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The Prince of Egypt - London Musical

Ages ago now I went to see the West End production of the Prince of Egypt. And I've honestly not been able to stop thinking about it since.

I went back and watched it like three times. I watched the cinema release and I listen to the spotify album religiously.

So imma organise my thoughts here.

Before I saw it the first time I was kinda worried I'd be disappointed or that it wouldn't live up to the animation. I think the first time, I was inspecting it so much that I couldn’t enjoy it as much. But I still loved it to the point where I went again (musical tickets are expensive).

The story and characters were slightly to the animation. And when I first watched it I wasn't sure if I was going to like these changes. But honestly, I think the changes somehow managed to make the story 10x more profound. 

If you watch the interviews of the cast on YouTube, I think it's mentioned that they focus on humanising the characters. And to see them more as normal people experiencing the extraordinary. And you really sense that watching it.

The one thing that used to bother me about the film is the part where the first born in all of Egypt are taken. And I think adding Moses’s distress towards this made it seem so much more human. And well raw in a painful sense. There is a part in the song where Moses compares himself to a solider blindly following orders and I just loved having this inner conflict added. 

I think the main change I enjoyed was Remases character. They moved away from a stubborn villain character of the animation. And made him this misguided and lonesome character.

There's a particular scene that stuck with me, where Ramesses’s father dies and Rameses wife’s first reaction is to bow to him as pharaoh. The actor looks at her almost as if to say “what the hell” before turning to comfort his mother who instead of taking his hand also bows down to him. And he just kinda drops his hand. I don’t know but I could real feel his loneliness in this moment. Feel that he almost lost his mother in becoming pharaoh. And how this changed all his relationships.

There was also more fleshed out women characters than in the animation. The queen, Moses' adoptive mother, plays a much bigger role. There was a scene during the plagues where she speaks to Moses and it's just so painful on both sides. Then there's also the addition of Nefetari (Rameses' wife) who is also an interesting character.

Other than these changes in story and character writing, I also really enjoyed the way the stage was set up. So, the stage was quite simple and there were very minimal props. Most of the movement and scenes were created by an amazing ensemble. Like really, they played elements such as fire, sand and water as well as a chariot and horse and a variety of characters. It was really something.

Also the music (I almost forgot the most important part). There were some new songs and some adaptations to the soundtrack but all were amazing. Honestly I could write a whole post on just the music but this is already too long. Maybe another time.

The animation used to be one of my comfort films that I was watching on almost a weekly basis. But after watching the musical I've barely watched the animation. Because the musical was actually SO good that the film just doesn't hit the same. It’s just a shame it's not running anymore.

[umisha]

I’ve watched a lot of new (or new to me) movies in the past month, and the one that I’ve thought about and been devasted by the most is Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah (2021).  I watch a lot of biopics, and it seems like there are a lot of movies about good people doing brave things and evil people doing terrible things, but not a lot about people who are not evil but do evil things because they don’t want to face the consequences of not doing them.  Apart from J. Edgar Hoover, of whom Martin Sheen somehow gives the most chilling portrayal I’ve ever seen, there isn’t really a villain. Instead, there are tense moments where Bill O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) and Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) realize that what the FBI is asking of them does not align with their personal values. They could refuse, but they very much do not do that.

The most powerful moment for me comes when O’Neal, tearing up, offers Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) a refill, which the audience knows is a pretext for him to administer the drug the FBI has given him.  A refill seems like an odd thing to be shedding tears over, but Fred is not suspicious.  He believes he is going to be arrested soon and that his friend’s tears are a sign of love, which … isn’t not true.  After all, Judas loved Jesus.  But he also believes that love makes O’Neal trustworthy, which is definitely not true.

Love and morality aren’t worth very much if one’s actions do not support them. Before the credits roll, the movie tells us that Bill O’Neal committed suicide in 1990.  Like Judas, he faced even worse consequences than the ones he feared. The story, though, does not simply condemn one historical person.  Rather, it centers a kind of person that is far more common throughout history than the likes of Hampton or Hoover.

[umisha]

So I watched Judas and the Black Messiah. Don't know why I was expecting some sort of happy ending. I mean I knew it was based on real-life events but still a part of me was waiting for Bill to realise he was being played. The injustice of it all was just.... yeah.

[umisha]

Cool, so we’ve got an immortal human (who is the godson of Death), an Angel, a Reaper, a vampire, and a demon off to solve a murder?

I’m on board.

[umisha]

Endpapers for Masters of Death by Olivie Blake hehe

[umisha]

"This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it."

- Babel, R.F. Kuang

[umisha]

something i felt was important to draw. heavily based on the grave of the fireflies movie poster. feel free to share wherever

no text version under the cut

[umisha]

Guess I'll try tumblr again.