Ah the Genre musical. What is the compulsion that drives a human to put science fiction, fantasy, or even horror, to music? It may be impossible to know for sure, but the masterpieces and misfires of film and television are both unique, and to be honest, often a bit disturbing.
Here’s a list of the shows I’ve covered here, and links to the posts I made:
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog / Once More With Feeling
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Repo! The Genetic Opera
Xena: The Bitter Suite
Phantom of the Paradise
Have I missed your favorite, or is there an upcoming example of the genre that I don’t know about? Feel free to post a comment and let me know.
Back in 1974, when rock and roll had just about hit the high water mark in terms of taking over the world, movie director Brian De Palma unleashed Phantom of the Paradise. A mash-up of Faust, Phantom of the Opera, and Picture of Dorian Gray, it managed to end up being as good as none of its source material, although it has achieved some small amount of cult status. I’m not kidding around when I tell you that this movie is huge in Winnipeg, Canada for some reason…
It does have some kitsch value, if for no other reason than watching Paul Williams act, and seeing just how cool even the most nerdiest nerd can look in the right costume.
Paul WIlliams music is also pretty damn good, although I think that the Rocky Horror has survived the test of time slightly more intact.
It’s hard to remember now, but in the 90s Xena: Warrior Princess was a force to be reckoned with. Basically a mash-up of history and ancient mythology, the show was shot in New Zealand, and had that otherworldly feeling that worked even more effectively in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. It also had a (mostly) unspoken lesbian “subtext” between the two stars of the show, which gave it a nice “Batman & Robin” quality.
Somewhere in the depths of the third season (1998) they decided to go for the musical episode. As the Buffy episode would do, a few years later, the musical was used as a way to break the tensions that had been building up between the main characters over the last few years.
It also had some good, old-fashioned dance numbers:
In case you think that the sci-fi musical is only a thing of the past, let me introduce you to a new dose of grand guignol called Repo! The genetic opera:
Clearly this is going to be a weird one, but that may be a good thing.
Yes that is Anthony Stewart Head, so the Whedon connection continues unbroken.
Yeah, that’s Paris Hilton. Whatchagonnado?
Since we started talking about science fiction and fantasy musicals yesterday, I thought it might be fun to spend the next few days going over the past and future of this strange sub-genre of nerd culture.
There is of course, no more well-known example of the species than everyone’s favorite midnight sing-along show, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While people put the movie down, the plot is actually pretty solid when compared to most musicals, and the songs are pretty damn good as well. Of course it’s the midnight shout-alongs that are the source of the movie’s fame and fortune, and if you haven’t ever seen it with a live audience and/or stage show, you should give it a try. It’s a unique experience, and the idea of aliens from a hedonistic other planet is one that I think still has some possibilities left to explore.
Here’s some cast members from Buffy doing their own interpretations of some of the (admittedly weaker) songs from the show:
Ah the Genre musical. What is the compulsion that drives a human to put science fiction, fantasy, or even horror, to music? It may be impossible to know for sure, but the masterpieces and misfires of film and television are both unique, and to be honest, often a bit disturbing.
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