Customer Reviews

Das Barbecu: A New Musical Comedy (1994 Original Off-Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Poor Wagner -- First Anna Russell makes a career of telling an accurate version of the Ring and getting her biggest laugh when she accurately says "I'm not making this up!" and now this. Don't mistake it for a highlisghts disk of the Ring! This is the country-western version of the Ring Cycle set in cowboy Texas and is, in its way, a pretty good telling of the Ring Cycle. I doubt it is going to convert a lot of country fans to Wagner, but if you like Wagner at all, it is a very, very funny retelling of the Alberich/Wotan/Brunnhilde/Siegfried story set to country music. It was a fun stage show (presented in Seattle when the Ring was being produced) and the album captured the goofy spirit of the show. This is a good album for folks who don't always take their Wagner too, too seriously. It is certainly good for a couple of listens, so enjoy. The Amazon sound clips are pretty representative of the show.

this is wagner's ring cycle, told in two hours and set in texas! the score is country-western, howlingly funny and at times heart-achingly beautiful. though the plot can get convoluted, with it's small cast taking on so many roles, the voices are beautiful and strong. a good high school musical, if you think you can pull it off!

I have had the pleasure of working backstage at a production of this particular show, and know it intimately... and to be perfectly honest, while I do not doubt the talent and ability of the CD's performers, I have heard these songs done MUCH more justice. However, the music is still quite fun, and if you have any knowledge of Der Ring Das Nibelungen at all, then you will find this show quite hilarious. Don't expect Wagner, but then again, don't expect a heartfelt tribute to Texas, either... this musical does it's best to poke fun at every... abrogating aspect of "Texan Culture"... of course, what better way to express the excessive and consanguineous hodge-podge that is Norse Mythology?

This is sheer genius. The show consists of five actors playing over 30 roles! The amazing thing is that you can do the show with two stage hands as long as you have enough dressers for the actors (I know, I was one of the two stage hands when we did the first production at Theatre on the Square in Indianapolis). The music is great, it has wonderful ballads, a great anthem song toward the end and several very funny songs.

Highest rating.

I recently had the pleasure of being musical director and conductor for a production of this work, and although I have traditionally hated country-western music, I found this music to be wonderful and lots of fun. Usually, I am hired more as an opera coach and singer, more towards the "legit", "Wagner" side of this particular story; however, this version is worth every dollar. Too bad the cd doesn't contain the dialogue!

This is, alas, only the songs from the wonderful musical--I wish it had all the hilarious dialog too. It helps if you are familiar with "Goetterdaemmerung" (and the rest of the Ring cycle), because it is a truly wacky version of the story. Imagine Hagen as a narcoleptic, and the poor out-of-work Rhinemaidens have to perform in an aquatic extravaganza.

The lively songs are Texas-flavored, and the lyrics have the clever syncopation and rhymes of a Cole Porter. It's hard to get "Makin' Guacamole" out of your head, and "Slide a Little Closer, Darlin'" is a ballad to equal any. But I can't wait for the video!

I loved being in the show. It is the best experience i have been in ever. I love this show! The script is beautifully written, and it is hillarious. It's Wagner's three day opera in two hours. If you wish to do this show you will not be let down. We enjoyed it tremendously.