This episode of Musical Hell is brought to you by Midnight Musicals. Welcome to the podcast musical underground. Thank you!

Hi, I'm Diva from Musical Hell, and I know the score.

["O Fortuna" performed by Cast in Bronze]

As we approach the year mark of being in pandemic mode,

now is a good time to talk about how we've approached theater in a virtual space.

While there have been several examples of musicals filmed in a traditional fashion and released via web streaming,

2020 saw performers contributing remotely, each providing a part of the whole from whatever quarantine space they were in.

This led to Zoom performances, online readings—shameless plug incoming—and perhaps the most emblematic creative effort of the year,

Ratatouille: The TikTok musical, a unique collaboration born from a bunch of crative types with a lot of spare time.

Yet strangely, this is not the first collaborative musical the internet has engendered.

Let's look at an earlier prototype of this kind of virtual production, 2017's Undertale: The Musical.

[Music]

Based on the popular RPG by Toby Fox and using his soundtrack as a base,

Undertale: The Musical was produced on the YouTube channel Man on the Internet

and features the work of multiple voice actors, fan artists, and lyricists

who retell the story of a child who falls into a world of monsters

and must ultimately decide the fate of two worlds.

The visual part of the production is made up of video game footage,

still drawings, and some limited animation.

The results have proven rather popular, with over 3 million views on YouTube.

So, how do they play out, and what can they tell us of the advantages and pitfalls of online collaboration?

One of the great things about being able to connect with people all over the world

is that it puts you in touch with some amazingly talented folks.

So it is here.

The vocalists for this video are all excellent and well matched to the characters.

I especially liked the performers for Toriel and Asgore.

Lindsay Bolin has a sweet, clear voice that radiates motherly care, even when she's trying to take you down.

And Daniel Wagner's deep tones resonate with both grief and ominousness.

However, when you put something together essentially by committee,

the results can be a bit hit or miss.

This is the case with the lyrics,

espeically since they're built on Fox's already existing soundtrack.

I can see why they did it.

It's an excellent score with lots of distinct character and mood themes,

which on paper makes it a really good choice for a musical drama.

But, you can tell the melodies weren't written with lyrics in mind.

Some work rather well, like Flowey's sing-song leitmotif.

It's simple and easy to sing along with,

and the character invites a lot of creepy dissonances and ironically dark lyrics.

Damn, and I thought Audrey II was a creepy plant.

On the other hand, Papyrus's theme has a lot of interval jumps and a somewhat irregular meter,

which makes it very difficult to write words for without sounding clumsy.

Although it does kinda fit the eager, overly-ambitious character.

Length is also a bit of an issue.

Undertale: The Musical runs at just over four hours,

which is quite a marathon for a fan-based project.

The video could definitely benefit by cutting some of the filler,

particularly the dating scenes.

But on the whole, Undertale: The Musical is an early demonstration

of a model that became one of the rare bright spots of 2020—

people reaching past physical barriers of time and space to create something special.

And that's something that can always give you a little boost of hope and determination.

I'm Diva, I know the score, and now, so do you.

["O Fortuna" performed by Cast in Bronze]