Cakebug Tranch

I wish I could be a CanadiCAN about this, but Hulu and Amazon Prime (and Seeso) are not available up here at all. :(

Ah, but not all Netflix is created equal. Canadian Netflix has a completely different library to American Netflix. I imagine CamB has an entirely different set of menus in Japan.

I found this article really useful. Looks like I'll be buying the Blu-Ray now! the last movie musical Good news. The recent Twilight Time Blu-ray release of Michael Ritchie's "The Fantasticks" includes not only the truncated 86-minute release version of the movie musical but also Ritchie's original 109-minutes cut, as edited by William Scharf, in standard definition. And it's terrific. Twenty years later, we can see now see Ritchie's vision - an immaculate film most likely doomed because of its loving fidelity to the original Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt 1960 stage production. The landmark musical started life as a small off-Broadway effort that subsequently ran for a whopping 17,162 performances - that's 42 record-breaking years. Ritchie kept matters intimate, despite his film's open-air settings, and even though movie musicals had virtually no audience interest in 1995, the filmmaker probably thought - and rightfully so - that those 42 years in New York meant that the show had an obsessively loyal following. But those people (plus those who had performed the show in school and in community productions) never got a chance to see the film. United Artists test-screened "The Fantasticks" for audiences no longer familiar with film musicals. The scores were predictably low, the film was shelved. For five years. MGM Home Entertainment was preparing a direct-to-video release of Ritchie's cut in 2000 when Francis Ford Coppola reportedly stepped forward and offered to re-edit the film for a theatrical release. Twenty-three minutes were taken out of "The Fantasticks" and it was given a "limited release" in only four markets - New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. The film played a week and then went away until it materialized on home entertainment in Coppola's cut, not Ritchie's. Ritchie supported Coppola's cut. He died in 2001. "The Fantasticks" was not his last movie, as widely reported. (That would be "A Simple Wish" in 1997.) Now it's 2015. Twenty long years have passed and Ritchie is gone but "The Fantasticks" has somehow, miraculously, survived. The fastidious attention that Michael Ritchie devoted his movie is, well, humbling. His film is not an adaptation of "The Fantasticks." It is "The Fantasticks." Ritchie retained the show's original graphic (as seen in the frame from the opening credits above), as well as the show's overture - arguably the second most famous musical overture after Jules Styne's "Gypsy." Now, about the Coppola cut... It is just another example of what studios traditionally have done when confronted with tightening movie musicals. For some bizarre reason, the customary mentality has always been to trim the very elements that define a musical - the songs. In the case of "The Fantasticks," some songs were routinely trimmed, while two were cut altogether - "Plant a Radish" and, unbelievably, the opening rendition of the show's most emblematic song, the achingly beautiful "Try to Remember." (That's Jonathon Morris pictured above singing the song). It's ironic that when it comes to his own films, Coppola adds footage (see "Apocalypse Now Redux"), but then it's unclear if Coppola personally re-edited "The Fantasticks" himself (see Note in Passing below). That said, many thanks to Craig Spaulding, Ed Dennis and their gang at Twilight Time for believing in Ritchie's film and presenting its Blu-ray incarnation as something of an event - a circumstance that I could have never imagined. And thanks to Julie Kirgo for astute liner notes that express thoughts about the film that the critics missed. And the topping, of course, is the privileged experience of seeing Ritchie's original cut - a straightforward, no-frills, no-nonsense, old-fashioned movie musical. This is not a modern aberration, along the lines of Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge." No, it's a real musical. The last real movie musical. An element that's available on the MGM Home Entertainment DVD of the film, but not included on the new Blu-ray, is a rough filming of "It Depends on What You Pay (The Rape Song)" as written for the original '60 stage production of "The Fantasticks." The roughness is evident in the frame pictured above. Ritchie must have filmed it as a test or perhaps a favor to the composers. The song was eventually re-filmed and used in the movie but as "The Seduction Song," reworked by Jones and Schmidt. Note in Passing: Much was made about Francis Ford Coppola being brought in and using his American Zoetrope facilities to re-edit the film, reducing it from 109 minutes to 86 minutes. But an end title on the release version of "The Fantasticks" credits Melissa Kent with the "additional editing." Hmmm. That title card, incidentally, replaced one in the end credits of the Ritchie version that announced that the film's soundtrack album would be available on Telrac Records. Of course, a soundtrack album never materialized. Finally, The Hallmark Hall of Fame aired a one-hour adaptation of "The Fantasticks" in 1964, starring Ricardo Montalban as El Greco, Stanely Holloway and Bert Lahr as the fathers, John Davidson as Matt and Susan Watson as Luisa. Watson, who created the role of Kim MacAfee in the original 1960 Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie," created the role in the inaugural Barnard College production of "The Fantasticks." Source: http://thepassionate...ie-musical.html

I just logged this on letterboxd. Oof, what a mess.

Henry's in the box in the play - as EG says in his opening speech, "everything else, we can get from this box". So, Henry's a prop, who lives in the box. I remember when I saw it at the Sullivan Street Theater there was a little curtain that the Mute quietly pulled across between the seat and the box which allowed Henry to crawl unseen behind and through a hole in the back of the box, to magically appear from what was previously empty. His final speech (seen in the deleted scene) is very important because it returns Henry to the box. Not sure why El Gallo is suggesting other options - maybe they're less histrionic than H+M?

Interesting note: while I agree with EvR's suggestion that it looks like Mortimer and the Mute were merged, that's not the case. In reality, El Gallo takes on most of the Mute's jobs (snowing etc). Casting Teller makes it seem like Mortimer's mute, because Teller's usual schtick is to not speak, but (as you well know EvR) Mortimer has a major, important speech right after El Gallo is 'defeated'. And here it is. I present the non-mute Mortimer.

