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

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

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["O Fortuna" performed by Cast in Bronze]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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[Music]

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

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

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

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

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and must ultimately decide the fate of two 
worlds.

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

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still drawings, and some limited animation.

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

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

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

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

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So it is here.

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

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I especially liked the performers for Toriel 
and Asgore.

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

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

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However, when you put something together 
essentially by committee,

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the results can be a bit hit or miss.

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This is the case with the lyrics,

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

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I can see why they did it.

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

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

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

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

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It's simple and easy to sing along with,

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

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

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

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

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

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Length is also a bit of an issue.

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Undertale: The Musical runs at just over 
four hours,

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

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

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particularly the dating scenes.

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

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

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

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

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

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["O Fortuna" performed by Cast in Bronze]