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sopranodespair

Soundtrack or OBC?

The subject explains itself. Which one should I get?
Luc

Soundtrack. All the way.
Except the OLCR (there's no B'way Razz ) does have three live tracks, which are terrific... *shrugs*
High-baritonne

The Original LONDON Cast Recording is the best of them, or the Swedish Cast Recording is my favorite, but I don't think it's to enjoy if you don't understand Swedish.

I prefer the OLC, because it has Lisa Stokke, who is a fabulous Sofie. Amanda Seyfried is pretty good too, but Lisa is still my favorite. Siobhan McCarthy is way better than Meryl Streep. She can actually sing THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL without causing a major laughter in a crowd. And then we have Hilton McRae, who is my second favorite Sam. He has a great voice, and is so much better than Pierce Brosnan.

Another point to make is that the OLC has more songs, and is more "complete" than the MPS.

But there is one thing some people don't like about the OLC. It is talk on it in and between some of the songs, to make people recall there theatre experience.

Personally I prefer the OLC before the MPS, because I love the talking, I love Lisa Stokke, and I hate Meryl Streep's voice. But it is, of course, a matter of taste, and what you like. So don't listen too much to what other people say.

If I was going to buy one of them, I would have bought both.
ChorusKidx3

This is a tough decision.

I love the OBC but the Movie is like OMG.
Except for Pierce who like is ew....

but whatever.
I think it depends on what you think of the movie.
hippo2002

Soundtrack,IMO.
Fantine

I saw a bit of 'The Winner Takes it All' on TV as sung by Meryl Streep and I just couldn't believe how bad and off tune it was.
ChorusKidx3

Fantine wrote:
I saw a bit of 'The Winner Takes it All' on TV as sung by Meryl Streep and I just couldn't believe how bad and off tune it was.


yeah...i agree.
she goes flat like crazy during lal the times she sings/says: "I don't wanna talk."


i loved the film though.
Fantine

Apparently some people like it sung that way though, because it's supposed to show good acting. But I mean, someone can sing in tune and act amazingly, right?

But now, back on topic.
RainbowJude

New Soundtrack Edition Released

Playbill has news of a deluxe CD/DVD edition of the Mamma Mia! soundtrack that was released yesterday:

Andrew Gans wrote:
The Mamma Mia! collector's package features the soundtrack to the hit film.... Also included is a DVD that "provides an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the recording sessions in London with the cast, as well as commentary by ABBA's musical masterminds Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus," according to press notes.

Might be worth getting if you're interested in the show, film or ABBA. I'd spring for this over the standard version of the soundtrack.

Later days
David
Colle

I have listened to clips of each, because a "Mamma Mia" soundtrack and/or cast recording is on my Christmas list; it is a through decision. Amazon.com is currently having a special, buy both for a little over $17.00 u.s.
What Is This Feeling?

I own the OLC. I've seen the film, (wasn't that impressed) and have never heard the MPS. The OLC is really good, I mean I like it a lot. Lisa Stokke is my favorite, even though some find her voice a little annoying. Plus, the OLC has the Overture and Entr'acte tracks. These obviously aren't on the MPR. Oh! And.. the OLC has Under Attack, which is just one of my favorite songs in the show. It was omitted from the film. Whatever. I guess it wouldn't have worked. So, I guess it's a matter of if you've seen the show, the film, or both. My vote though: OLC! Wink
Pounce

OLC and there is one that includes live versions of the 3 song encore.

I really don't see a reason why "Under Attack" was left out of the film. It would have fit in easily and given Amanda Seyfried a chance to show off. She was good.

"Name of the Game" is listed on the soundtrack but I don't recall it in the movie. I thought they played the scene straight with no singing. Was it used in the closing credits?
Fantine

Pounce wrote:
"Name of the Game" is listed on the soundtrack but I don't recall it in the movie. I thought they played the scene straight with no singing. Was it used in the closing credits?


Correct. Amanda had so little to do! It's quite shocking actually.

