What Do You Think of Musical Theater?

      Yesterday was my Battle of the Bands post.  If you missed it or didn't vote yet, be sure to visit my BOTB post .   Also stop by to vote at the sites of the co-hosts  Far Away Series and Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends .  Keep in mind that there is a prize for the most frequent voters.

       Some others who put up their own Battle of the Bands posts can be found at  Your Daily Dose and   DiscConnected.   

And While on the Subject of Musicals...

        Since the Battle of the Bands theme of the host blogs matched up different takes on songs from the hippy era musical Hair, that got me thinking about musical theater as it was in its Golden Age, where it started going in the 1960's, and where it has come to now.

         I grew up on the traditional theatrical musicals such as those by Rodgers and Hammerstein and those light works of stage entertainment filled with music in the vein of the old standards and fun show tunes.  Those presentations probably look old-fashioned to anyone more familiar with the musicals of the post 60's.  Some of the old-school musicals are now and then revived by professional and semi-pro companies and are presented on high school stages that still have the money to present extravaganza stage productions.  But musical theater has changed a lot since the 1950's.

        When I was a kid in the 50's and early 60's, my parents took me to see a number of live stage musicals and many of the movie versions of the popular musicals of those times.   I enjoyed these until I reached my teens and that's when I began to take a more cynical view of musicals.  It began to seem kind of dumb for people to just break out into song.  Rock and roll was where it was at for me and musicals were passé.  That is until they became relevant for me.

Hair (musical) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

         Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar caught my attention with good music and good songs. Musicals were in my musical radar once again.  Then for the next couple decades I was involved in touring groups that could be considered as musical theater and for a brief period actually played in the band for a musical at a dinner theater in Virginia. I began attending musical productions whenever I had an opportunity.

          Now in my current stage of life I would still count myself a fan of musical theater, but more so the old school styles that I grew up with.   I love Evita but don't have the least bit of interest in the musicals of recent decades like Rent, Dreamgirls, or for that matter Les Miserables.  I want my musicals to be fun or at least have songs that I might be singing later.
.

           A lot of the innocence of musicals is gone,  Now they often are more raunchy and filled with bad language--probably partly as a result of musicals such as Hair.  Or they deal with social issues or ridicule conservative or religious values.  Of course since I have distanced myself from the world of musicals and theater maybe I'm misreading things.   I'm going by what I read or hear about in the media.  And I don't think much of most of the media either.

           I've changed a bit over the years.  Now you might call me an old fuddy-duddy.   Or you might think I'm spot on.

            What do you think of musical theater?    Do you think musicals used to be better or do you like the direction they've taken?   What is your favorite musical?   What is the last musical you've seen live on stage or on screen?

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J is for Juggling

       
         Most of my long time readers know that I am a juggler and came from a juggling family.  My father called the act "The Juggling Jacksons" because that was our last name.  Besides the alliteration sounded good.

        Juggling was a sideline for us.   We would have loved to do it full time, but my father wisely chose the security of a regular daytime job.  His career was as an accountant for an industrial contractor.  And though he juggled books for a regular paycheck, his true passion was juggling objects.

       So what's this have to do with marketing and promotion?  We always had an agent or agents who booked shows for us, but as is often the case with anyone who has an agent sometimes you have to get out there and do things yourself to get the ball rolling--or in our case the balls and other objects tossing.

       We practiced our act regularly to stay in top shape for our performances.  Stage attire and props had to be kept maintained.  My father was always on the lookout for new gimmicks to make our act stand out.  He put a lot of thought, time, and sweat into making our act marketable.

        Like The Juggling Jacksons you and your business have a juggling act underway.  Some of you may be working jobs to pay the bills while you work at trying to get your passion off the ground.  You are juggling family and relationships, job, education, health, relaxation time as well as the dreams of success in whatever it is you are trying to achieve.

          Then there is the juggling act of your marketing efforts.  What do you need to promote what you are doing?  Photos, brochures, resumes, and other media?   How about conferences, trade shows, or other events that will further your reach?   You juggle time, money, and personal well-being and hope your act will reap some benefits of what you've put into it.

         Marketing can be a real balancing act for sure.  Plan your act carefully.  Practice the tricks you'll be using and then when you're ready you can hit the stage and perform before a real audience.  One thing you don't want to do when you're in the spotlight is drop the balls, but if you do just pick them up and act as though it's part of the act.

            What are you juggling in your life?   Have you achieved balance?

How about these J's:

Jenny Hansen's blog is More Cowbell.  If you don't get the reference and don't fear the reaper I think you'll find out where her blog title comes from if you go there and look around.

Reversing the initials we also have Hart Johnson who blogs at Confessions of a Watery Tart, the blog where no pants are allowed and naked people get in free.

Are we bloggers a wacky bunch or what.

Finally, Michelle Jones at The Family Tales is offering a give-away at her blog.  Head over to her blog and you may be a lucky winner of a  a new customized blog design and/or custom header graphic.  The graphic design will be created by fellow A to Z blogger, Lisa Campbell.   

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• Mastering The Art Of Juggling (hellobeautiful.com)
• Things Jugglers Say (circusgeeks.wordpress.com)
• Mathematics of Juggling (mrhonner.com)