#into my english retj it goes

[cto10121]

Broke: Mercutio being the nephew of the Prince and thus wearing Escalus colors

Woke: Mercutio being the nephew of the Prince but purposefully wearing blue to show his identification with the Montagues and being taken as an honorary member by all parties involved

[lavender-lizzy]

French Musicals Tag. 

It is hard for me to give only one answer to each question, so I decided I was going to pick 1 to 3 answers. The musicals I took into consideration were: Roméo et Juliette, Notre Dame de Paris, Mozart l’Opéra Rock, 1789 - Les Amants de la Bastille and Le Roi Soleil. I tried to mix it up a little bit, so that I didn’t end up choosing the same musical all the time. 

1. Favourite Musical: Roméo et Juliette, Notre Dame de Paris. I love both of these comédies musicales a lot. NDDP was the first one I ever saw, and it has a special place in my heart. Roméo et Juliette is the one I think about the most, and always want to rewatch. 

2. Favourite Troupe: Roméo et Juliette (2001). I could have chosen NDDP for this as well, but I just adore the cast in the original ReTJ.

3. Favourite Male Singer: Tom Ross (RetJ), Damien Sargue (ReTJ), Bruno Pelletier (NDDP). I stopped at three because I promised I would, but there are many many talented male singers in these musicals. 

4. Favourite Female Singer: Cécilia Cara (ReTJ), Victoria Petrosillo (Le Roi Soleil). Once again, it’s hard to just pick two!

5. Favourite Actor: Mikelangelo Loconte, Yamin Dib (Mozart l’Opéra Rock) Rosenberg is really funny, and I love the way Mikelangelo plays Mozart, so here it goes.

6. Favourite Actress: Réjane Perry (ReTJ). Amazing singer as well, I was sad to find out that she passed away in 2003.

7. Favourite Male Character: Tybalt (ReTJ). I mean, does it even need saying? I was thinking of putting somebody else here and him for favourite villain, but he is indeed my favourite character, so it makes much more sense to put him here, where he belongs.

8. Favourite Female Character: Juliette Capulet (ReTJ), Isabelle (Le Roi Soleil)

9. Favourite Understudy/Alternate: Diane Dassigny (MOR). I saw her in MOR 3D and to be honest liked her more than Claire Pérot.

10. Favourite Villain: Frollo (NDDP). I love Daniel Lavoie, and Frollo’s songs are just beautiful. 

11. Favourite Song: this is impossibile, I am going to say Lune (NDDP), Le Duel, J’ai Peur (ReTJ), they are among my favourite in my two favourite musicals. (I briefly talked about my favourite songs from these musicals here and here) 

12. Favourite Love Song: Un Jour, L’Amour Heureux (ReTJ). I mean, how could have I not chosen ReTJ for the love song?

13. Favourite Guilty Pleasure Song: I don’t consider any of them guilty pleasure songs, really? I’d say Les Solos Sous Les Draps, maybe (MOR). It’s sort of fun and silly and the title is a sexual reference so I guess it fits the category. Or maybe A’ quoi tu danses (1789), for dancing Robespierre.

14. Favourite Dance Sequence / Number: Le Bal (ReTJ 2001). I think it’s beautiful, I love the choreography and the colours, and I could rewatch it an inordinate amount of times to see what all the characters are up to.

15. Favourite Opening Number: super hard because the opening numbers are always amazing! I really enjoy all of them a lot. I think my favourite are Le Temps des Cathédrales (NDDP), Vérone (ReTJ)

16. Favourite Act 1 Finale: Aimer (ReTJ). This one wasn’t hard to answer!

17. Favourite Finale/Curtain Call: for the curtain call itself, Roméo et Juliette, because I love Benvolio presenting all the characters, and then Aimer/Les Rois du Monde (2001) and Les Rois du Monde/Avoir 20 ans (2010).  For the final song, NDDP (Danse Mon Esmeralda) or MOR (Vivre à en crever).

18. Favourite Music Video:  Ça ira mon amour (1789). I really liked Desmoulins as well. The official videos for the songs tend to be a bit weird in general. 

19. Favourite Canon Pairing: Roméo et Juliette (ReTJ), Duc de Beaufort et Isabelle (Le Roi Soleil).

20. Favourite Non-Canon Pairing: probably Mozart and Salieri (MOR). I guess? I love seeing all the fanart.

21. Favourite Costume: I am doing it off the top of my head, because I would need to look at all the costumes of all the productions.

