MADISON SCOUTS 2016

[HockeyDad]

It's hard to know where to begin.

Your publicly announcing that you don't care about theme, story, and artistic meaning is like saying you go to a museum to look at the hot guys.

Frankly, I "read up" on the shows mostly because I want to see how the publicity people and show coordinators hide their unpreparedness, early season. Show announcements and descriptions are a new form of comedy-- they're like traffic court defense depositions and fifth grade book reports. Most of the time, corps end up with a show that is not the show they announced, the titles are intentionally chosen for their vagueness (Voice of Promise), and show descriptions reveal there's no more thematic understructure than a cloud formation.

Story and theme isn't the problem. Awkwardly adapted stories and tepid themes are the problem, as Madison and Phantom demonstrate this year. But the well staged stories and themes have vaulted this activity into the realm of a legitimate performance art versus an embarrassing commercial for the military industrial complex, which it was in the 60's and 70's.

You're pretty impressed by yourself, aren't you? I never thought of Channnel One Suite as militaristic. That's a new one. I guess everyone gets to make up their own reality. Yours is pretty funny in its pretentiousness.

[swmstom]

Back from ATL and got my first live read. I love this show and see the potential, but also realize there was so much wrong from the outset that it can't all be fixed in such a short time.

I never really paid attention to staging until this year with all the talk about Scouts bad staging..and after watching other corps I see it's a big problem. IE..a woman next to me exclaimed out loud at the hanging scene...but I never saw it. I was looking at something else on the field.

I like the new ending drill, but I had more of a problem with the music and it's basically the same with the exception of some tweaks.

I thought many of the transition issues were fixed, but the Lady Gaga stuff still seems so weird and out of place..which leads to odd transitions.

As a drumline guy, I see things have cleaned up, but there are still individual mistakes at times. But my biggest thing is writing and style just lacks so much from other groups.

BUT...overall I still think it's a good show as far as just music and drill. The story line gets in the way of what could be a straight-up drum corps show..but I guess the DCI today for ya.

[Channel3]

Again, we are talking about drum corps here, not theater. I doubt very much most of the paying audience doesn't even know there's a main character in Madison's show, they probably have zero clue what Blue Knights' show is about, they probably have no clue what BD is trying to say. This isn't some high level for profit activity.

Then the scores don't matter to you.

[henry7184]

Then the scores don't matter to you.

Of course, scores matter to me. However, again, drum corps and a theater production are very different animals, and DCI, as a whole, has gone way too far with themes and storylines. I think it would have been better if the Scouts just played JCS as a straight up show without a storyline.

[corpsband]

Of course, scores matter to me. However, again, drum corps and a theater production are very different animals, and DCI, as a whole, has gone way too far with themes and storylines. I think it would have been better if the Scouts just played JCS as a straight up show without a storyline.

There are a lot of concepts that transfer well. But there are a lot of significant differences (the biggest being that your audience is really only 9 people and they're going to buy tickets to every show :-) ) . So many things that would never work on Broadway (because the show wouldn't put enough butts in the seats) can and do work on the field. Those differences are apparently lost on some posters.

[Channel3]

This is a critical discussion about Madison's story selection errors, adaptation errors, selection of material that is way way too on the nose, and how it impacts audience reaction and scores in a disastrous way.

Drum corps is not a broadway musical.

Then why did the team try to fit the entire musical theater story into an eleven minute production? Why did they stick so closely to the story points? Why didn't they add new music that supported the new grim focus? What are the judges telling them about the adaptation errors now that you're in 12th place? Be honest. Did they storyboard this? I get the feeling the music was done first.

You have a very difficult time separating your opinion from fact.

It's a fact that no angels will back a dramatic bible production with music. Plain and simple. It's a fact that adapting a two act comedy into a twelve minute drama around the antagonist, twisting the original music around to fit the villain has never been done before, and for good reason. It's a fact that musical playrwrights and filmmakers use storyboards to solidify the story and point of view. By the way did you even think twice about casting a black Judas? Did you even think about it? Was continuing the black Judas myth even on your radar? Did you research it? If you were adapting the musical, why not go further and fully adapt it?

You have never heard of an anti hero.

Anti-heroes don't commit suicide. They win. Judas is not The Dark Knight. There's no way a design team can humanize the world's most loathed historical figure in eleven minutes in this pageant-style marching medium. That's just impossible using music from JCSS, as the twelfth place ranking shows. Be honest. Who did the design team consult when they created this idea? At what point did they think the audience was going to stand up and cheer for Judas, when he committed suicide after the team spent seven minutes adding depth to his character? Or during the crucifixion? I usually applaud during whippings.

You've never seen the Ten Commandments.

A dramatic Ten Commandments with music and lyrics next year? At this rate, go for it. LOLz. Try to pitch that. My God no. But a comic send-up of it would be hilarious. See the difference? JCSS has comedic elements at its soul. It's the soul of the piece. The point is no one mounts a dramatic bible production with music to paying audiences. Look at all the examples of religious musicals with comedic elements which you ignored: The Book of Mormon, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell. You took JCSS, took out a scalpel and ripped the comedy and likability right bloody out of it. When was the audience supposed to cheer? When Judas sneers at Jesus on the cross? Honey. No one's going to cheer during Timothy McVeigh, the eleven minute musical.

