"Midnight. Not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon lost her memory? She's smiling alone. In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet, and the wind begins to moan." This lyric is famous as a part of the incredibly popular solo "Memory," from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, "Cats." It is an emotional and impressive piece. However, how many people actually stop and just think about the words?
Many times, when music comes on, the audience starts thinking about the presentation in a different way. On the one hand, this is absolutely correct: the stage is very different from the page, and music demands a different sort of appreciation than the spoken word does. The notes themselves, and the tone of the notes, must be under scrutiny. From another angle, however, it is important not to lose sight of the very literary side of a musical.
Every musical must be made up of words. Since this is the case, every musical can be evaluated by the quality of writing, as well as by quality of music itself. It is, of course, important to remember that a musical is primarily semi-poetic dialogue, and that the style of the lyrics will therefore vary according to the character and the story. Often our assesment of the lyrics will be linked to our enjoyment of the score and the story, which makes the musical somewhat subjective.
However, there is a much less objective literary aspect of a musical: the ideas that the author communicates through the music and the lyrics. The lyricist and composer's worldviews and personal preferences make up the musical. It is incredibly important to be on the lookout for these, and carefully examine the ideas that a musical supports. It is fine to enjoy a musical while disagreeing with some of the ideas presented (as long as those ideas are not stumbling blocks). It is dangerous to enjoy a musical without considering what the ideas involved are.
If you don't believe that every musical presents ideas, take a few of these examples:
Let's begin with one of my favorite musicals: The Phantom of the Opera. Yes, the score is sheer genius. Yes, the drama and sets are way over the top. Yes, I love it all. But no, I do not agree with all the ideas presented within it. For instance, let's talk about the character of the Phantom. Incredible singing part. Heart-wrenchingly pathetic. When the part is played well, it's hard not to love him. Completely and utterly twisted and perverted character. By the end of the musical, he has broken a chandelier, trapped Christine in his home (which plot twist becomes more and more disturbing the more you think about it), and murdered people. Yet, he is presented as a pitiful man who would have been good if he had only had love. See my post about Jekyll and Hyde. It is obvious here that the writers are sympathetic to the character of the Phantom. If you go back and read the book, you will find that Gaston Leroux focused on Raoul. Raoul is the hero. When I read the book, I wanted him to survive. When I saw the musical, I really wouldn't have minded so much if he had died. See how writers and composers' views can affect a story?
The frusterating thing about Phantom is that parts of it are right on: Christine's line, "It's in your soul that the true distortion lies," is absolutely true. However, the solution presented is romanticist. One kiss from Christine shows the Phantom that some people care about him, and he suddenly gives up his evil plans and allows her and Raoul to leave, and disappears without killing anyone else, a seemingly reformed character. In the words of another of Andrew Lloyd Webber's great solos: "Love Changes Everything." As much as I love this end scene, and as great as it is to watch, it falls absolutely flat under analysis. We'll have to see how reformed the Phantom is when Lloyd Webber finishes the sequel. That is, you'll have to see. I don't really want to watch it.
Another excellent musical that has elements inconsistent with a Christian worldview: Wicked, by Steven Schwartz. Fantastic writing, tons of fun, and absolutely amazing singers. However, the themes contained therein are entirely post-modern: the concept that you cannot judge someone for their actions without first knowing their background is the basis for the entire piece. Of course, the trouble with this belief is that it defies any set moral code. A person deserves justice for their misdeeds, whether their misdeeds were based in good intentions or not.
In Wicked, the heroine, Elphaba, basically decides that conventional morality is wrong. The two pivotal character songs in the musical, "Defying Gravity," and "No Good Deed," which are sung well-enough to give the listener goosebumps, represent her determination of this fact. "Defying Gravity" represents Elphaba's decision that she cannot be linked to the Wizard's fraud, and she would rather be perceived as evil than work for him. The trouble is that she then actually does begin to do evil things, although the musical's perspective does not highlight that.
"No Good Deed" must be the central song for this theme. In it, Elphaba surveys all her past actions and determines that her motive for goodness was selfish. "One question haunts and hurts/Too much, too much to mention./Was I really seaking good/Or just seaking attention?/Is that all good deeds are/ when looked at with an ice cold eye?/If that's all good deeds are/then maybe that's the reason why:/No good deed goes unpunished..." She comes face to face with the fact that her morality is lonely and opposed and therefore determines that she will never be good again. "All right, enough - so be it/So be it, then:/Let all Oz be agreed/I'm wicked through and through/Since I can not succeed,/Fiyero, saving you/I promise no good deed/Will I attempt to do again/Ever again/No good deed/Will I do again!" This is the authors justification for why she became wicked. The audience is expected to sympathize.
I'd like to close with my favorite musical of all time and also one that clearly portrays a host of worldviews from a very profound semi-Christian perspective: Les Miserables.
This musical details the clash of multiple worldviews. The life of the hero, Jean Valjean, is the central piece of the plot. Every worldview in the play is tested against his story of redemption, grace, and forgiveness. It is shown how his approach to life is, in the end, blessed: at the end of the play, as he died, the spirit of one of the women he had helped, Fantine, comes to usher him up to heaven. Figurative, certainly- a beautiful picture, definately.
Valjean's life and death can be directly contrasted to that of his nemesis, Inspector Javert. Javert is a quintessential legalist: he cannot conceive of anything outside of the law. He refuses to have mercy on Valjean at any time, and instead does only what is legally, obviously right. It would not be fair to call him evil, and yet his unswerving legalism makes him the villain. His belief system can be summed up in the following lyrics, from the song "Stars": "And so it has been/ and so it is written/ on the doorway to paradise/ that those who falter and those who fall/ must pay the price." When Valjean spares his life, an act which is contrary to strict justice, Javert is completely overcome. Unable to live in a world which includes both grace and mercy, he commits suicide.
Valjean's belief system also confronts that of the materialistic Thenardier ("I raise my eyes to see the heavens/and only the moon shines down/the harvest moon shines down."), and can be contrasted with that of the existentialist revolutionary students ("Drink with me to days gone by/ can it be you fear to die/ will the world remember you when you fall/ can it be your life means nothing at all/ is your life just one more lie?"). It is easy to see who is the better man between Valjean and Thenardier. At the end of the play, the audience is also left with the certainty that Valjean's life has had a great and beneficial effect, and will most certainly be remembered by a part of the world: that life, in the end, does have meaning.
(Of course, the thing which must be remembered when viewing Les Mis is that it is rather sympathetic to socialism)
There are thousands of other musicals that I could use for examples, but that would take far too long. Suffice it to say that all plays, all pieces of writing, and all songs have an underlying worldview. As C.S. Lewis once said, "A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading." Why does he say this? Because good books, good stories, and good musicals forward an idea persuasively, and often rather subtly. This not only holds true for atheists who wish to remain so- it is true for Christians. We must be able to understand the ideas presented to us. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." This is a call to Christians- not only to keep their thoughts pure, but to capture the ideas which are presented to them, to understand them, and to learn to refute those which are contrary to Biblical Truth.
Ideas are everywhere. The only question is: what are you going to do with them?
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