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Star Wars Trilogy MIT Musical
ArtieLange writes "The MIT Musical Theatre Group will be staging a musical version of the
Star Wars Trilogy (Eps. IV through VI). There will be tap-dancing stormtroopers, singing Ewoks, etc." Apparently tickets are available if you're in the Boston area over the next week. Hopefully someone has the decency to stealth a digital camera in and post torrents before the premiere so it can be just like the features. There's no way it can be the worst Star Wars related thing out there (currently a tie between the Christmas Special and Episode I) even tho the music credits list Elton John and Andrew Loyd Webber along side John Williams.
First of all, John Williams has to have musical credit if they use ANY of the original Star Wars music, so that shouldn't be surprising. Which is to say, there's a chance that Williams didn't actually work on this piece, specifically.
However, Elton John and Andrew Lloyd Webber doesn't bode well for this production. We're talking the folks who brought us "Circle of Life", from Disney's "The Lion King".
I'm not sure all that feel-good music will work with Storm Troopers, and rebel star systems trying to escape Imperial rule.
Kinetic stupidity has a new brand leader: Allen Zadr.
Hopefully someone has the decentsy to stealth a digital camera in and post torrents.
Being a subscriber, I sent an email to daddypants to try to get this corrected, but since I was ignored, I will deem it fine for me to rip.
Why on earth would someone need 'decency' to do something illegal like that? Why would you encourage your audience to commit crimes for your bemusment?
Instead, how about we say "Lets all hope they sell it in a video format for a cheap price or even free?" Maybe that will encourage them to share their play instead of us ripping it from them illegally?
And you wonder why the MPAA is all over torrents... this isn't helping.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
This is just so wrong on so many levels. Then again now that I think about it, maybe adding tap dancing storm troopers to episode one would have improved it. My childhood destroyed you have!
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Hopefully someone has the decentsy to stealth a digital camera in and post torrents before the premiere so it can be just like the features.
How would this constitute 'decency'?
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
That was R2D2's Gaydar going up in flames
Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that it's done by MIT and not Lucas?
Hopefully someone has the decentsy to stealth a digital camera in
$sys$Camera
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
Bravo! Couldn't have said it better myself.
Seriously, this sounds like something out of SomethingPositive.net.
"Made up/misattributed quote that makes me look smart. I am on
/dev/random
Fully agreed.
Especially being, as you note, MIT has a tendancy of making their stuff freely available in their time.
Kinetic stupidity has a new brand leader: Allen Zadr.
Is it just me, or is Slashdot reporting on an increasing number of musicals? Combined with Taco's urging to do something illegal, I have to wonder if the editors are really getting into this stuff.
Then again, a lot of musicals are targetting more "geekish" plays such as "The Last Starfighter", so maybe it's just a cooincidence. Then again...
When do get to go see Slashdot: The Musical? Make sure there are plenty of trolls attacking insightful posters, guys with horns and flamethrowers, and let's not forget the ever important stage plateaus of being modded up!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
decentsy
Worst. Speller. Ever.
+1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.
Bravo! I agree!
And the daddypants email is like the Loch Ness Monster...it's just a hoax.
Hopefully someone has the decentsy to stealth a digital camera in.
You know, that blurb is of such high quality, I'm just surprised it doesn't have a distorted aspect ratio and random numbers scrolling across the top.
ArtieLange must not have heard of Turkish Star Wars!
t icle&articleid=22122
http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=ar
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Luke be a Jedi, to-night!
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
If its not the same thing, it was something similar. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend attending.
Synergies are basically awesome, and they're even better when you leverage them. -PA
dysentery.
as in "The guy in the seat in front of me with the digital camera appeared to have dysentery and stealthily expelled torrents of foul smelling flatulence right into my face."
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
to learn to spell one of these days...
Monstar L
I am reminded greatly of "Planet of the Apes: The Musical" ...
However, all it will take is one bass solo from Darth and I'll throw away all my misgivings.
MoM++ - A Classic Expanded - [Master of Magic 1.5]
http://mompp.sourceforge.net/
A Star Wars musical and a study on tin foil hats. Why do I keep seeing a major technological university jumping a shark in my head?
First the Foil Hat Study and now this. Sheesh!
"It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
A musical covering 3 episodes? Either it's really long or it only barely covers the highlights.
I have the decentsy to actually know how to spell decency. Fucking Slash-dotheads.
