Schmigadoon! - General Discussion

[allonsyalice]

me, trying to edit my book: talk to daddy, talk talk to daddy, he may be sad he is not ideal... 

[meep.meep]

I'm just relieved that Miss Hannigan/Kohler/whatever isn't running a foster home for dogs.  Imagine the outcry about that.

I think Aaron Tweit is getting a little old for the shirtless with leather vest roles.

[Lois Sandborne]

On 4/24/2023 at 3:07 PM, allonsyalice said:

me, trying to edit my book: talk to daddy, talk talk to daddy, he may be sad he is not ideal... 

Literally me as I was joining a Zoom call this morning. And here I thought "Bustin' Out" was catchy.

[Rinaldo]

7 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I think Aaron Tweit is getting a little old for the shirtless with leather vest roles.

Maybe so, especially when the newest episode has a line stressing his youth. I prefer to think of this as a knowing nod at the way most portrayers of Berger in Hair seem to be a little old for the role of leader of the flower children -- Gerome Ragni was 33 in the original Broadway cast, Will Swenson was 36 in the revival, and Treat Williams a mere lad at 27 for the movie.

[HelloooKitty]

Melissa’s solo was Maybe This Time with a little of Rose’s Turn mixed in, yes?

 

the JC Superstar is hitting hard this episode. 

[Clawdette]

I love the Jesus Christ Superstar touches.  I recognize them more easily than some of the others.

[allonsyalice]

7 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

Literally me as I was joining a Zoom call this morning. And here I thought "Bustin' Out" was catchy.

Okay of this continues there will be a reference in this book i cant even be mad! 
 

I think Tituss is theeee standout this season. His voice and comedic timing are just on point. (He was on a break!!!) 

I love Melissa’s song this episode, theyve been so so good this season. 

Me this morning: I hope Ann Harada does some singing!

I have been appeased. I loved the Ladies Who Lunch number. 

(Obligatory: yes i am still going to be I’ll Drink To That lady when I grow up.)

company is my favourite show and I was wondering if and how they’d incorporate it in this season since the vibes are so different and i gotta say I’m delighted at how they did it. 
 

Biggest laugh of the week for me was Jenny snapping for emphasis when she and Topher kicked Melissa and Josh out. 

[AnimeMania]

S02.E05: Famous as Hell

Convinced they're well on their way to a happy ending, Josh and Melissa both rocket to fame in Schmicago and get embroiled in a deadly plot.

Premiere Date: April 26, 2023   Apple TV+  

[Fake Jan Brady]

That Bacharach and David number was so spot on.

Also, this...

[Rinaldo]

3 hours ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

That Bacharach and David number was so spot on.

Yes, I could believe that duet at the bar was an actual Bacharach/David song , every nuance was right. But was it referring to one particular number from Promises, Promises? I kept trying to pin it down and couldn't.

[iMonrey]

I liked Melissa's solo and instantly recognized the nod to "Maybe This Time" but I didn't really recognize any of the other songs or like them very much. I did get a kick out of the narrator popping in and out of the flower children crowd egging them on.

[HelloooKitty]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

 

I liked Melissa's solo and instantly recognized the nod to "Maybe This Time" but I didn't really recognize any of the other songs or like them very much. I did get a

 

The “Fame” song was all kinds of Jesus Christ Superstar. Both in orchestration and lyrics.  Largely it pulled from “Hosanna”  but also “what’s the buzz” and “Simon zealotes” 

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I liked Melissa's solo and instantly recognized the nod to "Maybe This Time" but I didn't really recognize any of the other songs or like them very much. I did get a kick out of the narrator popping in and out of the flower children crowd egging them on.

I liked the Tituss and Tribe parts of Famous as Hell but was disappointed in the extra bits from the various other characters.

Jenny, my dear, you cannot run off with your lover and never show up to work and then complain that Melissa has stolen your job. You abandoned it. 

[lovett1979]

13 hours ago, Clawdette said:

I love the Jesus Christ Superstar touches.  I recognize them more easily than some of the others.

