Musical | The Hanslick Girls

October 16, 2017

The American Fairytale: NBC’s “The Wiz Live!”

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or games, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Today, we throw it back to the Girls discussion of NBC’s third attempt at a live musical: the 2015 broadcast of Smalls & Brown’s The Wiz (1974). Let’s listen in on their conversation…

Dania was shook. Fully and fundamentally, she had not been prepared for what she just saw. She had been nervous with excited anticipation, for sure. After the delightful trainwrecks that were NBC’s previous specials, The Sound Of Music Live! and Peter Pan Live!, it only made sense that she would expect nothing less of the third iteration of the newly-revived live musical trend. The Wiz was not exactly a household name the way the other two were – premiering in 1975, after the era where Broadway musicals dictated the popular songbook, and perhaps most famous today for its film adaptation, which not even Diana Ross and Michael Jackson could save.

July 24, 2017

Signifying Nothing: The First National Tour of “Something Rotten”

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or restaurants, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the Girls saw “Something Rotten!,” Broadway’s musical comedy about Shakespeare, kind of. Let’s hear what they had to say on their way back from the theater…

Right off the bat, Dania could tell that Gwen was going to hate this show.

Which was disappointing. By the time applause for the opening number, the comedic and quick-moving “Welcome To The Renaissance,” had faded away, Dania could sense most of Gwen’s criticisms. The show wasn’t taking itself seriously. The history was entirely inaccurate. The comedy wasn’t funny enough – Dania had been overwhelmingly enjoying the humor, but assumed that Gwen would probably dislike it. After all, this was a musical that took it upon itself to rhyme “genius,” describing Shakespeare, with “penis,” describing the put-upon protagonist Nick Bottom who hated the Bard. In fact, his rant regarding why Will gets to be “The Bard” rather than just “a bard” had mirrored a conversation Dania and Gwen had actually had once.

July 9, 2017

Nearly One Hundred: The Hanslick Girls on “The Waa-Mu Show: Beyond Belief”

—Originally published May 8, 2017—

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of Northwestern students who always go to see plays together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the Girls saw “Beyond Belief,” the 86th Waa-Mu Show, and the fourth seen by all three girls. Let’s hear what they had to say the following day, after seeing the show…

Eleanor slumped down into the couch in the living room, glancing at her phone. It was a dull Monday evening, and she was procrastinating on midterms – as one did at that time, two weeks out from Dillo Day. The anxiety over her impending graduation was beginning to hit harder, and she was attempting to distract herself from the terror of the situation. She closed her phone, tossing her eyes to the ceiling, and around the room.

Through the door, she could just see into the next room. Gwen was hunched over her desk, poking at something with a pen and occasionally writing down something short.

July 9, 2017

Glow-In-The-Dark: Purple Crayon Players’ “The Grumpiest Boy In The World”

—Originally published November 21, 2016—

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of Northwestern students who always go to see plays together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the Girls saw “The Grumpiest Boy in the World,” Purple Crayon Players’ north-American premiere of Finegan Kruckemeyer’s TYA play. Let’s hear what they had to say on their way back from the theater…

Dania was clapping wild and loud as the lights faded up on the curtain call for the show. Eleanor was smiling and applauding as well, but not nearly as fervently as Dania, who was cheering with all the energy that the children in the audience likely had, but were advised not to voice in so many decibels, by their parents. Through the calamitous applause, Eleanor thought she could make out the telltale melody of “Go, Cubs, Go!” playing the actors off. As the house lights rose, Dania was still laughing.

“Oh, I needed that,” Dania said. “I needed that.”

“We all did,” Eleanor said. The girls collected their coats and headed out into the ever-darkening 3:30pm sky.

Category / Musical