I would like to withdraw my statement about Meryl and TWTIA. She is good, it's just a bad choice that they took out that little segment to turn it into a trailer.
RainbowJude

Would Lloyd even know where to put the camera?

Pounce wrote:
I really don't see a reason why "Under Attack" was left out of the film. It would have fit in easily and given Amanda Seyfried a chance to show off. She was good.


"Under Attack" is hardly a showpiece for the singer and it's really just a weak contrivance to get the second act started off with a big number. The chorus has a great musical hook, but the song doesn't add too much to the show that we don't already know and would just be excessive in the film which doesn't have an interval and therefore doesn't need something to get the audience re-invested in what's going on. Also, the film really doesn't need another big camp musical sequence. It treads the border of being bloated as it is.

Later days
David
Pounce

Re: Would Lloyd even know where to put the camera?

RainbowJude wrote:
Pounce wrote:
I really don't see a reason why "Under Attack" was left out of the film. It would have fit in easily and given Amanda Seyfried a chance to show off. She was good.


"Under Attack" is hardly a showpiece for the singer and it's really just a weak contrivance to get the second act started off with a big number. The chorus has a great musical hook, but the song doesn't add too much to the show that we don't already know and would just be excessive in the film which doesn't have an interval and therefore doesn't need something to get the audience re-invested in what's going on. Also, the film really doesn't need another big camp musical sequence. It treads the border of being bloated as it is.

Later days
David

But unlike anything else, it is a dream sequence which in a film opens up more possibilities for the director artistically than can be done on stage. It's not a necessary piece but I'd prefer the entertainment value of "Under Attack" over the scene cuts between rooms catching the characters at various points of their conversations. And if I'm not mistaken, "Under Attack" does illustrate well Sophie's anxiety in the form of a dream so when she wakes up, it makes her "blowing up" scene at her mother more plausible. I agree that it is not a major song for the character Sophie, but I think Amanda is entertaining and should have been given her full slate of songs.

I don't know how you can call the film bloated when it is not that much different from the stage show. If anything, they should have tossed "When All Is Said and Done" in favor of "Under Attack".
RainbowJude

Re: Would Lloyd even know where to put the camera?

Pounce wrote:
But unlike anything else, it is a dream sequence which in a film opens up more possibilities for the director artistically than can be done on stage.

Although she contrived a generally delightful staging for the stage version of Mamma Mia, Phyllida Lloyd has very little idea of how to put a musical number on film and I don't think she'd know what to do with a number the artistically opens up possibilities for film. It's very clear in the film that the has problems with pacing the action, indicating that she directs for the moment without fully considering the bigger picture, and her handling of space remains, at times, stagebound rather than filmic. It's another good case, along with A Little Night Music and The Producers for not employing the director of the stage show to direct the film. (Don't get me wrong, I largely enjoyed the film but that enjoyment comes from the cast and their performances rather then anything that Lloyd does in her direction.)

Pounce wrote:
"Under Attack" does illustrate well Sophie's anxiety in the form of a dream so when she wakes up, it makes her "blowing up" scene at her mother more plausible. I agree that it is not a major song for the character Sophie, but I think Amanda is entertaining and should have been given her full slate of songs.

Amanda Seyfried is good as Sophie, but she's not flawless. She's great as an emotional presence, she's doing the right things, she's easy to watch. Her vocals are generally good, but she has a slight, distracting tremolo at the end of many phrases and there also tends to be a uniformity in her vocal delivery. I don't think she or the character needs another song. Cutting the song does not make the argument with Meryl Streep's character, Donna, any less plausible. The audience knows that Sophie is anxious about the wedding; they don't need it reinforced over and over again as if it's some vital piece of new information.

Pounce wrote:
I don't know how you can call the film bloated when it is not that much different from the stage show.