And I'm the opposite! I realize/assume it's JCS because of the bass guitar (and lack of lyric or melodic interest) but I don't know the specific references. But I can show you note-for-note how Dooley's music is derived from Sweeney Todd.

[Spartan Girl]

“That was a rhetorical question!” 😂😂😂

I love that they just threw the “I’ll drink to that” lady in the ensemble round of the “Famous As Hell” number for the heck of it.

Nothing melts the heart like orphans giving a present—unless you’re the evil headmistress fattening them up to eat them. Thank God Josh was astute enough to figure out something was up—“Even I know Sweeney Todd kills people!” —and call out Dooley for projecting his homicidal rage.

Aw man, next week’s the end already? We better get a season 3!

Edited April 26, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[Rinaldo]

27 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I love that they just threw the “I’ll drink to that” lady in the ensemble round of the “Famous As Hell” number for the heck of it.

I have a thought about her. But I'll keep it to myself until next week.

I loved that ensemble, by the way. A "finaletto" drawing the characters together, such as was common through the 1930s and 40s and still occasionally to be found in this period. How To Succeed has one, A Little Night Music has perhaps more than one, Sweeney Todd has its elopement quartet, and no doubt there are other examples. (Les Mis ends its first act with one, but that's out of period for this season.)

[QuantumMechanic]

New Playbill breakdown out!

https://playbill.com/article/jesus-christ-superstar-megamix-what-happened-in-episode-5-of-schmigadoon-season-2-schmicago

[allonsyalice]

Oh my god! I was wrong on all of my references bc I will never listen to an ALW show 😭

[tennisgurl]

I love that they included the I'll Drink To That lady in the big ensemble number, they know that she's the seasons real star.

Every time we saw the word "orfan" written out I snickered. 

The Jesus Christ Superstar vibes are awesome, its one of the few musicals my husband actually knows, along with Sweeny Todd, so he's really feeling like an expert the last few episodes. 

Melissa's solo was great, her voice really fits these sorts of songs. 

I cant believe next episode is the season finale, I wish we had just one or two more episodes. 

[allonsyalice]

I truly think Cecily should do a musical! Her voice blows me away every time. Her solo this ep was beautiful. 

[lovett1979]

Alan Cumming is the guest on Randy Rainbow's podcast this week. Their conversation was recorded a few months ago, though, so no real discussion of the contents of the show. However, Alan told a story about running into Sutton Foster and telling her about the name-check in episode 1. For some reason, I find that so charming.

[iMonrey]

Quote

And I'm the opposite! I realize/assume it's JCS because of the bass guitar (and lack of lyric or melodic interest) but I don't know the specific references. But I can show you note-for-note how Dooley's music is derived from Sweeney Todd.

I've seen Jesus Christ Superstar (the movie version) but it's been so long I don't really remember many of the songs aside from the title tune, This Jesus Must Die, and I Don't Know How to Love Him. All the other ones are going over my head. If they did more Hair or Godspell parodies I'd be more familiar with those.

[kwnyc]

On 4/26/2023 at 10:29 AM, Rinaldo said:

Yes, I could believe that duet at the bar was an actual Bacharach/David song , every nuance was right. But was it referring to one particular number from Promises, Promises? I kept trying to pin it down and couldn't.

I thought it was a riff on "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," which was in "Promises, Promises." (Though most everyone knows the DIonne Warwick version).

And YES to Cecily in a Broadway musical. Either one written for her or one where she absolutely fits the role. (Y'all can supply the titles...)

With "I'll drink to that," I wonder if it's a tweak at Patti Lupone (from "The Ladies Who Lunch"?) Everybody rise?

Edited April 27, 2023 by kwnyc

[Rinaldo]

6 hours ago, kwnyc said:

I thought it was a riff on "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," which was in "Promises, Promises." (Though most everyone knows the DIonne Warwick version).

That's the best-known song from the show, but I just don't hear any resemblance in lyrics, music, or situation. I'm open to instruction on the matter, though.

6 hours ago, kwnyc said:

With "I'll drink to that," I wonder if it's a tweak at Patti Lupone (from "The Ladies Who Lunch"?) Everybody rise?

