"I'll Do Anything"
Tom Gross
We've been off the net for a couple of weeks... I tried to
post this before but I don't think it got out... So my
apologies if you DID see this before, but here's my account
of test-screening "I'll Do Anything", the musical:
In article <CL7qJ...@dcs.ed.ac.uk> b...@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Ben Curry) writes:
>Anybody out there know how I can get a copy of the script to The Rocky Horror Picture
>Show, an audience participation one would be nice.
>Thanks, Ben.
In article <2iseg4$4...@news.acns.nwu.edu> pack...@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Matthew Packwood) writes:
>Alas, the test audiences hated the songs, so Brooks cut all but one out. I
>haven't seen the movie yet, but most of the critics I am aware of are pretty
>much panning this movie BECAUSE of the apparent need for those songs to
>provide dramatic flow. I am planning on seeing the movie, but I would hope
>that Brooks would consider releasing (possibly on video?) the movie as it was
>originally intended, with all the songs included.
>
>My suspicion regarding the test audiences' reactions is that Brooks chose
>songwriters who were unable to effectively create songs that would be
>ultimately believable in a cinematic context (a difficult task, it seems)
>and that _worked_ with the movie's tone. Needless to say, Prince and Sinead
>O'Connor don't strike me as songwriters who would be able to pull this
>off--and apparently they weren't. It is my opinion that perhaps Brooks
>should have considered composers with more experience in creating music that
>works well in a dramatic context--for example, Stephen Sondheim. Surely with
>all his experience in theatre (and even in movies, like _Dick Tracy_),
>Sondheim would have been quite suitable as the composer for this revival of
>the movie musical. Or maybe Brooks wanted to go for the pop-music style...
>like the atrociously bad music in _Nightmare Before Christmas_ (no flames
>please). If that is what the result was, I'd rather NOT see the original.
>
I was in the original test audience last August (and posted
an article here about my experience at the time). I thought
it wasn't just a bad movie, I loathed the film, and was even
especially angry that they didn't bother to ask us for our
comments when it was all over; I really wanted to tell them
exactly why and how much I hated the film. What I remember
really hating even more than the songs was the attitude
expressed towards children - the girl is made to play such
an obnoxious brat that I got the feeling that James Brooks
really hates kids, and we are supposed to share in that
attitude.
As for the songs, I had no idea they were written by Prince
and Carole King, or that the ridiculous dance numbers were by
Twyla Tharp. The songs were 1.) just terrible (but not at all
rock tunes, just really really bad broadway show tunes type
stuff, something maybe your next door neighbor would write for
a community player production). 2.) incredibly innapropriate
and simply in BAD TASTE. The point that really turned us,
the test audience, against the film was when Tracey Ullman is
singing good bye to her daughter when she is being taken away
to prison, telling her (singing to her) to remember to brush
her teeth. Was this supposed to be funny? There is nothing
more disturbing to a parent than the thought of being forcibly
separated from a small child - this is why the movie really
offended me. All the stories about the test audiences reacting
poorly to the songs are huge understatements; WE HATED THIS
FILM.
I am of course now very curious about how they managed to release
this thing... can't wait for it to come out on video.
another low point of the film was the bizarre dance routine that
the test audience breaks into (in the film) while they are
waiting to be admitted to the theater. the irony of all this
was not lost on anyone, sitting at the test screening, after
being carefully questioned about our professional affiliation
(we had to present picture IDs and business cards - they asked
me what "computervision" does exactly) to make sure we weren't
in the movie business.
/tom