The film feels bloated mainly because Lloyd, as mentioned above, doesn't know how to pace the material. The film is significantly different from the stage show in that Catherine Johnson, when retooling of the book for the screenplay, clearly couldn't decide who the leading lady is. Are we meant to be following Sophie or Donna's journey here? Mamma Mia! so clearly Sophie's journey onstage, but, in the film, the writing doesn't fully commit to either choice and Streep is so strong that its becomes difficult to tell whether the role is written up or if it's the actress making the role more prominent because of the weight she brings to it simply by being who she is. I don't think either of these issues was fully considered by Johnson or Lloyd in the making of the film.

Pounce wrote:
If anything, they should have tossed "When All Is Said and Done" in favor of "Under Attack".

The film could quite easily work without either and would be better off for it; "When All Is Said and Done" is made unbearable by Pierce Brosnan's performance of the song. It's a relief when Streep finally joins in on the vocal. That reception scene is a prime example of how the the film is padded, and the choice to put that song in - to touch base with Donna and Sam when we're quite ready to see Sohpie and Sky sail off to "I Have a Dream" - once again reflects and underlines Johnson's dilemma about whose story the audience is meant to follow.

Later days
David
Fantine

Re: Would Lloyd even know where to put the camera?

RainbowJude wrote:
Pounce wrote:
But unlike anything else, it is a dream sequence which in a film opens up more possibilities for the director artistically than can be done on stage.

Although she contrived a generally delightful staging for the stage version of Mamma Mia, Phyllida Lloyd has very little idea of how to put a musical number on film and I don't think she'd know what to do with a number the artistically opens up possibilities for film. It's very clear in the film that the has problems with pacing the action, indicating that she directs for the moment without fully considering the bigger picture, and her handling of space remains, at times, stagebound rather than filmic. It's another good case, along with A Little Night Music and The Producers for not employing the director of the stage show to direct the film. (Don't get me wrong, I largely enjoyed the film but that enjoyment comes from the cast and their performances rather then anything that Lloyd does in her direction.)

Pounce wrote:
"Under Attack" does illustrate well Sophie's anxiety in the form of a dream so when she wakes up, it makes her "blowing up" scene at her mother more plausible. I agree that it is not a major song for the character Sophie, but I think Amanda is entertaining and should have been given her full slate of songs.

Amanda Seyfried is good as Sophie, but she's not flawless. She's great as an emotional presence, she's doing the right things, she's easy to watch. Her vocals are generally good, but she has a slight, distracting tremolo at the end of many phrases and there also tends to be a uniformity in her vocal delivery. I don't think she or the character needs another song. Cutting the song does not make the argument with Meryl Streep's character, Donna, any less plausible. The audience knows that Sophie is anxious about the wedding; they don't need it reinforced over and over again as if it's some vital piece of new information.

Pounce wrote:
I don't know how you can call the film bloated when it is not that much different from the stage show.

The film feels bloated mainly because Lloyd, as mentioned above, doesn't know how to pace the material. The film is significantly different from the stage show in that Catherine Johnson, when retooling of the book for the screenplay, clearly couldn't decide who the leading lady is. Are we meant to be following Sophie or Donna's journey here? Mamma Mia! so clearly Sophie's journey onstage, but, in the film, the writing doesn't fully commit to either choice and Streep is so strong that its becomes difficult to tell whether the role is written up or if it's the actress making the role more prominent because of the weight she brings to it simply by being who she is. I don't think either of these issues was fully considered by Johnson or Lloyd in the making of the film.

Pounce wrote:
If anything, they should have tossed "When All Is Said and Done" in favor of "Under Attack".

The film could quite easily work without either and would be better off for it; "When All Is Said and Done" is made unbearable by Pierce Brosnan's performance of the song. It's a relief when Streep finally joins in on the vocal. That reception scene is a prime example of how the the film is padded, and the choice to put that song in - to touch base with Donna and Sam when we're quite ready to see Sohpie and Sky sail off to "I Have a Dream" - once again reflects and underlines Johnson's dilemma about whose story the audience is meant to follow.

Later days
David


I agree with most things you've said. I hated 'When all is said and done' because I was really anticipating 'Take a chance on me' and 'I have a dream - reprise'. It was kind of an anticlimax.
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