For male costumes, I love Tybalt’s costume in ReTJ 2001, both the red leather one and the one he is wearing at the ball (the trousers are the same). Also, the Duc de Beaufort’s black coat in Le Roi Soleil. And Mozart’s red coat in Je Dors sur des Roses.

For female costumes: Constance’s dress in Six Pieds Sous Terre and Nannerl’s dress in Penser l’Impossible (MOR).

22. Favourite Set Design: Roméo et Juliette 2001 (really, I think it’s sort of simple yet effective and I am not a big fan of the towers in the revival), 1789 - Les Amants de la Bastille, which was quite ingenious!

23. Favourite Choreography: That’s super difficult. I am ruling ReTJ out, because I chose Le Bal for the dance scene. The first musical to come to mind was Le Roi Soleil, because of its beautiful coreographies, and 1789 has great choreos, too. The thing is, when I have to think about a single choreography, my mind goes to Le Bien Qui Fait Mal (MOR). It’s probably not even my favourite, but it sure stays in your memory!

24. Favourite Foreign production: I have only seen Italian NDDP and Italian and Hungarian ReTJ (plus I listened to English ReTJ), so my choice is Italian Notre Dame de Paris! I think it’s a very good production. 

25. An Underrated Musical: well, NDDP is super popular with the public all over the world. I think it’s the most popular French musical ever probably, and definitely the most popular out of the 5 I’ve chosen, but I have to say I don’t see many posts on Tumblr (maybe I am just using the wrong tags). Also, everytime I try to look it up in the tags I see tons of posts about the Hunchback of Notre Dame musical. People, if you loved Hunchback you need to watch NDDP. 

26. An Underrated Pairing: maybe Mozart and Constance (MOR). I find posts about him and Salieri much more often (understandably, but still)

27. An Underrated Character: I am not sure she is underrated, but I am going for Fleur-de-Lys (NDDP). 

28. An Underrated Song: oh, I am not sure I know which ones are underrated. Maybe Tu Dois Te Marier, 2001 version (ReTJ). I love that it’s so upbeat. 

29. Fancast one musical: I can’t possibly think of doing this one, it would require too much thinking! 

30. Free Choice. Okay, my free choice is: most random thing you love about a musical. And for me it is the way Mercutio is pronounced in French, I LOVE IT.

[lokemikaze]

RETJ: 2001 vs 2010 vs Hungarian

so it's 4am and i just finished watching the hungarian Roméo és Julia. considering i have in the last week watched the 2001 french Roméo et Juliette thrice (plus working on english subtitles) and the 2010 french revival once, i need to shortly sum up some thoughts before going to sleep. i'll try to keep it brief (tho who am i kidding)

2001, original french cast:

i found this, like so many others have done, through Les Rois Du Monde after being hooked on it for months on end. instantly fell in love (in an ace way) with Damien, who makes such a good Roméo. voice: amazing. bless the boie. i also love Juliette in this one, Cécilia's voice fits perfectly with Damien's. the costumes, which i've seen many say are tacky, are imo kinda endearing. bonus points for having (again, my opinion) the best nurse and Benvolio. also Benvolio running around like "omfg Romeo everyone's always sending me to find you" while Romeo goes "go awayyyy i'm being gloomy and mysterious" is the most accurate relationship ever. nailed the teenage mood

2010, french revival:

aaaah, my boie Damien is back. without the hair - saddest death in the entire musical :c i'm not fond of the new version of Tu Dois Te Marier, as i find the original to be quite a bop. overall, i think the song quality/voice strength isn't as good as the 2001 version, but the acting is better! sparkly costumes are a plus, as is the beautiful intro to Les Rois De Monde - i've listened to that one several times after seeing the entire thing, and the whistling part always gets to me. i'm a little bit on the fence about Mercutio. i know everyone love John Eyzen, and while i love the Aesthetic, i'm uncertain about the character? while in the original, he seemed tough but loving, in this one he seems... plain crazy. which, i mean, i love me some crazy, but i can't decide if it adds to his character or takes away from it. Joy is slightly more emotional as Juliette, but i don't feel like she sings as smoothly as Cécilia

