Thursday, July 8, 2010

Who is MEATLOAF?

The title is the question, and there on the left is the answer.

Jeopardy! really seems to like Peter Pan.

I knew this tidbit, but I don't know terribly much about it. I recall hunting for more once upon a time... but since the project had been abandoned/altered, as I remember it, information is limited.

What's my opinion of such a project, i.e. a rock opera/musical of Peter Pan?

I don't doubt that it could be done. But as I've stated in one way or another before, I tend to think adding narrative music to Barrie's tale just becomes cumbersome and silly. As in no, I don't particularly like musicals of Peter Pan.

3 comments:

Anon said...

It can certainly be done poorly, but it can also be done well. That Russian film link you had in a previous blog (with Hook's song while he was poisoning Peter's medicine) made me wish I could see the whole movie.

And again, let's not forget that Barrie himself put music into his stage version of Peter Pan (and even in the book).

Danielle Filas said...

Well,being familiar with Meatloaf's album- especially with the 3 tunes on it really meant for the rock-opera (Bat Out of Hell, Heaven Can Wait, and All Revved Up)- I think it's likely that this would not have been a simple matter of "adding narrative music to Barrie's tale." Seems more akin to a deconstruction... one with a more edgy, urban, adult flair than the original. So I'm guessing that while the purists out there would be offended, I probably would have dug it! (I'm also factoring in the truth that I dig Meatloaf and that he's always considered himself an actor/theatre artist first.)
"I was nothing but a lonely boy
looking for something new/ And you were nothing but a lonely girl/ But you were something/ Something like a dream come through/ I was a/ varsity tackle and a hell of a block/ When I played my guitar/ I made the canyons rock ..."
[rexawean]

Peter Von Brown said...

Anon - Yes, the Russian song is pretty darn cool. And it's certainly my favorite among the musical versions. And yes, Barrie included music, but in places where it called for it. My concern is trying to tell the story THROUGH song. Even though the Russian one is good, it still comes under the issue of trying to get narrative songs to work with it. So far, it hasn't really seemed to...

Danielle - Purist or not isn't the issue. I'd probably enjoy an edgy, urban, adult flair to a telling of the story especially since it probably isn't a direct adaptation. Thanks for including the lyrics!