The joys of amateur musicals
In the comments section of this thread from a while back, a number of people praised the old Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, and especially the charms of amateur productions. I’m in complete agreement. The librettos may be outdated in many ways, but the wholes are so far superior to anything written today that it’s no surprise that these old chestnuts are revived again and again.
I was raised on those scores, played on a shaky old player until the records had so many scratches on them that I sang along more from memory than from anything I could hear. I still can recite nearly every word of most of the lyrics of the classics.
I don’t know why I started perusing YouTube versions of the songs from “Carousel” a while back—culminating in the aforementioned post, as well as this one—but YouTube provides an almost endless supply of wonders for anyone who wants to do that sort of thing. Watching amateur production after amateur production, I was heartened by the fact that these musicals are still being performed and enjoyed, and that even today’s high school students aren’t too jaded to bring to their roles the dewy wonder of youth. Their versions very often make up in transcendence what they might lack in polish, power, and even in pitch.
Case in point—watch and listen to the glowing Julie in this high school production of “Carousel.” Her Billy Bigelow is a little callow and a little pompous (not an oxymoron in his case) and a little pitchy at times. But no matter; there’s something about the way she shines—and there’s something about him that’s engaging and touching, too.
Note also the almost operatic quality of the song with its recitatives; and I especially love the poignant and symbolic lines Julie delivers around minute 9:47, “The blossoms are just coming down by theirselves. It’s just their time to, I reckon.”:
The actors in the following clip of another song from “Carousel” aren’t high school students. But they’re amateurs. And what a voice on this Enoch (she’s no slouch, either)—although, unfortunately, the audio quality of the recording could be a bit better.
And since this is, after all, a mostly political blog, I can’t resist noting that the beginning of this song is a testament to capitalism, and the rest is a tribute to married life and parenthood. What could be more conservative?
Thanks, Neo. These clips were great. What struck me was that musicals allowed kids to express their vulnerabilities, and as you said, the responsibilities that lie ahead of them. Today, being cool seems to be the only thing that counts. Do we really have love songs anymore?
That’s a pretty hot kiss for a high school production! When I was in a high school play that called for a kiss (of course that was about a century ago) the drama teacher took it out.
I once saw a presentation of The Sound of Music put on by a church group. I considered nearly all of the voices as being of professional quality. What made the performance particularly endearing was seeing how much fun the younger child performers were having- several of whom I knew.
This fine performance helped inspire a child in the audience to years later plan and take a trip to Europe with her fiancee – which included visiting a number of sites associated with The Sound of Music.