HJ wrote:
Trendmonger wrote:
SouthBank Centre Frank Zappa:200 Motels Pagehttp://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/frank-zappas-200-motels-71696Having noticed that folks bring forth dialogue of the character roles in the production..... Keep checking back to the SouthBank Centre Frank Zappa:200 Motels Page for any potential update of program info.... and but also expect some more of the unexpected come showtime.
......It's been a long wait, yet some folks in some social circles are mistaken when they state that the LA event is not a world première. Not to take anything away from the UK either but folks should not mistakenly think that the
200 Motels 13 Suites performance in Amsterdam back in 2000 was the full enchilada with all the hot sauce.
What is the "true" world premiere will always be a matter of subjective definition. And honestly, does it matter? No.
At times fans and critics tend to get far too subjective with the composers work. In pertaining to Franks orchestral score for 200 Motels we should keep an open mind of accepting this is a world premiere. History of the movie, 2LP, True Story of 200 Motels film, LA Philharmonic Contempo 1970 and 200 Motels : The 13 Suites that was held in 2000 in Amsterdam are very much piece meal.
Let's look at the book ends of the live orchestral performances and see how that fits in.
First LA Philharmonic Contempo 1970 conducted by Zubin Mehta. There was not even a group The Mothers Of Invention when the LA Philharmonic project was in the making. The Mothers had disbanded close to a year beforehand. Based on FZs commentary in The Real Frank Zappa Book it seems more-so the LA Phil wanted the rock band/orchestra event than Frank had. Frank may very well have wanted the event to be orchestral but anyhow, Frank quickly put a
"Mothers-Of-Invention-Sort-Of-Group" together. As far as what score existed? The character roles were not finalized at this point. Of note Mark Volman and Howard Kayland met FZ backstage after the concert and informed FZ they liked the show and that The Turtles had split. The point being here is that Frank had orchestral scores he had written over the years and the frame-work of touring on the road for 5 years was very much part of the story of 200 Motels.
By the time filming started Frank had several hundred pages of a shooting manuscript. How much of the 200 plus pages is actual orchestral score manuscript is hard for the observer to make a call on but character roles are very much a part of the score. So much of that shooting manuscript never made it into the films.
"Danger Will Robinson"..... For the sake of keeping things simplified in this post there is no need to over-anaylze each and every character role but it is clear that 200 Motels : 13 Suites in Amsterdam back in 2000 was not the entire orchestral enchilada with the hot sauce. Frank's commentary in The Real Frank Zappa Book should also raise an eyebrow as to the initial intent of not even having a rock band as part of the 200 Motels Contempo 70 performance. Sure there is some rocking out on the 2LP and films but the orchestral score may very well deservedly be adapted to focus on the orchestral elements and character roles.
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