There is something really appealing, and really meta, about watching a musical about someone creating some sort of art. At least, I find it really interesting because you get to see multiple layers of art-making, and that’s really inspiring, even though it might get somewhat confusing when you start to get all Inception-like about art-making-within-art-making-within-art… you get the point.
Let’s say you’re watching a show about someone painting a picture: in order for the audience to see that, someone needs to write and create that show, then it needs to be developed and rehearsed, and then an actor needs to perform the part of someone who’s going through that same creative process and producing a piece of art as the final result. Like I said, layers upon layers of art-ception.
I am not the only person who’s fascinated by that cycle of art-related narratives, as there are numerous musicals in which at least one of the characters is working towards creating something, and that process becomes a part of the plot of that show. Here’s a list of my favorites:
1. Rent
Most of the characters in Rent are some sort of artists (after all, the musical was based on La Boheme, an opera all about bohemian artists living in Paris), and you could argue that this is one of the things that connects them. However, I would argue that Roger’s storyline is the one that highlights the process of creating a piece of art as a vital part of the artist’s life. Throughout the entire musical, Roger struggles to overcome his grief and finish a song — something he has done in the past that he can’t seem to achieve after losing his girlfriend April. Meeting Mimi, loving, and eventually losing Mimi, prompts him to finally – after a year of struggling that we see on stage, finish his song. There is something almost supernatural about the moment the song is finally sung, and the power of Roger’s singing “Your Eyes” to Mimi. It gives her, metaphorically, a new reason to live.
It is also important to mention Mark’s struggle with creating art, as his “I need to finish my own film!” line in “What You Own” symbolizes his decision to stop working at a job he hates, and return to making valuable content that he really cares about. (And which – especially in the movie RENT – becomes the very last finished piece of art that the audience sees.)
2. Once
Guy is a musician. This is the very first thing the audience learns as the plot of Once begins to unravel. Sure, he himself might argue that he’s just a “broken-hearted hoover fixer sucker guy,” and that he never really performs in front of anyone, but all of this changes the moment he meets Girl. Like every poster and commercial for the musical states, his music has always needed one thing: her. The second their relationship starts on the street, Guy’s music is given that extra spark which prompts him to really want to work on his music, and have it reach a wider audience.
Unlike Rent, however, where we get to see Roger finish his song and sing it to the girl he loves, Once doesn’t give us the satisfaction. We know that Guy has finished a bunch of songs, we know the kind of emotion he’s invested in them, but by the end of the show, the final result remains unclear.
3. [title of show]
Yes, I bet you saw that one coming, and I won’t really go into too much detail while discussing this show. If we’re talking about layers of art-making, it doesn’t get any more meta than [title of show], which is one of the reasons why I love that musical so much.
If you’ve never tried it, I recommend attempting to explain the plot of the show to someone who has never heard of it, and keeping a straight face while reciting that “it’s a musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical… and it’s written by two guys.”
On a more serious note, I think that the most important lesson about creating art in [title of show] comes in the finale. Making art, regardless of whether you’re painting a picture or writing a musical, shouldn’t be something you do for the fame, and it should never be a case of your making something you suspect people would like. On the contrary, it should be something you care about, that you simply hope other people would connect to and like. And as they sing in that finale, “I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing, than a hundred people’s ninth favorite thing…”
4. Sunday in the Park with George
Here’s what’s really fascinating about Sunday in the Park with George when it comes to having those “layers” of various artists creating art, and all of its resulting in a final artwork: in 1884, George Seurat began painting a picture that would eventually become his “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” a painting that most people can recognize when they see it, even if they’re not sure what it’s called, or who the artist is behind it. Then, a hundred years later, Stephen Sondheim was inspired by that painting to build an entire musical around it. After James Lapine pointed out that the only person missing from the painting is the artist himself, Sondheim began writing his exploration of the process of creating art, and the place of the artist in that process.
In most productions of the musical, the set is built in a way which allows the audience to see the painting literally come to life in front of the artist’s eyes as George says, “White. A blank page, or canvas,” and prompts the beginning of the opening number. By the time he has finished the opening line, and said “…and harmony,” the empty stage has transformed into the background of the painting. Even just in those first few minutes of the musical, the theme of creating art is, quite literally, set out in front of the audience and established as the central point of the musical.
5. The Last Five Years
In one way or another, all of my previous examples have established art as vital for the people who create it, as some sort of magical driving force that gives them purpose and adds meaning to their lives, and to the musicals. The case of The Last Five Years, however, is a little bit different: both Jamie and Cathy are artists — a writer and an actor, and in some way, that is one of the reasons why their relationship ultimately becomes impossible to keep.
It is a clash of egos and ambitions and dreams, and all of the couples’ struggles seem to stem from their work within the arts. Both Jamie’s success and Cathy’s struggling career add challenges to their relationship, which lead to its failure. For both Jamie and Cathy, there’s no middle ground in which they can balance art-making and a healthy relationship. Even in the song “Moving Too Fast,” where Jamie seems to be so successful and everything seems to be working out (too fast), the idea of people finding “success for their art” comes up, as if foreshadowing all of the problems that he will end up facing.
Ultimately, for Cathy and Jamie, their drive to make art becomes one of the issues in their relationship that makes them so incompatible with each other and leads to their break up.
However, I wouldn’t say that this should put you off from making art or making art about making art and – you get it. On the contrary, I think that facing the challenges that come with creating any form of art could be so interesting, and so fulfilling when you finally have that song finished, or a painting is framed and hung up on the wall. And after all, like they sing in Rent: the opposite of war isn’t peace. It’s creation — right?
Photo via The New York Times