Music : Spring Awakening (2006 Original Broadway Cast) |
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Rating:  - * High Degree of Difficulty ... This score makes great listening for people who 1. Are musicians (vocal and instrumental) 2. Didn't even see the show The complexity of the score, the fantastic instrumentation/orchestration and the amazing voices make this a must-have addition to a collection. Not just a collection of musical theatre. Rating: - * Love it! ... Well I never saw this Musical but from word of mouth and researching it I really love it! This was and still is a good CD I love listining to it and hope I can soon see them on the tour cause I cant really go to New York to see them unless someone wants to buy me a ticket and everything else haha! LOVE IT I am actually listing to it right now! Rating:  - * So this is why it won the Tony... ... I originally borrowed this CD from a friend and played it in the car on the way to work... then again and again... Reading the liner notes, I got the plot of the play down and could put the songs in context. But most of them stand on their own, as passionate pop-play songs, with interesting melodies, empassioned vocals, and that all-important factor: sing-along-bility. I've since purchased my own copy and love it. The play is coming to my town next month and I cannot wait to it and experience the songs in their true context. Rating: - * The awakening of songwriter Duncan Sheik ... The awakening of songwriter Duncan Sheik by Jason W. Lloren (Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 9, 2007) Duncan Sheik walks into a Starbucks in Menlo Park and instead of a coffee he grabs two bottles, a sparkling mineral water and a mixed juice. He settles down at a table and mixes the two into a plastic cup. "I think I have the market cornered on Pellegrino and Odwalla," jokes Sheik, taking a short break from a recent theater workshop a few blocks away in Palo Alto. It's the kind of creative alchemy that has worked successfully for the 37-year-old New York singer-songwriter. In the past decade, Sheik, a practicing Buddhist, has released a string of pop-rock albums that combine brittle balladry ("She Runs Away") with literate optimism ("On a High"); scored films, including 2004's "A Home at the End of the World" with Colin Farrell; and written a diverse range of music for the stage. Now he can add a new title to his name: Broadway composer. In November, "Spring Awakening," a collaboration with writer-lyricist Steven Sater, premiered at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre to critical praise. Merging power-chord anthems and gentle rock monologues with a 1891 German play about youthful sexual discovery and frustration, "Spring Awakening" stands out among the recent "jukebox musicals" and adaptations that have hit the stage, such as "Jersey Boys," "Legally Blonde," "Movin' Out" and "High Fidelity." And with such provocative song titles as "Totally F -- " and "The Bitch of Living," the musical is not standard Broadway fare. Nonetheless, Sheik says, everyone from "15-year-old girls and 75-year-old couples" have been attending the show. "So I know that ... something's happening there that's relatively universal." "Spring Awakening" is not the only stage project keeping Sheik busy. He and Sater participated in the TheatreWorks workshop to fine-tune their adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's short story "The Nightingale." Unlike "Spring Awakening," it's not a rock musical. Rather, Sheik says, it's a "really elegant chamber piece" with a string quartet, woodwinds and harp. "So from the standpoint of instrumentation, it might be more traditional than 'Spring Awakening,' " he says. "The Nightingale" is the third theater collaboration Sheik and Sater have developed sporadically over the past half-decade. Last spring, their work "Nero (Another Golden Rome)" was staged at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. Unlike either "Spring Awakening" or "The Nightingale," "Nero" is "more of a play with music" than a full-blown musical, Sheik says. The one constant through these three collaborations, he says, is how he and Sater work together -- by working separately. "Our collaborative process is probably a little bit odd and eccentric," Sheik says. "Steven sits in his room and writes lyrics and writes the book. And I sit in my room, and I take a lyric that he sent me and I set it to music. And we're never in the same room together until we were at the theater." For the Grammy-nominated singer, who's perhaps more widely known for his solo work starting with his breakout 1996 hit "Barely Breathing," bringing his music sensibility to the stage has met some hurdles. "What's really a challenge is to make guitars and drums work onstage," he says, "because the nature of rock music is that it's meant to be really loud and visceral. And the nature of theater, especially Broadway kind of theater and musicals, is that you're meant to hear every word. ... So you have to balance these two demands." In addition, as a solo artist, he also had to adjust to the collaborative nature of theater -- dealing with the "really intense visions," he says, of the director, the choreographer, the actors, even the lighting director. "It was kinda like, 'Well, this is my music and this is my song and this is how I want it to sound and I could care less what you think,' " Sheik says. "And I learned really quickly that that approach doesn't work in the theater." Despite some of the difficulty involved in