The revival was so good (I hope the movie keeps the new arrangements), and I am so looking forward to seeing what Jocelyn Bioh does with the screen adaption's script- maybe it'll be closer to Guy's novel. Probably not the trampled-by-crowds part of the ending, since, y'know, Disney is still the one producing it, but it certainly would be interesting to see Erzulie given a darker side in particular.
I loved the revival so much and I just heard from a friend that she heard that Disney+ is going to do the musical adaptation. At first, I thought it was a rumor but I recently read it online & it's mentioned in this video. I hope they stay to the broadway musical version.
I love when you give us the cultural/historical context for things. It really makes for a comprehensive experience and I always feel like I've learned something valuable.
Once on This Island was the first show I fell in love with and the revival is the first and only show I ever saw on Broadway. I’m so happy to learn more about the source material!
Here i thought i was the only one who vacations with family at resorts and spend my time visualizing what Broadway Show would play well in the natural settings of the resort! Lol
YESSSSSs!!!! I fucking LOVE Once On This Island! I’m so psyched for the film (like sometime said, I was also so in love with revival arrangements and I hope they keep them for the film)!
I love your analysis of My Love My Love Or The Peasant Girl. I remember Asaka actually spoke with Desiree in the book when she was going on her journey to find Daniel. Instead of it being bright and lively like the song Mama Will Provide, it was actually pretty sad and hopeless. Ti Moune kept saying Mama I'm hungry. And Asaka in the guise of a vendor woman had little food to give her. But she still gave it. Even though Asaka was neglected, she couldn't deny her nature as a mother. I personally prefer the ending of the book to the musical. I love Once On This Island a lot, but I can imagine how devastating that storm was that Agwe unleashed. Thank you for this video and your channel!
Will you be doing more at the source episodes on fairy tales that Disney adapts like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Pinocchio, and The Snow Queen?
I Iearned a few valuable things from today’s lesson, the most important one being that Voodoo is an active religion! I’m proud to be one of those people who is always searching for new things to discover outside of the classroom-especially if it means I learn more about other people and how to truly make the world a better place!
Totally agree; it a much better retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid, it more realistic, it has strong metaphors about segregation and racial prejudice.
My sister's high school theatre class put on a production of Once on This Island-- the cast, and most of the high school population including staff-- were white. It was uncomfortable. I always thought it was cruel that the heroine's adoptive parents named her the equivalent of "Orphan".
As an HC Andersen and fairy tales nerd I know this show as Andersen Little Mermaid colonial rewriting. Creoles of European descent as the humans in the HCA tale and Blacks as the merfolk...
I like that you give a hint to the one part of this that makes me mad...what a JERK Daniel is. He's all "this is the way it's always been" and "some girls you marry, some you love" and "we can't marry because of social expectations" and never thinks that he could, oh, DEFY his parents and social expectations. Plus, I've never seen a live production of this so I don't know how it's usually staged, but the dialogue on the original cast album makes it sound as if he promises Ti Moune she can still be his mistress...IN HIS FIANCEE'S HEARING. Certainly she knows he's been cheating on her and he doesn't seem to make any bones about hiding it. I hope that when their son found the courage his dad didn't to love and marry his own peasant girl, he gave his father what for about it.
The revival does cut the "we can still be together" line, which I agree is really the point on the OBC where I go "EXCUSE ME?!?" I do like how the musical does make Daniel superficially nice, even a little sympathetic--it demonstrates that racism/colorism isn't just the provenance of unpleasant, loudmouthed bigots but can manifest in well-meaning people as well. Not that it doesn't make his unwillingness to question/challenge his privilege any better, but still. Guy goes even farther with the grand hommes' objectification of Desiree when she meets Andrea, whose reaction is basically "Oh, she's so pretty, can we keep her?"--as if she were a stray puppy that wandered onto the property. It's really uncomfortable.
The phillipine stage production (profesionaly filmed and uploaded on its entierty on UA-cam) re aranges the music to be on a faster tempo and IMO is my favorite instrumentation of the score
Remind of this one character off of Madouka Magicka, yes the blue magical girl who I forgot the name of. her story reminds of this play story and the little mermaid it is almost uncanny
Would you be open to doing a Musical Hell Review of the 1969 version of Goodbye Mr Chips? For me, that's an example of a film that would have worked better with if it wasn't a Musical .
I watched that film up to the intermission but stopped because I was getting bored. I'll give it another chance soon. Matthew Kennedy's book "Roadshow" contains a lot of interesting information about the making of the film.
Ironic this "Little Mermaid"-inspired story is about (anti-Black) racism, then you got all the racist reactions to Disney casting a Black Ariel for the "Little Mermaid" remake
@@MusicalHell Too bad. I liked Once On This Island too. I saw a student production (my dad was a musician) and in the Jr. edition the racial element is removed, focusing solely on class. I tried multiple times to get a standing room seat to the revival but to no avail.
