yikes.

Usher, Part 3 - I love all the stories merging in this song, as we're all sitting in the dark with flashes of light and all of these threads are twisting together. It really ups the sense of danger and tension. Pearl's monologue at the end is so eerie. Those last few lines, shit. They are that much more intense when they're happening right in front of you.

Prayer - I think this was when the lights started to come back up? This always kind of blurs into other songs for me and I forget it's there a little?

Hero - Jesus, what a song, what a performance. I know Brittain talks all the time about how she's not an ~*~actor~*~ just a musician that got roped into acting in her friend's shows, but jesus christ, she's fantastic. This song just scrapes out whatever's left of your insides and leaves you feeling entirely hollow and shaky.

Midnight - This is such a neat way to tie up the end of the show. Again, you've got that "friends hanging out" vibe as things become clearer for everyone. Brittain and Dave dance, as Brittain's characters settle and sort of come to terms with all that's happened in all of the timelines. Malloy has excellent comic timing--his ramble about why Thelonius Monk's ghost is still kicking around and the way it breaks into Rose and Pearl's reconciliation. I snort-laughed at "Or maybe there just isn't Heaven. That's actually pretty likely." And then again with "I guess in the abstract, yeah...I don't really make a lot down at the MTA?"

Anyway, Dave and Brittain dancing was very sweet, and "You're a really good cello player, Brent!" got a big laugh.

Wind and Rain - I love this song a lot and the performance of it was lovely. As the song went on, they started handing out instruments again, but not just little percussion things--they kept going, moving up to their own instruments, until they'd given everything to the audience, at which point they walked off stage and left the audience to play out the song. I think they kept going for maybe a minute or two after everyone left before it fell apart, mostly, I think, because a couple of people were so wildly off-beat it was hard to keep on beat.

Afterwards, they came back to applause and gave a kind of informal, "thanks for coming, tell your friends, buy our merch or stick around and talk!"

We stayed to talk, though I didn't buy anything because I don't wear t-shirts and we have zero room for more glasses at this point. But I still took a moment to tell everyone they were great and the show was great and all that. I was wearing one of my ghost dresses and everyone commented on it.

ANYWAY, that's basically it, unless I remember anything else important! Maybe I will write some more of my thoughts about the narratives and storytelling and setting and all that shit a little more formally, but... probably not. Gotta finish the next ghosthunters story some time this year.

#ghost quartet #dave malloy #brittain ashford #gelsey bell #brent arnold #show notes

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virtuissimo · 7 years

Text

Ghost Quartet asks

Didn't feel like waitin on yall to send these in so i just did it in one go lmao

1. Favorite character

Define "character" lmao, but roxy probably

2. Favorite timeline

JJDJFFF uuuuh probably usher but i like....all of them

3. Favorite song

The Astronomer most likely...or I Dont Know

4. Favorite performer?

Dave

5. Live album or recordrd album?

LIVE

6. How much of the plot do you think you understand?

At this point i think i understand like essentially all of the plot but theres still some good chunks of symbolism iv gotta work out

7. Least favorite song/song u skip most often

Ooooh uuuh i dont usually skip them but , fathers & sons! And bad men i think. I usually dont have enough time to finish the album so i havent heard midnight or the wind & rain in a while lmao

8. Favorite non-sung/spoken line?

I REALLY dont know if this counts but, the opening bits of usher pt. 1

"I suffer from a family evil, i am a slave to terror, i have a morbid acuteness of the senses, i only eat the most insipid foods, only wear clothes of certain textures. The odors of flowers are oppressive to me. My eyes are tortured by faint light, and there are only certain peculiar sounds which do not inspire me with horror. I dread the future. My little girl is dying."

Ik its e.a.p's text, but the delivery and style is so mesmerizing to me.

9. Favorite lyric

At the moment it's "let me read you a story, let me read you a romance/i will read you will listen, and this terrible night will pass"

10. Do you have any ships for the show? If so what are they?

I don't really, just because i like ALL of their dynamics at some point in the story (pearl x astronomer, rose x driver a la Midnight, "youre a good cello player brent," rose red and the bear (lISTEN), soldier x rose) so i kind of see it as a state that transcends the permanent? So i cant really ship anyone myself lmao but theres a lot od cool pairings

11. What's your favorite non-confirmed theory?

Uuuh all of mine lmao

12. Have you produced any artwork/content for Ghost Quartet?

Ddjjdkd im working on something intensive right now, and i have written a 6-page explication essay for The Astronomer, but not much actual art surprisingly

