I know he's been "eccentric" for years, bless him for that, but has Argento finally gone "pazzo"?


FANGORIA Article on DEEP RED: THE MUSICAL

You gotta love the whole musical adaptation of horror film trend...I'm still waiting for Plan 9 From Outer SpAC/DC...

I think it's a great idea. A lot of people are still laboring under the false impression that to musicalize something means diminishing the potency of the original work, somehow. Musical theatre is a much more artistically serious business, these days. Actually, it has been for decades. Of course CARRIE: THE MUSICAL became such a joke that it's probably damaged the perception of the artform.

Of course, even as I write this the musical version of LEGALLY BLONDE is set to open soon in New York. But I guess that's more of a lateral move.

Actually, PLAN 9 was turned into a late-nite cult musical way back when I was in college - the late 80's. Ed Wood was experiencing a rennaisance, of sorts. The show was called THE BIG PLAN NINE and it ran in Kansas City forever, then moved on to other parts of the country. I don't think it's been produced in awhile. Probably a bit dated, now.

My favorite musicalization of a horror film was the avant-garde rock band Squonk Opera's version of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. It was produced by the City Theatre in Pittsburgh back in the mid-90's. Mark Masterson was the artistic director, at the time - he's now at Actor's Theatre of Louisville. It was really quite brilliant. The band scored the movie with their own music, then played the music live and acted out the parts in front of a movie screen which played the movie: Avant-garde, postmodern deconstructionism...whatever you want to call it. It was a hoot.

D.

I actually saw a great musical version of Forbidden Planet off-Broadway many many years ago, which was a pretty weird morph - from stage as the Tempest to sci-fi flick to musical.

I also saw some group do a musical live cover of Creature from the Black Lagoon not too long ago. The highlight was one of the musicians wearing a Creature mask and making a speech about how he had been wronged.

If DEEP RED were to become an opera, then maybe. But as a piece with musical numbers...I dunno, it just sounds like insanity, if you ask me.

This is fascinating to me.

Not so much about wondering if the DEEP RED musical itself would be any good, but rather helping me see what Argento was thinking when he originally conceived of DEEP RED (and also, particularly, perhaps, INFERNO). The Hollywood musical as a template for the pacing, structure, and mise-en-scene of Argento's movies -- much interesting stuff to think about on that one.