There was a website a few years ago from a group of students who did a musical version of the original Star Wars in high school. They had online video and audio clips and it looked pretty funny/good. It was also based on rewriting the lyrics for songs from existing musicals (e.g. Andrew Lloyd Weber, etc).
It was performed May 24 and 25 (in 1996) at the Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Performing Arts Center in Rolling Hills, California. Book and Lyrics by Kevin Bayuk, Garrin Hajeian, and John Zuckerman.
I still have an archived copy of the site, including media files.
Here's the wayback machine link: http://web.archive.org/web/19990218201534/newdream .net/StarWars/.
I'm assuming this new version is unrelated.
I can't believe you're not concerned about the chatspeak that's leaking into the editorial: "...even tho the music credits..." It's one thing to have the summary go unchecked, but I think CmdrTaco just regressed 10 years.
So, in this production, does Han shoot first?
Also, will they be re-staging the production every few years as stage effects technology improves?
I guess they beat Lucas to the 3-D version of Star Wars!!!
Nothing interesting to say...MUST...NOT...REPLY...ohtheheckwithit.
Please... ok hell just froze over, I see pigs flying and my ex just walked in.. Wht is next, the musical version of Ishtar ??????
Guns are for wimps... Use a crossbow.. this way you can pin them to their chair when you go postal.
What you may fail to realize is that "decentsy" is comes from the old English phrase "docent-sty" which neans, roughly, "the pain of being taught a lesson." So I believe Taco was actually advocating against taking a camera into the play.
Either that, or he is just a crappy speller with a poor sense of humor.
Download my free songs!
You can't "steal" a play. There's no such thing as copyright on a performance. Physical objects, yes. Ideas/concepts, grudgingly yes. They could copyright the script, and maybe get away with "A method of dancing in tune to the music of Star Wars", but not the play. Said video would be the only example of the content in existence. Therefore, the pirate would technically be able to copyright it first.
Hit it maestro!
Dupe dupity, dupe dupity, dupe dupe, dupe-e
This slashdot story is familar to me!
[tempo change]
I've got a wish thats bona fide
I want Natalie Portman petrafied
Petrafied and covered in hot grits!
Grits grits grits
from her elbows to her tits
Grits grits grits
I swear to God, you insensitive clod
I'm begging on my knees for a Beowulf cluster of these
HOT GRITS!
[tempo change]
In Soviet Russia....
[grandiose piano]
In Soviet Russia...
[grandiose piano]
Yakov says its opposite
I don't understand it
In Soviet Russia
MUSICAL...
SINGS...
YOU!
Cha cha ha!
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
This "event" has the destructive potential of 10 Megdorks. (The first GenCon had an effect of 8.5 Megadorks) - Only a Linucon or a Furvert convention is deadlier.
Both girls tentatively scheduled to attend refused comment.
Are you alluding to the musical or the summary?
* At the end of the number, a man jumps out on stage.
"Why, you must be new here!"
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
The Empire will not be ridiculed or parodied by any being in any galaxy. This is a disgrace to the Sith and all it stands for.
This must be some kind of Rebel plot to besmirch the Empire.
The Death Star III will soon be positioned in the Earth's solar system and it will not be 'set to stun.'
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I can understand anyone's reservations about Elton John being involved in this. He's definitely past his prime when it comes to writing music. But Andrew Lloyd Webber? This guy wrote the music for Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar and many many others. The man's a freaking genius.
Not quite, dramatic performances (such as plays) can be copyrighted. See http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp
Oddly enough, I already have tickets for this. Several close friends are directly involved with the project and we're flying up to see it Saturday night.
Stuff it.
How about making those "tap dancing" storm troopers into "River Troops"? Yeh, River-Dancin' Stormtroopers with those tough boots of theirs they can probably tear up the dance floor something fierce.
A nice touch might be to put laser reflectors on their knees so that the light bounces all over the ceiling. Maybe the audience will need welders' googles or UV lenses or such to protect themselves from laser dazzling.... while Yoda yodles and Chewie chews...
Now, just mix Yoda with BlueMan. Wait, not, put Chewie with Blueman... When he's done eating them, they can be Capsicum Blue
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Er ... IANAL, but I do a lot of theater. Performances are indeed copyrightable. What's more, most scripts and scores give permission for performance but expressly not for recording of the performance. To violate that provision is to violate the rights of the holder of the copyright to the script and score.
How can a post be modded "overrated" or "underrated" when it hasn't been rated yet?
think of matrix musical drama lol.. neo agents chasing neo with a symphony background
Sony has been under recent controversy about a rootkit (A form of Spyware/Trojan horses) that hides all files from windows that start with $sys$. Mac and Linux users are not affected by this.