13. Which role would you most like to play?

Gosh either Gelsey or Dave. For characters, the soldier or the astronomer lmao those r the ones i had in mind

14. Which Usher song is your favorite?

Oh I love them all, at the moment it's pt 3 but i flip between that and pt 1 all the time

15. The Starchild, Roxie, Rose, or Rose Red?

Fuck. Starchild or Roxie....or rose....no imma go with roxie, love the vengeful zombie

16. Subway or the Photograph?

SUBWAY

17. Four Friends or Any Kind of Dead Person?

UuuuUuuuuuUUUUH four friends atm

18. The Gelsey/Brittain dance in Monk or the Dave/Brittain dance in Midnight?

MONK OBV

19. The Astronomer or The Telescope

The Astronomer lmao

20. Fathers & Sons, or Lights Out?

Lights Out!!!!! I play with that melody on the piano bc of all the delectably awful half steps

21. Tango Dancer or Hero?

Hero!

22. How did you first get into Ghost Quartet

Aaa someone wrote a rec post on here, dont wanna @ anyone cuz im not mentally prepared lmao

23. When did you first start listening?

Dear lord probably like 2 months ago? Wait i was still in houston, so it was like mid august probably

24. What's your favorite moment (musical or vocal) in the show?

The vocalization at the beginning of Soldier & Rose

25. Are you going to/have u seen Ghost Quartet?

Goin in January with my main slice @sonyalone if the celestial mandate maintains

26. What's your favorite bizarre connection in the show? (E.g., edgar telling the story of pearl and the pusher in usher pt 3, Shah Zaman becoming the Man In Iran in the Astronomer, etc)

I love the idea of ancient Persian Scheharazade talking about edgar allan poe, so that lmao

27. What moment would you love to see live/what moment did you love the most live?

Lights Out or side 3 seems to have really cool set design, so that! But also the usher parts

28. If you could ask Dave Malloy one question about the show, what would you ask?

Fucky um probably id ask about the timeline where rose is the mother and pearl is the daughter, HOW DOES THE LOOP COMPLETE

29. Have you read either the fall of the house of usher or arabian nights?

Iv read the fall of the house of usher like 6 times cuz of high school though i admittedly had to get the plot summary for this cuz i forgot most stuff about it lmao

30. Have you read the show's Genius annotations? If so, what's your favorite annotation by Dave?

In Usher pt 3 he says he plays some weird notes on the live album cuz he cant see the instrument and i think thats hilarious and also is a mood

31. What part of the show disturbs you the most?

??? Not really any of it??? I thought it was pretty gorey in camera shop when rose is like "ya , crows, corpses, &cannibalism pls"

32. What part of the show confuses you the most?

Like I said, probably just a lot of symbols that I'm angry I still havent gotten lmao, particularly the Armor/Sword symbolism (a lot more nuanced than one might think 😂)

#ghost quartet #gq #dave malloy

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mobydickmusical · 5 years

Text

Moby Dick musical lyrics: Cetology

- These are not official lyrics, they’re transcribed by me.

- Source novel quotes for the lyrics are under the cut.

CETOLOGY

Track: 10

Character: Ishmael (solo)

Range: G#2-G4 (as performed by Dave Malloy April 9 2018)

Already we have boldly launched upon the deep

And soon we shall be lost

In its harbourless, unshored immensity

So ere that come to pass

Let us get into the famous, long and boring

Whaling chapters!

I shall start

By classifying all the whales

But this is a ponderous task

And I shall not pretend to be exhaustive

For who am I

That I should try to hook leviathan’s nose?

Who am I?

Though I have sailed and swam through vast oceans and libraries

Still I'm sometimes dumb about things outside my mind

Everything I read might be wrong

Sometimes libraries lie

Though I'd never mean to steer you wrong

I just might be unreliable

I am on my own

It's my me and my white bread head

And the ocean is too deep for me to fathom

And life is just too big for me to bear

But who am I to compare my despair with the shaking of the sea?

Who am I to give to voices I could never be?

But I will try

So here we go:

A whale is a spouting fish with a horizontal tail

There, you have him!

