The power of the musical stems from its ability to step into the same odd communicative space possessed the by surreality of dreams. Everything operates as normal, but when narrative moves towards a situation where emotion can no longer be contained, all is uplifted or downtempo'd into the empathetic superconsciousness of song & the actively hyperphysical expression of dance.
If done wrong musical numbers feel like a device crudely meant to deceive an audience, a smothering of cheese to hide the thin insubstantial crust. If done right the arrangements build on the strength of story & character to make that risky grand jete off of solid ground into the aural realm, where instrument & lyric transmit soul.
Watch Fred Astaire as he extends his matchless wit as far as he can, then break out into song to take it that much further, feet tapping away with an excitement towards crescendo, or a calming softshoe slowly sanding the floor with a grace & style beyond conventional gesture. He's not just dancing to dance or singing to sing for its own sake; he's out there to win Audrey Hepburn's heart and he must use his whole being in a choreography of skill and seeming abandon to which she can do naught else but irresistably chorus & partner. It will draw her hand into his, and in a matter of steps, there will come a harmony neither ever knew existed, and can only exist with none but each other.
Those moments make one wish we really could get away with such seductively crooning magicks & moving excesses of sincerity outside a contrived karaoke serenade or the usual drunken dancefloor invitations.
And this longing is the charm of it all, the infusion of spirit we receive from the musical, a form both evolved and inspired, the release of dance offered with the renewal of song. It clues into what we feel, and in turn, makes us feel. The musical artfully manages to affirm & amplify ourselves in a way that no other form can, and that is its miracle.
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While a mostly happy bookstore fixture for over two decades, Guillermo Maytorena IV is currently willing to entertain your serious proposals for employment as a literary/cinema critic, goth journalist, castellan, airship pilot/crewperson, investigative mythologist, or assisting in a craft brewery. Should you be connected to any of the above or equally interesting endeavours, do contact him via LinkedIn or G+.