"Hello 911? I just tried to toast some bread, and the toaster grew an arm and stabbed me in the face!"
I guess in this version Jango Fett was the space traveling alter-ego of Fred Astaire.
What's up with MIT? First they release a study about the effects of tin foil hats on government signals, and now they are making a production with Darth Vader singing. ...maybe it's something in the water....
cool thanks! I remember that site from way back, too bad the wayback machine doesn't have anything past the first page.
I think using the song tunes and changing the lyrics might fall under parody laws, so they didnt have to pay royalties. Who knows, maybe one of the kids who helped write that musical simply brought it with him to college and they're performing the same show.
May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
pkg_add sense_of_humour
Come on it was clearly a joke.
Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
In high school I was part of production of Macbeth set to a Star Wars theme. We had plastic light sabers and a storm trooper with a white bike helmet and cardboard armor.
I had one line. "Thou liest, thou shag-ear'd villain!" then I got a light saber to the ribs.
TODO create witty sig.
And then a guy in the audience jumps up and shouts "No! I'm New Here!"
MITichlorians are everywhere these days
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
A tie between Episode 1 and episode 4.5?
In my mind, there is no tie. Jar jar sucked, but.... Life day? Bea Arthur? Jefferson Starship?
more like a tie between either one of Ep.I - Ep.II - Ep.III ...
After about 6 edits once it hit the front page, yes, it does hint that it may be a joke (still isn't very clear, imho). The first iterations, though, do not (the sentence was what I originally quoted).
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
So basically, no changes were necessary to the ROTJ portion.
Jar-jar doesn't bother me and Padme is HOT.
And that was the sound of the point flying over your head.
"There's no way it can be the worst Star Wars related thing out there (currently a tie between the Christmas Special and Episode I)" Someone hasn't ever had to read the Star Wars books by R.A. Salvatore.
Star Wars Christmas Special
In case you're like me and have never heard of it.
I mean, yeah, it had Jar-Jar, but come on, Neeson kept some of the old SW spirit. Shame, Lucas being Lucas, he just had to go and kill off the best character in the prequel trilogy.
"... tap-dancing stormtroopers, singing Ewoks, etc."
Forget about Han or Greedo, it will be the audience that shoots first.
Hell YODA is already getting down, why not the entire cast.
They should make Vader gansta rap. Maybe Darth and Luke can "Battle" 8 mile style.
Hmm, correct you are (maybe?)
Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:
Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)
I dunno the exact definition of "notated". Could be the script.
But still, the copyright is held by Lucas. They can't copyright their play, even if he gives them liscence to use it for the performance, right? For example, Lucas gave permission for Taco Bell and Burger King to make trinkets for the happy meals. I doubt the fast food chain could sue if you decided to bootleg Obi-wan mugs or Artoo action figures.
When I was a lad, "Star Wars" did not automatically mean "Whatever This Name Is Attached To Sucks". After the new movies, a crappy MMORPG flogged here earlier today and now a foppish musical, I'm almost embarrassed to admit I ever owned a plastic Tie Fighter.
R.A. Salvatore wrote some Star Wars novels!?
My absolute FAVORITEST D&D NOVEL AUTHOR of all time wrote Star Wars novels!?
He did an excellent job on the Dark Elf and Icewind Dale novels, not to mention all of the other Drizzt novels. How could he NOT do a good Star Wars novel?
Please elaborate...why weren't they any good?
Michael "TheZorch" Haney
thezorch@gmail.com
http://thezorch.googlepages.com/home
You all know as well as I do that comparing the absurd Christmas Special to Episode I is shameless trolling. It's truly embarrassing to see it on the front page of Slashdot. I mean, did Episode I have Bea Arthur, wookie porn or Jefferson Starship? I think not. I'd take fifteen Jar-Jars over wookie porn.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
http://www.netflix.com/Search?v1=Dunyayi+Kurtaran+ Adam&search_submit.x=0&search_submit.y=0
If this is true, then I'm surprised the "working light saber" story hasn't been on Slashdot yet.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
I should imagine they're working from a script, rather than doing an improv.
I hate to be a spelling/grammar nazi, but are there 3rd graders posting now? "decentsy", "stealth" (it is a noun not a verb), "even tho", etc.
(No, I'm not new around here, but last time I checked I thought we had at least 4th graders writing or stoned monkeys pounding on keyboards to create this stuff. It seems to be getting worse.)
