Thomsen Talk: March 2016
I hate musicals.
What is “Things you’ll never hear Brandon Thomsen say,” Alex.
I’m a sucker for musical theatre, but there are many out there who despise it (dare I say with a passion), and I can understand why. We’re talking… we’re talking… and then suddenly… we’re SINGING!!! Oh, no… and now…. oh please no…. now we’re DANCING!!!! Oh come on!!!! Who does this in “real life”?
I argue that often those who don’t like musicals have been exposed to bad productions of them. You see, if a musical is well-written and well-performed, the transition from the spoken word to singing should be seamless and absolutely necessary. What I mean by that is this: The emotion and passion is so great within a character that mere words are not nearly enough. S/he is transcended to a higher level where the only way s/he can communicate is through the universal language: music.
It was once said of my late friend Russ Goodell that he had music pouring out of him. On stage, the inner music of the character is released and embraced. There is something inside of us that HAS to come out. It’s like the need to scream. Why do we do it? Because it’s the only way we can move on. I have to scream OR ELSE! That’s what a good song in a good musical should feel like. By the end of the song, the character has gone on a necessary journey and taken the audience on the ride.
I invite you to take the ride to Camelot this March and listen to some of the most beautiful songs ever written, but hear them not as hummable tunes but as a character’s search for comfort, answers, and truth.