It does, and I actually hope Diva addresses Marie Christine. Though I myself have yet to see/listen to the entire show/soundtrack, seeing this review makes me think that show goes for the more mystical trope that Princess and The Frog and so on resort to, and I believe that's owing to the fact that the story is supposed to be a 1890's New Orleans retelling of the greek tragedy of Medea(which didn't really have much to do with Voodoo to begin with). I don't want to automatically suspect that Michael John LaCuissa maybe running on the socially "accepted" stereotype of Voodoo in how he wrote that story(and end up leaving the internet to accuse him of cultural appropriation), but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case either(since anyone whose consumed mainstream media as kids might as well come to the same idea). In fact, I remember reading a comment about of his musical Giant having not very accurately written Spanish lyrics here: ua-cam.com/video/n4RnXLxSNv8/v-deo.html&lc=Ugw15-OLkQj0F8aU3Bl4AaABAg Maybe when/if he ever gets to reworking both of these shows someday, someone from the cultural backgrounds he's tries trying to imitate can help him better reassess how he approaches said cultures with a little more nuance and accurate understanding.
I'm confused, what's the wrinkle of the choice to make the character of Asaka genderfluid in the 2017 revival? If anything, making the character genderfluid would be the solution to the dilemma!
The revival was so good (I hope the movie keeps the new arrangements), and I am so looking forward to seeing what Jocelyn Bioh does with the screen adaption's script- maybe it'll be closer to Guy's novel. Probably not the trampled-by-crowds part of the ending, since, y'know, Disney is still the one producing it, but it certainly would be interesting to see Erzulie given a darker side in particular.
I loved the revival so much and I just heard from a friend that she heard that Disney+ is going to do the musical adaptation. At first, I thought it was a rumor but I recently read it online & it's mentioned in this video. I hope they stay to the broadway musical version.
Is it going to be broadcast or cinema adaptation?
Disney+ is making a Once On This Island movie. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on it when it comes out. Hopefully it won’t end up in Musical Hell.
I have high hopes and doubts about this movie, and I would rather watch this adoption than the unnecessary remake of The Little Mermaid.
I love when you give us the cultural/historical context for things. It really makes for a comprehensive experience and I always feel like I've learned something valuable.
The sheer cruel irony of having a main character called Désirée Dieudonné and having her be discarded by everyone
Once on This Island was the first show I fell in love with and the revival is the first and only show I ever saw on Broadway. I’m so happy to learn more about the source material!
Here i thought i was the only one who vacations with family at resorts and spend my time visualizing what Broadway Show would play well in the natural settings of the resort! Lol
Can you do a Musical Hell review on NBC's The Grinch Live?
“I hate your couch.”
When I hear the term VooDoo, the Dance Magic Dance song from Labyrinth gets stuck in my head.
Oh thank goodness, I thought I was the only one-
@@lalas181 You remind me of the babe.
YESSSSSs!!!! I fucking LOVE Once On This Island! I’m so psyched for the film (like sometime said, I was also so in love with revival arrangements and I hope they keep them for the film)!
Thank you so much for posting this Musical Hell.😃
YES I love Once on This Island!!!
I love your analysis of My Love My Love Or The Peasant Girl. I remember Asaka actually spoke with Desiree in the book when she was going on her journey to find Daniel. Instead of it being bright and lively like the song Mama Will Provide, it was actually pretty sad and hopeless. Ti Moune kept saying Mama I'm hungry. And Asaka in the guise of a vendor woman had little food to give her. But she still gave it. Even though Asaka was neglected, she couldn't deny her nature as a mother.
I personally prefer the ending of the book to the musical. I love Once On This Island a lot, but I can imagine how devastating that storm was that Agwe unleashed. Thank you for this video and your channel!
I hope the film adaptation of Once on This Island on Disney+ don’t mess up the ending just like what Disney did to Andersen’s Mermaid.
I hadn't heard of this one. thanks for talking about it!
Neat, I should really give this one a look...
Will you be doing more at the source episodes on fairy tales that Disney adapts like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Pinocchio, and The Snow Queen?
@Katie Lewis Or Bambi by Felix Salten.
I’m happy the revival won best musical revival. When I think of vudu I also think of the James Bond film Live And Let Die. Thanks for covering this.
I Iearned a few valuable things from today’s lesson, the most important one being that Voodoo is an active religion! I’m proud to be one of those people who is always searching for new things to discover outside of the classroom-especially if it means I learn more about other people and how to truly make the world a better place!
Once on this Island is still the better Little Mermaid Broadway adaptation.
