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SCV's "Phantom of the Opera"


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Maedhros: I've really gotta stop typing what I think. I'm 0 for umteen in the past few hours alone.

No, by all means, type what you think. It's nothing personal, and I actually totally agree with you that getting feedback is the only way to learn. I think back to some of the sillly things I said (like that Madison was going to rebound in 2002, because my Scout roommate said so :worthy:) and I know that I had to learn, too. Perhaps the biggest thing I've learned since then is to admit how much I don't know. But at the end of the day, this is a discussion forum. Say what you will, and look forward to reading what people say back to you, whether they agree with you or not. Always feel free to say what you think, just lay off telling others what it is that they think. :)

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Corpsreps tells me this many:

Junior Corps:

SCV 1988

Masquerade 1989

SCV 1989

Bracken Cavaliers 1999

Long Island Sounds 1999

Spectrum 2000

Les Stentors 2002

Senior/Alumni Corps:

Rochester Crusaders 1989

Empire Statesmen 2000

International Corps:

Blue Eagles 1995

Senators 1999

Evolutionkorps 2001

Black Knight Cadets 2002

Distant Thunder 2004

Personally, that doesn't strike me as overrated and overplayed. I really enjoy SCV 89, personally... hold up my horn to that show. I think it'd be pretty awesome if it was done by a top-tier group again. As long as it was made competitively, well performed, I'd enjoy seeing it. Only if it could top the magic of the 88/89 shows.

Along with @ 5,763,274 high school band shows.

If anything Phantom of the Opera is the most cliched show ever. Even more than West Side Story.

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On an interesting note, the Cadets' 1994 take on West Side Story was successful because it was so different from the '84 version. Only one of the charts was in common between the two shows, and even that was pretty short and definitely not the same arrangement. The "company front" was hilarious, when I first saw I was thinking, "Oh great, this is going to be the third time in ten years that they've done this exact same thing," but I was pleasantly surprised. Phantom of the Opera, on the other hand, can't be completely "redone" in this way, because a show without any of the charts from the 1988 and 1989 versions would definitely not work.

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Remakes are usually doomed from the start.

You never know.

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So overrated that it was selected as the greatest DCI show ever!

I would also ask how many times has it been performed at the level

SCV could do it?

I vote yes

It was great for the time but if you would ask me to choice between 1994/97 Blue Devils, or 1999 SCV, or 1990 Star of Indiana, I'd tell you that that show was overrated. Many shows deserved to get a 98.80. It was good, but not the greatest show ever!? Come on, I'll take Velvet Knights 1990 rather than seeing that again. In fact, Spirit did part of the Phantom this year!

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Along with @ 5,763,274 high school band shows.

If anything Phantom of the Opera is the most cliched show ever. Even more than West Side Story.

Thats exactly my point.

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Playing devil's advocate here:

Does that mean that anything that is popular to play for field tunes should be eliminated? By saying no to "Phantom of the Opera" for 'over playing', you might as well add ANYTHING done by any corps due to the fact that it's copied multiple times by high school band programs. Case in point: how many bands in your area played Canon after PR's 2003 show?

Don't simply drop the possibility to see a new twist on an old fave.....I think it would be cool to see SCV revisit this tune.

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Maedhros: I've really gotta stop typing what I think. I'm 0 for umteen in the past few hours alone.

Don't feel that way. If anything, it's worth rethinking HOW you say it, but don't feel the need to censor yourself while in the process of learning. I just didn't expect the sarcasm in the other thread (because it was surrounded by logical, serious observations, and I guess there was room for misunderstanding in this thread as well. Honestly, don't feel bad about it. Regardless of what happens, always remember...people on this board have said, do say, and will say worse. :)

I suppose Spartacus, the 94 WSS, the Magical Mystery Tours(even though it was only the theme that was reused) could be added to that, even though neither of them actually moved up a place. Spartacus scored higher(or in the same range as it did before), and West Side Story was still one of the highest ranked shows. The last two MMTours seem to be the more popular ones, even though they placed lower.

Even though I'm starting to regret saying "All remakes are doomed from the start", I still don't think Phantom of the Opera is worth a remake at this time(unless SCV's status grows a little more by 07 i guess)

Maedhros: I've really gotta stop typing what I think. I'm 0 for umteen in the past few hours alone.

I do agree with your general point in this thread. The example of Madison '92 is a great one to look into, though. I liked 1991 a lot when I heard it and saw it for the first time, and enjoyed it. I did feel as if there were some pacing problems as far as show design went. When I got my '92 dvd (unaware they re-did the show), I was AMAZED. Same show, but basically EVERYTHING (except that one drill move that the camera showed from the side, where the hornline converges into a company front, that a contra and a few other members barely missed both years....probably mistakes that are worth mentioning in the other thread) was improved. The drum feature at the end was honestly one of the best I've ever seen, especially as far as charisma, flashyness, and entertainment go. It seemed clean to me, but even if it wasn't, they sold the #### out of it. Standing ovation when it was done. Basically what they improved on, was that they put the strongest song from the year before last in the show, and most definitely maximized the effect and ensuing response. In that situation, going back and redoing the show after a year made a substanial and positive difference. Surely having an 18 year gap between the shows would prove to be a difference circumstance, especially considering that SCV went into that year in the top three and in '07 will go into it.....who knows, but they were in 9th throughout most of 2005. I don't think I would be in favor simply because SCV playing shows of a different style is what appeals to me, but I'm sure with a modern design team, it would still wind up being extremely effective. In closing....I'd be reluctant, and would prefer the 98-03 approach, but I'm sure most of DCP can recognize that they would be able to pull it off if they wanted to.

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Playing devil's advocate here:

Does that mean that anything that is popular to play for field tunes should be eliminated? By saying no to "Phantom of the Opera" for 'over playing', you might as well add ANYTHING done by any corps due to the fact that it's copied multiple times by high school band programs. Case in point: how many bands in your area played Canon after PR's 2003 show?

Don't simply drop the possibility to see a new twist on an old fave.....I think it would be cool to see SCV revisit this tune.

That's kind of how I feel ... a new staff, designing a show that'd be contemporary for '07 ... I'm sure it'd be very good and very different. It wouldn't have to be a "throwback" show, it could be an entirely new take on PotO. Just don't even think about the old shows when you're arranging the music and writing the drill for the new one, right?

And here's one thing I always think about when people speak out against a corps revisiting an old classic ... yes, we have the old shows on video/DVD, but we haven't seen it live, performed by a top-caliber DCI corps for literally a generation. The *oldest* members in SCV '07 will have been, what?, three or four years old last time SCV played that music? Just as you can bring a Broadway show back after 20 (or however many years) with an entirely new take on the material (like the revivals of Chicago and Cabaret), why not a classic drum corps show? Phantom of the Opera *could* work today in the top twelve. So could Appalachian Spring or Firebird or just about any DCI show that was a big hit in the 80s. You just have to do it right.

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