Also I assumed it was partly because they hoped a few more members of the mainstream audience would think "Wow, I kinda know who Nathan Lane is and that he's a theatre person, so it must be a big deal--who are the Nederlanders?" That said, it didn't seem so out there to me--perfoprmers, especially fairly wealthy ones who might invest as well, often attend workshops, don't they?
Oh, I didn't think about the possibility that the second song is replacing the first. I hope not, the first one was better.
I thought the workshop had to present a somewhat coherent musical though, right? If investors are showing up? I'm not an insider by any means so I don't actually know about this stuff.
The songs could serve different plot points I suppose--but not very, and considering the show also seems (from the btis we've seen) to deal with her going to Hollywood and her relationship with Arthur Miller, it just seems odd to have two Marilyn/Joe duets that say basically the same thing (we love each other and for the moment are super happy).
Most workshops are fairly coherent (unlike earlier readings, etc) though of course they don't have to be finished (Sunday in the Park With george, to give one example, barely had a second act when it first workshopped). But it does seem weird to plan a workshop for a week if aparently poor Debbie's character is too busy stressing to have written huge amounts of scenes, at least that was the gist I got. But I admit some of that is simply nitpicking about details I wouldn't expect to see on a TV show anyway.
Wasn't the Marilyn/Joe song this week spose to be a revelation for Deb after a satisfying nite with Willy on the prop couch? It was called HISTORY, right?
Yes, that was the brilliant subtext I believe :P It's a good thing that she finds such personal illumination in her own rather cliche lyrics... (I partly joke of course, the production numbers are one of the highlights--as camp as they can be--for me).
And the sub brilliant subtext continued when the prop couch was part of the number and then Marilyn slipped or got stuck on something sticky on said couch.
At some point will we see Deb in Marilyn drag also?
Yet another inconsistency in this episode was that the director was acting like the "History Is Made At Night" song was sitting on the shelf unfinished, and yet they already showed the actors learning the song in a version not at all unlike what we saw this week in the very first rehearsal a couple weeks ago. It was the number where Ivy was complaining that Karen was drowning her out and she couldn't hear herself, and it was finished enough then for them to be learning the specific vocal arrangement already. Why would they be doing that if it wasn't done? Also, when did it have time to be staged if Julia had just finished it the night before after sealing the deal with Michael?
It's television, I know, but they should at least stick to the logic of the world of their own narrative.
Right, FindingNamo, but my point is that the two versions aren't at all different. The music is obviously the same, and the big chunk of the lyrics that were heard in that initial episode are exactly the same in this one. It wasn't as if it was a number that was in any way re-worked, save for the parts that they didn't play before.
It was just odd, sloppy storytelling. If they wanted to make a big deal out of Julia neglecting her work, the piece they should have used to show it this week should have been entirely new (or they should have used a dummy song for the scene in the first rehearsal if they wanted to save this one to mirror what was going on in her and Michael's relationship.) As far as the merit of the song goes, I found it to be the catchiest of all the ones we've heard so far, but someone earlier hit the nail on the head when they pointed out that it covers no narrative ground that isn't already conveyed by the other duet they already have for Marilyn and Joe.
I get that this is supposed to be a workshop, but for a stage musical that's going to have to cover a pretty wide range of events over the course of Marilyn's life, pretty much all of the songs so far have been incredibly broad in scope. How many numbers do we have to have where Marilyn simply conveys how sexy she is without actually telling us anything? The completely pointless "I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl" is a perfect example of that. What function does it serve at all?
And, as others have also said, it's really odd that they seem to make at least one reference a week to how "perfect" Will Chase's character is for Joe DiMaggio when he literally couldn't look any less like him. It's not even like they're physically similar- DiMaggio was notoriously lean and gangly, and while Chase is only a few inches shorter than he was, he's totally toned and beefy. If anything, Christian Borle is the one who looks remarkably similar to DiMaggio.
Not sure if this was already discussed (I'm pretty sure I've read the entire thread) but does anyone else get annoyed by the fact her husband's name is Frank and the son's Leo? Every time they say them together, I start singing "Parade" in my head and totally lose focus :)
"Also I assumed it was partly because they hoped a few more members of the mainstream audience would think "Wow, I kinda know who Nathan Lane is and that he's a theatre person, so it must be a big deal--who are the Nederlanders?"
The Lane thing confused me, but I liked the Nederlander reference, and even more the David Stone and Jeffrey Finn references.
Is it also normal for the main character to have so many songs to herself? I mean, every song we've seen so far has Marilyn involved. Even Evita has some songs without her.
They have an actress like Anjelica Huston, and this is the best they can give her for a character? If she is a bright, ambitious woman, why does she keep acting like she knows nothing about New York or business or the theater? So far, the only character I really like is Christian Borle's.
And while I may not keep watching, I want the show to run forever because Rachel Shukert writes some of the funniest stuff since Woody Allen was in his comedic prime.
"They have an actress like Anjelica Huston, and this is the best they can give her for a character? If she is a bright, ambitious woman, why does she keep acting like she knows nothing about New York or business or the theater?"
True, but I guess she read the script, saw what she was getting into, and signed on.
Not to defend the show's sloppy writing, but I kind of thought the point of Anjelica Huston's character was that her husband was the big producer and did most of the work, so she's kind of in over her head without him.
It annoys ME because it makes me think of Parade every time :) I actually think it is very clever. I was trying to see if anyone else had picked up on it.
I finally saw the new episode and I rather liked it. I'm starting to feel for Ivy again. She just wants to do well and she made the mistake of sleeping with Derek. I hope she doesn't come back to him. She just needs to focus on taking care of herself.
Oh and I loved the History number. I really want this show's soundtrack when it comes out!
Julia needs to stop herself and now. She's gotten in way too deep and I don't see anything but peril coming for her life. She just needs to fess up to her husband and try to move on. And she's right it was a mistake hiring him.
Oh and Ellis...ugh...that is all.
I'm looking forward to the rest of this season. The songs are the true highlight.
Surprised that there were no new posts for this week's episode. Bernadette had a lot more screen time than I thought; I was thinking maybe five minutes in total but she was on for a good portion of the show. I really loved this episode, but in fairness, that may have been partly because Bernadette was on. I need to take care of some things but can't wait to come back and read and respond to everyone's comments.
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joined:10/31/11
Posted: 3/13/12 at 07:39pm