Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for August 21, 2021

When one group thinks they have moral superiority and should control everyone else’s morals but their own

Actually, the collapse starts with musical theater.

In the school play they told me to stand in the back and just move my mouth.

It is in the script, i guess – no way around it.

“Chariot with the fringe on top” and “Climb every pyramid”

Anthropologist Jared Diamond’s book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed detailed how half a dozen historical cultures met their ends. And clearly they must have seen it coming, yet did nothing (or too little) to prevent it. But those were isolated groups — on islands, in valleys, in remote states — and the rest of the planet survived. The same cannot be said about climate change.

Wikipedia also mentions the common factor in most of those collapses: “The root problem in all but one of Diamond’s factors leading to collapse is overpopulation relative to the practicable (as opposed to the ideal theoretical) carrying capacity of the environment. One environmental problem not related to overpopulation is the harmful effect of accidental or intentional introduction of non-native species to a region.”

Civilizations collapse when people use religion to make excuses for bad behavior.

Civilizations collapse when people make excuses for bad behavior into a religion.

Musical theatre anthropologists can’t get together on anything. Bernstein and Sondheim said “ma-REE-a”, said loud resulted in music playing, and soft it was almost like praying. While Lerner and Lowe insisted that people call the wind “ma-RYE-a”.

And R&H stood back and waited for a definitive resolution to the debate, so they would know how you solve a problem like that.

I’ve been to a few performances of musical theatre that I’d have preferred not to have intended. Didn’t know I was precipitating the imminent doom of civilization, though …

let it die…

Spent my high school and college years participating in school and community musical productions. Enjoyed every moment of it. A little blues, a little soft shoe, some pretty girls, a bit of comedy, and live audiences. What’s not to like? Also enjoyed the musical films of those years [1940-1970]. Some beautiful memories. R&H were just two of those who kept us entertained during the war years and after, but they were two of the best. So, whatever their motivation, I am thankful for it.

When I’ve seen modern musicals, the singing, dancing, and production is off-the-scale terrific. But there’s no PLAY. No real conflict, no real story. She leaves, he sings a sad song, and then she comes back for god-knows-what reason, and they sing together.

But I recently saw a revivial of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel,” and was thinking that it would be a fantastic play if it had NO songs. And it has those songs, too.

Rodgers and Hammerstein took on Nazis in Sound of Music, racism in South Pacific, domestic abuse in Carousel. AND had great songs. They were way ahead of their time.

For me its enough that boy meets girl, boy loses girl, there is a battle and everyone dies after the fat lady sings. Oh wait, that’s opera

Now that I think of it, I don’t remember hearing of Shakespeare creating a musical.

So, who or what is killing the musical theater? R&R, Rap or what?

Nothing about too much success causing morality and respect to morph into greed and suspicion?

Actually the breakdown of the ancient MInoan civilization has been attributed to the custom of stopping unexpectedly in the street to sing about the weather and dance about the traffic. (That and the volcanic eruption.)

Societies collapse, when they can no longer support their population. Maybe a change in the eco system causes problems, which bring fires, droughts or floods. The food chain folds, and goodbye Babylonia.

Why does this seem so familiar? Hmmm.

Actually, the original Greek tragedies of 2500 years ago were the original musicals. The choruses in it were sung and danced. Problem is, no description of how they performed it has survived. (The queen hung herself and Oedipus blinded himself – Let’s sing and dance!)

Opera, followed by musical comedy, was invented by the rediscovery of ancient tragedy.

Well, praise be, please allow us to be uncivilized then. That breaking out in song once you start getting into the story is pure-tee evil; the exception being might be The Sound of Music, at least for me.

What about Professor Hart?

Perhaps that’s the problem… not Climate Change, but Musical Change!

“Musical theater” – the death of music & theater.

overpopulation by humans = bad for everyone including humans

“Pore Civilization is daid.”

Civilizations collapse. No exceptions.

I like the depiction of the Theater Critic as a Vulture.

Sure it’s not Professors Hanna and Barbera?

“Hamilton” just ticked of a few Republicans.

Population growth will be decreasing in the next fifty years because only third world countries have a sustainable birth rate for replacing their current population. First world countries at the cusp or already in population decline. It will be blatantly obvious to everyone as the Boomers die off.