Sister Act: the Musical

Sometimes an idea for a new musical strikes me as so spot-on that it forces me to stop and think, "Wait, isn't that already a musical?" Like the recently announced Alan Menken tuner Sister Act.

Well, although many video stores file Whoopi Goldberg's film Sister Act the musical section, it is not in fact a musical. I define a movie musical as one in which the characters sing in character, rather than as performers. Here's a list of movies that are often erroneously categorized as musicals:

Footloose
Fame
The Commitments
Hairspray (the John Waters original)
Flashdance
Dirty Dancing
Saturday Night Fever

Yeah, most of these were made into stage musicals (someone somewhere is undoubtedly working on Flashdance, God help us), but the least successful attempts took songs from the original soundtracks and put them into the mouths of the characters, the notable exception being Hairspray.

Of course, if you strictly follow my definition, Cabaret and All That Jazz aren't really musicals, because the characters only sing in performance. But the songs serve to further the plot, or comment on it, so I'm willing to make exceptions.

Anyway, so back to Sister Act - the Musical. In the wrong hands, this could be dreadful, but fortunately the composer is the brilliant Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, A Christmas Carol, Pocahontas, Weird Romance, etc.) The lyricist is one Glen Slater, whom I also notice will be providing additional lyrics for the upcoming stage version of The Little Mermaid. Previous shows for Slater include newyorkers and That's Life, neither of which I have heard of. Sister Act will have its world premiere in Pasadena, and will then play Atlanta. One presumes that if those engagements are successful, a New York run may be in the show's future.

I just recently started listening to Menken's Weird Romance, and I'm really enjoying it. It's very tuneful, satirical, witty, and ultimately quite moving. Not sure why it hasn't become better known, but it's certainly a worthy prospect for smaller community and local theaters. The CD is out of print, but if you can get your hands on a second-hand copy, snatch it up.

Comments

[Steve On Broadway (SOB)]

Chris,

Using your premise -- which I don't dispute -- Jersey Boys should not be classified as a musical, either.

Cheers!

[chris caggiano]

Actually, I have different standards for stage musicals. I consider Contact, Movin' Out, and The Times They Are a Changin' to be musicals, although they do stretch the definition. So I have no problem calling Jersey Boys a musical. Inconsistent? Hypocritical? Yeah. So, what's your point?