Musicals in Fanfic and Canon

[ysabetwordsmith]

I came across the fanfic "A Very Sherlock Musical," which is actually a great deal deeper than it seems. Begin with the premise: So, you know how musicals are set in a world where people just burst into song every five minutes, and everyone around them automatically knows to join in with the tune and choreography? This fic is set in that world. You now know enough to write brilliant fanfic of your own in whatever canon you wish, using the same premise. Add the plot: John finds it extremely frustrating that Sherlock won't sing their theme song with him.

Here we have a motif straight out of crackfic, the musical episode. Yet the author uses this setting to explore some very serious issues -- it's actually a story about attachment problems told through the metaphor of musical interaction or rejection. Touch on another Sherlock motif, and what you have is fantastic analog of asexuality: a situation in which Sherlock doesn't want to do the thing that everyone else is doing, and people think less of him for not liking it and not understanding why it's So Very Important to them. There's quite a lot of astute exploration into how social ties form between couples or work groups, and how that gets expressed.

This story reminds me strongly of "Once More, with Feeling." That famous episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer showed the problems that can come from stripping away filters and forcing people to sing about their feelings. In that show, they're not used to it, because it's not natural; it's demonic influence. Compare that with the above story set in a world where musical interactions are the norm.

Another variation is Happy Feet, in which all penguins are expected to sing, and the one who can't gets rejected.

There is a lot of potential to explore more challenges caused by living in a musical world. Most musicals never examine the fact that they are musicals. They just do their thing, a quirky little commentary on everyday life. But when they become genre-savvy, a whole new realm of possibilities opens up. How does the musicality work? What can go wrong with it? How do people cope with disabilities -- being deaf, blind, mobility-impaired, etc. in a world where singing and dancing are fundamental aspects of every human interaction?

I'm not all that fond of musicals, but I'm fascinated by the "musical world" as an AU setting template.

Comments

[we_are_spc]

This is fascinating. :)

And yes, so many possibilities.

I like a good deal of musicals, or used to when I was younger, so this is especially intriguing.

-Fallon~

[gingicat]

Regarding talking about one's emotions, I have similar thoughts about monologues.

Regarding disabilities, I saw this play sometime back; it was written by the actually-disabled actors.
http://nalagaat.org.il/en/theater-2/not-by-bread-alone/
Eleven deaf-blind actors take the audience on a magical tour in the districts of their inner world; the world of darkness, silence and…bread. As the process of bread making unfolds on stage – the dough is being kneaded, raised and baked “for real” – a unique encounter occurs between actors and audience. Together they re-enact vivid or distant memories, recall forgotten dreams and joyful moments and ‘touch’ the spark of Creation present in every one of us.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

(I've only got a sad pre-Serum Steve. Drop in your favorite defiant Steve in substitution)
I know there is a dance troupe that's part wheel-chair users, part one foot after the other.

wheel-chair ballroom
30 years of varied dancing bodies

I know there is also at least one acting group that's combined; they found during one performance in NYC the stage was distinctly not level and an actor hadn't been blocked to brake-lock because they'd not found that precise mark before (they might have had to hit the space 'cold').

[technoshaman]

Much is done in Hamilton with the concept of "musical support"...

"Yorktown" is probably the best example. Hamilton sings "'Til the world turns upside down" and the ensemble echos it... "Take the bullets out your gun" is met - twice - with WHAT?! so Hamilton monologues at them as to why... and by the time he gives them their code word, they roar it back at him. At the top of the song, Lafayette declaims, "Freedom for America, freedom for France!" and gets no support; Hamilton's corresponding line about meeting his son *also* gets no support; Phillip will precede his father in dying in a duel. Then the cry of "We won!", started by Laurens, builds until Washington himself joins in, turning an expression of disbelief into a celebratory shout, followed by the full company's final line double forte...

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

There is a post making its rounds on tumblr about what if Anakin (and the other Star Wars characters) could hear their theme music and other Musical Cues.

"Oh, maybe I _should_ apply more supervision just now."

[thewayne]

This sounds like fun, I'll check it out. Once More With Feeling is definitely on my short list of fav BtVS episodes, perhaps one of the top 3.

[johnpalmer]

I used to run an RPG called Multiverse, and it allowed people to travel to fictions... and one skill available was Genre Mastery - figuring out *where* you were and *how* to act. I never had them fall into a musical world because I wasn't quite sure how it would roleplay, but it was tempting.