Thursday, July 14, 2005

I may be embalmed using secret Soviet methods, but my musical legacy lives on!

I heard a commercial on the radio the other day for Lennon The Musical. I'm a huge Beatles fan; I know all the words to all their songs, I can quote whole sections of A Hard Day's Night, and I had an extensive collection of Beatles posters on my walls through high school. All these things said, I don't think we need a musical biography of John Lennon. I do think we need a musical biography of Vladimir I. Lenin. As Lauren suggested, one song would have to feature spelling out a word, perhaps "Kapital?" The Trotsky death scene will be as dramatic as the chandelier crashing down in Phantom, and I envision a Don Giovanni style haunting of Stalin carried out by our protagonist subject himself. I see it as a smash hit.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh dear.

Anonymous said...

"It is after hours at Lenin's mausoleum. The shuffling visitors have shuffled off, the guards have gone home for the night and the only person left is Alexei Miscin, the man who has one of the Soviet Union's most seemingly secure jobs..."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/story/0,3604,752476,00.html

Not quite what you have in mind, but rather fantastic, nonetheless.

Anonymous said...

Well, I doubt the Trotsky "death" scene would be dramatic, since he lived for a whole day after Roman Mercader jammed that axe into his skull. You probably mean the actual scene of the axe being pushed in, not the death, is what you mean, would be dramatic, I mean. You know. Since it took a day. He was just laying there. Leon was, not Ramon. You know.

Anonymous said...

Wow, just a hint of communism and all us liberal wackos come running, in mere minutes.

M said...

MONKEY, you're right, I was thinking of the dramatic stabbing, although some clever lighting and a moving solo could suggest poor Leon's suffering and eventual death in a way that doesn't diminish the effect. Besides, if we're going to get technical, Trotsky shouldn't even get a death scene; Lenin should just have a lyric in which he acknowledges he's broken with his friend. You're right as well about our moth/flame attraction to all things red-I guess bull/cape would be a more appropriate comparison.

Anonymous said...

I don't know. I think a good case can be made for a video montage featuring Trotsky's murder and subsequent death along with images of lush Mexico juxtaposed against a snowy Kremlin. You'd be surprised what a good video montage can do for the second act of a musical...

Anonymous said...

Do you see how this Lenin musical idea is appealing to the working class and the bourgeoise already?

And yes my dear, I did say that a spelling song is necessary in every single hit musical. But not "Kapital"-- we need a musical number "B""O""U""R""G""E""O""U""S"

I don't even know if I spelled that right... but you see? It provides high brow/low brow entertainment. Challenges spelling capabilities while distracting with tap dance. Commies like that shit.