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Description:
Broadway style contemporary musical based on the lives of Bonnie
and Clyde. Although the composer appears to be French, the
music is similar to Andrew Lloyd Webber, with pop and rock
influences.
Comment: The
music is very polished and strong. At times I wished for
more distinction between the songs, but some are top notch.
You'll have to wait for MP3 downloads, and the music is not true
rock, or else this nice work might be placed higher. |
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Description: Rock
musical vampire tale. Music is rock, reminiscent of U-2,
with broad, airy, reverberating sound and jazzy guitar.
Comment: Taken
as a whole, this is a very nice creative piece. Some songs
are quite strong, with high sound quality. The Web page
offers excellent original artwork. Expect lengthy downloads
of MP3s, but if you follow the "Story" link you can read
the story as you wait. |
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Area
51 http://www.area51show.co.uk/ |
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Description:
Fun rock/pop musical based on the legendary Area 51 in Nevada,
written by a young promising Scottish composer by the name of
Daniel O'Brien. The work has won several new musical awards
in England and is currently being recorded by prominent performers
with the backing of pofessional management.
Comment: I
wish there were more music samples, but the two provided are quite
good. This looks to be a possible hit in the making.
Bravo Daniel! (Only criticism: Web site is a little slow and
clunky.) |
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Description:
Earth has blown up and groups on two competing space ships enter
into a strained collaboration to colonize Mars. You'll find
mainly instrumental music, similar to rock music from the 70s.
Comment: There
is some admirable music here with fine instrumental work
(especially piano). This is a complete show, with good story
line and nice character interaction. Unfortunatley, marginal
sound quality hinders us from fully enjoying the wide selection of
samples from the show. |
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Description:
Interesting mix of rock, soul, jazz and funk.
Comment: This
is a nice selection of songs, now available for preview in
improved MP3 format. I could not make out much of a story
line, but this is a worthy show. Suggestion: get a shorter
(and catchier) title. |
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| Audio
Format: Streaming MP3 |
Recommended
Sample:
"Tax Monster"  |
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Description: More
pop than rock, this epic musical depicts the life of Abraham
Lincoln during the Civil War.
Comment: Very
short snippets of songs in the samples make it difficult to judge
the work as a whole. Review of the entire CD, however,
demonstrates a substantial work. Although there may seem to be
something a bit incongruous about Abraham Lincoln and pop music,
the musical stlye grows on you. Expect fairly long downloads
of the wave files. |
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Audio
Format: .WAV |
Sample:
"Clip
#1" |
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Description:
This work is the result of a unique collaboration between German
and American composers, depicting the life of Galileo.
Music is influenced by 70's and 80's rock, especially Queen.
Comment:
Interesting work. The music is pretty darn good, but would
be improved by stronger vocals. They've got something going
here and the show has much potential. Needs to be staged and
fully worked out. |
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| Audio
Format: Streaming MP3 |
Recommended Sample: "Of
An End" |
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Description:
This is a somewhat whacky group with a variety of sounds, from
alternative rock to piano and classical guitar. The lead
vocalist leans toward John Lennon.
Comment:
I don't know how the music fits in with the life of Buster Crabbe,
but this group has put together a nice collection of songs.
There is a unique, distinct voice. One senses that with
further development and refinement, these artists could be top
notch. |
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| Audio
Format: Streaming MP3 |
Recommended
Sample:
"Ghosts" |
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Description:
Taken together these two pieces make up Acts I and II of a
performance art presentation incorporating narration, dance,
visual effects and rock music.
Comment: This
looks to be a very interesting production. Narration and
song samples are engaging and moving; but the .wav format requires
long waits for short snippets of marginal sound quality.
Reviews of the live show were quite enthusiastic. Images
from the show are very nice. |
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Columbus
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/1388/columbus.html |
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Description: Rock opera by Peter Gallai and Peter Fabri.
Originally produced in Hungary, the show is now headed for production in the States
by Freedom Productions.
Comment: This
looks to be a complete show. The three clips suggest pop
rock with an ethnic flair. The songs sound quite well done. |
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Description:
Story about a child who is born from a unique love affair
during the Vietnam War. The music is contemporary with
subtle Far Eastern influences.
Comment: This
project gets very high marks for its wonderful and artistic Flash
Web page. However, the musical is not really rock-based.
