Musicals—22

Shall we take a Christmas musical break? By that I mean, let’s not continue down the decade by decade look at musicals this week. Let’s put a pin in the 90s and come back to it next week. Let’s go watch a Christmas musical.

I know I’ve talked about it before, but this is the perfect time to watch White Christmas [1954]. I don’t care if you’re too busy, have too many presents to wrap, don’t celebrate Christmas, or hate sap—this is tasty sap. Promise.

Here’s a classic clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n3-UtakD3I. Let it take you back in time. Because that’s what old movies do—take us to a time we can only imagine. And old musicals take us there with the added benefit of allowing us to experience the music of the time.

Try to look at this musical with a writer’s eyes. Notice how people just sing to each other as if it was a natural part of being human—they make it seem normal. If you were going to rewrite this musical for today’s audiences, how could you change that? That question when we’re talking about musicals of “why do the people sing?” is always a good one. And you need to think about that, be able to answer it logically.

Also, notice the premise of the film. WWII had ended several years before the action of the film but it was a war that allowed different people to interact. Our two main characters met each other when a lowly private saved the life of his famous captain. And the private uses that to his advantage, and after the war the two team up and become a musical duo, easily rising to stardom.

What I find interesting about that premise is that it’s timely. Everyone in the audience was touched by the war, and like the general in the film, they’ve come back to a country that has no place for them—and yet, it’s a country that’s grateful for what they sacrificed. White Christmas is able to straddle that dichotomy. So it’s timely.

So let’s say you were going to remake it. How would you do that? Is there a timely event that we all share that could be the backdrop for what your characters are going through? And how would you change the end? Because the idea of things hinging on a live network TV show wouldn’t be possible anymore as we’re all streaming what we want when we want it. How would you fix that so that your remake would work?

So you can ask yourself some of those questions as you watch the film—but I’d encourage you to just watch the film. Relax into another time, relax into different kinds of songs, relax into the safety of the past and enjoy dreaming of a white Christmas. I watch it every year—it’s simple, lyrical and it makes me smile. Who could ask for anything more?

Happy holidays!!!

Copyright © Diane Lake

22Dec19

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