Hairspray ST and medieval betrothal -> marriage times

[burntcopper]

Listening to the soundtrack of the Hairspray film. We approve. :g: (I was considering buying the Broadway soundtrack but I heard the samples and... oh god. everyone's voice grates, which admittedly could be related to West End vs. Broadway style. And the original momma Turnblad is deep and gravelly and after I was used to Michael Ball singing it as a woman it's just... no.) Anyway. The film soundtrack is fully bouncy and good - most of the actors don't have powerhouse voices of the stage but they don't grate, which is the main thing. Michelle Pfeiffer, you clearly need to exercise your pipes more, since you had a much more powerful voice in Grease 2. James Marsden : DO MORE MUSICALS. you're way too much fun when you do cheesy (also see Enchanted).

Anyone seen the film? is it worth buying? (play.com has it for a fiver) Did they keep the more explicit actions in?

Question for the historical nuts on the flist. Working out nano timelines and plausibility with regard to real-world politics of medieval era. (I'm trying to make this make sense. Which unfortunately means trying to apply logic and historical implications to a fantasy world. Yes, SUICIDAL. This is going to break my brain. Insanity is a given because this is nano.) Anyway. To shut the Telmarines up a bit and make it look like they're trying for stability and unity, Susan's been betrothed to Caspian (and of course groaning that she managed to avoid a political marriage for fifteen years last time). So. Um. I need to figure out what's plausible for time between announcement of engagement and marriage. The only ones I've been able to find where there was an engagement of much time in royal alliance marriages (admittedly most of my knowledge is the Plantagenet era), it was *years* because the betrothal was declared when they were children, and most of those, they were sent to be a ward of court on announcement of betrothal. The others (engagement as adults), it's a couple of months max. Ages I'm going with for everyone is Peter - 16/17, Susan - 15/16, Edmund - 14, Lucy - 13. Caspian 19-21 since film Caspian is older than Peter (instead of the other way round like he is in the books), so age isn't an issue for Susan getting married straightaway.

help? please?

Comments

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

All the Broadway stars I've heard tend to have a more nasal edge to their voice (it could be a New York accent thing which everyone adopts) - West End normally goes for more rounded tones, same as Hollywood. I dunno. Idina Menzel vs. Kerry Ellis is a good example - if you search youtube for their rendition of 'I know him so well'. Not all of them do this, and Idina is a pretty weak example, but a lot do, and it grates on my ears something chronic.

If you got to hairspraythemusical.co.uk and listen to the samples on the jukebox of 'Good Morning Baltimore' which is Broadway cast, that's a good example.

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

I've noticed (and disliked) that in some singers, but I didn't really know enough about them to identify it as a regional variation. I think I just assumed they didn't have a particularly pleasant voice.