Yes, of course it's a quote from that song, and we're to recognize it as such, along with the situation of a drunken lady in a bar. Patti LuPone is only one in a long line of famous Joannes, though (starting with Elaine Stritch and culminating in the trio of Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep, and Audra McDonald for Sondheim's birthday). If anybody specifically is being referenced, I'd venture that it's Stritch, with her famous devotion to the bottle and her preservation on that documentary about the original cast recording.

[xander874]

I saw Patti lament that she wanted to be in Schmigadoon but they told her she was too old. Not sure I fully believe that. I wonder if they wanted her to be the I'll Drink To That lady and she wasn't interested in the basic cameo.

This show is so stacked as it is, adding too many Broadway icons would overstuff this already overstuffed show (and I say that with love). 

[allonsyalice]

I feel like Patti is kinda saying stuff to say stuff. Cinco Paul dispelled this rumor on twitter.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Broadway by Ghostlight S2E5 breakdown out:

 

Edited April 28, 2023 by QuantumMechanic

[Rinaldo]

8 hours ago, xander874 said:

I saw Patti lament that she wanted to be in Schmigadoon but they told her she was too old. Not sure I fully believe that.

It's so easy for people, in all sincerity, to misremember what they're told if it's not what they wanted to hear. I truly can't picture a casting person, at this historical moment, telling an actress flat-out "You're too old." (There are and have always been so many ways to not cast someone without getting oneself in trouble.)

I can, possibly, see someone responding with something like "We've filled all the main female roles with the people carried over from last season; the only open parts with lines are the leaders of the flower children, and those are too small for someone of your stature plus they need to be fairly young" and her hearing it as a flat "You're too old." Or maybe I'm all wrong.

[Lois Sandborne]

On 4/26/2023 at 9:12 PM, allonsyalice said:

Oh my god! I was wrong on all of my references bc I will never listen to an ALW show 😭

I admire your convictions, but surely this doesn't include Evita?!

I don't think I laughed as much at anything this week as the hippie tribe trying to get Josh to parable them and Tituss egging them on. 

[allonsyalice]

17 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

I admire your convictions, but surely this doesn't include Evita?!

now it ESPECIALLY includes evita, thanks!

im just not an ALW girlie. Never really have been (unless you count for 4 month stretch when I was 10 and i would DIE for Phantom but now I'm older than 10 and my tastes have changed)

[SomeTameGazelle]

I decided to watch All That Jazz this weekend because I had convinced myself that the episode 1 repetitive daily grind of Josh and Melissa was evocative of Joe Gideon's morning routine. However I am not finding that it matches as closely as I expected -- Gideon has his Vivaldi, pills, Visine, and "It's Showtime!" but nothing that closely matches up with the ultrasound gel squirt, "that's the foot", Josh moving his patient's limb, day after day. Is there some other reference I am missing or did I just make up a connection to something that doesn't exist?

[Chippings]

Here's a reference that seemed obvious to me, but I haven't seen anybody noting it yet.  Behind Jaime Camil and Ann Harada singing "There's Always a Twist" the trio of girls in '60s frocks and flip hairdos seemed to me to resemble the trio that keeps popping up in "Little Shop of Horrors."  Did that strike anybody else?

In one of the analyses I saw a suggestion that were some trio from 'Follies' or 'Company', but this one struck me first.  

[Pebbles]

5 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I decided to watch All That Jazz this weekend because I had convinced myself that the episode 1 repetitive daily grind of Josh and Melissa was evocative of Joe Gideon's morning routine. However I am not finding that it matches as closely as I expected -- Gideon has his Vivaldi, pills, Visine, and "It's Showtime!" but nothing that closely matches up with the ultrasound gel squirt, "that's the foot", Josh moving his patient's limb, day after day. Is there some other reference I am missing or did I just make up a connection to something that doesn't exist?

I think it’s referencing the start of Cell Block Tango from Chicago - Pop Six Squish Uh uh Cicero Lipschitz.

[Rinaldo]

12 hours ago, Chippings said:

Behind Jaime Camil and Ann Harada singing "There's Always a Twist" the trio of girls in '60s frocks and flip hairdos seemed to me to resemble the trio that keeps popping up in "Little Shop of Horrors."  Did that strike anybody else?