putting together a Broadway show, Sheik says it has produced great personal rewards for him. "It's the most fulfilling creative experience of my entire life," he says. "I love this idea of telling a great story and then using music to help the narrative expand ... in its emotional depth." Outside of his stage work, 2006 was already a busy year for Sheik. He started the year by releasing his fifth CD, "White Limousine" and ended it by putting out "Brighter/Later: A Duncan Sheik Anthology," which includes his best-of and other rarities, like a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark." Somewhere in there, he and his band found time to tour. "We did 150 shows over the course of about 15 months. ... It was too much," he says wearily. Then he laughs: "I was over it." The forthcoming year promises to keep Sheik on a busy schedule. He'll continue to promote "Spring Awakening," including a Feb. 21 appearance with the show's cast on thee "Late Show With David Letterman." His next film work includes scoring actress Mary Stuart Materson's directorial debut "The Cake Eaters." Sheik believes the film will make the indie-film circuit later this year. He also continues to focus some of his energy on solo work. He plans a much smaller tour -- probably 20 shows this year -- and a covers album with a personal twist. It'll be an album of '80s songs from what he calls "English art-pop bands," like the Cure, the Smiths, Tears for Fears and Psychedelic Furs. His plan is to make "morose, sad, melancholic versions" of their songs. [...] "Not that they're not already morose in their own way," he jokes. "I'm gonna really bring it down." ### Rating: - * Don't judge till you have seen the show!! ... I have read many of the reviews of SA here and I must say...to all those who have ripped apart an absolutely amazing show...get off your couch and go see it before you say it is garbage or trash or asking what has Broadway become...you are the same people who ripped apart another amazing and Tony winning show..In the Heights....If you actually do a little research, you would learn that SA the Musical is based on a German play from 1892...A time in which sex and talking about sex was taboo...This is the same time period in which Ibsen wrote a Doll's House and Chekhov wrote Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard...this is the time period during and coming out of the Victorian age...Now...I have seen the show on Broadway...and sat in the onstage seats...and I will also say that those are the best seats in the house...the actors sitting within a few feet of you...you can see the emotion on their faces....This show takes the story of 1892...and juxtaposes it with the modern rock style music of today....It connects teens and adults alike to the story....The topic of teens coming into their sexual awakening is just as prevalent today as it was over 100 years ago... I have taught the play version of Spring Awakening and the musical version alike to college students...and the overwhelmingly positive response speaks for itself...The music is moving and the lyrics are catchy...So, if you haven't had a chance to see this really great show...it is touring...starting in January...or better yet...GO SEE IT ON BROADWAY!! And to those who believe that this is crap and that Rodgers and Hammerstein are the gods of theatre....even R&H were at one time considered to be controversial and taboo...they wrote about controversial topics in turbulent times...just look at The King and I or South Pacific... In closing, I hope this review opened some of your eyes to the touching and heartfelt world of Spring Awakening!!! |
The segment on Van Gogh is, as expected, emotional, yet Schama convincingly portrays Van Gogh as not consumed by madness, but fighting off the episodes with painting. Van Gogh painted one of his most evocative works, Wheat Field With Crows, which even his brother, Theo, recognized was about to put his brother on the artistic map. Yet, as Schama points out, within weeks, Van Gogh had killed himself. "Now why would he want to do that?" Schama muses--and then proceeds to narrate the tormented tale of the answer. Along the way, the viewer gains new appreciation for Van Gogh's signature works, including his famous sunflowers. "Technically, these are still lives," Schama says, "but there's nothing still about them... the sunflowers [seem to be] organisms landing violently from a burning sun." If the reenactments of the artists' lives are a bit overdone, it's forgivable, since the cumulative effect, in an hour, is a new appreciation of the work and the man.
Extras include frank and very funny commentaries by Schama and his co-producer, and lots of behind-the-scenes dish on how certain scenes were achieved. The teeming French opera scene in the "David" episode, for instance, was cast using just 20 French extras and then the rest created by CGI--"the scene works better, really, than [the film] King Kong," Schama says with delight. --A.T. Hurley
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Bird has his cake and eats it, too. He and the Pixar wizards send up superhero and James Bond movies while delivering a thrilling, supercool action movie that rivals Spider-Man 2 for 2004's best onscreen thrills. While it's just as funny as the previous Pixar films, The Incredibles has a far wider-ranging emotional palette (it's Pixar's first PG film). Bird takes several jabs, including some juicy commentary on domestic life ("It's not graduation, he's moving from the fourth to fifth grade!").