Site was also a little slow on my 56K modem. |
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Audio Format: Flash |
Sample:
Not Available |
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Evensong
http://www.vampirerockopera.com |
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Description:
Evensong is a vampire rock opera
which tells the story of star-crossed lovers in colonial New
England who are placed under a deadly curse by Legion (the Devil).
The show mainly provides a mixture of rock and acoustic
guitar work.
Comment: There
are some nice songs here, with some standing out as partucularly
good. The ballad tunes, in particular, work well (especially
when sung by the female vocalist). However, the work falters
in other areas: The story line is a bit hard to follow, the
show feels long, and the lead male vocalist may not have the vocal
qualities to sustain an entire show. |
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Description:
This is coined a "comic rock opera" in three acts.
The setting is Rome at the time of Nero, and the story is based in
part on the Satyricon by Petronius Arbiter. The
musical style is primarily electronic (and a little raw).
Comment:
Although sound quality is not the best and there are significant
buffer times for some of the clips, this work deserves high marks
for originality. The Web page is rather basic, but if you
like cutting edge material, this site could be worth your visit. |
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Description:
Religious pop musical composed in the spirit of "Godspell".
One demo provided.
Comment: This
musical looks to have good credentials. Sound and
performance quality are very good. Demo theme is a bit
repetitive, but this is minor. Main criticism: only one
song! |
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Audio
Format: Real, MP3 |
Sample:
"The Servant Job"  |
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Description:
These are two shows for children with contemporary music, much of
it piano, and some light rock. Helena is narrated by Tony
Randall.
Comment: Songs
tend to be simple, but are nice. This, combined with
engaging original watercolors, makes for an enjoyable trip back to
childhood. Tony Randall has an excellent voice for
narration. |
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Description: Though
touted as a rock opera, most of the songs are traditional broadway
musical fare with some upbeat tunes thrown in.
Comment: The
song samples can boast excellent sound quality and very good
musicality, but are not really rock-based. To get the rock
sounding songs you'll have to order the CD. Nonetheless, Mr.
Sideras demostrates he is an accomplished composer and lyricist. |
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Description:
Rock musical selections depicting the success story of one young
rocker, who overcomes frustrations with his home, with love, and
with the music industry. The songs are a mix of musical
styles, sounding like a combination of the Rolling Stones and
Beachboys, with country influences in some songs.
Comment: Sound
quality is not great and some songs are weaker than others, but
you can't deny that some of these songs have definite potential. |
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Description:
Rock opera written and composed by Cassandra Von Braun.
Story of a female rocker searching for meaning in her art and in
her relationhips. Alternative rock with folk influences.
Comment: Nicely
developed Web page. Sound quality is not the best for some
pieces, but CD in progress has new recordings with greatly
improved sound quality. Expect fairly long downloads of MP3
files. |
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Description:
Rejected by his girlfriend, Johnny commits suicide by jumping into
a nuclear power plant. He returns as a nuclear zombie to win
back the affections of his lost love. Pop rock with broadway
musical style.
Comment:
Though having poor sound quality, this whacky show has some fun
songs with a fairly captivating story line. The Web page is
unique and worth the visit alone. |
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Description:
Pop musical based on the purported UFO landing at Roswell and how
it affected the lives of those who witnessed the event.
Comment: Fun
music and Web site, but I didn't find the two songs I downloaded
to be particularly inspiring (and I don't have the patience to
download the other MP3s). Nonetheless, the show seems to
have achieved some critical success. |
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Description:
The classic Shakespearean story is given an outer worldly twist.
Succinct Web page provides production information to this and
other productions by Dan Schaaf.
Comment: Music
is unique and distinctive. Vocals tend toward the
conventional operatic style, but the music is decidedly modern.
Do not expect mainstream rock, however. |
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Description: A
contemporary opera about the events leading up to the martyrdom of
Joseph Smith (Mormon Church). These are traditional songs,
in .wav format.
Comment: Sound
quality is good and lead male vocal is very nice, but you won't
find much rock here. Also, .wav format makes for long
downloads. |
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Description:
Band-oriented rock storytelling of the Slimland Legend.
Music is hard-driving and raucus, with Southern roots. Three
short videos of live band performances are provided.
Comment: Short
videos make it hard to fully judge this show, but it looks to be
high energy and loud, with not much melodic content.
Downloads are long, but videos are interesting to watch. |
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