Word: vapidly
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...part like this. But her performance is too forced; she mugs about the stage all but saying I'm being cute and this is a laugh line." But the more she tries to be cute, the more she fails to bring any dimension into Sellon's vapid stereotype...
...those willing to wade through all the extraneous hype. Chick Corea (and RTF is Corea's band) always plays well; the success or failure of his records usually depends on the musicians he chooses and the selections he plays. The results here are uneven. Versions of flashy but vapid tunes from Musicmagic (1977) comprise the first two discs. The band is tight, but the intricate mini-fugues and pompous fanfares that highlight the horns still sound gratuitous. The vocal sections are disappointing; Chick's voice lines are difficult, and Gayle Moran has the training but not the panache to sing...
There remains a sense of futility in searching for thematic depth in usually vapid musicals, but in this case the apparent wishy-washiness of the implicit message, if there is any, becomes rather annoying--but not until well after you leave the theater. De Broca's film contained both a muted anti-war message and an eloquent statement contrasting the so-called crazies in the asylum with the real crazies in uniform, who kill each other in a quest for peace. Who's really crazy, and all that. Neither of these implicit themes comes through clearly in the musical version...
Caroline attracts the very particular Elgin by looking aristocratic, reading French novels and expressing an affinity for the symphony, all of which somehow set her apart from the other girls on campus whom Elgin finds so vulgar and vapid. Caroline confesses her loneliness; Elgin decides this means she is looking for a meaningful relationship. He romantically believes the two of them will transcend the mundaneness of life. Then they discover...
...Dracula's would-be bride for all of eternity, Ann Sachs is a delectably enticing houri in a negligee, or a slinky gown that might well pass for a negligee. Looking much like a vapid blonde flapper out of a 1920s perfume advertisement, she exudes a musk of sensuality that obviously makes Dracula yearn for more than blood. The rest of the cast is exemplary, and the sounds of baying offstage hounds are ear-tingling. But the show belongs first, last, and almost always to Gorey and Langella...