A 35 minute radio documentary focusing around the leading ladies of the productions of today (Featuring: I Am Not Okay With This, Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, UTOPIA, The Boys, Captain Marvel & The Umbrella Academy), with the songs of the 80's and 90's. 

This was created for my university/HE course at City College Plymouth and focuses around the theme of 'redressing the balance', hence why I have focused on 6 of my favourite leading ladies, whilst also getting to talk about and explore some of my favourite productions of the late 2000's and 2020's.

Stories Behind The Sounds

** EPISODES 1-4 CAN BE FOUND AT: https://soundcloud.com/hwigmore-775283365 **
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Welcome to Noteworthy, a musical theatre radio documentary series hosted by Holly Wigmore that takes you on a journey through the lifetimes of some of the most acclaimed Broadway and West End lyricists of all time.

Episode Five, The Work of Lin-Manuel Miranda covers the shows: In The Heights, Bring It On, 21 Chump Street, Hamilton & Encanto, so enjoy the melodically brilliant journey with me!

DISCLAIMER: All views are my own; but factual information is correct and fully researched. I own no rights to the tracks used, this is a 5 part series as a submission for a dissertation module at Marjon University.

Noteworthy Episode 5 : The Work of Lin-Manuel Miranda

Phoning It In

Some folks make hasty decisions
They live their life on the go
I can’t be bothered to give a damn bout anything and
Some people say I’m a pro

You’re busy climbing the ladder
I’m busy lying in bed
It doesn’t matter if anybody calls me names and
I’m gonna fuck off instead

Because

We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
Don’t care just phone it in
Get bored just phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in

You busy yourself with fashion
I busy myself with fun
I’m busy painting these mini metal skeletons and
You say I’m dressed like a bum

You say that you’ve got a passion 
About what you’ve gotta do
You say you can’t wait to buckle down and start your day and
I’m less excited than you

Because

We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
Don’t care just phone it in
Get bored just phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in

We are the ones
The ones who never give a damn
We are the ones
Without even a basic plan
Out in the sun
We are the ones enjoying it
You work too hard
I quit
I quit
I quit
I quit and

I’m tired of people complaining
My best is not good enough
I’m only doing the minimum to get me through and
If you don’t like it then tough

Because

We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
Want pizza phone it in
Hate work just phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in

We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
----
Phoning It In. I’ve always loved the phrase and I was just inspired to write a song with it. To keep in spirit with the title of the song, I made sure not to try too hard on any one element. I wrote the riff quickly, wrote the lyrics quickly, we got the guitar sound quickly, and there was no overthinking or really changing anything. My only complaint about it is that I think it is a little too fast, so it forces me to sing harder to keep up, and it doesn’t fully sound like I’m phoning in the vocals. So I thought about slowing it down and delivering a more laid back vocal take. Just ever so slightly. I played the guitar, sang, No bass yet. Doug programmed the drums. Every once in a while we will have someone play drums on the songs, but usually only when we are finishing something for release. Otherwise, all the drums in the demos are programmed by Doug, and I think he does a really good job of making them sound kind of real and natural. I get attached to them. All of Hesitant Alien started as demos with programmed drums by Doug. He and I have a cool relationship, and have evolved together over the years since he engineered Black Parade, Danger Days, and engineered and produced Hesitant Alien. We work in the same space, the studio at my house, called Milk Friends. I just let him have the space I’m not using and he brought in all of his gear and works on various projects, recording, and mixes, and I would be in the other room, the office, writing comics. And every so often, when neither of us is too busy, we record things. I like sharing artistic spaces with people, especially Doug. It’s nice to have a friend that can record you when you have an idea, because I’m terrible at recording and I barely even know how to use Garage Band. So all the singles you have gotten from me over the last couple of years have been done with Doug and I, and then various musicians who would replace certain things, making them real, and sound better.

Noteworthy Episode 5 : The Work of Lin-Manuel Miranda

Holly Wigmore

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