ALW Shows Break Records- Page 2

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/3/17 at 10:48am

For instance, my family (no members of which are theatre-savvy) easily know about Phantom, Cats, and Jesus Christ Superstar. They can even sing a line or two of a song from those shows. If I asked them to name a song from Carousel or Oklahoma, they'd be stumped.

Unless that has more to do with the fact that Rodgers shows are significantly older.

It could be that or the age of the person you are asking and/or their preferences.  Ask them about a song from Sound of Music and I'm sure they'll come up with more than one.  King & I and South Pacific have major classic hits as well.  All three of those have songs that are probably more commonly known by the general public today (Sound of Music, Do Re Mi, My Favorite Things, So Long Farewell, Edelweiss, Climb Every Mountain, Shall We Dance, Getting to Know You, Wash That Man, Some Enchanted Evening) than Carousel or Oklahoma.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 1/4/17 at 9:50am

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "Hahaha, Director. Yes I know of Richard Rodgers. Quite well. But with all due respect, I'm not sure you can compare him to Webber in terms of pure commercial recognizability. For instance, my family (no members of which are theatre-savvy) easily know about Phantom, Cats, and Jesus Christ Superstar. They can even sing a line or two of a song from those shows. If I asked them to name a song from Carousel or Oklahoma, they'd be stumped.

Unless that has more to do with the fact that Rodgers shows are significantly older.

 

"

I think you're young--and no one need apologize for that. My parents and grandparents (who rarely attended the theater unless they were seeing me perform) could have told you ALL the songs of CAROUSEL and OKLAHOMA and SOUTH PACIFIC and THE KING AND I and CINDERELLA and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. And my grandparents and great-grandparents could have told you the hits of Rodgers and Hart back in the 1920s and 1930s; they played those songs on their pianos and heard them on the radio.

As successful as ALW has been, there's really no comparison in terms of the central place in American culture of Richard Rodgers (or Cole Porter or Irving Berlin or George Gershwin or Jerome Kern) during the era when American popular music was synonymous with Broadway musicals. Thanks in part to air conditioning (shows used to go on tour or simply close in the hot summer months) ALW's hits run longer, obviously, but his cast recordings don't sit at #1 on the Billboard charts for years the way OCRs used to do.

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 1/4/17 at 10:27am

I've always had a theory that could be totally wrong, but, to me, ALW's success is mostly timing. If he had begun writing 20 years prior, during the generation of Rodgers, Hammerstein, Styne, Bernstein, Lerner, Lowe, etc., no one would have given him the time of day. His style of spectacle over substance came at the perfect timing, when the Broadway producers were unable to fill the void left by those giants. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 1/4/17 at 10:55am

Did somebody really just say that ALW's shows run longer than R and H's because of air conditioning?  

And somebody else said that R and H's cast albums were #1 on Billboard for years?  Is that supposed to imply that 1. that is true and 2. that R and H cast albums sold more copies that ALW's?  

Best-Selling Cast Albums of all time

I believe that R and H's shows are more a part of the cultural zeitgeist that ALW's shows are........except for Phantom. 

Updated On: 1/4/17 at 10:55 AM

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 1/4/17 at 11:26am

I was referring more to a melodic spectacle; not necessarily the physical staging. Big, overly emotive compositions with huge swells that repeat the same chord progression for 6 minutes at a time. Believe me, while I do love SUPERSTAR, I wish I had a taste for ALW. I just find his writing repetitive and uninteresting. Clearly, I'm in the minority. He's the most commercially successful musical theatre composer of all time. 

And while I think he's clearly talented, for me, his talent is vastly overrated, and his success has more to do with the timing of his career. He's no Leonard Bernstein or Richard Rodgers or Jule Styne or Frederick Loewe. Again, clearly I'm in the minority of the mainstream, and sometimes I kinda wish I wasn't lol. 

Updated On: 1/4/17 at 11:26 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/4/17 at 1:26pm

He's no Leonard Bernstein or Richard Rodgers or Jule Styne or Frederick Loewe.

I always hate these sorts of comparisons.  Different styles and eras (not to mention none of them are infallible as composers).  He doesn't have to be any of them just as Bernstein is no Rodgers and Styne is no Loewe.  Finn is no Gershwin, Shire is no Porter, Miranda is no Kern, Kander is no Berlin.  And nobody has to be Sondheim.  Why does it matter?  While I don't like all of his shows, I think ALW has written numerous lovely and memorable songs as well as a few rather ingenious scores.

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/21/17 at 1:37pm

PThespian said: "I think it's unfair to characterize ALW's style, and it's success, to being one of spectacle over substance. 

Yes, some of his shows (Cats, