I realized the other day that I had not done another “perfect album” review in a while.
As a result you get this posting on the cast recording of the musical “Title of Show”.
NOTE – this album has quite a bit of adult language. Not for kids or people that don’t like foul language and life style choice language.
For those that have never heard of this show, that is ok, I hadn’t heard of it either before my wife and I went and saw the show at the Herberger Theater in Phoenix back in 2010. It is a musical about 2 guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical. I know it sounds complicated, but it was a good musical. I enjoyed it so much that I bought the soundtrack/cast recording.
This album follows the course of designing/writing a Broadway show. The music isn’t big – there is a piano and 4 singers.
The album opens with “Untitled Opening Number”. It is a great opening sound talking about what it takes to create a new show and the initial brainstorming that goes into it. I like that they describe, through song, things like “We’ll cross down stage before you, and we’ll yell in fortissimo”, and “It’s not very long, but it’s the starting point of this musical.” It just pulls you into the musical. You are wondering what is going to come next.
The next sound is “Two Nobodies in New York” continues with the brainstorming of what they want in their musical. And all the while they are asking themselves questions like, “Are we writing for art? Is art a springboard to fame?” The piano is a few simple notes during the verses to set the beat and allow the listener to hear what the singer are trying to get across. In the second chorus they start to worry about if they become famous will that make them look like sellouts? It is a valid question for lots of parts of life. If you get paid well for what you do and enjoy have you sold out to that? I don’t think so. If you are good at it then you should get paid well to do it. “Key Change” In the third verse I like that they interrupt the song to discuss the finer points of words that rhyme and don’t rhyme to fit in a line of the song “Sweeter vs Theater”. Does success ruin people? That is what the song is really getting at I think. I think that they want to be successful but are concerned about the result of that success. They don’t answer that in this song, but it at least asks the question.
Next comes “An Original Musical”. This takes place as a daydream one of the characters is having while trying to work on writing the script. He thinks the paper is singing to him. I like this song because they talk about how musicals are based on things like plays, books, and movies. This leads to two great lines, “So, movies make good musicals? Well, they make musicals.” That is so true. Some are good, and some are bad. They also talk about how TV/pop/movie stars are what people want to see, and the person having the dream says they want their musical to mean something. The retort is simply, “You want your —- to make money?” Also, so true. Sometimes this works out well, but there are times that it is a miserable failure. So, why do you go see a musical, the people in it or the quality of the show? This song is full of language, but they even address that. “Whoa! Is all that language appropriate or even necessary?” The reply “I am blank paper, your blank paper, make me say something else.” They end the song with a Jesus joke, and how a lot of people thank Jesus in their bios even though they clearly have nothing to really do with Jesus. Try making something original in one’s life is what I get out of this little song.
Up next is “Monkeys and Playbills”, which honestly isn’t my favorite song on the album, but it does keep the story going in the musical. It is another song about the writing process for the 2 guys writing the play. They reference a bunch of different other plays and musicals. They talk about how you can try and gain ideas from former plays and musicals. It has a lot of references that, like me, if you aren’t in the deep know you have no idea what they are talking about. But it is fun. The song starts off very soft, and then picks up about a minute in. A rescuing theme in the song is being on a speedboat as they move along taking in things as fast as they can so they write as quickly as they can. This is a good example of life at times. We try to move as fast as we can to get as much information as we can and then turn it into something we can use. It doesn’t always work well for people. I know it doesn’t always work well for me. I need to slow down sometimes. But this song is all about doing things fast and so if you have to “steal” ideas from other places that is a route one can take.
”The Tony Award Song” is a brief little song that is sung by one cast member and them gets interrupted by another cast member to say basically say, “You can’t do that because the joke about a Tony Award is too easy in a a musical like this.” So, just a bridge basically to the next part of the show.
Up next is “Part of It All”, which is a pleasant song about what it would mean if they guy do hit it big and start getting recognized around Broadway. How much their life would approve if they made it big. This is true in some many people’s lives. They want that financial stability so they don’t have to “worry” about what will come next, or where their next meal will come from. This song just puts it in the point of view of writing a Broadway musical. The song does end with a bit if a sad note that the success will come to an end most likely and then they won’t be known, they won’t have the money, they won’t be able to do anything on Broadway. This is something that many people miss when making it big. They think it will last forever. It may not. But the song then finally lifts up again and saying, “You need to rise back up, and just start over again.” So, don’t give up. Life will have hard times and good times.
”I Am Playing Me” is a fun song where one of the ladies in the show is basically talking about how her role in the musical is what her real life is. So she gets to play herself. She talks about how the role doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, and does that mean her life isn’t going anywhere either. There is a bridge where two of the other characters have a talk about how the writing is going and how they don’t just want to write a show that no one will remember. They want to make a difference. So many of us in life want to make a difference, but we don’t. I am not much for difference making in all honesty. I am sure I make a difference in people’s lives as a teacher, but it isn’t my goal in life.
The next song is sung only by the ladies in the show – “What Kind of Girl is She”. The harmonies in this song work so well. They spend time comparing each other to each other. They talk about what the other one has and how that is a good thing. Then the song turns to comparisons getting envious and they start yelling (singing) at each other. Then it just kind of runs its course and they realize they may be able to be friends.