2005(?), hungarian version:

hm. a very strong hm. i know this one is many people's favourite, and i can see why. the acting is quite good, and let's be honest: the rough aesthetics are a mood. also, fire. funnnn. i'm not that fond of the singing, tho, especially Romeo's (tho his best one is Mort De Mercutio - he shines on those high notes). i suspect it's mainly the language, which feels very harsh to my synesthetic brain. i also feel like the entire musical was shifted to be more sexual. the translation of Les Rois Du Monde had me both laughing and crying, bc honestly, what did you do to my Child. the energy is consistent, and a nice change from the french ones, even tho places like Le Chant De L'Alouette i caught myself thinking "woa, chill out". the punky, edgy look is def a mood, and while not everyone's cuppa tea, worth seeing. the added dialogue and songs were interesting. i feel like i learned things about the characters that i didn't learn from the others. fascinating to repeat both On Dit Dans La Rue (the repeat of which is FIERCE. they don't mess around) and J'ai Peur. overall worth seeing, but probably my least favourite of the three.

i'm def gonna watch them more (i have plans to watch 2001 with my partner once i'm done subtitling, and i feel like i need to watch 2010 again to get a better grasp of Mercutio), so i might end up making a follow-up to this ramble. if anyone wanna nerd out about this musical, please hmu, as i need someone to rant to who's actually seen it. if you're a friend of mine and haven't seen it, hmu and i'll give you the link to the subtitled vid once it's done. please. you won't regret it.

[cto10121]

Finally got to recording the whole thing!!!! I kept my original last harmony because I’m that kind of lazy bitch, but the rest is new. This is probably as final a version as I can get it to be…and now, saying that, I know it won’t be, lol. I know it’s one of the lesser duets, but RetJ’s harmonies really water my crops, you know? Also, it’s the one English seems to like best.

See You (Un Jour)

Romeo                 By women I’m adored I’m nineteen and a case And ev’ry time I fall for Their beauty and their grace They try me with their wile Their jealousy, their flame But however they beguile To me it’s all the game Of desire Of heat, but no fire Won’t something more come to be? Will something more come for me?

Juliet They say I must be taught I don’t know how it goes That a maid of sixteen ought to Guard from passion’s throes  I must be true and chaste  Or else be chased and used Yet still I yearn with haste  And now and then I muse On a new love  The words of a true love Won’t something great come to be? Will something great come for me?

Romeo See you Someday I will See you Ev’ry day, I’ll know you

Juliet See you And this world will seem new A sweet dream will come true Be true

Both See you In between these mad days Wasting hearts in mad ways Feel you Far beyond this world’s time There I’m yours and you’re mine

For you, I’d swear all my love’s true I’d go where none dare to And we two will be one One in love, in one flame One in life, in one name One in death, in one fame Always (2x)

Romeo Someday...

Juliet Someday...

[cto10121]

original english lyrics for la folie

N/B: Only after a MILLION years, ha. I had translated it before, of course, but that was literally years ago; no idea why I went back to it, but I guess I got inspired and/or got the songwriting itch. Since I always have my Broadway theater audience in mind, who would definitely be thinking of Queen Mab by this point, I decided to use this song as a chance to troll them a little, at least the beginning. Not that this song wasn’t already a parallel song to the Queen Mab speech anyway, and its replacement song Je rêve pretty much confirms it, but still. This would be a version of the show in which the feud would be emphasized more, with Paris’ song as its reprise and possibly J’ai Peur cut. Feedback is appreciated, etc. 

Madness (La Folie) 

Mercutio Who can know the why of man? Whom we can be, can we understand? Why are we so ruled by our ire? Why do we toy with such fire And made such fools by desire? Kings of the world or not We’re all wrapped in her knot

(Spoken) Come now, Benvolio, you know who I mean. And you, Romeo, you’re knowing her too, eh? C’mon!

Who’s the one who makes our souls yearn? For drink, for song, for girls, why do we burn? It’s the one I love above all The one for whom I will fall And ever after will call She comes soaring in the night She’s that fey all men hight:

The madness! It’s madness The madness It’s madness My queen, my mistress It’s the madness  

It’s madness Who tells you, “Go forth, live well!” You fall in her spell In love or hatred, You’re lost in her fell

The madness It’s madness She sees me She frees me She makes me king!

Mad to attack

Benvolio Mad for payback (Mercutio: Yeah!) Mad for the sweet, the night

All Or for the light

Mercutio All the dreams you would achieve

Benvolio That all your fancy conceives

All Under her charm, you believe Not all wisdom can explain How we’re happy in her chain

It’s madness! The madness It’s madness The madness Our queen and mistress It’s the madness

The madness

Mercutio In her arms

Chorus The madness

Romeo In her charms

Chorus The madness

Benvolio She does harm

Romeo Oh!

Mercutio In joy or sadness

All In this madness The madness

Romeo We are begun

Chorus In madness!