In one of the analyses I saw a suggestion that were some trio from 'Follies' or 'Company', but this one struck me first.  

"There's Always a Twist" is dead-on Promises, Promises, even if we can't pin it down to a specific song; and that show has female back-up vocals throughout (there was a quartet singing from the pit), as part of that distinctive Bacharach sound. And the trio here actually reproduces some effects from that show, especially a riff from the title song. So I think we need look no further.

(Little Shop muddies the waters, being a 1982 spoof of the very pop sounds for which Bacharach invented his own hyper-stylized version. We've already had the Company female trio in the first episode. And there is no such ensemble in Follies -- I wish there were, because I'd love to see them refer to Follies, my favorite musical and one I've been researching for years.)

[allonsyalice]

Soundtrack releases tomorrow! What banger is gonna top your list?

[Chippings]

7 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

"There's Always a Twist" is dead-on Promises, Promises, even if we can't pin it down to a specific song; and that show has female back-up vocals throughout (there was a quartet singing from the pit), as part of that distinctive Bacharach sound. And the trio here actually reproduces some effects from that show, especially a riff from the title song. So I think we need look no further.

(Little Shop muddies the waters, being a 1982 spoof of the very pop sounds for which Bacharach invented his own hyper-stylized version. We've already had the Company female trio in the first episode. And there is no such ensemble in Follies -- I wish there were, because I'd love to see them refer to Follies, my favorite musical and one I've been researching for years.)

Thank you, Rinaldo.  I've never seen Follies, or Company on stage, which has left me at a pretty big disadvantage here in Schmicago.  Know many of the songs, but not the over-all or the details.  I appreciate your setting this out. 

[Rinaldo]

Thanks, @Chippings, but there are certainly vast areas here where I look to be informed by others -- I never got to know Godspell, and my Andrew Lloyd Webber knowledge is minimal (I did see Evita and Phantom of the Opera, and like one song from the latter). With Sondheim, my interest is both personal and professional (I taught History of American Musicals for years, and I've seen most of his shows in multiple productions over the years). 

It's fun that there are so many analyses of the episodes online, but some sites are more impressionistic than precise. The YouTube "Ghostlight" channel is usually excellent, and I've learned from it.

As for Promises, Promises, there really doesn't seem to be an exact model for the Jaime-Ann song in its score (though the sound is total Bacharach), but here's the number in the show that's a duet at a bar, which I'm linking because I love the rendition by Christine Baranski and Martin Short from the semi-staged Encores! production:

 

[Thalia]

I just rewatched "Famous as Hell" again and noticed something new.  At the very end of the song the Emcee ends the final "hell" by sticking his tongue and pulling it back in.  Like a serpent.  So many great throwaway bits and things going on in the background this season.  I only watched Season 1 once, but this one is going to be on my infinite rewatch loop.  

And seeing Titus Burgess onstage in a musical is now at the top of my bucket list. 

[QuantumMechanic]

1) The episode is out! (Dropped at 9pm EDT tonight)

2) 

Spoiler

So in the first season finale the final song hinted at this season by picking up a lot of 60s vibes (the style, the tambourines, etc.)

Anything like that this time around? I didn't get any sense of an era from that final song.

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by QuantumMechanic

[SomeTameGazelle]

All I am going to say for now is that I love this cast and would adore a season 3.

Spoiler

Happy endings don't exist. 😍🥰😍

 

[HelloooKitty]

Oops

Edited May 3, 2023 by HelloooKitty
Dear god that was a nightmare of a post I don’t know what I did but it was a mess!

[AnimeMania]

S02.E06: Over and Done
(Season Finale)

Will there be a happy ending? Josh and Melissa are presented with a life-changing choice.

Premiere Date: May 3, 2023   Apple TV+   

[allonsyalice]

direct Spotify link 🥰

[Spartan Girl]

Finally, Ariana gets to shine!

”No, don’t you dare sing to me, you psychopath! I shut down a dream ballet, I will shut down this!” LMAO!

