Post by molee on Jan 19, 2009 15:16:36 GMT -5
I wish that Richard Carpenter would consider producing a musical stage show about the Carpenters. Why? In the late 1970’s there was a Broadway show called “Beatlemania” about the Beatles. It was such a HUGE success that later in the 1980’s it was performed in every major city in the world. (I understand that after all these years that revival shows of “Beatlemania” are still being performed.
Beatlemania resulted in a renewed interest in the Beatles because it introduced (mainly in the 1980’s) a whole new generation of people to the music of the Beatles. In Beatlemania, the actors / musicians portrayed the Beatles with such amazing accuracy. Not only did they sound like the Beatles (even according to many of the critics), but they even looked somewhat like the Beatles. Check out “John Lennon” on this site…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cast_of_Beatlemania
Beatlemania prided itself in re-creating the Beatles experience with such preciseness that they bragged, “Not the Beatles, but an Incredible Simulation.” (Obviously, the producers had to protect themselves legally). It was amazing to me that people who had seen the play were actually buying recordings of “Beatlemania” rather than the original Beatle albums. Now that is saying something about the show!
Anyway, my point is that I sincerely believe “Carpenter-mania” would be a big success. The Carpenters did so many concerts. This would be one way for all of those hundreds of thousands of people to re-live their concert experiences and to hear “them” perform one more time. It would also provide the Carpenters concert experience to all those who missed the opportunity before. In addition, it would introduce the music of the Carpenters to a whole new generation.
In “Carpenter-mania” I imagine Richard and Karen being portrayed through the years. (I do not envision Richard being in the play itself…just as none of the Beatles were in “Beatlemania”). In my opinion, to have Richard write new music for a Karen-sound-alike would not be acceptable to most people for CD recordings…no matter how close the sound-alike sang like Karen. HOWEVER, for a musical stage play about the Carpenters, I think new music by Richard and with “Karen” singing along (to help tell the story of the Carpenters through music) would be accepted with some excitement. One option here would be to exercise artistic license to tell the story of the Carpenters, just as “Dream Girls” did with The Supremes.
With the international success of musical stage plays like “Wicked” and “Phantom,” I personally believe “Carpenter-mania” would be a big success. Look at the renewed international interest in ABBA since the release of the Broadway show and movie “Mama Mia!.” Who would have guessed? If ABBA can have a resurgence in the 21st Century, why not the Carpenters? Now the job of Carpenter fans is to convince Richard, Broadway or both to consider a Carpenter-mania musical stage play. (I don’t envision “Carpenter-mania” to be the real name of the show). In any case I hope Richard is reading this. There is no reason why the music of the Carpenters must to be relegated to the past. The Carpenters music can be now…as well as then. Your thoughts everyone?
Beatlemania resulted in a renewed interest in the Beatles because it introduced (mainly in the 1980’s) a whole new generation of people to the music of the Beatles. In Beatlemania, the actors / musicians portrayed the Beatles with such amazing accuracy. Not only did they sound like the Beatles (even according to many of the critics), but they even looked somewhat like the Beatles. Check out “John Lennon” on this site…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cast_of_Beatlemania
Beatlemania prided itself in re-creating the Beatles experience with such preciseness that they bragged, “Not the Beatles, but an Incredible Simulation.” (Obviously, the producers had to protect themselves legally). It was amazing to me that people who had seen the play were actually buying recordings of “Beatlemania” rather than the original Beatle albums. Now that is saying something about the show!
Anyway, my point is that I sincerely believe “Carpenter-mania” would be a big success. The Carpenters did so many concerts. This would be one way for all of those hundreds of thousands of people to re-live their concert experiences and to hear “them” perform one more time. It would also provide the Carpenters concert experience to all those who missed the opportunity before. In addition, it would introduce the music of the Carpenters to a whole new generation.
In “Carpenter-mania” I imagine Richard and Karen being portrayed through the years. (I do not envision Richard being in the play itself…just as none of the Beatles were in “Beatlemania”). In my opinion, to have Richard write new music for a Karen-sound-alike would not be acceptable to most people for CD recordings…no matter how close the sound-alike sang like Karen. HOWEVER, for a musical stage play about the Carpenters, I think new music by Richard and with “Karen” singing along (to help tell the story of the Carpenters through music) would be accepted with some excitement. One option here would be to exercise artistic license to tell the story of the Carpenters, just as “Dream Girls” did with The Supremes.
With the international success of musical stage plays like “Wicked” and “Phantom,” I personally believe “Carpenter-mania” would be a big success. Look at the renewed international interest in ABBA since the release of the Broadway show and movie “Mama Mia!.” Who would have guessed? If ABBA can have a resurgence in the 21st Century, why not the Carpenters? Now the job of Carpenter fans is to convince Richard, Broadway or both to consider a Carpenter-mania musical stage play. (I don’t envision “Carpenter-mania” to be the real name of the show). In any case I hope Richard is reading this. There is no reason why the music of the Carpenters must to be relegated to the past. The Carpenters music can be now…as well as then. Your thoughts everyone?
