[metaphor17]

I know nothing about it and can't seem to find much online.

anyone have any answers for me?

[Hans]

[christinadaae]

Well, its a musical.
Not sure what else you're looking for here babe.

[WelshGal05]

This link should give you more of an idea.

http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/wiw/background.htm

[Jekkienumber24601]

get the soundtrack it's quite good. It's opening night of the entire show on cd (some songs recorded in the studio, because of audience noise) and you can picture it being an amazing show unlike the weird digital set extranvaganza it turned out to be.

[Sweeney Hyde]

I think the biggest problem, strictly from listening to the recording, is that it's basically the same five songs repeated over and over again to different lyrics with a new one inserted sparingly here and there with a tiny bit of dialouge...in other words...it's too repetative...which is so Webber.

[Jekkienumber24601]

yeah, but I actually love these melodies! Phantom it was annoying. Superstar I was happy that a melody was repeated at least twice cause then it reminds you how awsome that melody was.

[krisavalon]

I have mixed feelings about The Woman In White. I have the OLCR, and the singing is excellent. Angela Christian is especially powerful as Anne Catherick, and the show has some really beautiful themes, however no particularly memorable songs. It's long, it's dragged out, it feels like an attempt to recreate Phantom (unsuccessfully), and some of the songs are just plain bad. For example, "Lammastide" (besides being a completely irrelevant piece of music) sounds like a note-for-note ripoff of The Macarena, and I'm not even exaggerating. The lyrics are also pretty weak. In one song, the character Count Fosco actually rhymes "house guest" with "mouse guest." Truly cringe-worthy. Nevertheless, there are some beautiful melodies, a great gothic atmosphere, and it makes for good background music because the story is ridiculously easy to follow (thanks to a complete absence of subtext). Plus, the performances are phenomenal in the OLCR. So I give it sort of a half-assed recommendation.

[candlestickjay]

The book was written by Wilkie Collins, and was actually quite good.

Although....you probably mean the musical huh?

The girl that played the original Marion in WestEnd was given some serious props for it for a while. I love the song "All For Laura" (don't ask me why) aaand.... "I Hope You Like It Here" is pretty entertaining.

I'm easily amused though. I think it depends on who you are as to whether or not you like it.

[Nicola]

Crushed the original novel into a million pieces.

Part of me likes the musical, since it has something to do with Wilkie Collins, and I love the performances of Anne and Musical!Marian. I also like some songs. Or one. I love 'All For Laura', which is kind of ironic, as it's based around the one thing that makes me loathe the adaptation, and that's the change of Marian's character. Completely different people.

If I suspend my knowledge of the greatest female heroine of all literary history for a few moments though, than Marian's song for her sister is a very powerful one. But I remember pretty quickly that it's just wrong. WRONG, I say.

[Pastiche]

I saw it in London with the original cast and enjoyed it very much. The cast were all excellent, and I enjoyed everything about it from the music to the projections, which seem to have bothered some people. There were some lyrics that certainly could have been better, though.

I read the book, which I liked (but wasn't in love with) so the changes from the book didn't bother me. There was no way they could include all of such a long and detailed story in a musical. As first performed in London, it was three hours long as it was (including the interval).

I understand that they changed the ending for Broadway. I prefer the ending I saw with Marian alone on the stage--not trotting off after Walter and Laura to take care of their future offspring.

[jackrussell]

The way they changed what the "secret" was from the book destroyed it for me. OK the "secret" in the book is (arguably) a little tame now, but it was still an unexpected twist and set up a good conclusion.

In the musical the stupid girl bangs on for nearly the entire show about a "secret" which turns out to be something totally predictable, and as she ends up shouting it out to all the world, why not just tell it to Hartright and Laura in the first place?

[Valjean]

Personally, I loved WIW. I saw it in London with both Michael Crawford (who was most gracious after the show, even came out the stage door pen in hand) and Michael Ball. I was very disappointed when it didn't make it on Broadway and closed in London. And come on, I Believe My Heart is a great song!!!

[jackrussell]

I Believe My Heart is a very pleasant tune, I grant you, and one of the strongest musical moments in the show. To ALW's credit, it isn't endlessly repeated (although some much weaker tunes are).

The lyrics are so terrible it's embarrassing to listen to it, though!

[Wandering Ranger]

I actually quite like the Woman in White. The score is one of his better ones (although that's not saying much!) and there's not too much ripping off going on. I do wish it had been more faithful to the book thought, like othes have said the "secret" would have been more effective had it have been the same as in the original novel. Also they missed out on a good comedy duo by cutting out Mrs. Fosco.

[Jaded Mandarin]

I've always said that Andrew Lloyd-Webber is only ever as good as the source material he picks and the lyricists he collaborates with.

With "The Woman In White" he had brilliant source material in Wilkie Collins' novel and a mediocre lyricist in David Zippel.

Lloyd-Webber's score has atmosphere in spades, even though a lot of the songs don't have a catchy hook they all fit the general mood of the scene and enhance the spook ambience of the piece brilliantly.

All of the singers give passionate, emotionally committed performances and the recording covers the entire show, including spoken word dialogue, so it's easy to follow the story just from listening to it...

Unfortunately, so very few of David Zippel's lyrics rise above the level of "functional". Although there is the odd clanger here and there, most of Zippel's lyrics are neither good or bad - they are just kind of there.

The lack of catchy hooks or really memorable lyrics is a benefit in the sense that Lloyd-Webber's usual excess of repetition doesn't bother me as much - I've barely remembered the tune by the time Lloyd Webber gets to repeating it.

So, judged as a standalone musical, I would say that "Woman In White" is a solid, workmanlike effort - good, but nothing special.

Judged as an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel....

Well, so much of the underlying social commentary in the novel has been dumbed down almost to the point of non-existence. However, the first act is reasonably close to the narrative of the novel. Things go awry in the second act which has to compress so much plot into one hour that many iconic scenes from the book have to be excised completely... still, fans of the novel may find it in their hearts to overlook these changes, as Collins' book is a long one and it is inevitable that a coherent two act musical would have to cut a lot out.... but changing the "secret" at the heart of the story was just pointless. Once the "secret" at the heart of the novel is revealed, Sir Percival Glyde comes across as a much more audacious criminal and his carefully crafted facade seems all the better crafted... the "secret" in the musical just comes across as a desperate attempt to shock the audience with cheap sensationalism and makes Glyde comes across as even more of a one-dimensional douchebag than he already is.