Dooley and Miss Codwell literally just needed to bang the evil out of each other.

[allonsyalice]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Finally, Ariana gets to shine!

I read that she could only do 3 days of filming, and Im glad that that song was part of it! She's such a star. Of course she's booked and busy, and it's what she deserves!!

What does it say about me that I kind of loved the ending?I love how good Melissa and Josh are (especially together), and all the Schmicagoans got a version of a happy ending. 

But it is something you have to work towards and fight for, and I think I feel that every day.

I loved that the (twin!!) leprechauns are Oscar and Stephen. 

But I still wish we got eight episodes! Two more! Then we could really draw out that conclusion, that was my gripe with last season too, it felt so quick.

(GIVE ME RIVERAS ROCKY HORROR MOMENT, CINCO PAUL!)

I was telling my mom, though, (who, you must know, calls Aaron "the dedication guy" because I dedicated my debut novel to him) that this cast loves musicals and they love the show and they love doing it and that shines through every moment. It's a lil silly, it's a lot of fun and I'm grateful for it.

[Good Queen Jane]

The ending had to be a tribute to the Godspell movie, which ended with the tribe dancing down an empty city street, going around a corner and then being absorbed by the people in the suddenly crowded sidewalks.

[iMonrey]

48 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

The ending had to be a tribute to the Godspell movie, which ended with the tribe dancing down an empty city street, going around a corner and then being absorbed by the people in the suddenly crowded sidewalks.

Yeah I caught that too.

This finale was low on songs and high on exposition but I don't hate that. They wrapped things up pretty well.

If I had one little nitpick about this season overall it's that I don't think the different genres blended as well as the first season. It was such a strange mash-up of gritty, sex-driven shows like Cabaret, Chicago and Sweet Charity, and hippy-dippy fare like Hair and Godspell, with Sweeney Todd and Annie thrown in for good measure. And then Dream Girls on top of that. None of it really meshed as well as the shows they parodied in Season 1. Still good, just maybe not as consistent. There were just too many different eras depicted here so it didn't make as much sense.

And while each season was short enough to leave me wanting more, I kind of don't mind in retrospect, because I can re-watch them over and over again in a short amount of time. They are both basically 3-hour musicals.

Melissa's vintage wedding dress really was beautiful.

[Rinaldo]

Well, so much for my theory that the "I'll drink to that!" lady would turn out to be Dooley's wife / Jenny's mother, secretly alive after all. I really thought they were preparing for that, with her only being heard at a distance when Dooley went to the nice restaurant (so he wouldn't have seen her there) and him generally staying in a different neighborhood of Schmicago.

At least the "Melissa learns to accept imperfect rhymes" theory  didn't pan out either. Accepting imperfection in life is one thing, but approximate rhymes are the work of the devil. 😉

"Dreamgirls" was obvious, and I got a Kander/Ebb vibe from one moment, but mostly the songs didn't seem to me to have clear models. I'll look forward to learning more from those more expert.

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Rinaldo

[lovett1979]

5 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

Well, so much for my theory that the "I'll drink to that!" lady would turn out to be Dooley's wife / Jenny's mother, secretly alive after all. I really thought they were preparing for that, with her only being heard at a distance when Dooley went to the nice restaurant (so he wouldn't have seen her there) and him generally staying in a different neighborhood of Schmicago.

I too was hoping that she would turn out to be the wife/mom. In Sweeney, The Beggar Woman is the only character that doesn't seem to be involved in the plot until the discovery at the end. Likewise, as much fun as it is to have a drunk lady quoting Company in the background, she's the only character that isn't really involved in any of the plots. Making her Daisy would have been much better story-telling AND a better reference to the source material.

[justmehere]

4 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

The ending had to be a tribute to the Godspell movie, which ended with the tribe dancing down an empty city street, going around a corner and then being absorbed by the people in the suddenly crowded sidewalks.

I missed that! Did notice/like that the scene was black-and-white, but the two of them were in color, people behind them were in color, and as they went, the whole scene blossomed.

Was the chandelier fall a Phantom reference? That began in the 80s, yes? And with Dreamgirls too...