This Is The Worst Musical Number In All Of American Horror Story
We all know "American Horror Story" creator Ryan Murphy knows how to pull off a musical. Before the horror anthology, he brought the world "Glee," an entire show centered around singing. So it came as little surprise when he started inserting musical numbers into "American Horror Story". The first was during the grim setting of Season 2's "Asylum," when Jessica Lange's Sister Jude hallucinates a musical rendition of "The Name Game" with the staff and patients. The performance fit perfectly into the story and was a reprieve for the actors as well. Lange told Vulture that she felt the entire cast "needed a little lightness" by the tenth episode.
Murphy did it again in "Coven," this time with White Witch Stevie Nicks singing her own hits — "Has Anything Written Anything For You?", "Rhiannon," and "Seven Wonders" — in performances that felt like a veritable private concert for any Stevie Nicks fans.
The producers tried to recreate that magic in Season 4's "Freak Show," and while most fans agree the anachronism of the 1950s setting against modern songs served to develop the story, some of those performances fell a little flatter than others. One actress' cover, in particular, stood out as the worst musical number in all of "American Horror Story."
It's not easy to top Ziggy Stardust
To be fair, legendary actress Jessica Lange is a great talent and a fairly decent singer. Her performance of "I Won't Dance" in the film "Grey Gardens" is simply charming. But even Lange can only stretch her vocal range so far while maintaining a faux German accent. One online user who wasn't a fan had to admit that "she did a good job given her limitations." But Lange's many talents weren't enough to pull off Elsa's (Lange) cover of David Bowie's "Life On Mars." Reddit fans were divided on the performance, with some lauding the cover as "the best thing I've ever seen on screen" while others said they cringed at the moment. Music authority Rolling Stone called the performance "jarring" based on Lange's accent and what they saw as a misplaced song.
Fans agreed with the review, with many viewers complaining that the songs took them out of the era and others saying they felt that Murphy was turning American Horror Story into "a 'Glee' Halloween special." When speaking about their decision to write in modern songs, Murphy told The Wall Street Journal that he was inspired by "Romeo + Juliet" director Baz Luhrmann, and they were "only doing songs by artists who have self-identified as freaks," presumably to fit the theme of "Freak Show." Lange also covered Bowie's "Heroes" for the season finale, another vocal challenge for the downtrodden Elsa.
Season 10's cast has been announced, and while Lange is not expected to appear, there's still the possibility of a new musical number for the latest installment, entitled "Double Feature."