Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Most of the tracks are lots of fun
Cons: A few are overly
sad.
The Bottom Line:
More Peanuts music
More Peanuts music
Most of these songs are so fun
Must for fans of strip
Lesser Known but Still a Fun Soundtrack
Lesser Known but Still a Fun Soundtrack
If you ask someone to name a musical based on the comic
strip Peanuts, you'll immediately hear about You're a Good Man, Charlie
Brown. But there was a follow up called
Snoopy: The Musical. While not quite as
good as the first one, there are still lots of fun songs here.
I have never seen the actual play, but only because I've
never had a chance. I did see the hour
long animated version they made in the 80's, and this one follows the format of
the original. Basically, this is a day
in the life kind of play where each scene is something different and doesn't
really tell one complete story. The
songs reflect this, and each one stands on its own. That makes the soundtrack very accessible to
anyone.
As far as I can tell, there are two recordings of the
soundtrack. There is one from a San Francisco cast, but
it doesn't appear to be complete. I've
also heard that the voices are annoying, but since I haven't listened to it, I
can't comment. Based on that
information, I bought this disc, the Original London Cast. I was worried that the British accents might
bother me since these are supposed to be the Peanuts kids, but honestly I don't
notice it at all except a couple of times when the characters are talking.
Ironically enough since this is named Snoopy: The Musical,
most of the songs about Snoopy or that he sings aren't really my
favorites. For example, the first song,
"The World According to Snoopy" is okay but pretty much only because
it is the intro. "Snoopy's
Song" isn't much better as he complains about his life.
I love Peanuts, so I realize there has always been an
undercurrent of sadness to the strip.
However, a couple of Snoopy's songs go far beyond that. "Mother's Day" is about how Snoopy
misses his mom and how he'd love to be back with her. There are all kinds of things that are
supposed to be funny in here about how Snoopy knows how much his mom loved him
because she made sure he got picked by a family before his brothers. Sorry, but I don't find it that funny. Likewise, his longing to return to
"Daisy Hill" because his life was better there doesn't resonate well
with me.
On the other hand, some of his other songs are pretty
good. "The Big Bow-Wow" is a
fun showstopper about how he's going to be the most famous dog. It has lots of references to other famous
dogs, too. But my favorite of his songs
is "The Great Writer." I've
always loved Snoopy's failed writing career, and this is a classic bad story as
he sets out to write a novel that makes absolutely no sense. He even thinks hard over his opening line
before arriving at "It was a dark and stormy night." This song has lots of talking/singing for the
story, but there is a chorus that Snoopy does sing.
Almost all of the rest of the 20 tracks on this CD are
great. The rest of the cast consists of
Charlie Brown and Linus for the guys and Lucy, Sally, and Peppermint Patty on
the women's side. Very few of them get solos,
so it's a bit of a surprise that Peppermint patty gets two. "Hurry Up Face" is about her desire
to appear more mature. But I absolutely
love "Poor Sweet Baby." It's a
hauntingly beautiful song she sings to Charlie Brown after he confesses his
desire to be married to someone who would comfort him by calling him poor sweet
baby. Charlie Brown's big solo is
"Where Did that Little Dog Go?"
Here, he sings about how Snoopy doesn't seem to need him like he did as
a puppy.
But my favorite of the rest of the cast solos is "The
Vigil." This song finds Linus
waiting very impatiently for The Great Pumpkin to show up in the pumpkin
patch. It's upbeat tempo really gets his
impatience across, and I can't help but laugh as he keeps talking himself to
waiting longer and longer.
And there are plenty of songs for groups of some kind. For example, the three ladies sing "I
Know Now" about all the wisdom they have learned in their life. They start out slowly a cappella, but then
the orchestra comes in and the tempo picks up.
Then there's "Edgar Allen Poe" which finds the
kids worried about having to answer questions about the famous writer in class
when they aren't prepared. Well, Linus
is prepared, and you can learn quite a bit about the writer from this
song. It's in a minor key with a very
catchy melody.
"Clouds" finds the gang seeing incredible sights
in the clouds floating by overhead.
"When Do the Good Things Start?" features the entire cast as
they figure out how they will wait for something exciting to happen. "Don't Be Anything Less Than Everything
You Can Be" features lots of comparisons designed to motivate you to be
better. You've got to listen carefully
to all the words in this one. It's
pretty funny. Finally, "Just One
Person" slows things down for the final number about how encouragement
from one person can grow.
The accompaniment is pretty standard Broadway here. We've got an orchestra that plays for almost
all of the songs. There are three
instrumental tracks as well. Most of the
group numbers are fairly upbeat but the individual songs fall into the
mid-tempo to slower range. There's
enough variety here to keep you interested from start to finish. What's amazing is the adults manage to have
childlike voices without being overly childish and annoying. They really capture their characters well.
It's a shame that Snoopy: The Musical isn't that well
known. If these songs are any
indication, I think I'd really like it.
Cast:
Teddy Kemdner - Snoopy
Zoe Bright - Lucy
Mark Hadfield - Linus
Susie Blake - Sally
Nicky Croydon - Peppermint Patty
Robert Locke - Charlie Brown
Anthony Best - Woodstock
(To the best of my knowledge, he doesn't sing here)
CD Length: 58:40
Tracks:
1. Overture
2. The World According to Snoopy
3. Snoopy's Song
4. Woodstock 's
Theme
5. Hurry Up Face
6. Edgar Allen Poe
7. Mother's Day
8. I Know Now
9. The Vigil
10. Clouds
11. Where Did That Little Dog Go?
12. Dime a Dozen
13. Daisy Hill
14. When Do the Good Things Start?
15. Entr'acte
16. The Great Writer
17. Poor Sweet Baby
18. Don't Be Anything Less Than Everything You Can Be
19. The Big Bow-Wow
20. Just One Person/Bows
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.