Totally agree; it a much better retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid, it more realistic, it has strong metaphors about segregation and racial prejudice.
My sister's high school theatre class put on a production of Once on This Island-- the cast, and most of the high school population including staff-- were white. It was uncomfortable. I always thought it was cruel that the heroine's adoptive parents named her the equivalent of "Orphan".
The last musical I saw before the pandemic...
I miss the theater
So lucky. I was hoping the tour would come to my city when it was announced but then quarantine happened :/
As an HC Andersen and fairy tales nerd I know this show as Andersen Little Mermaid colonial rewriting. Creoles of European descent as the humans in the HCA tale and Blacks as the merfolk...
I get what you’re saying. But in context, it feels much more West Side Story/Aida.
I like that you give a hint to the one part of this that makes me mad...what a JERK Daniel is. He's all "this is the way it's always been" and "some girls you marry, some you love" and "we can't marry because of social expectations" and never thinks that he could, oh, DEFY his parents and social expectations. Plus, I've never seen a live production of this so I don't know how it's usually staged, but the dialogue on the original cast album makes it sound as if he promises Ti Moune she can still be his mistress...IN HIS FIANCEE'S HEARING. Certainly she knows he's been cheating on her and he doesn't seem to make any bones about hiding it. I hope that when their son found the courage his dad didn't to love and marry his own peasant girl, he gave his father what for about it.
The revival does cut the "we can still be together" line, which I agree is really the point on the OBC where I go "EXCUSE ME?!?"
I do like how the musical does make Daniel superficially nice, even a little sympathetic--it demonstrates that racism/colorism isn't just the provenance of unpleasant, loudmouthed bigots but can manifest in well-meaning people as well. Not that it doesn't make his unwillingness to question/challenge his privilege any better, but still.
Guy goes even farther with the grand hommes' objectification of Desiree when she meets Andrea, whose reaction is basically "Oh, she's so pretty, can we keep her?"--as if she were a stray puppy that wandered onto the property. It's really uncomfortable.
The phillipine stage production (profesionaly filmed and uploaded on its entierty on UA-cam) re aranges the music to be on a faster tempo and IMO is my favorite instrumentation of the score
Remind of this one character off of Madouka Magicka, yes the blue magical girl who I forgot the name of. her story reminds of this play story and the little mermaid it is almost uncanny
According to an article I read Sayaka; (the girl in blue) was given Little Mermaid motifs to foreshadow her ending
Would you be open to doing a Musical Hell Review of the 1969 version of Goodbye Mr Chips?
For me, that's an example of a film that would have worked better with if it wasn't a Musical .
I watched that film up to the intermission but stopped because I was getting bored. I'll give it another chance soon. Matthew Kennedy's book "Roadshow" contains a lot of interesting information about the making of the film.
Great video.
Ironic this "Little Mermaid"-inspired story is about (anti-Black) racism, then you got all the racist reactions to Disney casting a Black Ariel for the "Little Mermaid" remake
Along with The Wiz and Cinderella with Brandy.
It's fun if you can make La Triviata, Carmen, The Beare of the Rose or Der Ring des Nibulungen (Lord of the Rings in the far future)...
How come the sound disappears at 6:05?
Because copyright didn't like the closing music (it was going to be "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix)
@@MusicalHell Too bad. I liked Once On This Island too. I saw a student production (my dad was a musician) and in the Jr. edition the racial element is removed, focusing solely on class. I tried multiple times to get a standing room seat to the revival but to no avail.
Doesn't Marie Christie have vodoo themes?
It does, and I actually hope Diva addresses Marie Christine. Though I myself have yet to see/listen to the entire show/soundtrack, seeing this review makes me think that show goes for the more mystical trope that Princess and The Frog and so on resort to, and I believe that's owing to the fact that the story is supposed to be a 1890's New Orleans retelling of the greek tragedy of Medea(which didn't really have much to do with Voodoo to begin with).
I don't want to automatically suspect that Michael John LaCuissa maybe running on the socially "accepted" stereotype of Voodoo in how he wrote that story(and end up leaving the internet to accuse him of cultural appropriation), but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case either(since anyone whose consumed mainstream media as kids might as well come to the same idea).
In fact, I remember reading a comment about of his musical Giant having not very accurately written Spanish lyrics here:
ua-cam.com/video/n4RnXLxSNv8/v-deo.html&lc=Ugw15-OLkQj0F8aU3Bl4AaABAg
Maybe when/if he ever gets to reworking both of these shows someday, someone from the cultural backgrounds he's tries trying to imitate can help him better reassess how he approaches said cultures with a little more nuance and accurate understanding.
I'm confused, what's the wrinkle of the choice to make the character of Asaka genderfluid in the 2017 revival? If anything, making the character genderfluid would be the solution to the dilemma!