GREENBLUE Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) Just got home from the show, didn't stay for scores. BUT, I will say I'm not surprised with how close Academy is scoring to Madison. First off I will say that I'm a huge fan of Jesus Christ superstar and have seen the musical multiple times. Also a huge fan of Madison '99, my favorite show that year. My observations: A) the design staff assumed too much. By this I mean, the show design seems to cater to people who know the musical. An audience who knows the lyrics. The show seems to rely on lyrics that aren't there to further the plot. If I didn't know the show I would be completely lost on where judas fit in, until the betrayal. A lot of the emotion comes from understanding the music, understanding the lyrics. B) Because I do know the show so well, it seems a lot of the music is fragmented and doesn't finish it's thought/phrase. There was no resolution to many of the ideas. And as someone who does know the music I found myself finishing the phrase in my head. It's like the old saying " ###### if you do, ###### if you don't". If you DO know the show you're wanting more, if you DONT...well you may be a little lost. I don't need a show with a plot to be successful, but if you're going to name your show Judas, you should be sure the crowd understands what's going on. Visually, seems a little old school. The body movements seem awkward and out of place. Academy is my local corps and I'm so happy they are doing well... and I mean this as no insult, but if I'm the Madison organization I might be concerned that they only finished a point ahead. Edited July 6, 2016 by GREENBLUE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swmstom Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Scores in from Arizona. Just not quite understanding what the issue is. Guess I'm blinded by my green-tinted glasses. The corps has improved just four points since the first show? Really? Now just one point ahead of Academy. I'm not giving up, though. Still have high hopes for this show even if the judges don't agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMadMan Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Just got home from the show, didn't stay for scores. BUT, I will say I'm not surprised with how close Academy is scoring to Madison. First off I will say that I'm a huge fan of Jesus Christ superstar and have seen the musical multiple times. Also a huge fan of Madison '99, my favorite show that year. My observations: A) the design staff assumed too much. By this I mean, the show design seems to cater to people who know the musical. An audience who knows the lyrics. The show seems to rely on lyrics that aren't there to further the plot. If I didn't know the show I would be completely lost on where judas fit in, until the betrayal. A lot of the emotion comes from understanding the music, understanding the lyrics. B) Because I do know the show so well, it seems a lot of the music is fragmented and doesn't finish it's thought/phrase. There was no resolution to many of the ideas. And as someone who does know the music I found myself finishing the phrase in my head. It's like the old saying " ###### if you do, ###### if you don't". If you DO know the show you're wanting more, if you DONT...well you may be a little lost. I don't need a show with a plot to be successful, but if you're going to name your show Judas, you should be sure the crowd understands what's going on. Visually, seems a little old school. The body movements seem awkward and out of place. Academy is my local corps and I'm so happy they are doing well... and I mean this as no insult, but if I'm the Madison organization I might be concerned that they only finished a point ahead. I don't necessarily agree on point B. I don't disagree entirely, but I don't necessarily agree on point B. Point A I can see having some validity. The '99 show was pretty straightforward. There wasn't a story to tell, so what you saw was what you got. If the point is to tell a specific story, you can never assume that the audience knows as much as you do. '97 Scouts was a classic example of telling a story that didn't need much interpretation. There are some things they are doing well with this show and, perhaps, some that are quite lacking. I recognize enough from '99 that probably makes me oblivious to the things that aren't being conveyed. I stated in my original review that this seemed like a rearrangement of '99 more than something that borrowed from different material from the same musical (which is something Tesmusic and others often said would be the case). I'm not badmouthing it because, personally, I love the source material chosen, however, I do absolutely recognize how some of it seems forced together...rather than having the natural flow that '99 had. The real challenge is that from '95-'99, the Scouts had a run of epic shows that have yet to be matched. In fact, those 5 shows are easily the best consecutive run of shows in the Scouts history. It would be awesome to be able to recreate that, but it's much easier said than done. I DO, however, give the Scouts a ton of credit for bringing melody and recognizable music to the field this season. Something I find (and have found) distinctly lacking the past several years in the activity at large. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMadMan Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Also, I'm not sure a show with 3 div1 corps (with Scouts on top) is the best indicator. Spreads from this show to the last was roughly 2 points closer tonight than the last show, where Scouts were almost 3 and a half points better than Academy and nearly 2 points better than BK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMadMan Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) Triple post Edited July 6, 2016 by BigBadMadMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMadMan Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) Quadruple post. Thanks, Obama. Edited July 6, 2016 by BigBadMadMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMadMan Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) Double post Edited July 6, 2016 by BigBadMadMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Just got home from the show, didn't stay for scores. BUT, I will say I'm not surprised with how close Academy is scoring to Madison. First off I will say that I'm a huge fan of Jesus Christ superstar and have seen the musical multiple times. Also a huge fan of Madison '99, my favorite show that year. My observations: A) the design staff assumed too much. By this I mean, the show design seems to cater to people who know the musical. An audience who knows the lyrics. The show seems to rely on lyrics that aren't there to further the plot. If I didn't know the show I would be completely lost on where judas fit in, until the betrayal. A lot of the emotion comes from understanding the music, understanding the lyrics. Sounds like they need some narration, or a vocalist to sing some of the music in order to tie together the theme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcityscout Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Let's see what happens in San Antonio please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tupac Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) I wonder if the current members are interested in the scores or if they are playing Frisbee with the judges comments as they did in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's? I think many of the staff members are from that era. It seems like if you mentioned scores to alums from that era they still don't care, however, the older alums 70's & earlier, seem to be a bit more frustrated. My stance is that if the current members are enjoying performing the show and the crowd is enjoying the product, I'll take that over the scores any day. Edited July 6, 2016 by Tupac 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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