ftwdrummer Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) I will simply, briefly, take this time to note that the song I recall him harping on the lack of the most (King Herod's Song), is, IMO (having watched the Jewison film adaptation that this particular Scouts show seems to be riffing on a couple months ago)...the worst song in the show. Musically, it's completely out of place with everything that comes before it and everything that goes after it. Tonally, it goes in a very different direction humor-wise than the rest of the show, as well, to its detriment. Most of the humor of the show comes from the lyrics (let us now pause to note that Lloyd Webber's only written one great show without Tim Rice, and Tim Rice has written far more great shows without Lloyd Webber). See: "Heaven on Their Minds"... Nazareth, your famous sonShould have stayed a great unknown Like his father carving wood He'd have made good. Tables, chairs, and oaken chests Would have suited Jesus best He'd have caused nobody harm No one alarm ...and "Superstar"... You'd have managed betterIf you'd had it planned Now why'd you choose such a backward time In such a strange land?If you'd come today You could have reached the whole nation Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication And those songs both appear in this show. "King Herod's Song," on the other hand, is Dixieland jazz played for slapstick. In the Jewison, it's completely inconsistent visually (the use of color, makeup, costuming, etc.), musically, tonally...it just doesn't fit. Which makes sense, given that the music underneath was a leftover from a failed show. I'd also argue that JCS adopts Judas's point of view, even though it has Jesus's name in the title. All in all, focusing the story from Judas's point of view isn't just a reasonable adaptive choice...it's the one Lloyd Webber and Rice had already adopted. Now, there are almost certainly other issues with the show as well--I haven't seen Madison live yet (Allentown next weekend), but I'll believe people who have when they say that it's poorly staged and doesn't do a good job of visually distinguishing Judas from the rest of the guard. And I'll also believe others who have issues with it because it isn't as good (to them) as '99 (which they've been listening to for 17 years now). I vaguely recall a similar debate (in the stands, at least) when SCV decided to do "Ballet for Martha" 22 years after Garfield '87. But, all in all, the initial premise is not as completely flawed as some people here tend to believe. And for those of us who weren't around for '99 (my first show wasn't until '05), getting to see Madison do a JCS adaptation seems like fun. I'll likely have more thoughts on this once I see it live. (Likely important caveat: I liked the Scouts '14 show better than the '15 show...so I may not be the best judge.) Edited July 31, 2016 by ftwdrummer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry7184 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 (Likely important caveat: I liked the Scouts '14 show better than the '15 show...so I may not be the best judge.) Wow. LOL. I was so glad Mason left after 2014. That show was a disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftwdrummer Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Wow. LOL. I was so glad Mason left after 2014. That show was a disaster. Eh...it was flawed, but I wouldn't say it was a disaster. Mostly, I just really like Don Ellis and it'd been a while since there was Don Ellis in drum corps. And I appreciated having a show end on a completely alone Madison screamer in one corner...one of the more gutsy design decisions I've seen. Overall, of the Mason years, that show's clearly fifth...but it's not far behind 2012. (The best of those shows being 2013, then probably 2011.) And I'm not that much of a fan of Gene Kelly in general (respect and appreciate the work he did, just not my favorite thing), so leaning hard on him was kinda a non-starter for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry7184 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Eh...it was flawed, but I wouldn't say it was a disaster. Mostly, I just really like Don Ellis and it'd been a while since there was Don Ellis in drum corps. And I appreciated having a show end on a completely alone Madison screamer in one corner...one of the more gutsy design decisions I've seen. Overall, of the Mason years, that show's clearly fifth...but it's not far behind 2012. (The best of those shows being 2013, then probably 2011.) And I'm not that much of a fan of Gene Kelly in general (respect and appreciate the work he did, just not my favorite thing), so leaning hard on him was kinda a non-starter for me. It was a disaster in terms of a total lack of demand that left them in the dust come finals night. I knew when I first saw it that show was going no where. So unfortunate, because with that book it could have really been something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftwdrummer Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 It was a disaster in terms of a total lack of demand that left them in the dust come finals night. I knew when I first saw it that show was going no where. So unfortunate, because with that book it could have really been something. Fair enough. And the results certainly don't disagree with you. I just liked hearing Don Ellis more than the random assortment of Gene Kelly things. Better uniforms in '15, though. By far. And part of it may be that I had Fan Network for '14 (and thus got way more reads on it) and didn't in '15 (and thus didn't). *shrug* 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcityscout Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 After watching the Scouts last night I will admit that the content and demand is there to be a top 8 corps at finals. I actually like this show. I will admit that there is still a lot of polishing that needs to be done between now and Indy. And I believe it will because I know the past few years they start pulling pretty much "all nighters" to polish going into finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Corps members. You're all amazing, and should be proud of how much happiness you've brought to so many people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnZ Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 personal attacks and offending posts removed. lively discussion encouraged. disrespectful, not so much. carry on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcityscout Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcikon2 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 DCP Administrator - Please continue to check other threads concerning disrespectful posts. I would hope that DCP is a place to post "positive" comments and uplift various corps and its members. It has been quite discouraging reading some of the attacks this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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