Walk down memory lane of the day:
THE POLL
September 21st:
ME: I’m intrigued by these prospects of weird forms of literature being transformed into musicals. The Chemistry textbook opens up possibilities for hits such as Alanis Morisette’s “Ionic” and Wassabbo (my school’s parody teacher boy-band)’s hit single “Covalent Bonds” (we’ll share electrons forever… I wish I remembered the rest of that song). Possibly also that hilarious song from “Peggy Sue Got Married” that talked about the love lives of a bunch of famous scientists. Men At Arms offers not only Carrot’s “Ankh-Morpork: It’s My Kind of Town”, but also Edward D’Eath’s “Happiness Is a Warm Gonne”.
If you put enough thought into it, you can turn anything into a musical. I envision a huge, high-energy musical number about the turtle crossing the road in Grapes of Wrath (possibly in the same vein as “Wells Fargo Wagon” from The Music Man), then a song about Homicide, led by Tom Joad, much in the style of Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango”. Then, it would be time for The Three Musketeers. Ignoring the cheese factor of potential “One For All” numbers, we could instead consist of an intro to the status of the lead characters in the style of the title song from “Rent”, then a rallying of Musketeers with something like “The World Will Know” from Newsies, and a kinder, gentler ending, culminating in a plea from D’Artagnan to Cardinal Richeliu in the “How To Succeed” ripoff, “Brotherhood of Musketeers”. If this is successful, we could open the next theatre season with Hamlet (featuring pop single “to thine own self be true”) and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which has serious “Bohemian Rhapsody” potential.
With that said, who wants to be my producer? Given the success of the Jane Eyre musical, I’m sure they’ll be lining up at the door.
September 22
SANNALI: **nods to Priscilla** And while we’re planning Men At Arms: the Musical, we should add to Carrot’s “Ankh-Morpork: It’s My Kind of Town” and Edward d’Eath’s “Happiness is a Warm Gonne” a couple of numbers borrowed (in spirit and general content) from My Fair Lady, that is to say, a “Get Me to the Church On Time” sort of number for Sam Vimes and a song that is about numbers in the same way that “The Rain in Spain” is about pronunciation (called “Powers of Two,” perhaps) for Detritus and Cuddy. If we want to be a little bit… broader… in our choice of material to emulate while making songs, I’m sure we could find a song somewhere that would make a good model for a song by Big Fido about “The Law of the Pack.” It strikes me also that the “Be a Man” song from Disney’s Mulan would be entirely applicable as a model for a song by Sergeant Colon about whipping the new recruits into shape. Every member of the Watch joined the Watch to “be a man” after all, didn’t they?
ME: ::snickers:: Sannali’s additions to Men at Arms: The Musical were absolutely brilliant. (and she had better post her Angua sketches, or I’ll be disappointed). Now it’s time for even more songs! I rather like the idea of having the Patrician come out in the beginning to explain how the city works, possibly to the tune of “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof, or “Guilds!”, to the tune of “Kids Today” from “Bye Bye Birdie”. We may be able to bring Edward d’Eath out for a Lion King-inspired number, “I just can’t wait for Carrot to be King”. And I’m sure we could find a suitable song for Angua to sing about “minority” groups. At his death, Beano could sing a heartrending rendition of “Send in the Clowns”. Maybe a duet with Death. And Leonnard of Quirm most definitely needs a song… Okay, I’m starting to scare myself. Time to step away from the stereo! ::wrinkes nose at overactive muses::
For those relatively new to my weblog, yes. That’s how it all began.
