Back in 2017, I posted what is considered the best "making of" documentary about a Broadway show cast album.  It was called Original Cast Album: Company, about the making of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.  The film was directed by acclaimed documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, and what made it stand out was that it was not made as a feel-good promotional vehicle for the musical, but showed how the album was made, warts and all.  It's most famous sequence was when Elaine Stritch, wearing her sailor's cap throughout, was not able to get her showstopping number, The Ladies Who Lunch, right -- and kept getting more frustrated and upset as the clock ticked to morning.  And they finally had to send everyone home, to try and get it the next day.

If you haven't seen it, you can watch it here.  And I highly recommend that, not just because it's so good...but also it will make today's video all the better. 

There's a wonderful series on the IFC Channel, Documentary Now!, which is a parody of documentary series on PBS.  The show has a strong Saturday Night Live pedigree, being created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas. And they often get very well-known actors to take part, including Cate Blanchett (who's been in three), Owen Wilson, Michael Keaton, Jack Black, Anne Hathaway, Faye Dunaway, Kenny Loggins, Haim and more -- sometimes in a leading role, sometimes as "talking heads."  In fact, the authoritative, serious host who introduces each half-hour film is Helen Mirren.

Back in 2019, they did one of my favorites -- a parody of that Pennebaker documentary about a musical called Co-Op.  It was written by Seth Meyers and John Mulaney (which confirms my suspicion that it's been Mulaney who writes all the musical parodies whenever he guest hosts SNL.)  It's meticulous in its detail, down to an Elaine Stritch-like character wearing a little sailor-like cap throughout.  And happily, I was able to track the production down online.

The Documentary Now! film, which they properly call "Original Cast Album: Co-Op" is funny on its own, though I think it goes to another level if you watch the Pennebaker film first.

But however you choose to fly, here it is. 

And we finish out the Bad Lip Reading 5-segment extravaganza of their interpretation of the musical Hamilton, which in their ears they call "Axe-Assassin Albertson."  And thanks to the KASCAID voice recognition technology from the future, they claim a 98.3% accuracy.  No guarantee on that pesky, remaining 1.7%, of course.

This is the finale, with some wonderfully odd dialogue to start with. and then getting to King George III (or whoever KASCAID thinks he is) later singing the malevolent number "Elven Bodyglove."  One thing you'll note is that not only have the Bad Lip Reading people come up with their own odd, funny and impeccably-crafted mis-heard words...but they've even written their own music throughout, which is what makes their effort all the more impressive.  So, don't expect the light, jaunty tune of "You'll Be Back" (which seems to come out here as 'Cuban bacon'), but something much darker.

There's one more video to go after today's Segment Four of Bad Lip Reading's loopy version of Hamilton, that they call "Axe-Assassin Albertson."  Today's episode, which as always is 98.3% accurate thanks to the voice recognition KASCAID software, feature the haunting ballad, "Nuts."

Strange as this all is, I am thoroughly impressed by the craft that goes into these things.

If you want to catch up with the previous videos, Segment One is here, and Segment Two is here.  And from yesterday, this is Segment Three here.

We return to the Bad Lip Reading folks' interpretation of the musical Hamilton, which in their ears "Alexander Hamilton" comes across as "Axe Assassin Albertson."

And their full effort is now official, as it will be five segments.  This is Part 3.  It includes their heart-rending renditions of "Peaches Man" and the lovely "Sweet Fueling."

By way of reminder, the premise here is that humanity has been destroyed, but a video of the show has been found and run through the voice analyzer KASCAID with a 98.3% accuracy.  Alas, it's that 1.7% that's so tricky...
​
If you want to catch up with the previous videos, Segment One is here, and Segment Two is here.

The other day, I was listening to Sirius/XM radio in my car, and came across a song I’d never heard before from a musical I was only slightly aware of, called NEWSical.
 
The show was a very long-running revue off-Broadway (I was boggled by how long) – marking over 3,000 performances, which is around nine years.  It still plays around the country, and was even settled in Las Vegas for a while.  (For all I know, it’s still there.)
 
The show lampoons news events, and as such has kept changing over the years, being updated.  And occasionally had guest stars making an appearance, among then Andrea McArdle (the original Annie), SNL’s Cheri Oteri, Emmy-winner Jackée and LaToya Jackson.  One of NEWSical’s original stars was Chistine Pedi, who’s a friend of my pal Mark Evanier – and people who read his site have likely seen him post some of her work.  The show was written by Rick Crom, and got two Drama Desk nominations in 2011, for Outstanding Revue and Outstanding Lyrics.
 
It’s the latter which is what most caught my ear.  It was a song called “Dr. Phil.”  And I thought it was extremely clever.  Helped by a very good impersonation.

I’ve long been a big fan of the Bad Lip Reading people.  For those who haven’t seen their work, the premise is that they supposedly are trying to lip read various kinds of video…but just do a really awful job of it.
 
They’ve generally “lip read” political debates and hearings and sports sideline footage, though occasionally delve into entertainment.  Their most recent is one of their most ambitious – it’s a truly terrible lip reading version of the Disney+ production of Hamilton. 
 
It’s about six minutes and doesn’t cover the full breadth of the musical – though they call it “Segment 1,” so even though they've never done sequels before, I feel pretty certain they’ll be posting more.

What's fun, too, is that for this they decided to create a backstory on why the video exists.  And what they came up with is a hoot, and puts the whole thing in an even more odd perspective.
 
I don’t know the lyrics of Hamilton well, most especially compared to those who can do the full show by themselves in the shower.  But it still was a lot of fun for me.  Especially when I realized that the title of their effort is the bad lip reading result of the main character’s name.
 
Curtain up.  Here then is the first segment of -- – Axe-Assassin Albertson.