Musical Archives | Otaku No Culture

Sing Street is Not About Getting the Girl

sing-street-poster By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Sing Street is a wholesome and fun coming of age film where new student Conor Lalor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) needs to form a band so he can win the heart of Raphina (Lucy Boynton). This girl hangs out in front of a boarding home, waiting for a knight in shining armour to take her away, and who she’s dating now is hardly Lancelot.

Unlike musicals which I’ve come to adore in the past, namely Little Shop of Horrors about a nerd aspiring for success (and to win at love), and Grease about 50’s style romance, this tale explores the new wave post-punk sound which emerged mid-80’s. To explore the economic difficulties of the era, the story takes place in Dublin, Ireland.

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What’s the Word on Grease! Live?

The 60s is a very different era and as far as the music is concerned in Grease Live, this production was designed to celebrate rock and roll.

Grease Live Promotional Poster I have to wonder how those lucky fans present at the taping of Grease Live! got to see the entire show when the production spanned across two sound stages and an outdoor set? Was there a huge screen that it was played on at the Warner Bros Studios lot? The broadcast certainly showed the energy and enthusiasm for the lucky 500 or so folks who got to participate on set (especially in the school gym), but the show is not true live theatre; by the time it was shown on the west coast the social media aspect of live tweeting was already on repeat.

It’s easy to notice that some musical numbers were prerecorded so the performers can concentrate on their moves while others were indeed live, where musicians are visibly performing. Unless the microphones are seen (these days, they are so tiny because an eagle eye is needed to spot how they are taped close to the body), I just have to wonder how the sound was mixed in order for it to be ready for television broadcast. Other media outlets reported on the sound issue the East Coast broadcast had and it was fixed for the evening West Coast edition. Warts and all, I would have appreciated observing that earlier show.

If a truly live broadcast is supposed to have that real-time feeling, it would be playing across the continent at each time zone’s respective hour. The show probably started around 4pm PST for airing at 7pm EST. To get the feeling of a real time production means tuning into a national public broadcasting station for one of their telethons.

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13 Halloween Movies That One Should Never Forget

Sometimes, the best Halloween Movies are those which can withstand the test of time than to follow the trends.

Halloween Movies - Haxan. Witchcraft through the Ages Some horror flicks come and go as part of the must watch tradition when All Hallow’s Eve approaches. Others are just plain forgotten over the years, if not in the passing of a century. If there’s ever a list that need to bring the ‘classics’ back, the hope is to bring the movies from the yesteryear back to the fore. These Halloween movies are the ones I loved watching while growing up. Whether it’s themed for the season or not, I feel certain films should never get discarded in favour for new ones. A couple of comedic films are added just so some folks will not come out scarred after a marathon view of these movies.

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1929)

If this classic silent film is viewed along with The Wicker Man, then just maybe the third Halloween film can be better appreciated. Although very dated in its special effects technology and very primeval, this movie is just as effective now for its haunting terror. I love this film because it is very atmospheric. It blends a documentary and fiction together as the history of witchcraft is explored. While the Wiccans of today proclaim that they are not witches, there are similarities that must be studied.

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Last Chance Productions Gets Toxic with Evil Dead in the Pacific Northwest!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

81qMvxhWjhL._SL1425_ Evil Dead the Musical
Oct 30-31, 2015

Toxic Avenger the Musical
Renton Civic Theatre
Renton, Washington
December 26, 2015

Alberta Rose Theatre
Portland, Oregon
January 2, 2016

Waterfront Theatre
on Granville Island
Vancouver, BC
Feb 5 and 6, 2016

Returning to Vancouver, BC this Halloween is Evil Dead the Musical, and hot on their tail is The Toxic Avenger the Musical. Both shows, if it was back to back, would have been duking it out at the Waterfront Theatre instead of Studio 1338! A change in plan will have Toxie appear next year and with a bigger venue, the team of Last Chance Productions promises more fun to pop up. This crew performed Young Frankenstein and Cannibal! the Musical in the past. For the holidays, they are giving fans new content as they tour the Pacific Northwest during the holidays.

Fans of Troma who have not seen this production can see what’s changed. The plot of this stage version does not entirely follow the film. It takes the best moments from it and has fun with the tropes.

“The movie has its own cult following, and people should be aware that the musical changed things around,” revealed Chance Newman, director and producer. “There’s two performers who play 20 parts each, and it’s going to be manic.”

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] The 11 o’clock Number Rocks, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

the-11-oclock-number-1

VENUE: Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St. Victoria, BC

LENGTH: 60 minutes

To perform improv on stage must require the talents to think fast and furious. To see that person compose a song on the fly and be funny at the same time has to be commended. In what Grindstone Theatre has provided in their show 11 o’clock Number at the Victoria Fringe Festival 2015, which included input from me (who asked for zombies), I’m very impressed at blending the ideas of a neurosurgeon discovering a miracle in what some brain cells of her boss’ daughter can do and finding a cure to an emerging Zombie apocalypse in Victoria that would even impress Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti from CW’s iZombie. Every night promises to be different, and in what I enjoyed opening night is the comedy from Jordan Ward and Dan Moser when one of them played a gender-swapped role and the two were playing off each other with ease. They even kept the act clean. And to see them ham it up behind the singer made for a hilarious contrast.

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[Victoria, BC] How to do the Nerdy Fringe 2015 Edition

Various Venues
August 27 to Sept 6
Victoria, BC

Requires Fringe Button ($6)
Tickets range from $9 to 11
Available through Ticket Rocket or at the door

I’m fairly certain that there’s more than a few staff members at the Victoria Fringe Festival who are nerds too. I’ve met one person who worked there who is an avid LEGO enthusiast and I’m sure that buried in the closet are a few NERF guns. When nobody is looking, it’ll be time to bust a move.

People not acquainted with what the Fringe is about will quickly discover that the shows are experimental in nature, and the stages used are small to accommodate an intimate performance. Anything can happen, and the idea of a festival is to give new up-and-coming talent a chance to earn their cred. There’s a few groups that have moved on to bigger shows. The Reduced Shakespeare Company got their start at Fringe and Tom Stoppard‘s play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was performed first at the Edinburgh Fringe. In a tiny way, Evil Dead: The Musical owes its debt somewhat to this method of putting on shows. It opened in a club before making it big. Musicals are just one part of what can be experienced at Fringe Festivals, and that’s what I tend to gravitate to when the Victoria Fringe Festival caps off the Summer.

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