You think source music dictates storyline.

Describe how the toe-tapping last number works, thematically. The design team clung to the source music, even though it didn't pertain to the new literal adaptation around Judas. They rigidly clung to the storyline because the music commanded it. What a profound learning experience for the entire design team.

The performers are magnificent and seem to rise above it all. What incredible showmen.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Channel3

[GREENBLUE]

The story of Judas was a great idea. I was excited when I first heard. Using a rehash of music/timeline from JCSS the musical and JCSS 1999 was not.

Phantom did a great job with interpreting a central character when they did Juliet.

Maybe if Madison had used different music to tell the story. It just seems a little, for lack of a better word...uncreative. Also ending the show with Judas hanging himself would've been more poignant. It's just a huge miss from the design staff. Sorry.

[corpsband]

The story of Judas was a great idea. I was excited when I first heard. Using a rehash of music/timeline from JCSS the musical and JCSS 1999 was not.

Phantom did a great job with interpreting a central character when they did Juliet.

Maybe if Madison had used different music to tell the story. It just seems a little, for lack of a better word...uncreative. Also ending the show with Judas hanging himself would've been more poignant. It's just a huge miss from the design staff. Sorry.

You can use music from JCSS for a Judas show . I'm not sure you can use just music from JCSS.

[corpsband]

This is a critical discussion about Madison's story selection errors, adaptation errors, selection of material that is way way too on the nose, and how it impacts audience reaction and scores in a disastrous way.

Then why did the team try to fit the entire musical theater story into an eleven minute production? Why did they stick so closely to the story points? Why didn't they add new music that supported the new grim focus? What are the judges telling them about the adaptation errors now that you're in 12th place? Be honest. Did they storyboard this? I get the feeling the music was done first.

It's a fact that no angels will back a dramatic bible production with music. Plain and simple. It's a fact that adapting a two act comedy into a twelve minute drama around the antagonist, twisting the original music around to fit the villain has never been done before, and for good reason. It's a fact that musical playrwrights and filmmakers use storyboards to solidify the story and point of view. By the way did you even think twice about casting a black Judas? Did you even think about it? Was continuing the black Judas myth even on your radar? Did you research it? If you were adapting the musical, why not go further and fully adapt it?

Anti-heroes don't commit suicide. They win. Judas is not The Dark Knight. There's no way a design team can humanize the world's most loathed historical figure in eleven minutes in this pageant-style marching medium. That's just impossible using music from JCSS, as the twelfth place ranking shows. Be honest. Who did the design team consult when they created this idea? At what point did they think the audience was going to stand up and cheer for Judas, when he committed suicide after the team spent seven minutes adding depth to his character? Or during the crucifixion? I usually applaud during whippings.

A dramatic Ten Commandments with music and lyrics next year? At this rate, go for it. LOLz. Try to pitch that. My God no. But a comic send-up of it would be hilarious. See the difference? JCSS has comedic elements at its soul. It's the soul of the piece. The point is no one mounts a dramatic bible production with music to paying audiences. Look at all the examples of religious musicals with comedic elements which you ignored: The Book of Mormon, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell. You took JCSS, took out a scalpel and ripped the comedy and likability right bloody out of it. When was the audience supposed to cheer? When Judas sneers at Jesus on the cross? Honey. No one's going to cheer during Timothy McVeigh, the eleven minute musical.

Describe how the toe-tapping last number works, thematically. The design team clung to the source music, even though it didn't pertain to the new literal adaptation around Judas. They rigidly clung to the storyline because the music commanded it. What a profound learning experience for the entire design team.

The performers are magnificent and seem to rise above it all. What incredible showmen.

This entire reply is a giant straw man argument. Drum corps shows are not broadway musicals. Who told you they were? Because apparently you can't see past this oh-so-obvious point. Like most other poster's who've tried to engage you, I'm out.

[Mad75]

The story of Judas was a great idea. I was excited when I first heard. Using a rehash of music/timeline from JCSS the musical and JCSS 1999 was not.

Phantom did a great job with interpreting a central character when they did Juliet.

Maybe if Madison had used different music to tell the story. It just seems a little, for lack of a better word...uncreative. Also ending the show with Judas hanging himself would've been more poignant. It's just a huge miss from the design staff. Sorry.

HUGE miss is an understatement, and for me to say so apparently makes me a pariah (can't put on the big boy pants and not toe the party line). There are so many similar moments (out takes) from the 99' show, that if you compare the two, this years rendition is truly a caricature. But, that's where the similarities end. That 99' show was a classic Madison success. It flowed from end to end, it made sense and went somewhere with a dynamic, exclamation point ending. The 99' show is referred to as one of Madison's finest programs. This years program comes across to me as very confusing and cut and paste. Most of the time I have no idea what I'm supposed to be focusing on. I can only hope that they figure things out next year. In the mean time, I certainly desire for them to tighten up the loose ends and do the best with what's been given the men. If I know one thing, the Men of Madison are working their tail ends off...I just wish they would have been given more to work with...their devotion deserves it!