The animated Parrs look and act a bit like the actors portraying them, Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee also have a grand old time as, respectively, superhero Frozone and bad guy Syndrome. Nearly stealing the show is Bird himself, voicing the eccentric designer of superhero outfits ("No capes!"), Edna Mode.
Nominated for four Oscars, The Incredibles won for Best Animated Film and, in an unprecedented win for non-live-action films, Sound Editing.
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The Presentation
This two-disc set is (shall we say it?), incredible. The digital-to-digital transfer pops off the screen and the 5.1 Dolby sound will knock the socks off most systems. But like any superhero, it has an Achilles heel. This marks the first Pixar release that doesn't include both the widescreen and full-screen versions in the same DVD set, which was a great bargaining chip for those cinephiles who still want a full-frame presentation for other family members. With a 2.39:1 widescreen ratio (that's big black bars, folks, à la Dr. Zhivago), a few more viewers may decide to go with the full-frame presentation. Fortunately, Pixar reformats their full-frame presentation so the action remains in frame.
The Extras
The most-repeated segments will be the two animated shorts. Newly created for this DVD is the hilarious "Jack-Jack Attack," filling the gap in the film during which the Parr baby is left with the talkative babysitter, Kari. "Boundin'," which played in front of the film theatrically, was created by Pixar character designer Bud Luckey. This easygoing take on a dancing sheep gets better with multiple viewings (be sure to watch the featurette on the short).
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Brad Bird still sounds like a bit of an outsider in his commentary track, recorded before the movie opened. Pixar captain John Lasseter brought him in to shake things up, to make sure the wildly successful studio would not get complacent. And while Bird is certainly likable, he does not exude Lasseter's teddy-bear persona. As one animator states, "He's like strong coffee; I happen to like strong coffee." Besides a resilient stance to be the best, Bird threw in an amazing number of challenges, most of which go unnoticed unless you delve into the 70 minutes of making-of features plus two commentary tracks (Bird with producer John Walker, the other from a dozen animators). We hear about the numerous sets, why you go to "the Spaniards" if you're dealing with animation physics, costume problems (there's a reason why previous Pixar films dealt with single- or uncostumed characters), and horror stories about all that animated hair. Bird's commentary throws out too many names of the animators even after he warns himself not to do so, but it's a lively enough time. The animator commentary is of greatest interest to those interested in the occupation.
There is a 30-minute segment on deleted scenes with temporary vocals and crude drawings, including a new opening (thankfully dropped). The "secret files" contain a "lost" animated short from the superheroes' glory days. This fake cartoon (Frozone and Mr. Incredible are teamed with a pink bunny) wears thin, but play it with the commentary track by the two superheroes and it's another sharp comedy sketch. There are also NSA "files" on the other superheroes alluded to in the film with dossiers and curiously fun sound bits. "Vowellet" is the only footage about the well-known cast (there aren't even any obligatory shots of the cast recording their lines). Author/cast member Sarah Vowell (NPR's This American Life) talks about her first foray into movie voice-overs--daughter Violet--and the unlikelihood of her being a superhero. The feature is unlike anything we've seen on a Disney or Pixar DVD extra, but who else would consider Abe Lincoln an action figure? --Doug Thomas
More Incredibles at Amazon.com
 The Incredibles Toy Store |  CD Soundtrack |  The Art of The Incredibles Book |
 Game Boy Advance |  On VHS |  The Essential Guide Book |
The Pixar Feature Films
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More Animation DVDs
 Favorite Animated Performances |  Previous Animated Oscar Nominees |  If You Like The Incredibles... |
 Our Disney DVD Store |  Looney Tunes Golden Collection |  Walt Disney Treasures |
More Superheroes on DVD
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Also from Filmmaker Brad Bird
 The Iron Giant (Writer/Director) |  "Family Dog" on Amazing Stories (Writer/Director) |  Batteries Not Included (Cowriter) |
 The Simpsons (Director/Consultant) |  King of the Hill (Consultant) |  The Critic (Consultant) |
