Post by jo on Jan 10, 2016 10:40:39 GMT -5
I have just listened to a 2-hour show on BBC Radio 2 featuring ELAINE PAIGE'S understudy for the show ( Elaine is away). His name : Andrew Lloyd Webber!
It is about his musical taste, his musical inspirations, and his favorites! What eclectic tastes for someone who writes some of the lushest and most melodious melodies in musical theatre.
*He opened the show with an overture ( he loves them!) which is his favorite part of musical theatre -- the overture from West Side Story which he says is his favorite overture. He featured other overtures : South Pacific, Sound of Music, Gigi, Gypsy. It seems that he really loved Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein...and he said that he even wrote a fan letter to Richard Rodgers when he was young! He says it annoys him a lot when people talk during an overture...although I think he is more forgiving when the orchestra plays music during Entr'acte.
*He did not feature any of his works, except for two-three songs from his current Broadway hit, School of Rock.
*But he was effusive about other composers : two songs by Stephen Schwartz ( Corner of the Sky from Pippin and a song he fell in love with, Meadowlark from The Baker's Wife), a song from American in Paris ( Stairway to Paradise), two songs from Hamilton ( he admires Lin Miranda and the current hit on Broadway) and another song from Miranda (I think it came from Spring Awakening), Stephen Sondheim ( a song from A Little Night Music, not Send In the Clowns), a song from Maury Yeston ( the composer from the other Phantom of the Opera) from NINE featuring Elaine Paige and Jonathan Pryce. I might have missed one or two as I did not write notes while listening but it does show how he admires the work of other composers.
*He also featured two favorites from his youth : Elvis Presley singing Jailhouse Rock and the Eberly Brothers singing a song ALW composed for Whistle Down the Wind.
*He gave one or two lessons on music composing ( citing the works of other composers as well) and music appreciation. He did talk about how his father ( a classical music teacher had given up on him in terms of training in classical music; it was his brother Julian who followed in the paternal footsteps).
*He talked about the experience with School of Rock.
*But he reserved the last one for the best ( for me!) -- he talked about the musical as "the Hamilton of its day!" He said that after World War 2, England had looked back to the past in terms of musical theatre, seeking nostalgia ( and he acknowledged that it was not the right way) while America looked forward into the future with a musical that was produced at about the same as the largely-unknown British musical oldies!
He shared that a new musical then was doing an out-of-town tryout and it did not seem to be going well ( the title was AWAY WE GO) and they had zero advance! Until one of the chorus girls suggested a change to the composers ( changing a solo song to a choral composition!) which was readily adapted, together with a new title, complete with punctuation mark. And that was how OKLAHOMA! was born!
The title song was the last he played -- and guess what, it was the voice of Hugh Jackman which wafted through BBC's digital radio airwaves/internet waves, singing the first/second verse of the OKLAHOMA! title song and followed by the enthusiastic choral rendition and finish! ALW chose the ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE revival to highlight the musical, not the original film score!
I rarely listen to the Oklahoma! CD and this is one of the rare times that I listen to Hugh singing Oklahoma! without his charm getting in the way 
I think I disagree a little when ALW called OKLAHOMA! the HAMILTON of its day! Oklahoma!'s place in musical theatre seems more sacred than the accolades for the current Broadway hit ( he played two numbers from the show ... and I still have to drum up strong enthusiasm for them). Oklahoma! was the landmark musical for Broadway and paved the way for the seamless integration of the book and the musical score...and up to now ( when it will soon be going into public domain) it continues to be the subject of revivals! And as I am biased for Rodgers and Hammerstein, I do think that the songs from Oklahoma! have more enduring appeal.
It's on Listen Again, in case you are interested :
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06vbhyz
The show itself starts at around 3'25", after the news. It's almost two hours long, but it passes quite fast.
