Alexander The Great: A Musical In Conception

[alexanderthemusical]

Hey there, nice to see you guys.I'm working on a yet untitled musical on the life of Alexander the Great. My co-writer and I have started on the book with a few musical numbers close to being finished. Mostly the emphasis is on the Alexander/Darius conflict and those around Alexander. While not the "hero", he is the central character and sings very often. For a further sketch:Main Characters:
Flavius, the soldier: Tenor. Alexander's right-hand man. Falls in love with Claudia.
Claudia: Soprano. A Macedonian slave to Alexander who falls in love with Flavius. It should be noted that both of these characters are fictional and their personalities are serious and emotional. Major Protagonists:
Alexander the Great: Baritone. Macedonian King and military commander. For convenience's sake, he's straight. His personality is random, but always on alert. All action seems to revolve around him.Aristotle: Bari-Tenor. Alexander's teacher and longtime friend, always follows Alexander to give him advice. As of yet, nothing in our plot seems to mention Aristotle linked to Alexander's death. He is serious, more like deadpan.Clitus: Baritone. A noble Macedonian son who is one of Alexander's commanders. Also Alexander's good friend.Portia: Alto. Alexander's chief servant, hides the love affair between Flavius and Claudia. Somewhere in the second act, she is the object of Alexander's lustful affections.Antagonists:
Darius III: Bass. King of Persia. Enemy of Alexander at least in the first act. Need I say more?Roxane: Mezzo-Soprano, but doesn't really sing often. Alexander's spiteful wife.Choruses:
Macedonian and Persian armies
Common Folk
Slaves/WivesAny comments can be e-mailed to me at captainbig_17055@yahoo.com, and I will send them to my collaborator.

[nick]

Portia, Flavius and Claudia? Has Alexander become a Roman? (Well, that solves the debate once and for all.) I am not impressed, to be honest. We have dozens of interesting and tantalizing characters in our histories (Bagoas, Heph, Parmenio, Craterus, Barsine...) and we end up with invented characters with Latin names?Regards -
Nick

[gahauser]

Oh, come on, Nick- It would be hilarious if Mel Brooks did it! (kidding)

[marcus]

Took the words right out of my mouth, Nick.I know we had a discussion a while ago about how Alexander might be staged as a play, and we are constantly debating the upcoming films... but a musical? With fictional, Roman-named characters?No offence, but I won't be paying money to go and see that, if it ever comes to the West End.All the bestMarcus

[wmp]

Nick, Marcus, I have doubts in the musical side -
bit mid-range heavy, isn't it? No
coloratura soprano, no basso profundo, no
counter-tenor? (But I guess you have to work
with voices you know you can get.) And a
chorus of Macedonian/Persian soldiers could
either turn out to resemble the nastier bits of
"Tannhauser" - or "Chu Chin Chow"... And did you ever hear the rumours that Andrew
Lloyd-Webber was going to do a musical about
Alexander? Including the chorus line of dancing
elephants of India...
enjoy....wmp

[Stathis]

Oh!For god's sake.When Alexander ruled half of the world the Romans where hanging from trees playing tarzan!(An exaggeration but not far from truth anyway). I cannot stand seeing this massacre of Alexanders history and generally Greece's history as well.
If in the upcoming films i see Alexander presented as gay or as something in the middle,i will leave the cinema immediately.
Many people dont understand or dont care (and that is what the producers take advantage of) ,but for us Greeks it is tragical and unacceptable to see such things.
People think that Alexander may have been a homosexual because of his strong friendship,or because every big personality within the centuries is being critisized nowdays as being one...
I have studied the various works about Alexander and none of them ever contained such information.
In conclusion ,i am not against this opera project,but everyone thinking about making plays about such big personalities must depict the truth exactly how it was.Or else ,if we are talking about big productions with a big audience,they will get the wrong idea about things.
If someone dissagrees about all this,lets discuss it

[susa]

Are you not in summer time in the North hemisphere?Why don't you try a beach, or a swimming pool? And get a tan?I tell you --- it's more amusing than devising such a thing.susa

[marcus]

Susa,More amusing than devising a crass musical, yes... but not as amusing as reading everybody's comments about it.Anyway, if you had ever experienced a British summer, you'd know that the chances of getting a tan around a pool were very slim If the chances were better, we might never have been subjected to Andrew Lloyd Webber...All the bestMarcus

[alexanderthemusical]

Thanks for the criticisms, guys, but my intent was to intertwine the story of Alexander with the story of these fictional characters (Flavius, Claudia, and Portia, all Latin names designed by myself and my collaborator). I picture this as more "Sondheim meets Gilbert & Sullivan" than Lloyd Webber; the closest Lloyd Webber comparison to this is "Jesus Christ Superstar". As for voice parts, I found coluratura soprano, basso profundo, and countertenor to be ill-fitting with the characters and personalities. Heph and Ptolemy are included in this show, as well as the future Antigonids and Seleucids. Thanks again!

[alexanderthemusical]

This is why I have made Alexander a raging heterosexual; it's the only viewpoint I have and I want to avoid more controversy than I already have on me.

[aen]

Mark,I know that a loose license is often necessary to pull off an operatic piece centred on historical figures, but with just a little tweaking you could keep your character dynamics, and come closer to the truth.Suggestion: Instead of Flavius and Claudia, you might choose Campaspe and Apelles. Apelles was Alexander's portraitist of choice, and, according to sources, one of the three great painters of the classical period. His most famous rendering of the young king was done in Halicarnassus (see Quintus Curtius Rufus - a Roman source, widely available). He seems to have spent some amount of time attached to the army through the king's travelling court. Campaspe was a 'hetaera' (up-market mistress) to Alexander. Story goes that in using her as a model for one of his pieces, Apelles fell pretty badly for her. History does not record the details of what unfolded between the pair, (youGÇÖll have room to play with it) but its ending, even if anecdotal, is well attested. Alexander, with one of his characteristically magnanimous gestures, made a gift of Campaspe to Apelles.Personally, I think it could have a plot line not dissimilar in tone to 'La Boheme' - young artisan aspirant with a burning love for a driven woman. Mimi and Ridolfo with a happy ending.Ditch the Roman names; they're going to attract ridicule. If you've chosen Cleitus for the obvious tragic reasons, beware of the age gap between he and Alexander - different generations. I like your notion of a vast chorus. It works unforgettably well in Aida.Best of luck with it.Regards Aengus.

[Tre]

Stathis, you mustn't have read your histories in much detail. Suffice it to say you need to go back to Curtius and there are also anecdotal references in Aelian et al. There is certainly enough evidence to conclude that his liasons were not exclusively female.And it shouldn't bother you one bit.

[agesilaos]

Seems like cramming too much in to one opera to me. I totally agree with Aegus about the names, Greek characters should have Greek names, even if fictional.My advice would be ditch Darius except maybe as a ghost, centre the tradgedy around the murder of Kleitos but weave in a thread of romance,by making the object of the argument really the love affair you are inventing, by making the man an older one of Kleitos generation and the woman one of Alexander's contempories....... it's your plot but I would say don't sprall even the Ring keeps the action tight, most of the story comes out in the libretto but is not on stage it is sung not shown.

[alexanderthemusical]

Thanks, Karl. However, my plans for Clitus (Cleitus, Kleitos) only involve his presence at Alexander's side and Alexander's growing distrust of him, leading to his death, nothing else as of yet. Darius and his army, however, make up a large chunk of the musical aspect of the show, and I see no usefulness in a ghost or a flashback involving him. Philip, however, now that would be an excellent idea!

[alexanderthemusical]

As for a happy ending, that's not quite what I was going for.