Musical Week!

I'm not entirely sure where this idea for a musical week came from, but apparently it is over now so I only got to do the first part of it. Sad face. =( If anyone knows where this idea started I would love to give the original poster their well deserved credit for their awesome idea!

As you all may know I am a HUGE musical theatre fan and tend to love every 9/10 musicals you mention or throw at me. So naturally I decided to get into the festivities and join the party by blogging about one of my favorite things in the world.


1.  What musical did you pick to "spotlight" this week and why?
I decided to spotlight the fantastic musical of Jekyll&Hyde  by Frank Wildhorn. I decided on this musical because surprisingly not many people have heard of it and I feel that needs to be changed. The story-line strays a bit far from the book but overall I believe that it is a musical everyone needs to see at least once in their life.
I also decided to spotlight Jekyll&Hyde because I don't believe anyone has done this musical yet. I would have done Sweeney Todd but that would have made the musical I picked a predictable choice.


2.  How did you discover the musical you picked (hereinafter referred to as "your musical")?
I first discovered this musical when a place around my area was going to put on a performance of it and I got some free tickets to the show. Being the natural theatre nerd that I am, I went on YouTube as soon as I relieved the tickets, started listening to the soundtrack, and was blown away by everyone's character in the original Broadway performance.


3.  If you had to pick three favorite songs from your musical, which ones would they be?
Murder, Murder
Facade
Dangerous Game

Murder, Murder

4.  What's your least favorite song from your musical?
Confrontation. And only because I felt that Jean Valjean and Javert have a better song going between the two of them is Les Mis. Jekyll&Hyde's Confrontation is good, but it doesn't make me want to shout the words to random people on the street like Les Miserables Confrontation does.

5.  Who are your favorite characters (choose up to three)?
Lucy
Everyone in the ensemble
John Utterson

I don't feel that the last two don't get as much credit they deserve.

Utterson (on the right)

6.  Which versions of your musical have you seen/listened to, and which is your favorite?
I've seen a high school production of Jekyll&Hyde. I also saw the original Broadway version on YouTube along with the David Hasselhoff version which was actually pretty good. As for listening, I've heard Jekyll&Hyde in Concert which was absolutely amazing. I also recently heard the 2013 Broadway Revival which I did not particularly care for.

Concert version. Kate Shindle, Rob Evan, and Brandi Burkhardt

7.   Is this your favorite musical of all time?  If not, what is?
No but it's in my top ten. My all time favorite shall forever be Sweeney Todd with Les Miserables and Evita coming in a close 2nd and 3rd.

8.   Which cast album/musical soundtrack in your collection do you listen to the most?
That's a hard question to answer considering I listen to musicals practically every week. I'm not really sure what one I listen to the most but Jane Eyre the musical has been on repeat lately. It saddens me that Marla Schaffel (Jane) has not been seen much since her 2009 off-Broadway performance in Enter Laughing. She is, and will always be, one of my absolute favorite Broadway performers.

Jane Eyre: Musical 

9.   What is your favorite costume from your musical?
I don't believe any of the costumes remain the same from musical to musical. However, I do love this dress Teal Wicks is wearing as Emma Carew.



10.  If you could change anything about your musical, what would you change?
How about not killing Lucy off? Or not casting Constantine Maroulis as the lead? Just because you were on American Idol does not mean you should star on Broadway! Yes, he did star in other theatre shows previously but I was just not a huge fan of that casting choice and think they only cast him and Deborah Cox because they are known names meaning more people would come to see the show. Grrr...

11.  Which role(s) would you most like to play in any musical, if you had the opportunity to do so on stage?
***Mrs. Lovett- Sweeney Todd

Eponine- Les Miserables, because it's such an unpopular role. LOL.

Jane Eyre- Jane Eyre

Madame DeFarge- A Tale of Two Cities

Eva Peron- Evita

At this moment in time though I'd just like to be on stage. In any production, even *shudders* Cats.


12.  If you could choose one performer to play any part in your musical, who would you choose and which part would you have them play?
I think James Babour could make a great Jekyll/Hyde, he has that kind of menacing barritone voice that makes you shut up and listen. And if I could choose another person for any role, I'd want Natalie Toro to play Lucy.

13.  Do you consider yourself a musical theatre fan in general or do you just like a few musicals?
Not at all. I despise musicals oh so much...



Just kidding. =)
I've loved musicals ever since I saw The Wizard of Oz when I was 3 years old.


14.  Are you tired of the word "musical" yet?
Nope. In fact I think it should be used more often in the real world in every conversation. "Have a musical day!" should be a thing.

15.  Turn your music playing device on shuffle (or utilize Pandora if you don't have one) and tell us the names of the first three show tunes that come up-- no cheating!  How do these rank on your favorites/most-listened-to list?
Mou Hitotsu no Chijou DX version- Bleach: Rock Musical. If you have never seen the show then they probably don't know what I'm talking about. It's a Japanese musical based on the show "Bleach" and honestly I listen to the songs a lot. This song has a total of 16 singers singing in it, making it the longest version in all the musicals. There are 8 musicals in total.
- The original titled, Rock Musical Bleach
- Saien
- The Dark of the Bleeding Moon
- Live Bankai Show 001
- No Clouds in the Blue Heavens
- Live Bankai Show 002
- Live Bankai Show 003
- Shinsei (different cast with the exception of Rukia who is still played by the talented Sato Miki.)
Even if you're not a fan of the show and even if you don't speak the language you should check them out. I didn't even really watch Bleach a whole lot until I saw the musicals and I was honestly surprised by how good they were. If anything most of the songs are quite catchy!

The Attack on Rue Plumet- Les Miserables 10th Anniversary
I love love LOVE this song. However I prefer the 1985 version with the beginning lines of  "'Parnasse, what are you doing. So far out of our patch?" but it's practically impossible to find a good recording of it. I wouldn't say this is the best Les Mis song but it's still pretty great.

God That's Good!- Sweeney Todd, 1979
This is my jam! I listen to this A LOT. 
Toby! THROW THE OLD WOMAN OUT!!