Hello everyone! I'll be moving down the list, reviewing every story I can, so for today, we'll be starting with LettuceBacon&Tomato's (which is a super creative and awesome name, I've just gotta say) "LBT: The Musical."An interesting note: I was working on a theatrical production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" during the time this was originally posted, so the transition to another theater piece is nice. Let's delve into this, shall we?
Name of Fanfiction: LBT: The Musical
Rating: 8/10
Review: So in this musical, we start with a relatively formulaic Land Before Time setup: disaster strikes the Valley, grown-ups are (as usual) incompetent and argumentative, and our favorite band of youngsters sets out to right the wrongs on their own. Setting up the play this was created mixed feelings for me. On one hand, it was a familiar setting, helping me to immediately understand what was going on. On the other, it did seem a tad generic. Between the two, I settled on the familiar, nostalgic feeling it gives, especially considering one fact: this is a stage play, something I'll be bringing up a lot in this review. If there's one very strong point to this piece, it's that LBT does a great job keeping this reasonable within the confines of a stage. If this was being performed for an audience who, perhaps, hadn't seen Land Before Time in a while, or only had a mild interest, this sort of familiar opening would be perfect for hooking them back in, reminding them how the universe of Land Before Time works, and restoring, perhaps, some long-lost nostalgia.
Then we break away from the traditional storyline, and this is where the play earns its stripes. We see Threehorn's motivations and they are downright sinister. In his eyes, he sees himself as the only hope for the Valley; in my opinion, this definitely fits with his character. My only wish is that, after he gets his comeuppance, he might return to the stage one more time to express his apologies. He certainly gets a moment of redemption, but there's also a chance to make what happens after a little more personal. There's also the Sharptooth arc, which pops up afterward. I must say- his motivations are solid. He's a humiliated villain, out for revenge, and he's taken advantage of the basic biological need to eat for all Sharpteeth in order to get the allies he needs to take the Valley. He's a solid character, but his dialogue can get a bit wordy at times, almost expository, even. It doesn't detract from the overall story too much, however.
The story itself works quite well. We have a problem, a resulting conflict, and a resolution, solving little problems along the way. In the context of a one-off stage play, I liked the return of Ali and Littlefoot's Grandfather's mysterious affliction. Both work for that sense of audience identity I talked about earlier. The song choices, too, only serve to strengthen the plot. Revised words for familiar tunes hearken back to the original movies, again laying down that familiar foundation with the audience, while conveying new, relevant meaning. This is excellent. More importantly, they serve as deeper expressions of character emotion whenever they come up, which is the mark of a good musical. The music shouldn't feel shoehorned in; instead, it should move the plot in other ways. You do that here, and I commend that.
For the technical aspects, the stage directions are good when they appear, but the play could benefit from having more. Actors love interpretation- it's 90% of the job- but some direction is still essential for keeping a consistent production over multiple directors. There are parts where dialogue is uninterrupted by any action, and while many directors fill the gaps in with their own blocking, having seen a script recently myself, there are areas where a little more direction is needed from the script. Now, while this doesn't impact the overall grade, I'd like to point out that this would lend itself quite well to the dinosaur costumes used in productions like "Walking with Dinosaurs." Imagine that moment where Sharptooth first reveals himself, the booming voice, the dark silhouette manifesting into the nightmare of little kids everywhere- it'd be great.
So overall, I liked this play, but there are moments that could use some more polish. You take an established formula and tweak it in new, dynamic, and ultimately interesting ways. Familiar characters return, and their characterization works well. The only thing I can say to take away from this is to remember the technical aspects of scriptwriting. Dialogue is important, but blocking is the backbone. Always give actors something to do. I'd probably chalk that up to the short time in which this was written (well done on that, by the way), but I don't think it detracts from the overall quality of the piece. Good work, and thanks for sharing this with us!
