Musicals for the Easter Season

I admit that some holidays seem more predisposed to musical theatre. Independence Day has the woefully underrated 1776, several holidays (Christmas and New Year's most notably) are encompassed in Rent, and Christmas, for better or worse, has the stage adaptations of White Christmas, Meet Me in St. Louis, and approximately 500 versions of A Christmas Carol. However, some holidays don't seem suited for musicals. Imagine, for example, a musical about Arbor Day or Columbus Day, and you will see what I mean.

With this in mind, I've been trying to think of musicals that work with the Easter season. Besides the allegedly wretched musical version of The Ten Commandments (to give you an idea of how bad it was it starred Val Kilmer and never got remotely close to Broadway), there are some musicals that seem to fit this season of springtime, renewal, Christianity, and bunnies. Here are a few for you to consider:

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Before I begin on my discussion of this, let me point out that I said nothing about the quality of these musicals. While Joseph is not a terrible musical (I would watch it before Cats), the very fact that a revival once starred Donny Osmond sort of undermines its overall quality. However, for a musicalized version of the Old Testament, you could do a lot worse. The music is very hummable (to the point of being an ear wig) and the song that names every color possible is hysterical just because you can imagine Tim Rice frantically going through the dictionary trying to find any many colors as possible.

Godspell - This is not for everyone's tastes, and while I enjoy it to an extent, it is not my favorite musical ever. However, that said, if you want a musical about the New Testament and you find the very idea of watching Jesus Christ Superstar sacrilegious at this time of year, Godspell fits the bill. In short, it is a series of vignettes about the parables Jesus tells in the New Testament. He has followers (usually in clown makeup) and the story culminates in Jesus's death (sorry to ruin the ending). Interspersed with the often jokey and nonexistent storyline are a number of songs by Stephen Schwartz, who is also responsible for Wicked (you can make your judgment about this). A perennial favorite for high schools and community theatre, there is also a trippy and sometimes unwatchable film version of this movie starring a very young Victor Garber (and his enormous afro) as Jesus.

While I sound very critical of Godspell, it has some excellent moments. I happen to love Victor Garber, and he makes a convincing, if somewhat disturbing, Jesus in the film. One of my favorite songs in the play (and in the movie) is the vaudevillian "All for the Best," performed by Jesus and Judas. The film version of this song is particularly notable for the song's final moments, which take place on the then-uncompleted World Trade Center.

Jesus Christ Superstar - If you and your family are not of the purely religious persuasion or if you want to anger your super-Christian relatives during Easter, your best bet is this angry rock opera. This show managed to piss off a lot of people when it first premiered in the early 1970s. Besides neglecting to mention the resurrection to the argument that Judas was too sympathetic to the portrayal of Jesus as a person rather than as the Son of God, this musical had something for almost everyone to dislike.

Besides all of the controversy, the musical also features some of the best work of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and "Superstar" are two of the best songs either man has ever written. The anger, irony, and sarcasm in "Superstar" is almost palpable.

"The Times They Are A-Changin'"

Although I've long considered (most) song lyrics poetry, I sometimes have to wonder if a song's words would carry the same power if they did not have the music behind it. On the other hand, this paradigm works both ways - most melodies definitely would not evoke the same emotions if the words didn't contribute to the overall feeling. With this in mind, I've been thinking about Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'," a song that irrevocably is enmeshed with the political unrest of the 1960s but remains relevent in these uncertain times.

As in many folk songs and ballads, the song opens with a call for people to unite. However, the song does not want to tell a story about the past. Instead, it is a call to action that aims to make people aware that society is changing at a rapid pace and that these changes are irrevocable and cannot be ignored. Consequently, in order to survive, Dylan advises that we stop doing nothing and start adapting to the changes surrounding us ("If your time to you/ Is worth savin'/ Then you better start swimmin'/ Or you'll sink like a stone").

While the words are very moving on their own, there is something about the combination of the impassioned lyrics with the strong melody that makes listening to this song a moving experience. Musically, the melody does not hold any surprises - it remains steady without any surprising dips or key changes. Together, the lyrics and melody simultaneous create a feeling of urgency ("Come mothers and fathers/ Throughout the land/ And don't criticize/ What you can't understand") while maintaining a sense of inevitability ("Please get out of the new one/ If you can't lend your hand"). It is this dichotomy and balance that, to me, makes the song so successful. The real passion (and potential anger) that comes with the song is tempered by the utter certainty in the lyrics and music.

What I find fascinating about this song is the number of covers people have done of it. In addition to the Bob Dylan original, it seems like almost every artist in the past 25 or so years has covered it, which speaks to the song's continued relevance (its this or recording this song is a rite of passage for musicians). For instance, this song has been covered by Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, Phil Collins, and Peter, Paul & Mary. If you are still scratching your head over Phil Collins and The Beach Boys doing this song, try to wrap your mind around the fact that Burl Ives, who is best-known for his role as Sam the Snowman in the stop-motion special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, did a version of this song.

