Member Since: 9/7/2008
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Two Spotlights On One Big BURLESQUE
At long last. In less than a month, Broadway babies in the know will have the surefire showbiz salve of a brand spanking new movie-musical starring Cher and Christina Aguilera to sample - leaving us jubilant, giddy and breathless in its wake. All wrapped up with a pink satin ribbon with a leather and lace bow - it's BURLESQUE.
The film also stars Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell, Alan *******, Julianne Hough, Cam Gigandet, Peter Gallagher and Eric Dane and is, without a doubt, sure to be the entertainment event of the year for fans of Broadway and the movie musical genre. When was the last time an original movie musical was attempted on the big screen with two of the biggest stars in music industry history? That - and so much more, as we will soon see - is one step in the complex dance routine of reasons to get the celebration started a little early for the most excitedly awaited event this holiday season - BURLESQUE.
Today, we will be taking a look at the story, some songs, the trailer and what exactly makes this tricky musical proposition and composition tick with such fabulous syncopation as we anticipate the world premiere of BURLESQUE in movie theaters nationwide on November 24th, Thanksgiving Day!
Diva Divinity
A bare stage. Black. Suddenly, a lone spotlight pierces the darkness. Soon, another follows. A pause. Anticipation in the air. Then, two world-class leading ladies at last take the stage and... Tear. It. Up.
Two dynamic divas, their bewitching stares enrapturing us with a mere glance or a one-off riff casting a spell to last a lifetime, indoctrinating a whole new legion of fans with just the toss of her hair. Who else besides Cher can do as much with so little? Who but Christina could warble one run and leave us agog? Ladies this fiercely talented command our undivided attention. In BURLESQUE we get not one, but two triple-threat leading ladies. Double your pleasure, double the fun - and triple the excitement for their first film together.
Backstory B (For Burlesque)
A new, original movie musical? Are we really that lucky? Yes. With BURLESQUE, it seems that we are.
Looking back, in the early 00s following the Oscar-winning success of CHICAGO - which took home 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones in '02 - and Baz Lurhmann's MOULIN ROUGE - which took home two the year before - we have seen a lot of movie musicals come down the pike. Some have been smash-hits like HAIRSPRAY, some have been successful enough to keep the genre alive, as in the case of DREAMGIRLS - which also nabbed a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Jennifer Hudson as well as one for sound - and there has even been the odd prestige project (emphasis on odd) like Tim Burton's masterfully macabre re-imaging of the Stephen Sondheim masterpiece SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET.
There have even been a few really spectacular television musicals here and there, most notably the Showtime production of REEFER MADNESS starring Christian Campbell, Ana Gasteyer, Steven Weber and BURLESQUE cast-members Kristen Bell and Alan ******* in their first movie musical lead roles. With TV's GLEE ending the 00s on a musical-theatre-awareness high note and leaving America - and the world - anxiously awaiting their next big Broadway fix at long, long last, the time seems right for a movie-musical a bit unlike anything that has come before, something truly twenty-first century and which speaks to our times, now, today. Something new and different and unique. The universe is ready. The time is right for BURLESQUE.
Setting The Scene
At first glance, what appears like it could very well be the lovechild of CABARET and CHICAGO - with a little SHOWGIRLS camp thrown in - the trailer for BURLESQUE immediately brings to mind the classic showbiz standards we have come to know and love in small-town-girl-makes-it-big-and-sings-about-it style shows and films - from A STAR IS BORN with Judy Garland or Barbra Streisand, to Bette Midler in THE ROSE, to Madonna in EVITA, to the 2001 HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH and beyond.
As far as plot, characters, performance style and even some of the songs (half are old, half are new) are concerned, some of the content of BURLESQUE may be known to moviegoers, but much of what appears as homage to the older viewers may be the first exposure to the meta-movie-musical world of BURLESQUE - and therefore Broadway and Hollywood history, old and new - to newcomers to the genre. What a wondrous welcome into the world BURLESQUE will be!
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http://broadwayworld.com/article/Two...ESQUE_20010101
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