And you may classify him thus:

Finback whale, Humpback whale

Razor-back whale, Black fish whale

Sperm whale, Right whale

Sulphur-bottom whale and Blue whale

Grampus whale, Thrasher whale

Elephant whale, Iceberg whale

Cape whale, Narwhale

Pudding-headed whale and Junk whale

Cannon whale, Leading whale

Bottle-nosed whale, Coppered whale

Scragg whale, Quog whale

Killer whale and of course white whale

And porpoises, porpoises

Huzza, Algerine, Mealy-mouthed porpoises

Yes, porpoises are whales too, ooh...

But these are just some words classified

In a guidebook on a dusty shelf

Who knows what they feel inside?

Who knows what they name themselves?

And there's other ones that I don't know

There's so much that I don't know

For who am I?

Sometimes I wish these whales could swim

In an ocean that's free of men like me

Their deep aquatic paradise

Devoid of slack-jawed hunters

And the poison of our wake

Cause men like me try anything

And most everything we try

Turns out to be some big mistake

Like this could be an amazing song

Tying each type of whale to bigger themes

Like God, determinism, ecology and capitalism

Race, monomaniacism, or America!

But it was stated at the outset that this system

Would not be here perfected

And you cannot but plainly see I’ve kept my word

For who am I?

Oh god, keep me from ever completing anything...!

SOURCE QUOTES

These are all just from the title chapter, since this song essentially takes a very succinct slice of it, then adds in sections of Dave’s further thoughts to leave us with some more modern and more in-your-face message-telling.

Ch 32 Cetology

Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities. Ere that come to pass; ere the Pequod's weedy hull rolls side by side with the barnacled hulls of the Leviathan; at the outset it is but well to attend to a matter almost indispensable to a thorough appreciative understanding of the more special leviathanic revelations and allusions of all sorts which are to follow.

It is some systematized exhibition of the whale in his broad genera, that I would now fain put before you. Yet is it no easy task. The classification of the constituents of a chaos, nothing less is here essayed. Listen to what the best and latest authorities have laid down.

///

[...] As no better man advances to take this matter in hand, I hereupon offer my own poor endeavors. I promise nothing complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete, must for that very reason infallibly be faulty. I shall not pretend to a minute anatomical description of the various species, or—in this place at least—to much of any description. My object here is simply to project the draught of a systematization of cetology. I am the architect, not the builder.

But it is a ponderous task; no ordinary letter-sorter in the Post-office is equal to it. To grope down into the bottom of the sea after them; to have one's hands among the unspeakable foundations, ribs, and very pelvis of the world; this is a fearful thing. What am I that I should essay to hook the nose of this Leviathan! The awful tauntings in Job might well appal me. "Will he (the Leviathan) make a covenant with thee? Behold the hope of him is vain!" But I have swam through libraries and sailed through oceans; I have had to do with whales with these visible hands; I am in earnest; and I will try.

///

Next: how shall we define the whale, by his obvious externals, so as conspicuously to label him for all time to come? To be short, then, a whale is a spouting fish with a horizontal tail. There you have him.

///

[...] These include the smaller whales.—I., The Huzza Porpoise; II., The Algerine Porpoise; III., The Mealy-mouthed Porpoise.

To those who have not chanced specially to study the subject, it may possibly seem strange, that fishes not commonly exceeding four or five feet should be marshalled among WHALES—a word, which, in the popular sense, always conveys an idea of hugeness. But the creatures set down above as Duodecimoes are infallibly whales, by the terms of my definition of what a whale is—i.e. a spouting fish, with a horizontal tail.

///

But there are a rabble of uncertain, fugitive, half-fabulous whales, which, as an American whaleman, I know by reputation, but not personally. I shall enumerate them by their forecastle appellations; for possibly such a list may be valuable to future investigators, who may complete what I have here but begun. If any of the following whales, shall hereafter be caught and marked, then he can readily be incorporated into this System, according to his Folio, Octavo, or Duodecimo magnitude:—The Bottle-Nose Whale; the Junk Whale; the Pudding-Headed Whale; the Cape Whale; the Leading Whale; the Cannon Whale; the Scragg Whale; the Coppered Whale; the Elephant Whale; the Iceberg Whale; the Quog Whale; the Blue Whale; etc.

///

Finally: It was stated at the outset, that this system would not be here, and at once, perfected. You cannot but plainly see that I have kept my word. But I now leave my cetological System standing thus unfinished, even as the great Cathedral of Cologne was left, with the crane still standing upon the top of the uncompleted tower. For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever completing anything. [...]

#mobydick #mobydickmusical #dave malloy #ishmael #cetology #mdlyrics #my post

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