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• [1] Michele Klinsky from West Keansburg, NJ May 27, 2007 - 11:48PM

  Please pass on this comment to Emma Brockes:

  Ms. Brockes,

  I had want to send these comments to you directly, but I could not find an e-mail for you.

  Unfortunately for me, your book has already been published. If you had named your book "How film musicals changed my life," I would have no response for you, in fact I might even be in agreement with you. However, even though I would not claim to be an expert, your comments during the interview were insulting and seemingly off-base, yet you were trying to come off as an expert on musicals, film and theater.

  All your references to musicals were to film musicals, while you were purporting to be talking about the stage. Have you ever seen "Evita" on stage? Anyone who has could tell you the film version is lacking because they slowed down the tempo of the music, taking away the urgency of the piece. The film musicals of "Chicago," "Dreamgirls," and even "Cabaret" reimagined and reworked their stories for the films, not making them bad, but definitely different from their stage counterparts.

  And you were insulting to both gay and straight men. Granted, having worked in musical theater I would definitely say there are many gay men who work in the creative process of a musical, but they are not equivalent to women. And there are plenty of straight men who go to see musicals, and even those who perform in them. One of the first shows you mentioned which could "convince" straight men to like musicals was "Cabaret," which features the Emcee throughout, who is gay, if not bisexual, certainly not a character that by your estimation a straight man would not identify with. And to say musicals appeal to women and not men because of the great roles for women lacks a look at musicals. You say the best musicals are from "Fiddler on the Roof" and earlier, an example of a male lead (Tevye). One of the most celebrated roles in musical theater is Billy Bigelow from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel." (You also intimated that Rodgers & Hammerstein were the ultimate.) My point being there are equally great roles for men and women in musicals.

  The real kicker was when you said you were just getting into Sondheim, that it is for those over 30. Sondheim works include "West Side Story," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Gypsy, " and "Follies," all pre-1975. Of his more recent works you should also see "Sweeney Todd" and "Into the Woods," which certainly have their share of subversiveness.

  Here's my whole point- Claim to be an expert on film musical and not stage musical, and do not write off all musical theater of the past 30 years. There are brilliant pieces being written all the time, and every piece does not appeal to everyone, but it is short-sighted to write all of it off. And the theater community does agree with you about the brilliance of the past by reviving those shows all the time.

  Thank you for your ear.