Compare and contrast time! (Trigger warning for the use of the word rape) The movie has the meh new song 'Abductions' that was written after the show had run for 30 years and the over-use of the word rape, which has taken on a far more serious societal meaning since 1960. But the original song, 'It Depends on What You Pay', is a really great number. Here's the original: Obviously the multiple uses of the word is a problem. 'Abductions' was never really popular, so here's how they solved it - the latest off-Broadway production goes back to 'What You Pay' but replaces most of the sensitive words, TBS-style. Here it is. What do you think?

I always took it to be that a plum looks delicious in the hand, but the real test comes from biting into it - just as Matt and Luisa are starting to do with their relationship. Or, that they waited too long to make the most of it when it was perfect, and now it's over-ripe. Horticulture is a big theme in the play (see: "Plant a Radish")

There was a Hallmark TV movie of The Fantasticks in the 60's. I'm sure that's better but really this is a story that needs to be done simply and live.

But that's the point! The romanticism is allied with insanity but not in a negative sense. That was a lovely, sweet laugh moment each time I've seen it. She's so dreamy and out of her mind with romance that the thing with El Gallo becomes possible. It's absolutely spoken with a knowing smile.

Plant a Radish:

Wow, really? I read it again and don't see it. I can picture the tone and the atmosphere, and love that it's so airy and fantastical. The whole show is a giant parable, where nothing is real. There's some lovely imagery throughout and it's much more consistent than the movie. I played the soundtrack from t to b today on a car trip - my kids listened carefully and enjoyed it. It also reminded me the film cut 'Plant a Radish', the dads' other song (about not knowing what your kid will turn out like when they're born) which is a crying shame. Another major omission is the wall: the beginning of the play sees the wall erected, and they tear it down at the end of act 1. Then, when they piss each other off, they build it again. At the end when Matt and Luisa return, El Gallo cautions the fathers not to tear the wall down again because it's needed for good neighbours. The wall work in the movie is pretty cursory.

Cannot stop singing 'Metaphor' today. And my kids were very puzzled when I was singing 'Try to Remember' in the car. My five year old: "daddy, I think you're confused. It's July, not September."

I think it would be awesome to have an EHL entirely consisting of usernames from the forum. Wonder what reddit would think...

And of course, my point earlier was that this song doesn't appear in the movie until the end, so it's not for us at all in the movie. In the movie it's there because it's there. Having at the end alone doesn't really work. So, you weren't so checked out at the beginning that you missed something important!

It's a framing song - it appears at the top (right after the overture) and at the end to close the show. It's not to Luisa, it's to us, as the audience. It sets the scene and brings us into this Fantastick world, and allows us to see things as whimsical and gentle. Also, Cam - I would definitely recommend the original cast recording from the 60's. It's a little simpler but definitely the best. I have the Japanese tour version too but I prefer the original cast recording.

I think this is worth noting: Here's the opening stage direction from the play, which tells you just how simple the piece is. And here's El Gallo's first speech, immediately after he sings 'Try to Remember'. So much is set up here, that the movie labours over. The loss of 'Try to Remember' off the top is stunningly reductive. It's supposed to bookend the play, reinforce whimsy, show us that memory is fleeting and youth is blind. Taking it away, and making El Gallo a simple charlatan really takes the air out of the piece.

I could write about this musical forever (Drama Bro #1 checking in) but my kids are buzzing around so this will be a quick first post. I liked this movie way more than I did the last time I saw it. I saw it when it came out in 2000 and was so disappointed with what they did to the story, but with distance and perspective, I think they handled the fantasy element as well as they could have - the carnival is a brand new addition for the movie which works pretty nicely, really. The biggest change, as Cam said (that I said) is that in the musical, El Gallo is the narrator. That's hugely important, and he tells of their birth, their growth, the feud, and their internal wants and needs that not even Matt and Luisa know about. There is also a terrific character called 'The Mute' who moves furniture and sprinkles confetti to denote rain and snow. I love The Mute and miss him a great deal from this movie. (no, Teller doesn't count). I have the 30th anniversary script right here and have uploaded a bunch of images from the beginning of the play to give you a sense of what we're lacking. God this is a beautiful play. Here's the original cast, with Jerry Orbach at the top as El Gallo. Top-Hat is the Mute, and Glasses is The Handyman, who was later cut. Then Henry (one of the writers, Tom Jones), Matt, Luisa, Hucklebee, Bellomy, and Mortimer. Harvey Schmidt, the composer, played the piano in the original production. More to come.

Awesome to log on this morning and see that our concerns have been heard. Thanks so much, Paul, for taking time out to address this thing. It's things like this that is why your show has such longevity and elicits such loyalty. Now, forum, mobilize! Let's get at least one forum poster on the mini next week (and of course usernames in the message!)!

^Seconded. Enough's enough, Paul!

No, the issue is that a caller said that Paul should create a new section on the minis dedicated exclusively to masturbation stories. And then what's worse, Paul said 'ha ha, what a great idea' rather than 'that's gross dude'. Not much we can do if Paul is amused by this stuff. He admitted he was curious about the kinds of calls he'd get. If anyone writes a jerkoff theme song I think there's a strong chance it is going to be included for a short time. It's a bummer.

^Illuminati'd

I don't want to get all 'Inside Baseball' on this (and don't click if you don't like knowing how things are made) but I'm pretty sure this is a making-of behind-the-scenes video about Echoes. I assume.

That's the one with the total rip-off Martha and the Muffins song playing over literally every line, right?

I was just at the mall and I saw these homeboys hanging out wearing these pants that totally rips off Echoes. This damn kid Lloyd started pushing me around because I was telling him he was a sellout. Punk, Lloyd.