I mean in a good way…
Several years ago I was fortunate to see this dark comedy at New World Stages.
It was irreverently close to the Christian Slater/Winona Ryder movie.
I laughed…I cried…I gasped.
Mostly, I tapped my feet to the killer score.
There was also a brilliant production done at Ray of Light, albeit less dark than the NY production.
Last year I finally got my hands on the score in a student version…if you know this material, you are already asking many questions. It’s tough material thematically.
Making light of these topics with music, at this age, is particularly difficult In today’s culture. I was a teen when the movie came out originally. It didn’t have the same weight that it carries now. And…I could understand why some would love or hate it.
There is no denying the music…it has that tear the paint off the wall rock moments, and stadium ballads that will make you want to fire up that lighter and get the room swaying.
The writers have cut out “Blue” this was, well, blue..deeply sexually suggestive song that has been removed from the show and replaced with a song called “You’re Welcome”.
It’s just about as vulgar..like many of the stereotypical typing that was shoveled into so many of then70’s/80’s movies. The jocks are contrived blockheads who hit on everything.
Taking the edge off lyrics for these characters was necessary to make more palatable to family friendly audiences. It still worked…I’ll tell you “Blue” had us all laughing in the aisles though.
The singers and musicians love singing and playing the material.
I recently revisited the score for a pick up rehearsal on the coast (Pacifica Spindrift) I forgot how enjoyable the score was to play… oh…and the Veronica an JD – killed it. (In a great way)
