Songs about Windows
In a push to get warm bodies into theater seats, opera houses and musical theatre companies are pursuing some … interesting trends.
Opera composers have begun tackling such subjects as Mumar Khadaffi and Bill Gates. Musical producers, on the other hand, are threading songs by ABBA, Billy Joel, Elton John and Queen into productions. Up next — a staging of Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
Modern operas have tackled such subject as President Richard Nixon’s visit to China (Nixon in China by John Adams) and Albert Einstein (Einstien on the Beach by Phillip Glass), so it’s not exactly unprecedented.
But re-purposing pop songs into a theater production? That just smacks of royalty pimping to me.
Whatever works …
P.S. I still want to see that musical about W. Axl Rose.