What would Barbara do?

24/1/07

Can musicals change your life? The Guardian’s Emily Brockes faces the critics in this quirky and candid read.

Everyone has guilty pleasures, secret passions that aren’t always respectable or socially acceptable. Whether it be a generally reviled pop act or a ‘socially irresponsible’ reality show (Big Brother fan till death!), most of us will go through a process of justifying it – against those who disagree, and coming to terms with it.

My guilty pleasure? Musicals.

Thankfully, an affinity for musicals is generally embraced by the larger gay community. But this is not always the case. I nearly fell out with a close friend on a trip to Berlin because he refused to watch West Side Story on stage sung in German, dubbing it “not art” to my shock and horror.

And even in an office full of gays. I sense an entire room roll their eyes if I admit how much I loved the stage production of Mary Poppins.

However in non-gay circles, I admit a resistance to ‘coming out’ about musical theatre appreciation. My adoration for Liza Minelli isn’t something I openly talk to my builder about.

For those who have this embarrassing affinity toward musicals, Emily Brockes’ What would Barbara Do? How musical can change your life is just what the doctor ordered, and though vaguely unorganised, is full of often laugh-out-loud anecdotes and uninhibited honestly.

Candid and humourous, the Guardian journalist Brockes examines the bizarre and camp appeal of movies musicals – from the holy The Sound of Music to the atrocious Xanadu (Tragically, Olivia Newton John’s comeback film after Grease unfavourably won Brockes recognition for Worst Musical of All Time)

For a passion that’s often difficult to put into words, Brockes manages to touch on socio-cultural contexts of musicals, without sounding too academic, relishing in the kitchy sentimental quality of them. Unlike most books about musicals, which lack a sense of humor, she cleverly touches on how people who love musicals also love to make fun of them. Half the fun of watching the Sound of Music, for example, is mocking how sincere the characters want to be.

Liesel: Look, Fräulein Maria-- I mean Mother. Mother? That sounds so nice.
I like calling you "Mother.
Maria:I like hearing it.
Liesel: You love Father very much. I can tell you do.
Maria: Very much.
Liesel: Mother, what do you do when you think you love someone?
I mean, when you stop loving someone or he stops loving you?
Maria: Well, you cry a little.
Then you wait for the sun to come out.
It always does.
Maria: There are so many things I think I should know but I don't.

From this, you may be able to imagine the conversation that would take place if Maria were to, perhaps, explain the Birds and the Bees to naïve Liesel, or the importance of abstinence.

Brocke’s tone is refreshingly easy to identify with; so much so that while reading it, I almost felt like it was written for me personally. She goes through a phase of considering musical addiction as a foible, drawing disapproval from her peers. Men in her life are consistently baffled by her showtune appreciation. She admits that she loves musicals, but at the same time has been embarrassed or required to apoligise for this – in some circles – tasteless and classless art form.

Quite rare to find a brit study, since musical theatre is widely considered the American art form and hence her continuous apologising. However her style is engaging, and I would in all sincerity recommend it to all musical lovers. Especially gay ones as she elaborates on all musical theatre gay icons including Babs, Judy, Liza, Ethel, Carol Channing, Bernadette, Esther Williams, the list goes on.

However, where Brocke’s succeeds in her sincere delivery, she loses footing a bit with her somewhat haphazard organisation – carelessly linking sometimes disconnected events – and when she runs out of things to say about a particular musical, she launches into dry plot summary.

That said, there is a surprising emotional core to the book that involves her relationship with Mum, who introduced her to musicals, which in a way makes sense of all Brocke’s lighthearted rambling, giving the work deeper personal significance.

So, can musicals change your life? Yes.