Posted on 12/22/2019 11:54:41 AM PST by EdnaMode
That’s always been Webber’s thing. Don’t need a story if the songs POP. It’s why the critics hate him.
Taylor doesn’t even sing the signature song, Memories. That is sung by Jennifer Hudson and she does a terrible job of it. My wife is a fan of the music so I downloaded the soundtrack for her (for free, of course). She said it was mediocre compared to the original album and she told me not to bother downloading the video when it becomes available.
Hence in hindsight the realization is that Cats is less accessible to mass audiences than Mamma Mia, which first was grounded in some earthly humanity and had the added value of the ABBA music canon on its side, much like Bohemian Rhapsody, which also had a thin plot, but was bolstered by the Queen songs.
Another thing about the critical response is that Lloyd Webber even by theater critics has continually gotten kicked in the pants for his bubble gum fare on stage, catchy songs and lack of plot. Even New York Times theater critic Frank Rich in his Broadway review of Cats back in 1982 exclaimed “if you blink, you’ll miss the plot.”
Phantom’s good to go. I had the privilege of playing tuba on that one.
COOL
Some of the songs are decent but there isn’t much story to it, as far as I could tell. I don’t think it translates well to the silver screen.
They also took too long to film Evita and Phantom of the Opera. They should have filmed Phantom when Sarah Brightman was young enough to star in it and Michael Crawford could have played the Phantom.
My Fair Lady opened in 1958 on Broadway and was filmed with one of its stage stars in 1964. It's now almost 30 years since Cats opened in London. That is too long for people to be excited about a film of a musical. And that's not even going into the problems of trying to film something that is as stagy and stylized as Cats.
CBS earlier this month before Cats and Bombshell came out picked The Haunting of Sharon Tate starring Gossip Girl, Younger and Lizzie McGuire star Hillary Duff as worst movie but had a detailed list of bad films from this year.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/pictures/the-worst-movies-of-2019/
The new version they will make it better. Not!
It sad they are spending more money to fix this turd.
It’s fun filling up the theater with those big bottom notes.
And she’s been rewarded her first commercial failure.
Tay ping
That’s a thing of beauty.
What you are seeing in Hollywood these days, are people who are very good at gaining control of organizations, but once in control have no idea about how to create products real people want.
“What you are seeing in Hollywood these days, are people who are very good at gaining control of organizations, but once in control have no idea about how to create products real people want.”
Exactly. Louis B. Mayer, DeMille, Goldwyn, etc., knew what the audiences wanted and gave it to them. Now, it’s international conglomerates (partly owned by China and Japan) who expect every movie to be a blockbuster and earn half a billion — forget the story, just throw in a lot of CGI and big name stars...
Heh, you say that like it's a bad thing...:)
I wish I could take credit for it!
Go figure.
Note to Hollyweird: My offer to go through your slush piles is still open! 😄
Cats was an excellent Broadway production in NYC. It is based on lighthearted poems of TS Eliott an American/English poet. The Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
The theater was decorated as a wrap around junk yard! The dancers were the very best. They performed on a swept stage which was at an incline towards the audience. (The original Grizabella blew out her Achille’s tendon.) They built an hydraulic lift into the stage for the elevation into the Heavyside Lair. The had to be graceful and quite atheltic.
The costumes were amazing! They used Yak hair for the wigs, which had to be custom made for each performer and glued on so as not to fly off during dances. I went several times and every time I would fall in love with one of the beautiful young ladies who graced the stage!
They couldn’t find any real cats to play the parts? Cultural appropriation!
Inasmuch as there is a PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE DVD of the actual Broadway musical available (It’s been available for over a decade at least.), I don’t see a reason for a “remake”.
Fwiw, our family owns the DVD, as it’s my daughter’s favorite Broadway play.
Yours, TMN78247
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