PERHAPS one of the biggest reasons people seems to be lapping it up presently- and statistics do show that, since the credit crunch, theatre sales have gone up- is because audiences are looking for an escape. Because musicals love to use real life issues as a baseline, the audience can relate. And, lets face it, if you see a character going through the same thing as you, or worse, and they're doing it with a great big smile on their face- with a song and a dance- it makes you feel better.
OF COURSE it may just be the way musical make 'The Issues' accessible- common themes I've found within the musicals I've seen recently include; discrimination and equality- whether with regards to racism, or homosexuality. And, of course, they also address and cater to the values of the average performer in the 'artist themes'; the struggle, expression, life meaning, DREAMS- Oh, and just as a note; if you do not wish to learn key plot points of Wicked, Avenue Q, The Wizard of Oz or RENT- I advise you to make a hasty exit to the right about now.
ON TUESDAY I went to see Wicked for the first time, and although I knew it was about Elphaba and G(ah)linda before the events of The Wzard of Oz, I hadn't quite realised the extent to which it crossed over with the original story.
SO, the show begins where we know Oz to end- The Witch is Dead! - with the chorus singing (in a rather terrifying manner) that the WWW is dead- the wickedest witch who had ever lived, no less! And, yes, we all know the story of Dorothy and Toto- the poor dears who were whisked away from Kansas in such a dramatic way! We know all about their quest to find the 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz' with their tagalong 'crew'; the scarecrow, the tin man (not iron- I checked) and the cowardly lion- but this story is not theirs (is it?) this is Elphaba's tale. And what a tale- full of magic, 'loathing' and love (aaaw).
RIGHT from the beginning we see (racism?) discrimination- and all because Elphaba was born with green skin (but why?!). Her father is awful, the mother probably also- and the poor hard done by sister gives the illusion of goodness. We see within Wicked, reallya story of disillusionment- having dreams, and having nothing happens in a fulfilling manner. In essence- we're all doomed, because you cannot acheive your dreams without sacrificing a peice of yourself. Glinda gets to be 'Glinda the Good', but not before she discovers that nothing is as it seems- the side known to be good, is corrupted beyond comprehension. By the end, she is completely isolated; the solitary figurehead who preaches, knowing of the corruption. In reaching her dreams she lost her best friend, her fiancee and her naive way of seeing the world in which she lives. Elphaba, similarly, got to meet the wizard, whom she had been dreaming of meeting- he would be able to put everything right, if he only knew about it- turns out, he not only knows about the horrible events, but is in fact the mastermind behind them. He is the one responsible for the animals' regression. Elphaba then finds herself cast out of society, mere moments after she has been acceptance, why was all of this allowed to happen? Because its all about perspective.
AS FAR as Dorothy and all the little Munchkins knew, Elphaba truly was the most terrifying and terrible trickster who ever did live, because everything they have been told supports that argument. These are very relevent issues today- there are some very heated discussions between the 'left' and the 'right', regarding James O'Keefe. Now, I don't pretend to know all the details, but each side is putting forwards arguements (some far more convincingly than the others it has to be said!)- which links in with this matter of perspective- how do we know what to beleive anymore? Sure, people are saying that O'Keefe is a bad bad person- but where's their proof? Do we condemn without question as the folks in emerald city did to Elphaba? Or is there more to the story, which we, as human beings, are obligated to discover? In this modern world its meant to be innocent until proven guilty- but I'm not seeing much evidence of that from certain people regarding the O'Keefe incident.
MOVING RIGHT ALONG I now wish to discuss Avenue Q, which those among you who know me realise I have now seen three times. Each time I had a different cast, each with their own quirks and nuances. Avenue Q is, in my opinion, brilliant. It is possibly one of the most un-PC shows I have ever seen, and for that I love it. It is set on the fictional street of Avenue Q where characters- a mix of humans and puppets- live out their oh-so-unfulfilling lives. The show opens with very upbeat songs, reminiscent (and not by accident!) of PBS's Sesame Street. Now here's the twist- they're singing about taxes, bills- and how much life sucks- tell me thats not brilliant!
NOW, Avenue Q has its fair share of messages- it tells us that, yes- racism is bad- but we shouldn't jump to shout about it everytime someone notices that someone else is a different color to them. It tells us that just because you've been to college doesn't mean you know anything about living and working in the real world but most importantly- it tells us, that in order for us to reach our dreams- we have to actually work at it! Kate Monster had been talking the whole show about founding a monster school- this is her dream- however, its all talk, she doesn't do anything about it. It isn't until Princeton and her other friends go out and actively find the money that her dream becomes a reality. You've got to like that message- its no nonsense, not all dreams come true- and yours is far more likely to if you do something to help it along.
AND FINALLY: RENT, I'm going to talk about rent- and yes, Stage Right- I know your opinions on the matter! Rent, deals with a lot of, what I like to call 'artist issues'- because they spend the entire play letting us know damn well that they love their chosen artistic area and they will under no circumstances 'sell out'. This is one of the only places I have an issue with in Rent- the characters seem to see any work they don't want to do as 'selling out'- in fact I almost take offense at the sheer hostility they hold towards people they see to have 'sold out'. I love the idea of being able to express myself freely, and live carefree- but this very very rarely happens- and personally I like being able to eat, and have heating, and, yes a few luxuries it wouldn't kill me to live without- they're all so stubborn and 'focussed', when theres nothing wrong with working- you can still do other things, after all.
NOW that I've gotten my issue out of the way, onto what i agree with. I love the way that living with disease is portrayed- the characters live with it- they are not dying from it- least not in their minds (for the most part). This is key, I think. The tendancy is to treat someone we know to be ill as if they're made out of glass and will break at the slightest thing- I don't think this is right- yes we should be aware there may be some things they can't do- but don't let it over rule them as a person.
So why does musical theatre have such a profound effect on people? And do people always know what they're being told? Please let me know what you think!
Written Badly By Naomi Wong
Believe it or not, I've not seen any of these. I do know of them though, that's for sure. I like musicals because they can elicit that emotional response. Music does that and the words only help. You've put a lot of work into this, great job. I especially like the Wicked one. It's so true, people oftentimes settle for what they've been told instead of getting the whole picture.
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