In recent years, with the advent of the “Disney” cartoon musical and more recently the made for television hits “High School Musical I & II,” America has seen an adaptation of the film musical to a more family oriented audience. This was not always the case that motion pictures containing plot-furthering songs sung by the characters was deemed acceptable to be viewed by children, and two examples of this notion are the pieces: “Carousel,” music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and “Kiss Me Kate” with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. These two works show both a Hollywood and Broadway that is squarely committed to the entertainment of the over 18 crowd, for reasons other than that of just mere sexual appeal, as in the case of “Kiss Me Kate,” or violence which happens intermittently during “Carousel,” but less superficially is the sophistication of the issues dealt with in the songs, the literary subject matter (both musicals were based on theatrical plays) and the intricacy of the plot, as both examples contain complex dual storylines. And finally, the composite moral stance put forth in both, even though one (Kate) is a moral stance purely for comedic relief is serves as a strident counterpoint to the more serious ethical notions present in the Rogers and Hammerstein piece.
Probably the most striking thing about both “Kiss Me Kate” and “Carousel” is the length and lyrical content of the songs. As an example from each one could cite “My Boy Bill” which clocks in at a staggering 9:15 and contains complex recitative lines about the possibility of the unborn child being a girl, or the song “Where is the Life…” (Kiss me Kate) which is a playful detailed litany of sexual conquests sung by the Petrucchio character in the onstage Shakespeare production. It is obvious to anyone listening to either of these two pieces that without a modicum of life experience, be it either sexual or parental, would be consequently only capable of understanding it on an anecdotal level. There is, however; a divergent issue between the two examples that is contained within the nature of the genre of the two pieces, “Carousel” while it does deal with sex in the way of leading to children, or the perceived faithfulness of partners (as is noted in the clam-bake scene on the island where Jigger attempts to seduce Julie Jordan’s friend) the film is hardly capable of making the subject humorous due to its dramatic nature and social commentary on the responsibilities of fatherhood, this is where “Kiss Me Kate” shines and delivers powerful comedy on the subject of human relationships particularly with the song “I’m Always True to You Darling…” which has clever logical rhymes that leave the audience bated for the next punch-line end of the verse.
If sexual subject matter and spousal abuse were subjects that would be taboo for a younger audience to experience, then formal plays with complex story lines not to mention the notion of performances within performances becoming mainstream theatrical musicals would probably be something to altogether avoid. Carousel is based on the play “Liliom” by Ferenc Molnar which is a dark story about the character Liliom (Billy in Carousel) in purgatory who is granted one last chance to help his child by going back to earth. The entire musical takes place in the past and is being re-told by the main character, even though he is not re-performing we still have a story within a story structure. The same notion is true of “Kiss Me Kate,” a musical where our dubious hero is putting together a musical production of “Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare, which is in of itself a play within a play (although the play portion of “Shrew” is often removed in order to be kinder to the modern audiences attention span) therefore in the case of “Kate” what the viewer has is quite complexly a play within a play within a play. While it is true that this method of storytelling has been present and used widely since the times of the Renaissance with examples like Boccaccio’s “Decameron” and used as recently as a few modern “Simpsons” episodes, this kind of composite storytelling requires a longer and more detailed attention span than even many of just the songs demand and therefore deviates from the simple: boy meets girl, boy looses girl and boy gets girl back formula.
Perhaps the one (or largest) section of analysis where these two works diverge is the issue of ethical calculating contained within the storyline or dialogue (be it sung or spoken.) It would indeed be difficult to derive a deep ethical message in the film musical “Kiss me Kate,” on the surface, it is for the most part a superficial comedy about a relatively shallow group of actors and a cartoonish duo of gangster thugs. The piece is throughouly un-modern in the sense of gender equality exemplified from the fact that Shakespeare’s monologue for Katharine is used to punctuate the lead actress’ return to her husband. As a second example one could cite the public spanking of the lead actress during a run of the play and while the comedic element is present, the viewer must be aware of the fact that this sort of humor is entirely out of place in the current psyche of the contemporary audience. On the other hand the film “Carousel” is laden with philosophical meaning, the transformation undertaken by the character Bill is astounding even though his intentions lead him to his death and even though his plans involve robbery, it is his intention to provide for his pregnant wife and the family they hope to raise together that is inherently selfless as opposed to the character the audience meets in the beginning of the movie. Arguably the challenge presented to the audience in the way of Bill’s transformation, being conditional and misguided, forces the viewers to reconcile a more mature state of human development. It is conceivably wise that Rogers and Hammerstein did not push the envelope too far, however; the play “Liliom” ends much more tragically than “Carousel” with the main character presumably descending into hell for the fact that he failed to help his daughter, “Carousel” takes a much more optimistic approach with the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” which signals to the notion that life does go on and that tragedy is not the end of the story. This is once again a very adult notion that someone must possess enough experience of personal tragedy, as in the case of mature theatre or film appreciators.
It is perhaps unmerited to blame any industry for pursuing a youth-centric marketing strategy. When one considers the amount of clothing, electronics, automobiles, television, internet and music products that are targeted towards the under 18 cluster, one can hardly put culpability in the hands of the creators of the modern youth-musical. In the United States, economics rules all, and the purchasing power of the youth market is extraordinary. But while this unique American art form (the musical) undergoes changes directed by economic earning potential it is undoubtedly wise to remember that the musical is none the less an art form, and art, if it is nothing else should be challenging to the audience. It is here where these two shining examples of opposite genre spectrums, one of comedy and one dramatic, come to the forefront of models for theatrical expression, both “Kiss Me Kate” and “Carousel” represent a somewhat dated stylistic manner, but the content is timeless and could, or should represent a thriving forward looking brand of a height of art that writers and composers can once again attain.
No comments:
Post a Comment