Someone Does, So What To Do?
Six Suggestions To Musical Theater Writers:
1. Please don't make your actors belt and/or wail unless their characters really mean it.
2. Please don't write characters who really mean it ALL THE TIME.
3. Please don't try to write rock music if you don't know anything about rock music.
4. Please don't write bad music.
5. Please write at least one melody per act that I'll remember five minutes later.
6. Please don't write a musical unless you REALLY NEED TO.
Last night, after the first act of a terrible musical, I zoomed downtown to the Anti-Hoot, desperate to hear moderately-talented people like myself play really, really good songs. My favorite act was a guy from Staten Island, who spent his first three minutes on stage tuning his guitar. Most of the song consisted of really clunky rhymed couplets, but the guitar part was really cool, and he was honest and unpretentious. Domino played a great song called "Bathroom People," which was self-explanatory. A guy from Portland sang a surf-influenced eulogy to a spider he accidentally washed down the drain.
The Anti-Hoot makes me feel good.
On a side note, as the means of cultural production become more democratic, more of my friends become music video stars. I'd like to share with you a sampling of anti-folk video greatness:
Schwervon: "Groundhog"
Huggabroomstik: "Mushroom Clouds"
Slow Hand Motem: "Super Hans"
Love
Dan
1. Please don't make your actors belt and/or wail unless their characters really mean it.
2. Please don't write characters who really mean it ALL THE TIME.
3. Please don't try to write rock music if you don't know anything about rock music.
4. Please don't write bad music.
5. Please write at least one melody per act that I'll remember five minutes later.
6. Please don't write a musical unless you REALLY NEED TO.
Last night, after the first act of a terrible musical, I zoomed downtown to the Anti-Hoot, desperate to hear moderately-talented people like myself play really, really good songs. My favorite act was a guy from Staten Island, who spent his first three minutes on stage tuning his guitar. Most of the song consisted of really clunky rhymed couplets, but the guitar part was really cool, and he was honest and unpretentious. Domino played a great song called "Bathroom People," which was self-explanatory. A guy from Portland sang a surf-influenced eulogy to a spider he accidentally washed down the drain.
The Anti-Hoot makes me feel good.
On a side note, as the means of cultural production become more democratic, more of my friends become music video stars. I'd like to share with you a sampling of anti-folk video greatness:
Schwervon: "Groundhog"
Huggabroomstik: "Mushroom Clouds"
Slow Hand Motem: "Super Hans"
Love
Dan
Tax Deductible Donations
Dan Fishback is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Dan Fishback may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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