Benvolio We’re torn apart

Chorus In madness!

All We’re undone   But we come

For madness!

[cto10121]

Why Does the Nurse Prefer Paris to Romeo?

After she returns from meeting Romeo, and Juliet desperately asks her what he said about their marriage, the Nurse goes into this humorous but very telling speech:

Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice. You know not how to choose a man. Romeo? No, not he. Though his face be better than any man’s, yet his leg excels all men’s, and for a hand and a foot, and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but I’ll warrant him as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench. Serve God.

I find this fascinating.

Notice how the Nurse doesn’t really say why Romeo is the dumb choice, or what her problem with him is, but goes into another one of her comic desultory ramblings, this time on Romeo’s hotness that seems to undermine her assertion. The only true criticism or justification she offers is merely that “He is not the flower of courtesy,” and even that is mitigated by a compliment to Romeo’s character (“as gentle as a lamb”). While this is obvious foreshadowing for the Nurse’s betrayal of Juliet and her “Romeo is a dishclout to [Paris]” line, she never offers a good explanation as to why she thinks Romeo isn’t good enough for Juliet, and that she could do better. By contrast, she praises Paris and tells Juliet no less than three times in that same speech that he is better than Romeo.

It’s particularly noteworthy since in the Act 2, Scene 4 scene when they meet, it’s clear that the Nurse likes Romeo. She laughs at and appreciates his roasting Mercutio (“Marry, well said!”). Despite the fact that he is clearly friends with Mercutio et al. who mock her shamelessly, she is unfailingly polite (“Pray you, sir, a word”) and nice, as if she considers him different from the rest. Her warning to him not to toy with Juliet’s feelings is clearly a pre-made speech she would have given anyway. She feels comfortable enough to go on her ramblings—even telling him about Paris and how Juliet hates him and how she ~mysteriously blanches when she tells her Paris is better! So what’s with the sudden Team Paris stuff?

Well, I have my theories, and they may even shed some light not only as to the purpose of this little speech, but what it reveals about the Nurse’s character and her role, ultimately, as Juliet’s foil, in similar ways Mercutio acts as Romeo’s. So let’s speculate.

Theory 1: The Nurse Thinks Romeo Is Too Callow/Immature

While the Nurse clearly doesn’t hold the mockery of hi Romeo’s wily friends against him, she still caught Romeo in his male camaraderie and may have concluded that Romeo, while better than those “scurvy knaves,” is still a callow youth, wet behind the ears. That would explain the use of “simple” (meaning dumb) instead of just “wrong.” She is shocked that he was capable of killing Tybalt (although to her view she would have assumed it had been in cold blood). She isn’t all surprised to see him weeping disconsolately on the floor of the Friar’s cell (although that is because Juliet is doing the exact same thing, and she says so). She also—tellingly—tells him to stand up and “be a man,” so she obviously has bought into the cultural notion of masculinity that does not allow the free expression of excessive emotion from men. Paris is much more self-possessed and composed, even while he’s mourning Juliet, and older besides; that may be enough to prefer him for Juliet, especially if the Nurse thinks a mature man can help Juliet adjust through the trials of marriage and motherhood better.

Against this, however, is the Nurse’s description of Romeo as a dishclout (dishrag) to Paris’ “eagle.” If Romeo’s supposed immaturity was her main objection to him, then she would have said a baby eagle or some equivalent animal or object associated with youth—small, weak, and mewling. Also, Juliet may be smart, but she is still 13. The Nurse no doubt lowkey sees her as still a little girl herself, one she personally raised, so thinking Romeo is too immature for her makes little sense. They both behave in similar ways. Romeo also consistently reads older by at least 3-4 years and his behavior in his play does not mark him as any less mature than his friends or Tybalt—or, frankly, most of the adults in this play.

Theory 2: The Nurse Prefers Paris Because He Is of a Higher Social Rank/Wealthier Than Romeo

Paris is kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo is the heir of Montague; it’s a no-brainer which one has the higher rank. Paris also reads as an older man, though he too dies with the rest of the youths of the play (there is some ambiguity definitely re: his age). The Nurse seems to have some materialistic leanings, as when she rather gleefully tells Romeo at the Capulet ball: “I tell you, he that can lay a hold of her / Shall have the chinks” and social climbing tendencies as when she gives herself airs in front of Mercutio et al. and tells Peter to hand over her fan. She makes only a token resistance to Romeo’s coin offer and accepts it immediately at his mild insistence. There are definite classist vibes in her “Romeo’s a dishclout compared to [Paris]” line. A rag is a low, plain/ugly, used, faded, common item; an eagle is a noble animal that soars the skies. It may emphasize the Nurse’s belief that Romeo is dime-a-dozen in terms of youths go, and that Paris is “rare.”

