| re: I don’t get the love | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 12:40 pm EST 12/29/24 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 12:37 pm EST 12/29/24 | |
| In reply to: I don’t get the love - dramedy 12:10 pm EST 12/29/24 | |
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| I don't really mean to dump on Sunset, but I'm going to. I really don't care for the score, and I'm not at all anti-Webber. In particular, I feel that Norma's two big numbers are so generic and interchangeable. They're not bad songs in their own right - Webber knows very well how to craft a song. (Please read that sentence again, thank you.) But to me they have nothing to do with the character. They could be anyone's songs. I truly wish he had written in a more specific musical style that reflected either the noir genre or the ethos of the silent film era she's stuck in emotionally - something that would define Desmond more. But as it is, Norma could sing (perhaps) "You Must Love Me" or "Memory" or a number of other Webber popera ballads to the same effect. (I'm not talking contextual lyrics here, though I also don't think either of her songs are all that distinguished textually.) But all I hear in her songs is the generic sweep of a stereotypical popera ballad - nothing that defines the specific world of Norma Desmond. So it then stands to reason, how does an actor transcend that?? Clearly for some people the actresses who have played the role have done just that. For me, the songs just get in the way. (Btw - I feel the same way about "Think Of Me" in Phantom - in a show that is so careful to define an operatic genre through so much of the music, that generic pop ballad sticks out like a sore thumb. And the cadenza at the end doesn't save it for me.) Thanks for listening. And for those of you who love the show, please don't take this personally - that's not my intention. |
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