#7
ASSASSINS
MUSIC AND LYRICS: STEPHEN SONDHEIM; BOOK: JOHN WEIDMAN
Before making this list, I made a rule for myself I would only include three shows by Stephen Sondheim. If I did not make that rule, this list would probably only have two shows not written by him. I knew two would have to make the list, but the third was very difficult to choose. I ended up going with his collaboration with John Weidman about what would compel someone to want to kill the President of the United States. You know how some people say musicals are light and frivolous? Yeah… That is just not true.
The show is essentially plotless. Instead, we are presented with a group of characters who have attempted or successfully assassinated the president, from John Wilkes Booth to Leon Czolgosz to John Hinckley, Jr., and we individually examine them, not as monsters but as people. History is often simplified and prejudiced as it gets passed down over time, and what this musical attempts to do is take a more complex look at people who have been crucified for their actions. It does not ask the audience to sympathize with these people, or even empathize with them, but it does ask them to think about these deeply disturbed people in ways they may not have before.
The opening number “Everybody’s Got the Right” lays out that these killers are acting in a way that America asks of them. These are all people who have been wronged in their life or misunderstood by the people around them. People in search of the “American Dream” are told they will get whatever their heart desires because they are in America, but when that dream does not come true, they need someone to blame. Obviously, they take the most extreme approach to dealing with their troubles, but it puts the monsters on a lower level, showing how they are actually not so different than many people one encounters in life.
This description makes the show sound rather ponderous and depressing, but actually, there is quite a fair amount of humor in the piece, as is the case with most of Sondheim’s work. He understands that life is not merely one tone. The show gets dark, shocking, and wildly funny, because he is dealing with people who have wide ranges of emotion and personality. Sondheim, for how heady his material can be, is still an entertainer who understands how an audience wants to be treated. Assassins is a brave piece of musical theater that could rock a lot of moviegoers.
Music Highlights: “The Ballad of Booth”, “Gun Song”, “The Ballad of Guiteau”, “Another National Anthem”
#6
PIPPIN
MUSIC AND LYRICS: STEPHEN SCHWARTZ; BOOK: ROGER O. HIRSON
This is the one show on the list that might actually get made in the foreseeable future. The Weinstein Company owns the rights to the show and has hired James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now, Smashed) to write the screenplay. That hire was announced in April 2013, and there has been no word on the project since. There is a good chance nothing happens with it, but as a fan of Ponsoldt’s, I am very curious to see what he makes of the material.
Similar to The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Pippin operates under the conceit of an acting troupe putting on a show. They are telling the story of a young prince named Pippin, who is trying to find his place in the world, his “Corner of the Sky,” if you will. He tries joining the army, taking part in the government, and even abandoning the kingdom all together to work for a woman on a farm. It is a fairly classic coming-of-age tale with a very dark underbelly.
The darkness is manifested in the Leading Player, a sort of ringmaster for the show they put on. He or she, depending on the actor, must make sure the story stays on track and will end with Pippin committing suicide by jumping into a pit of fire, the grandest finale the show could have. When the actors start to drift away from how the story is supposed to go, the Leading Player’s rage and darkness boils.
The show was given a whole new life in 2013 when a Broadway revival opened, directed by Diane Paulus, to rave reviews and four Tony Awards, including Best Revival. The conceit of the show was altered to it being a circus troupe performing the show, and chances are if this upcoming adaptation does in fact happen, they will go this route with the material, and I, for one, would be thrilled with that interpretation. That production, starring Patina Miller as the Leading Player, was one of the most gripping evenings I have ever spent in a theater. The circus acts are astounding and add to the drama of the piece rather than distract from it, which could have easily happened. It is also the only show I have seen that received a standing ovation in the middle of the show, thanks to the brilliant Andrea Martin.
The Stephen Schwartz show that will probably be made first is Wicked, which is too bad. Pippin is a thoroughly satisfying piece of theater that is big and entertaining without ever being about the spectacle. Wicked is also not a very good show, and it being so popular is rather baffling to me.