Against this, however, is the fact that the Nurse doesn’t bring up materialistic or mercenary considerations in her marry-Paris speech even though it would have been apropos. Also, the social difference between Romeo and Paris is probably not even significant; Romeo was able to be friends with Mercutio, also PE’s kinsman, with no trouble, after all. Romeo is the heir of Montague, a family of the same social class with Juliet’s; while the family’s fortunes would not drastically improve, there would be no social shame in a match, and in fact the Friar counts on it in his plans. Paris would be a much nicer match, of course, but not one to overthrow all consideration of Juliet’s feelings. If the Nurse did have class considerations, they must have been unconscious ones. This is an English play, after all, by an English writer writing a lower class character; class is never far behind.

Theory 3: The Nurse Thinks Paris Is Hotter Than Romeo (and Hotter=Better)

The first half at least is definitely canon. The Nurse consistently raises up the question of Romeo’s hotness vis-à-vis Paris. On one side, Paris is consistently her favorite, the one that “excels” Romeo, the one she has stated more than once that she prefers. “An eagle” doesn’t have “so fair an eye” as Paris, and Romeo’s the “dishclout.” Paris is the flower of Verona, Paris is a man of wax, etc. The very first thing she says after telling Juliet that she thinks it’s best to marry Paris is that he is a “lovely gentleman” (although that could also easily refer to his personality).

On the other hand, the Nurse explicitly says that Romeo’s face “be better than any man’s.” (Even better than Paris’? ~Surely not). It is the Nurse, not Juliet, who lewdly blazons Romeo’s body parts; Juliet, even at her most horny in “Gallop apace,” never talks about Romeo in this way. It’s as if the Nurse views the Romeo-Juliet-Paris drama as a YA novel and she is the fangirl resolutely on #TeamParis, writing steadily long meta rants on Tumblr about how Paris is the sophisticated/more mature/nicer option and Romeo is the mediocre/basic/nice guy—all the while writing R/J fanfic because hey, Romeo is super hot too.

Considering the Nurse’s obsession with these men’s looks and physical beauty, she would prefer the one who is most handsome for Juliet or who she thinks is the most handsome. How she eventually did settle firmly on the Team Paris camp is uncertain, since a furious Juliet rages on how she hypocritically trashed Romeo even when she had “praised him with above compare / So many thousand times?” Juliet may have been exaggerating the number in her hurt and betrayal, but we literally do see the Nurse liking Romeo physically—explicitly so in ways she doesn’t do with Paris—and personally. Perhaps her likening Romeo to a dishclout compared to Paris was an exaggerated, blunt way to persuade Juliet to drop him. Conversely, she could have just been humoring Juliet when she praised Romeo “with above compare,” just as she might have been hastily placating Juliet when, in her marry-Paris speech, she says, “O he [Paris] is a lovely gentleman!”

In any case, the Nurse’s valuing physical beauty shows her shallowness, which is part-and-parcel to her role as Juliet’s foil. Notice how Juliet doesn’t go into detail as to Romeo’s appearance and neither does Romeo for Juliet. This is partially logistical, as Shakespeare, being trained for the theater, learned to avoid specifying character appearance. But the absence also indicates that R&J’s love are not based on trivial details such as hair or eye color, much less body type. They obviously find each other physically attractive, but it’s more what they mean to each other. The Nurse doesn’t understand that, and Juliet’s irritation and impatience when she goes on a tangent on Romeo’s excelling leg: “But all of this I have known before.” Yes, my Romeo is hot and the sky is blue, can we move on?

Which Theory?

Barring more information from the text, I feel Theory 3 is the most supported and the most likely, although 1 and 2 have their strong points. A little bit of all three wouldn’t be out of the question. The main problem is that the Nurse doesn’t bring up potential valid objections, like Romeo’s killing Tybalt (!!), which Presgurvic’s RetJ did, only the logistical difficulty of Romeo being in Mantua and Juliet in Verona “and [her] no use of him” in the sense that Juliet can’t enjoy Romeo sexually. The emotional callousness the Nurse displays here is part-and-parcel with the Capulets’ overall emotional callousness and shallowness, especially towards Tybalt’s death (see Capulet’s “Well, we are all born to die”—compare that to Romeo’s genuinely regretful, “Forgive me, cousin” speech to Tybalt’s tomb).

