METROPOLIS by Joe Brooks

[Dollypop]

Is this the show that was set in a subway? If so, I saw it in Poland a few years ago. That production was a rousing mess.

[Dollypop]

Is this the show that was set in a subway? If so, I saw it in Poland a few years ago. That production was a rousing mess.

[leefowler]

No, I think the Polish show was called Metro.

[doodlenyc]

Loved Metro...saw it twice here in NY. It was a glorious mess.

[Mister Matt]

As problematic as it is, I do enjoy listening to Metropolis. I saw a video of the production and I can see how it was rather tedious to watch. But if there were a revised professional production, I'd probably go. I love most of the score.

[devonian.t]

Apart from Lildogs, there are several other old faces who don't seem to be around any more.

[JRybka]

I loved this show growing up. I thought it was so amazing!
I would love to see it brought back
Take out the synth part and throw it out there a la Jim Steinman and you could have a really great show. I really think in the right hands you could get it right.
The cast at the time in London was a whos who of the british theater. And Judy sounds amazing!

[doodlenyc]

I rather liked the video, even if it was Judy's understudy. I'm not saying it was perfect, but to dismiss it for the orchestrations is silly. You could update the score effectively I think.

My favorite part is when Judy sings as Futura, little children.

I bet it could be done. I'd go for sure!

[tazber]

I really do love this score. Kuhn is amazing.

I recently listened to it again and the sound quality of the recording is just awful. But I always find TER recordings lacking in that department.

[romgitsean]

I'm just starting to get into this too. Odd timing, considering Brooks' recent departure...

Does anyone know if the film Metropolis is in PD?

[ajh]

Metropolis as a score does sound rather dated now but I think that has alot to do with the synth-heavy orchestrations. The Cast Album suffers, as the live show did, from a surfeit of dialogue which sounds stilted and risible. On the up side, it is a good story and the music is powerfully melodic. Saw the show a couple of times and Ralph Koltai's set was astounding (the moment during the 101.11 number at the beginning when the metal wall split open and you saw that machine with the rising lifts and pistons lit by the roving spots for the first time remains one of my all time most thrilling musical theater moments), and the whole show was very much in that 80s Les Mis/Saigon/Phantom po-faced musical vein. Judy Kuhn was terrific in it, vocally and dramatically (the contrast between Maria the human and the robotic Futura was genuinely eerie) and the show suffered considerably when she was replaced. That said I still think there's some great work in there but a revival would only work with some new orchestrations, some judicious rewriting of the book, and a designer and leading lady equal to Koltai and Kuhn.

[metropolis93fan]

This musical has the possibility of being SO amazing. A comeback would be the best thing to happen to theater, in my opinion. Unfortunately with the whole disarray with Brooks' suicide and all problems related it isn't likely to happen. But I've BEEN IN the show when it was amazing. The American premier of it. 1993. I was merely seven but I've invested a lot of time and effort into studying the show. I've seen clips of the '89 version and yeah... it's no wonder it was a flop. But it has so much promise. (Partially if you DO get the synthesizer out of there, which my director DID to some degree). I listen to it in my car on all my long distance trips... and have it almost completely choreographed how I would do it if ever given the chance. Too bad that's likely not to happen. Just don't be so closed minded to something like this. It is redeemable and beautiful in so many ways, message and music alike.

[romgitsean]

Who owns the rights to this since Joe Brooks is dead? I'm guessing his estate, right? I would really love to look into a concert of this... could someone please point me in the right direction? I'm assuming the next best person to contact would be Dusty Hughs, the bookwriter and lyricist.

[metropolis10111]

The film itself is in the PD but you need to be careful what print you are talking about. The restoration of the film done by Kino both in 2001 and 2010 are both under copyright as well as the new recording of the 1927 score. The 1984 'restoration' is also under copyright. Otherwise there are DVDs out there of rather poor copies of the film that you can do what ever you want with really.

As for the musical I am a HUGE fan of the movie and did my best to like the show. Its a nice but somewhat of a yawn album. I hated Brian B as the father and that they changed all the names. If they were going to do a show they should have gone back to the book that came out along side the film.

[rosscoe(au)]

When the show first opened in London, Time mag did a five page spread of the show. the photos where simply stunning.

[metropolis93fan]

I too would love to know where the rights lie to the musical. I know for a fact that with the right director the show can be a fantastic hit... Have seen it done twice: Eddie Urish in East Peoria, IL in '93 and Randy Bowser in Salem, OR in'02. I would love to see it done again... would love to even have a hand in it (directing-wise... been in the '93 production) Have researched the play, movie and novel, written research papers, and have listened to the soundtrack more times than I can count... have some cool ideas that I would love to share with a director some day. But that's a pipe dream. Before Joe's death it would have been very unlikely to ever happen and I've been told that the chances of the rights becoming available in the first place are slim to none.

