Each summer one of the big musicals comes to Montreal for a month, and this year it was one of my favourites; Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked. I’ve seen this show on Broadway (twice) and Toronto, and still love it. For those of you not familiar with the show, it is based on Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked. This is a splinter-sharp prequel to The Wizard of Oz, focussing on the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz collaborated with Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book (i.e. the storyline and dialogue) for the musical. They made the decision to tone down the political undertone of the book and to focus on the friendship between Elphaba, the green skinned girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and social butterfly Galinda (later Glinda the Good). I understand this is in no small part due to the chemistry between Kristin Chenoweth and Stephanie J Block during the initial workshops, so my thanks to those two fine actresses. Now, this isn’t my favourite musical in terms of score – currently that would probably be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies – but having said that, there are a few hummable tunes…
Each summer one of the big musicals comes to Montreal for a month, and this year it was one of my favourites; Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked. I’ve seen this show on Broadway (twice) and Toronto, and still love it. For those of you not familiar with the show, it is based on Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked. This is a splinter-sharp prequel to The Wizard of Oz, focussing on the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz collaborated with Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book (i.e. the storyline and dialogue) for the musical. They made the decision to tone down the political undertone of the book and to focus on the friendship between Elphaba, the green skinned girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and social butterfly Galinda (later Glinda the Good). I understand this is in no small part due to the chemistry between Kristin Chenoweth and Stephanie J Block during the initial workshops, so my thanks to those two fine actresses. Now, this isn’t my favourite musical in terms of score – currently that would probably be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies – but having said that, there are a few hummable tunes…
Recently, the UK’s The Guardian posted an article on the world’s most difficult books. These are: Nightwood by Djuna Barnes; A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift; The Phenomenology of Spirit by GF Hegel; To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf; Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson; Finnegans Wake by James Joyce; Being and Time by Martin Heidegger; The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser; The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein; and Women and Men by Joseph McElroy. Now, I’ve not read any of these so I cannot comment on their level of difficulty. However, I did think this sounded like an interesting blogging challenge. There is also one book I will personally add to the list: No Place on Earth, by Christa Wolf. This was one of my set books at university and I could never get to grips with it. Maybe after, um, quite a few more years of life experience I may find it easier. I will not be starting this blog challenge straight away – I have several books I’m reading currently, and ones I’m waiting to read so the challenge will have to wait a bit. It’s unlikely I’ll read…
Recently, the UK’s The Guardian posted an article on the world’s most difficult books. These are: Nightwood by Djuna Barnes; A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift; The Phenomenology of Spirit by GF Hegel; To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf; Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson; Finnegans Wake by James Joyce; Being and Time by Martin Heidegger; The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser; The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein; and Women and Men by Joseph McElroy. Now, I’ve not read any of these so I cannot comment on their level of difficulty. However, I did think this sounded like an interesting blogging challenge. There is also one book I will personally add to the list: No Place on Earth, by Christa Wolf. This was one of my set books at university and I could never get to grips with it. Maybe after, um, quite a few more years of life experience I may find it easier. I will not be starting this blog challenge straight away – I have several books I’m reading currently, and ones I’m waiting to read so the challenge will have to wait a bit. It’s unlikely I’ll read…