In that sense the Nurse’s emotional shallowness is obviously meant to contrast with Juliet’s love and commitment to Romeo and even her lewd praise of him contrast with Juliet’s rapturous praise.

In sum: While the Nurse is much more supportive of R&J than the Friar, she prefers Paris and not only doesn’t hesitate to tell Juliet of it, it also informs her advising Juliet to marry Paris. This creates a bit of a mystery since she never goes into any explanation as to why she prefers Paris or even why Romeo would make a poor choice. Most likely she is just playing YA love triangle games and going back and forth as to which one is hotter/which one Juliet should date (the verdict? Team Paris).

(P.S. Another, slightly nerdy addition—on the Nurse’s “He is not the flower of courtesy, but I’ll warrant him as a gentle as a lamb.” Gentle in Shakespeare is almost always used in the sense of being well-regarded, honorable, virtuous, or simply having the qualities of a gentleman. The Nurse’s use of it to mean “soft or sweet” is the first time I’ve seen Shakespeare employ the word in the modern sense. To make absolutely sure, I checked David and Ben Crystal’s Shakespeare’s Words: A Glossary and Language Companion, and sure enough there was no definition close to “soft/kind/sweet” under the gentle entries (noun, verb, adjective). It could be that this was a small oversight and the dictionary has been updated since then, but the entries looked comprehensive enough. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Shakespeare employed a word in what we would recognize as its modern sense. (Any Shakespearean nut remembers any other time Shakespeare uses gentle in the modern sense? Hit me up if you find anything.)

Anyway, my personal headcanon is that the modern sense of the word could have been extant, if not widely used, a sort of slang that a lower-class character like the Nurse, when she is not putting on airs, would employ. If so, perhaps Shakespeare could have intended a small malapropism (the Nurse commits many of them) his mainstream audience would find amusing. Because of course, if Romeo were gentle, lamblike or not, then he would de facto be courteous—a key part of gentility is courtesy! So it would seem, to Elizabethan audiences, that the Nurse, in employing some peasant slang, accidentally employs a ridiculous contradiction. Cue laughter—oh that Nurse!

As for “gentle as a lamb”…Romeo is indeed lovely and sweet to Juliet and even his Mercutio roasts are more fond than cutting, but while he is patient and considerate with the Nurse—he insists on giving her some coin for her trouble—he reads mostly bemused by her. Not so much “gentle” in the modern sense of the word. But the Nurse herself is not very observant nor very emotionally perceptive, so it lends a little more credence to Theory 1 in that she thinks of Romeo as just a kid, nothing more.)

[cto10121]

Vérone - movie version

Because this is my blog and if i want to air out my headcanon!RetJ movie, by God, I’ve a right to. Feel free to skip.

N.B: For the purposes of this post and my weirdly exact imagination, this movie!RetJ will be an English adaptation. I know, I know. Take a deep breath and think best-case-scenario-under-the-BEST-circumstances. Think young!Stephen Sondheim doing the lyrics. Think whatever you need to think in order for this to make sense and/or be in the slightest way palatable. Okay. Roll film. 

FADE IN: 

So. It’s the Overture. Voiceover Narrator Guy gives it as the shadows of pre-dawn Verona come into view. Introducing Death dancing, as she does, eerie and graceful and beautiful because this is Hollywood/RetJ and everyone in this thing is hot as a general Rule. Maybe there is some nice animation that summarizes the events of the musical neatly. Either way, the Overture ends, and Death for once is still. She is expressive even in her stillness, cold and unearthly.

Then she gestures to her left. It’s the Montagues, all in blue, randomly appear in formation. She gestures to her right. It’s the Capulets, all in red, also randomly appearing in formation. She is complete control of them. They face each other, and then fight. 

Fight ballet, Redha-inspired, with lots of sharp movements and whirling bodies, scraping the ground, leaping in the air. More realistic fighting choreography than WSS, but still balletic. Let’s not inflict actual damage here, this is mostly symbolic. The feeling given is frenetic, intense. You catch glimpses of Tybalt and his male posse, Mercutio and Benvolio with theirs. The main male fighters are Sampson and Gregory on the Capulet side, Abram and Balthazar on the Montague one.   

At the climax the dancers, all Montague and Capulet youths, make way for Mercutio’s and Tybalt’s macho face-off, circling them. Mercutio taunts a coiled Tybalt while Benvolio tries to restrain Mercutio. Knives are out. 