See also The MIT Tech's review of the 2003 staging of this musical.
One thing the Tech review doesn't mention is Darth Vader in heels. (No, not those kinds of heels. But, boy, I was all excited for a minute when the costumer mentioned that detail.)
We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
> So, in this production, does Han shoot first?
:-)
*NO*. Everyone involved is agreed on that
Monty
(who was the sound engineer for the first two times we did Star Wars Musical Edition. This is actually the third Star Wars musical the troupe is putting on.)
Mad Magazine did a musical version of Star Wars about 27 years ago. It was called "The Force and I" and is in the December 1978 issue (#203) for those with the collection on CD (or hardcopy).
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
Not only does it have a tapdancing Stormtrooper line, it's done to a burlesque version of the Imperial March ;-)
Monty
Did anyone else see Mark Hamill guest star on the muppet show. Now that somehow was a new low...
http://www.lucasfan.com/swtv/muppets.html
TODO create witty sig.
they did it a few years ago, and again this past summer at a Star Wars convention. i saw it on MIT campus, and it was amazing. this time they are combining the original three films into a roughly three hour production.
here's a link to the group that is putting it on: http://web.mit.edu/mtg/www/
I guess I have some perspective, because I never thought the eps 4 and 5 were more than OK — and I hated ep 6, which seemed to have every "evil overlord" cliche in the book. Which puts me in a position to say: Get a life! Just as Gene Roddenbery wasn't the great seer of the 60s, George Lucas wasn't the great auteur of the 70s. He was just another film school hack who lucked into a set of recycled cliches that tapped into an underfed need for fantasy. The fact that the last three movies were bad wasn't some grand betrayal — it was just the late work of a has-been film-maker who never had that much imagination or creativity to begin with.
spoken like someone who has truly been indoctrinated in the Religion of Intellectual Property.
Those of us (and judging from his post, I suspect this includes CmdrTaco), who do not subscribe to your religion have less ideological views of right and wrong with respect to so called Intellectual Property. I won't try to explain it to you, that would be like trying to explain to Pat Robertson why there's nothing wrong with swear words and why it's okay for two people to live together outside of marriage. But suffice as to say that with your crazy talk you sound to me not unlike Pat Robertson when he says that hurricanes are caused by too many gays and that sort of thing.
Im sorry, Episode I was the weakest of the 6, but even if it was TWICE as bad as some of you basement living geeks make it out to be, it doesnt hold a candle to the suckatude that was the Christmas Special.
The Christmas Special even makes George LUCAS weep its so bad. THATS saying something.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
According to google this spelling is not that uncommon...
The Boston Globe has an article on this as well:0 5/11/06/my_fair_leia_mit_troupe_turns_epic_into_a_ musical/?page=1
http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/20
Did you guys catch this line?
"Ciborowski, who wields a working light saber, is most enthusiastic about the choreographed fight scenes. "They rock!" he said. A veteran performer of three dozen musicals over the past 10 years, he described "SWT: ME" as "the funniest show I have ever been in."
They develop WORKING lightsabers at MIT and the only use that they could come up with was a musical. sheesh.
but since I was ignored, I will deem it fine for me to rip.
You were probably ignored so as to add "content" to the site (i.e. you ripping about it, and the ensuing discussion).
...just don't get the idea of a "spoof" sometimes.. I highly doubt Webber, Elton John or Williams played an active role, but apparently Lucas and Anthony Daniels have already seen bits of the performance. By the way, everything is sold out except for Wednesday at 8pm.
...visit http://www.starwarsmusicaledition.com/ This group has performed a one-episode version (just A New Hope) both at MIT and at the Celebration III convention this last April.
There's been a late breaking change. The new score is composed entireley of hip-hop and gangsta rap. Once the producers saw this concept video it was too late for EJ and Webbah. Someone even leaked a recent dress rehearsal looks pretty bad-ass to me.
How does a 7-person democracy cut a pie? Into 4 pieces.
Either this is a decent troll, or you are more close minded than you claim I am.
I'm all for IP to be free, however, at this day and age, it is a crime. Encouraging your large audience to commit a crime isn't the answer. Encouraging your audience to write to your state lawmakers to change the laws is.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
touche...
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
I mean, seriously. How can they ruin a perfectly good musical by putting ewoks into it?
Accountability on the heads of the powerful.
Power in the hands of the accountable.
...twisted by the dark side it has become...
*SPOILER*
He killed off Chewie. Thus the problem.