Despite the potential humor that listening to some of these covers might invite (just imagine Sam the Snowman whipping out his banjo and singing this song to Rudolph and Santa), for my money, if you want to go with a cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin,'" your best bet is Tracy Chapman's version:

The Trauma of Change

I'm not a fan of change. For the most part, I (like many other people) like things to stay exactly as they are, and even small changes kind of freak me out. Today, I've spent the better part of the afternoon/ evening working on getting my new computer set up. Even though it is the same brand as my old laptop, the big (Vista is confusing!) and small (why is my delete button in a completely different place?) differences are throwing me for a loop.

"Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" by John Lennon

I've been reading The World in Six Songs, and there is a very thoughtful section devoted to the poetry of song lyrics. With this in mind, one of the best lyricist-poets is John Lennon. While I love many Beatles songs ("Eight Days a Week," "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Hey Jude" - the list is very long), "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" is one of my favorite Lennon compositions.



Even without the the "aww" factor that he wrote the song for one of his sons (or the "uh" factor when you realize that Lennon didn't spend a great deal of time with his first son, Julian), the lyrics are still powerful and moving. There is a sweetness and optimism in the song that wasn't always present in Lennon's work (see "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" for a true example of a real downer from the Lennon songbook). Besides my favorite part ("Before you cross the street/ Please take my hand/ Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"), the assertion that "Every day in every way/ It's getting better and better," which many take as a homage to Paul McCartney's lyrics in the Beatles' song "Getting Better," illustrates Lennon's sense of hope.*

While the song has been covered by many singers (Freshly Ground, Ben Harper, and *shudder* Celine Dion), Lennon's version is the gold standard. However, if you want to see something completely manipulative and sentimental yet still oddly touching, check out Richard Dreyfuss's take on the song from Mr. Holland's Opus. Vocally, Mr, Holland would be cut down by Simon Cowell, but there is something that works about the performance.

*For the record, McCartney's chorus for "Getting Better" is "I have to admit it's getting better/ A little better all the time." Lennon, who was always the more cynical of the two, added "It can't get no worse."

"Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins

For the first day of National Poetry Month 2009, there is no better way to start than with Billy Collins, poet extraordinaire and former Poet Laureate of the United States. While he has written many great poems, his "Introduction to Poetry" is one of my favorites.

This poem brings to the forefront the problem that many an English teacher faces: how does one teach about poetry without beating the life out from it? The speaker wants his or her audience to interact with poetry in a meaningful way, which is what many English teachers want from their students. However, sometimes teachers' best intentions get in the way of their ultimate goal. For a long time, students have been asked to figure out exactly what a poem means and what devices the author employs to convey this meaning. Between looking at the use of assonance, slant rhyme, and metaphor and trying to decide how a poet's mother issues influenced his or her writing, we often forget that poetry is something to be savored, not something that should be beaten with a hose.

During one of his terms as Poet Laureate, Collins started Poetry 180 to encourage teachers to share poetry with their high school students for the sheer enjoyment of sharing poetry. Without the pressure of literary terms or standardized test questions, Collins hoped to make poetry enjoyable for a new generation of students.

With this in mind, here's to National Poetry Month 2009. Let us aim for enjoying the poetry along the way.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my blog's first birthday! In the past year, the country has elected a new president, and I've crawled a little closer to my dissertation. Thank you for reading, and I will do my best to continue to bring you my (ahem) unique view on books, pop culture, and the world around us.

Going over my stats and the number of visits I have had to the blog, it might be interesting to note that the most popular pages on this blog (according to StatCounter.com) are:

• My first entry on "The World is a Beautiful Place"
• "Twilight Haters of the World Unite!"
• My second entry (done on 9/11/2008) on "The World is a Beautiful Place"

Thanks for a great year, and please stay tuned for more!

Reach for the Sun

It's been a rough couple of days. Between dealing with angry/ anxious/ disaffected students and pressing forward with my work, I've been feeling a little worn down. While drinking a bottle of wine, indulging in some retail therapy, or eating a tub of Ben & Jerry's are certainly options for handling these issues, I'm trying to be a little more proactive about this. Consequently, even as I attempt to try and type of midterm assessments, I am listening/ watching this clip from the Scrubs episode "My Choosiest Choice of All."



Not only does the music provide instant uplift (who can be angry when listening to this song?), I have found that JD's assertion "In the end, it's about integrity" is very true. While it may be tempting to opt for the easy route, it is also important to remember that, when it comes down to it, sometimes all you have left is your integrity and your understanding of self.

Additionally, dealing with problems in this fashion does not leave you with any unpleasant aftereffects like hangovers, buyer's remorse, or stomachaches. So watch and repeat as necessary (I've probably watched the clip 20 times in the past two hours).