But of course, the music changes, and so everything changes. Strings hold a fermatta in the air. Everyone knows what’s up. A lookout finally calls out: 

“The Prince!”

Staccatto strings on the bass clef. The French horn playing a chord variation of the melody. At the sound of it, your blood starts to pounding like African drums. “Yes,” you breathe, although it sounds more like “yaaas.” You know what’s going down. It’s the Prince of Verona, who has arrived with his guards, Veronian flag carriers, two royal family members, Paris and Valentine - pretty much the whole train. Death is not intimidated, but even she does something suspiciously like a flourish. She is the one who changes the Montague and Capulets’ youth’s direction. 

This Prince in question is more original French than Revival one, so think cold!badass rather than street rapper!badass. This Prince is one golden tower of barely restrained power, but it still shows, of course. It’s in the way he raps out the first verse and everyone instantly bows down to him. He enters, in my imagination, either on the balcony (not THAT one yet, but still, it’s ~suggestive) of a palatial capitol building or on the utmost step of the square’s dais. Either way, he’s on high. He looks down at these quarreling youths, who join him in a chorus.

They sing about their divided city, Verona. Their houses. Their blood and their honor, which they strive to defend at all cost. These two houses have been enemies for centuries and now their noble youth is repeating the same mistakes as their elders. Each side believes God is on their side, have been since Day 1. Each one knows they are in the right. Hence, the division. Hence, this (dare we say it...) polarization. Hence, Death.

The Prince, for his part, is cynical about this ancient quarrel, and has little hope in solving the problem permanently. All he thinks to do is curb its excesses, flex a bit of strong arm. What concerns him the most is keeping him and his family in power. In a way, he feels the exact same way as the youths themselves: This is Verona. We are Verona. It is what it is. 

He motions for the guards to quietly surround the youths, make sure there is no further trouble. During the song, there are some signs of renewed violence as they get overly excited, mostly on Sampson and Gregory and Abram and Balthazar’s part. They are reined in by said guards. 

At the key change, expect the heads of houses to arrive. First the Capulets, Lord Capulet, looking nicely parochial, and Lady Capulet flaky and fashionable in glittery burgundy, with a female servants for LC - maybe even the Nurse and the Mute girl, her servant. These servants will be distinguished by their uniform clothing, compared to the individualized ones for the M&C youths. The Poet is a servant/factotum of Lord Capulet, and accompanies him here. 

On the Montague side, Lady Montague arrives with her servant/lover in tow, a fierce, badass widow ready to take on the dysfunctional Capulet couple. She is ready. Come at her, bro. She faces off with Lord Capulet. 

“We are Verona,” ends the Prince. If this weren’t sung, we'd obviously hear the irony in that statement. 

So everyone of (immediate dramatic) importance in Verona is now gathered here, in this square. The architecture is half-Renaissance, half-modern, a sleek anachronism that works wonders. Where the hell is this set? Anywhere where people feud and fall in love, that’s where. 

The Prince descends closer to his citizenry, towards the glaring head of houses. The citizenry fall into predictable social scripts, one non-anachronism this film will allow. The servants on both sides kneel, touching their foreheads to the ground. The M&C female youths go down on one knee, the males bowing at the waist. The guards are erect, stiffly so. The heads of houses either bow slightly or do not do anything. Death raises her head haughtily. She is her own queen and she knows it. 

The Prince lets out his freak side at last and begins his rant. He is through, he says, with their fighting. He calls out Tybalt and Mercutio by name, ouch. Tybalt bows like the obedient if fucked up little soldier he is, but Mercutio? Mercutio of Escalus? He doesn’t give a fuck. 

His uncle is long-suffering. Mercutio can make even the most cold-stone badasses temporarily look like they’re in The Office. Mercutio sarcastically gives a bow. The Head P finally delivers his ultimatum: No more fighting or your ass is cooked. Except somewhat fancier. It isn’t iambic pentameter or anything, but it’s still fancier. The Prince also calls on Lord Capulet to meet him to hash out this truce agreement, with Lady Montague following later. Naturally. She has to sing with Lady Capulet first. 

He leaves with his train. The M&C youths do not leave, though. They still itch to fight. Perhaps it is Death, still doing her thing. Their movements become sinuous, less frenetic, but still deadly. Their fight-dancing has the touch of the tango to it. They are split now into M/C male and female couples. Let’s not kid ourselves here: There is an erotic component to this violence, and how it looks, well, rather intimate at turns. A Montague male extends a hand to a Capulet female, taking her hand - amatory? conciliatory? - and then thrusting her violently away. The opposite, too, occurs: A Capulet male goes down, but the Montague female gives him something kin to a caress.