I still can't believe no one has linked to Star Wars: The Musical yet. It's awesome, and freely downloadable.
Note: this is not the MIT play, as the one I link to is only a retelling of A New Hope.
This production has been put on for quite some time.
even tho ....
Good karma sticks to me like velcro on a piece of plexiglass.
Move along, citizen.
You're talking about one of the best artists from the 70s here
I'm sorry, I stopped reading your comment after I got to that bit.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Some would say that it is a good citizen's duty to disobey a bad law.
Media that can be recorded and distributed can be recorded and distributed.
-kfg
Have you seen the fanfilm "Sith Apprentice"? It's been done.
Media that can be recorded and distributed can be recorded and distributed.
-kfg
CalTeck will be putting on a slashdot musical
If it's dead, you killed it.
isn't really very good, is it ??
happy
Why on earth would someone need 'decency' to do something illegal like that? Why would you encourage your audience to commit crimes for your bemusment?
Hint: not all crimes are considered to be necessarily wrong or immoral by everyone. For example: miscegenation (marrying between different "races" or ethnicities), homosexuality, marijuana use, alcohol consumption, and copyright infringement have all been considered to be illegal in at least one juridiction for at least some period of time. However, for each of these examples, there are actually some people who do not think that the listed is activity is necessarily wrong just because it is a crime. Others take the radical view that instead of trying to decide "right" and "wrong" for everybody, the law should instead simply insure that the rights of citizens are not infringed.
"Apparently tickets are available..."
I think he meant "Obviously."
Sounds like "Springtime for Hitler" with different costumes. :^)
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Its quite possible, based on this IGN review, that Star Wait can be added to the list of really bad Star Wars related things.
It's not like this is anything new. I was asked to costume "Star Wars: The Opera" years ago (I declined, too busy) by a friend who sang the part of Obiwan.
I'd not wanna mess with him.
Anything worth a damn will become a musical someday.
If these are the same people who worked on the show I heard about last year -- and Modesto tracks with that -- this show started out as a musical of the just original film.
Unfortunately the only title I can remember hearing is "Don't Cry For Me, Princess Leia."
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/11/07.html#a575 0
Great. My keyboard is now covered in nasally recycled coca-cola.
That was the funniest thing I've read in ages. And for some reason I "heard" it in Billy Crystal's voice.
Sorry, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say Episode III was the worst thing for the Star Wars Franchise.
Holy Shit
That goe's beyond amazing.
Remember folks, slashdot doesn't have a -1 "disagree" moderation!
Then please don't complain when I slice your heart out with a glass knife and offer it to my gods. I'm Mayan, you see, and for me it's the "right" thing to do.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
if they moved it to Broadway. Considering the trend to make movies/books into musicals that's there right now.
To wit, the following musicals are currently showing or coming to the great white way (courtesy of Broadway.com:
Lestat (based upon Anne Rice's "The Vampire Lestat")
Spamalot (based upon "Monty Python and the Holy Grail")
The Color Purple (guaranteed to win some Tony's because Oprah's backing it)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The Producers (yes, I know it's about backing a failing musical, but come on)
Wicked (from the book of the same name).
So, why not a musical based upon Star Wars?
Note the part where I said, Others take the radical view that instead of trying to decide "right" and "wrong" for everybody, the law should instead simply insure that the rights of citizens are not infringed.
And what do you call this act?
The Aristocrats!
and that's relevant how?
You think getting paid for what you made (heh, rhymes) is a bad thing?
In the history of this country has anything truly been changed by people writing letters to their lawmakers?
I've written plenty of those letters, nobody reads them (okay, somebody reads them and sends back a worthless form letter). It changes nothing.
I also donate to the EFF.
In the meantime I chose to live in the real world, not the world defined by the RIAA and MPAA, and in that world no one feels particularly bad downloading a video of a performance of a Star Wars-themed musical, and no one feels that they should tread lightly around encouraging others to do the same.
If we let the RIAA and MPAA define how this world is with the laws that they've purchased, if we all refrain from listening to any mp3s that might be pirated, if we delete mp3s from our computer upon losing the CD that we ripped it from, if we wait for the Desperate Housewives season 2 DVD rather than downloading missed episodes, and we all step very carefully and never break any of these ridiculous rules, and just write letters to lawmakers that nobody really reads, pretty soon that becomes normal and accepted, and the laws get harsher and more absurd.
That's my take anyway, and I don't mind burning up some of my karma to say so.