Next up is my favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite songs overall – “Die Vampire, Die”. This is a song all about the challenges people face in life when trying to do anything, like write an original broadway musical. (There is language in this one). When you start wot produce something the doubt will start to sweep in and you need to stake those vampires. Then the song talks about the 3 ways you can get torn down – the “Vampire Hunting Guide”.
- Pigmy Vampire – They fly around your head like gnats, and tell you that there are others that have all done it before you and better than you. They tell you that you aren’t good enough to do what your goals are. They are external to you.
- Air-freshener Vampire – These are the “nice” people telling you your work needs to be changed. That you are being to harsh, mean, foul, etc. and that your work is offending someone. So, you have to “pine-smell freshen up” your work to make everyone happy, but of course that will dilute your work to nothing. Again an external voice to you.
- Vampire of Despair (“The mother of all Vampires”) – This is an internal voice that “wakes you at 2 in the morning to tell you all the bad things you are thinking about”. These are things that if an outside voice said it to you then you would never believe them, but since it was from inside your own head you think it is the truth. By far the hardest vampire to defeat.
The sound ends saying, you just need to kill all those vampires and strive for that goal. One can achieve their goals if they don’t lose that focus. Kill those vampires. I love this song of hope in light of the despair that one can face.
The show moves into the show being completed and now they are going to festivals to show off their show, and they stalk about this with “Filling Out the Form”. The title is very descriptive as what happens in the song. It is all about filling out a form. They talk about how their show doesn’t fit in with a traditional show, and how they are looking for finding someone to produce their show. Of course by the end of the song it kind of falls apart signing wise because they all want to be heard. Then the harmonies come back so they can unify and have a show people want to see.
Now we are at the festival in “September Song”. This song is all about the challenges and stresses of what it means to be at a festival. They want their show to be perfect, like everyone else does. They want to be ready to do the best performance of their lives, of course everyone else there does also. There is funny interlude in the song about nudity and lesbian kissing, and how that can sell tickets. How true in the world we live in. There are still so many things that shock people, and that is what often sells in the world. It may not be right, but that is sin for you. Again the harmonies are well done and elevate the song. They talk about getting reviews and how they can affect people. The good reviews are great and the bad reviews can bring you down. You tell yourself to ignore the bad reviews and focus on the good, but we all know how hard that is.
Time for another song sung by the ladies – “Secondary Characters”. This is almost a bridge type song. The guys have left the stage and they get to have some “time off”. They talk about smoking, steering the ship of the show, and more. They talk about how this is a time they can get to know each other better, and become best friends. The song ends with guys coming back on stage and one of the ladies just blames the other one for all the loud noise happening on stage. Basically, throwing her under the bus. A funny end to the song. Just a quick bridge, and then it leads to the next song.
Which is “A Way Back to Then”. This is a song about being a kid and what drew them to where they are now. It is a beautiful, slow song that focuses on the dreams we have a kids. We have confidence that we lose as we grow up. We move on from being a kid and try take what we want, but then life sets in and we realize it isn’t what we were thinking it was going to be like when we were kids. Then, when you least you expect it there is an opportunity that you weren’t expecting come up, and that takes you somewhere and with someone(s) that is amazing. It is leads you to where you always thought you would be “You’re that little girl, with you wings unfurled, flying again.” Just like you were when you were that little 9 year old with dreams flying around your yard.
As it gets nearer to the end the “guys” realize that there is so much they can put into this musical, and that they can listen to all the advise in the world, but then they have to decide what advise to take and that is what “Nine People’s Favorite Thing” is all about. They talk about being distinct or mediocre. They talk about how what they are doing won’t appeal to everyone, but they don’t care. The chorus line of “I’d rather be 9 people’s favorite thing, then 100 people’s ninth favorite thing” really sums up their show. They know that things aren’t going to be perfect, but they really want to make a difference even if it only makes a difference for a few people. I totally get that. I don’t care about affecting lots of people, I want to make a real difference in a few lives. That is why I like being there for my kids. They know that what they are producing may not make them famous or rich and that they may have hard times ahead, but they want to enjoy what they are doing and have some people really enjoy it as well. I really like the bridge in the song about the baking constant and how one person’s idea that rice crispy treats may not be everyone’s favorite, but as long as it is one person’s then that is what matters to them.
Then we make it to the “Finale”. A great conclusion to the musical about 2 guys writing a musical about 2 guys writing a musical. “We can’t just keep adding in everything that happens to us” is so true. They have done what they want and they just need to get it out there and see what happens.
”This is the last line of our … show”
But wait there is a bonus track called “[title of show]” – it is a song that was basically cut from the musical. It is random song with lots of things. The 4 cast members, piano player, and the tech all get to say hello to the listener. It is clearly not the best song and therefore it makes sense that it was cut from the musical. I do like it more than some of the other songs, but it is a good cut form the musical. It is a fun song. I like the section where they talk about trying to make the musical title “title of Show” a noun, verb, etc. something like “Netflix and Chill”.
So, if you get a chance to see this musical I would say you should. Of course you need to be ready for language and LGB talk and support. The musical is fun, but it isn’t as good if you haven’t seen the show itself. But it is one of my favorite albums. I love hearing it. So, that is why I decided to do a write up on it.