[metropolis10111]

I'd see your production of it. I think there is some real good potential there with some rewriting of the book and some of the score it could work

[metropolis93fan]

I agree it could use some help from the book... especially the love triangle between Rotwang/Warner and Freeman/Frederson. Joe had worked out a little of that in the addition he made to Metropolis. He cleaned it up, added some musical numbers and tried to explain things, but did it totally wrong from the original story. I would love to work on that even though that probably wouldn't be allowed, heh.

[romgitsean]

The material undoubtly has a lot of potential. It really surprises me that it was never picked up by Dramatists or Samuel French or another sort of licensing company. I don't know if Metropolis could ever be a real hit because of the themes of the material, but I think it would be great for Encores! or something of the like.

How many productions of Metropolis have been done in the US? There's a nice site set up by the director of the '02 production, and there was one in '93 as mentioned - but according to Wikipedia there was one done last year in Seattle. I know Wikipedia isn't always an accurate source, but does anyone know anything about this?

[Owen22]

A good portion of the show is now up on You Tube, but with a replacement Maria (though there's a variety show clip of the Kuhnster doing the big duet with Graham Bickley who was the male ingenue and now a very popular working actor in Britain). Brian Blessed horribly overacts on the CD but is at least in tune (minus some major scooping). His numbers on the You Tube clips are painful.

Oddly, when Brooks committed suicide, literally the first thing I thought of was "I wonder what this means for a Metropolis revival?". I also remember when it became known his nasty casting couch sessions I thought, how could such a disgusting individual have written such glorious music...?

[RainbowJude]

I just finished listening to METROPOLIS for the second time this month after not listening to it for years. Certainly, having read up a bit about it too, it seems as though the technology required to run the set overwhelmed everything else in the original production and the critics certainly didn't hold their punches in their criticism of the book, score and lyrics.

Of course, the show is a hot mess, but not one that is unsalvagable by any means. My favourite songs in the score are "It's Only Love/Bring on the Night", "You are the Light" and "The Sun". "One of Those Nights" also has a great deal going for it, despite the very obvious flubs in the lyrics. There is some great work in the "101.11" theme, which is again reprised in "50,000 Pounds of Power/One More Morning". While there certainly is a prominent use of motifs, both musically and in the lyrics, the biggest problem I have with the score is its lack of coherence. There are so many competing musical styles here (power ballads, disco, folk, gospel and so on) that the show just doesn't ever come together as the sum of its parts. The orchestrations don't help either. One presumes that the synthesisers were meant to give the impression of futuristic technology back in the 1980s. Although I have my doubts about how convincing a ploy this actually was even back then, the synthesisers just sound hopelessly dated now.

Certainly, a mainstream revival of the the show would need a thorough overhaul to address the problems of the show, but with the recent suicide of Joe Brooks, who was basically the driving creative force behind this show, and the context in which said suicide was committed, things look pretty bleak for a major revival of the show at this point.

It's great to have such a complete cast album, although I find the acting and singing incredibly uneven. A perfectly pitched Judy Kuhn is paired with a generic sounding and rather bland Graham Bickley. Brian Blessed soars so far over the top in his role that he's basically out of sight. The accents are all over the place. Characters and actors get lost in all the noise made by the score. If this is any reflection of what the performances were like, it's not hard to imagine why this was less than compelling back in the 1980s. Many a mediocre show has been saved by virtuoso performances, but - besides Kuhn - METROPOLIS doesn't seem like it got it together in that area either. Kuhn sounds like she is busting her ass to try and hold things together, but it's just not enough.

Even so, METROPOLIS is an interesting listen if nothing else, that's for sure.

[romgitsean]

Where could I get sheet music for this? Anyone know?

[06s091]

I just listened to a demo recording of this show yesterday. I think it's from around 1987 or maybe early 88.
I'm not sure about most of the cast. I've seen mentions of both Stephanie Lawrence and Judy Kuhn as Maria/Futura, but I'm not sure which of them it is. The only castmember I'm sure about is Michael Ball in the role of Steven.
From what I've heard he was supposed to play the role in the original London production too, but decided to do "Aspects of Love" instead. Personally I think he made the right choice. Eventhough Aspects wasn't a big succes on Broadway it certainly made HIM a big star.

[Deena Jones]

Sadly Stephanie Lawrence died a few years ago

[metropolis93fan]

The original Maria was Judy Kuhn.

Any news on the rights to the show?

[06s091]

Yes, I know the original Maria was Judy Kuhn. But this is a demo recorded about two years before the first production.