Aside some accents slipping into English from American (especially the DVD version of Montel), I noticed several uses of English terminology which wouldnt be used in the US, these exist on the current UK Tour too, and havent been altered at all.
"banging on about it" ... Americans might say "going on about it"
"didnt give a toss" ... maybe "didnt give a damn, but that doesnt rhyme with "cross".
"biscuit" ... would be "cookie".
"sweetcorn" ... would be "corn".
Any others?
Good point, but then again all but one of those quotes are from the second act, therefore it took place in Jerry's version of hell. Which isn't necessarily in America... and the biblical characters aren't American either!
shareGood point, it's acll Act 2/3, but I dont think thats the reasoning, I think it's just English-isms leaked in.
Im sure there's some in Act 1, but I cant think of any, heh.
My point stands anyways.
Those lines are said by Jesus and the devil, neither of whom are american. Jesus's lines should have been in aramaic. Not sure about the devil. And Jerry was born in England, so he might call it sweetcorn.
Having said that, I'm sure it is just either a mistake or a lack of any american terms that fit in the songs.
Make your own kind of music, sing your own kind of song
Yeah but those arent the real Jesus and Devil, they're in Jerry's mind, and played by the guests from Act 1 who ARE American.
And it'd be easy to change "sweetcorn" to "corn" (Jerry didnt live here long enough to keep calling it sweetcorn) and "biscuit" to "cookie").
On another note, Leon Craig who played Montel in the DVD (not as good as Wills Morgan, heh) is currently in the UK Tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, hehe
"Yeah but those arent the real Jesus and Devil, they're in Jerry's mind, and played by the guests from Act 1 who ARE American"
Doesn't matter. Jerry knows Jesus and the devil are not American, so even if he imagines them he won't necessarily imagine them as american.
Make your own kind of music, sing your own kind of song
Then why would he imagine them with American accents but using English words?
shareBecause he's english but moved to america so his subconscious is a mixture of both.
Make your own kind of music, sing your own kind of song
I dont think so, he moved at a very young age. He wouldnt be imagining English words having been in the US for so long.
share[deleted]
Why not? Just because you moved from one place at a young age, it isn't wiped out of your subconscious after a certain number of years. Especially if you visit
Make your own kind of music, sing your own kind of song
Just doesnt seem right to me, I dont think thats the reason at all.
shareHonestly, neither do I. Like I said in my first post, I think it was either a mistake (when talking) or a lack of american terms that fit in song. I'm just trying to provide a possible explanation for storyline purposes.
Make your own kind of music, sing your own kind of song
Yeah but I think it'd be easy enough to replace "biscuit" with "cookie" as that doesnt need a rhyme, nor does "banging on about it" which could've been changed to "going on about it", and "sweetcorn" to "corn" would've been easy, and that last one was even picked up on the DVD commentary, so you think they would've re-worked some bits for the new tour, but they didnt, they kept it the same, and kept other things the same like Andrea's non-sensical sung verse in purgatory, as it doesnt describe Montel (they mentioned that on the DVD too).
shareI went to see the show last night. I think you're all missing one key thing: This is made by brits for brits.
The harry potter books were changed in america. Where it said jumper it was changed to sweater, skip was changed to dumpster, mum to mom etc. Perhaps they realised what they were doing, perhaps they figured for an english audience 'corn' would evoke ideas of fields of unprocessed corn (it does with me, actually, I think of wheatfields for some odd reason...) Cookies are a specific type of biscuit, and they are genberally either smaller than regular biscuits, or much bigger but more expensive.
I got this essay on the fall of Rome I didn't even know they were in trouble
Doesnt matter. Its set in America with American accents, so it should be American wording, its not like it'd be worded in ways we dont understand.
No, but the same goes for harry potter, given context, most kids would be able to understand it, but they changed it anyway to save them the effort. With books you can pause, and re-read, look at the context more clearly etc, and understand before moving on. With a stage show if you're confused by a word or phrasing and have to stop and think about it, you will miss some of the play because it doesn't stop and wait for you to catch up.
I'm not saying it was the right decision (if it was a decision), just that it is an explanation.
I got this essay on the fall of Rome I didn't even know they were in trouble
I agree with whoever pointed out that it was written by Brits for brits. If they had started using American phrases then there would no doubt be some post on here by someone from here in Britain going "Oh it's so ridiculous they are just trying to look american but they're not so why do they bother". The writers really cant win either way.
And I dont think the accents matter in Act 2, because they are different characters. I'd imagine that the directors said something like 'Okay you need an american accent in act one because you're playing americans, but do whatever's comfortable in act 2 because God and Jesus or whoever wouldnt have a regional accent anyway'.
But then what do I know :S
Monkey Hands...and Frozen Legs...