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I am not exactly a huge fan of musicals either, but I've seen COME FROM AWAY six times. (Three in Toronto, three on Broadway.)
(Generally speaking I liked the Toronto production better, but since I'm madly in love with Jenn Colella - and who isn't, really - I also give props to the Broadway version)
I still have this vision of DSC characters (not just the actors, I mean the actual characters) doing Rocky Horror...
Frank: Michael Burnham
Rocky: Book
The Criminologist: Saru
Brad: Culber
Janet: Stamets
Riff Raff: Kovich
Eddie: Tilly
Little Nell: Detmer
Columbia: Owo
Everett Scott: Tarka
I'm legitimately curious ... Because in the history of this franchise there have been very goofy episodes that are downright silly (e.g., space hippies jamming with Spock).
I'm just curious for the people that think a musical episode is a bridge too far, how exactly is a musical episode any more goofy than Picard being turned into a kid, the crew of DS9 having to be James Bond characters, or an entire episode of Voyager centered around The Doctor being a singer for an alien culture?
It just seems a very specific objection when there's a history of this franchise experimenting with the episodic format for different stories.
I'm legitimately curious ... Because in the history of this franchise there have been very goofy episodes that are downright silly (e.g., space hippies jamming with Spock).
I'm just curious for the people that think a musical episode is a bridge too far, how exactly is a musical episode any more goofy than Picard being turned into a kid, the crew of DS9 having to be James Bond characters, or an entire episode of Voyager centered around The Doctor being a singer for an alien culture?
It just seems a very specific objection when there's a history of this franchise experimenting with the episodic format for different stories.
Musicals. I don't like musicals. "OH, look, we are at a very dramatic moment in the plot. We must break out in song."
As for the episode in particular... In addition to the above, it was a Klingon boy band and dancing Klingon starships.
In regards the goofy Star Trek episodes, some people don't like them because they are too silly.
Still, even those episodes stay within certain bounds of genre. They were silly, but they weren't slapstick comedy like Three Stooges or Marx Brothers. SNW Gorn episode might be a rip off of the Alien jump scare genre, but it's not a slasher horror style. Captain Proton was black and white, but the entire episode was not black and white.
Those episodes were silly without being blatant comedy.
Also, people can be very responsible and STILL end up with an unintended pregnancy. No birth control is 100% effective. Even 300 years in the future, that may be so.
Also, people can be very responsible and STILL end up with an unintended pregnancy. No birth control is 100% effective. Even 300 years in the future, that may be so.
At the risk of being crass, no sex is very effective.
Yes, I'm unrealistic. But, as my Human Sexuality professor put it, "every time you have sex and don't get pregnant biology goes, 'Damn. Missed another opportunity."
I'm legitimately curious ... Because in the history of this franchise there have been very goofy episodes that are downright silly (e.g., space hippies jamming with Spock).
I'm just curious for the people that think a musical episode is a bridge too far, how exactly is a musical episode any more goofy than Picard being turned into a kid, the crew of DS9 having to be James Bond characters, or an entire episode of Voyager centered around The Doctor being a singer for an alien culture?
It just seems a very specific objection when there's a history of this franchise experimenting with the episodic format for different stories.
Because those things happened believably within the (admittedly sometimes quite fuzzy) rules of Star Trek. If Picard suddenly revealed himself to be a Jedi Master, or revealed that he'd been Sorted into Ravenclaw and he keeps his wand in a special drawer alongside his Ressikan flute, or got killed and regenerated into David Tennant, people would probably complain because that goes outside the bounds of what we would normally consider Star Trek, even with that fuzziness. Different people are going to draw the line in different places, true, and that's absolutely fine. I know someone who despises all Q episodes on principle because he hates the idea of a "magic god" in Star Trek. For me the musical episode pushed through that line, because as I've already pointed out elsewhere in this thread, whenever I watch a musical the fourth wall breaks apart and I'm suddenly very aware I'm watching professional actors prancing about on a stage rather than "real" officers on a "real" starship dealing with "real" spatial anomalies. It's all about the suspension of disbelief and where you draw the line. Turns out my mind draws the line at musicals
I can't explain exactly why a musical Trek episode in one step over the line either, but I agree that it was (and I love musicals). Past "comedy" episodes were still contained within the fourth wall, even if they were stupid.
The Buffy musical, on the other hand, made perfect sense, because the town was under a magical demonic enchantment. (It was also much better).
As has been mentioned by others, a musical just doesn't work in STAR TREK because it completely breaks the 4th wall. (And before anyone uses Sisko telling us the story during "IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT", he was talking to the computer, making a log entry that he ultimately deleted. He was basically thinking out loud and trying to figure out where he went wrong, which a lot of us do.) Also, while the franchise has gone to other types of storytelling, like comedy as the example given before... even those stay within the confines of the story and don't devolve into farce.
I'll credit SNW for
making the anomaly explain the singing and how it used their emotional states as being integral to the story,
but two things.
First, it still doesn't explain the dancing. It was ridiculous. I just couldn't take it seriously for a second and made no sense. Just in case it's still within 6 months...
The only time I could see it fine that dancing was being used was during Una and Kirk's dancing with each other. They essentially were by themselves and given how ludicrous the whole situation was, and Kirk's personality, I can see him just rolling with it and taking it to that level of absurdity.
And second, I don't like musicals. Never have. Instead of just doing the scene like usual with a conversation, you break into song... a song that repeats multipletimes what we got already from the dialogue and/or facial expressions. It wastes time, time better spent on continuing the story or getting other character beats from others. Do we really need 5 minutes of song to retell what can be done in 30 seconds of a conversation?
(The ONLY musical I have ever liked was ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.)
I'm glad others enjoyed it. I really am. Just not my thing at all, which is why it's the only episode in the franchise I won't rewatch. (Unless they do another musical in the future in another series. Then that will be two episodes.) 900 episodes and we have one musical... that's plenty.