This city is a treacherous one in many ways. The boundaries, however clear they appear on the outside, are not so clear when looked at more closely. Perhaps there is still a chance for this hate to turn into love (see what I did there?). But Lady Montague and Lady Capulet are not aware of this component to the feud, and what it implies. All they can see is hate. 

[cto10121]

so wow, it’s been a LONG while since i’ve rewatched austrian retj (romeo und julia, whoo!). my thoughts below

so as all of you by now should know, the austrian has long been one of my top favorite productions of this show, and in fact i listen to its cast album the most out of them all beside the french. these are my second favorite arrangements to the french and, well, it’s no wonder that when presgurvic made his revival version he incorporated a LOT of elements of the austrian down to the stage sets

but looking at the production what strikes me is how quickly it moved. i just started watching the videos with the english subtitles and it took awhile until i could take a break, i was having so much fun. they cut most of the superfluous songs, although the consequence of that is that it gives the show a more lightweight feel than it should have, more of an ordinary musical than an epic operetta. i was shocked to see that the dialogue is so different; overall, the austrian stays less true to the french than the hungarian in both the dialogue and even the lyrics. that’s always been the paradox with that production; that it’s so wildly original and yet a lot of it seem transliterations of the french 

but since i’m biased already towards the austrian, i’ll start with the not-so-good points:

everyone being kind of...chirpy? romeo und julia were cute so that was okay, but lady capulet is one bit of a spaz, couldn’t take her seriously, and the nurse was all over the place (great voice, though, her version of et voilà is my second favorite to réjane perry’s). act 2 wasn’t as dramatic and heavy as it could have been, although they did a good die rache and their coupables (schuldig) was impressive

the prince was one badass, but the latter got lame dialogue. sucks. he also needed a good train to back him up. 

shakespeare!romeo pops up in lukas perman’s portrayal of romeo. doesn’t really fit within the universe of the musical, it’s always so weird to see it

most act-sung through their parts, which i didn’t like much at all (i never like act-singing, ugh). romeo und julia sang very well together, though, except in liebesglück. the cast album recording was excellent, which made the live one disappointing. 

cutting out par amour. it’s such a pretty melody, why? 

cutting short le chant de l’alouette. even worse. i actually saw red for a second there. let the babies BE for god’s sake

lyric game was weak in some songs, especially les beaux, les laids.

herrscher der welt is one of the weakest of the versions, although it’s probably only because the arranger eschewed the strings or a more complex arrangement. pity

while i like redha’s choreography 99% of the time, the smallness of the stage did not seem to work well for this version in question. the direction was haywire, all over the place. it could also be the quality of the pro-shot, though. 

lady montague was randomly brought in after les beaux, les laids onto the stage??? weird

costumes were strange, but definitely for the all-white le bal. i actually preferred the roman-esque revival version to these...whatever you would call them. on the other hand, most were lean and easy on the eye for the most part; i never liked those dandy trench coats of the revival version. again, the best costume was julia’s and those of her capulet girl cousins

new dialogue was okay, some really lame, but i still preferred the french, weirdly enough. 

but now the GOOD

romeo und julia are BABIES and should be protected forever muah. marjan shaki and lukas perman have good chemistry together. they even dated and everything, so i heard, not sure if they’re still together. their einmal is probably the best of any version, although i still like the haunting smoothness of the french. for some reason michaela ronzoni did well in that song. i also like her work in liebe. that’s a bitch of a song to translate, but they’re very singable as far as my german goes (which is not far at all, ha) 

naked lukas perman in der gersang. yes

carin flipcic as the nurse in siehe da sie liebt yeeeeeess

the musical aRRANGEMENTS wow. they actually compete with the french. i can’t tell you how pleased i am with them - for the most part. i still don’t like their being allergic to strings, but at least they keep the harmony and solos the hungarians for some strange reason eschewed. 

mark seibert’s naked chest. yes

since german is close enough to english for me to get things, i was laughing (with joy, of course) at most of the lines. mein gott indeed. so cute

again prince was a badass. yesss

the famous verona 2. hard to remember that they actually borrowed it from the production that must not be named. about the only decent thing to come out of it. 

and anyhow to conclude it’s kind of weird how the austrian used to be so big back in the day (retj veteran alas) but few people blog about it here. i guess it’s not as fanfic-friendly as the french and hungarian and not new like the italian. but here is some love for the austrian. it rocks