Music Highlights: “Magic to Do”, “Simple Joys”, “Morning Glow”, “On the Right Track”
#5
BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL
MUSIC AND LYRICS: LAURENCE O’KEEFE; BOOK: KEYTHE FARLEY AND BRIAN FLEMMING
Remember the Weekly World News? For those who do not, it was a tabloid newspaper that specialized in stories of the paranormal, supernatural, and bizarre. One of the paper’s most popular stories showed up in the early 1990s about a boy who was half-human and half-bat, dubbed “Bat Boy“. Even if you had not heard of the tabloid, there is a great chance you have seen the image of the “Bat Boy” before (if not, it’s in the picture above). This story inspired book writers Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, as well as composer Laurence O’Keefe, to write a musical about the character.
A couple of teenagers in West Virginia come across the “Bat Boy” in a cave, where he attacks one of the teenagers. He gets captured and brought to the town veterinarian, Dr. Parker, and his wife agrees to take in the boy. The family gives him the name Edgar, teaches him to speak, and Edgar becomes rather erudite and falls for the family’s daughter. The rest of the town, however, sees Edgar as a monster and wants him gone in time for the big revival they have been planning.
This show is the most outright comedy on the list. The humor ranges from slapstick to horror camp to social satire, and all of it is funny. The score is also flexible enough in style to accommodate the tonal shifts, with rock, gospel, and even rap music. That is not to say the show is not substantive. It is a show about prejudice, religion, and hypocrisy. The final twenty or so minutes is filled with some very powerful drama.
Horror camp musicals often strike a chord with film audiences, most notably The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and create very vocal cults. Bat Boy could easily find that type of success with filmgoers, and there is a chance it finds even more mainstream success than its predecessors. It is a very classic story told in a weird, interesting way. The show is very intelligent, witty, and, most importantly for mainstream success, entertaining. Like Pippin, the show is fun without detracting from its message.
Music Highlights: “Hold Me, Bat Boy”, “Show You a Thing or Two”, “Comfort and Joy”, “Inside Your Heart”
#4
NEXT TO NORMAL
MUSIC: TOM KITT; BOOK AND LYRICS: BRIAN YORKEY
I said there would be two Pulitzer Prize winning musicals on this list. Well, this is the first. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey‘s 2009 musical about a woman struggling with bipolar disorder and a piece of her past that haunts her is a jolt to the system. Along with the Pulitzer Prize, the show was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning three, including Best Actress (Alice Ripley) and Best Score. The show deals with many things: drug abuse, psychiatry, mental illness, grief, suburbia, family, and finding one’s place in the world.
Next to Normal sounds like a total bummer to watch. It is not a total bummer, but it is not easy material. The show is not afraid to get darkly comedic and pull some laughs out of places in an audience member he or she did not know they could laugh at. The material is treated in a very raw and honest way. It forces its audience to think about its themes, think about their own situations, and wonder if they are okay.
Tom Kitt has written a tremendous rock score. Next to Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I think this is the finest rock score to ever be put on a stage. Rock music can often be limiting to a composer, as its form is rather basic structurally, but Kitt has found a way to break it open into other styles without ever losing its rock edge. The music is sometimes very loud and in your face, but it all feels very appropriate to the scene. The show is mostly sung, and having a score to propel you through some rough material is key.
When the musical first premiered, I read Rob Reiner had been interested in adapting it, but nothing happened with that. This is the one on the list, I think, I am most surprised by it not getting the big screen treatment already. If done right, it would be one of those shows to get some serious attention from the Academy, which I guess is what has to happen if a musical gets made nowadays. We are also moving into the territory now of things I really want to make, so part of me is glad it has not been adapted yet.
Music Highlights: “I Miss the Mountains”, “You Don’t Know/I Am the One”, “Superboy and the Invisible Girl”, “Why Stay?/A Promise”
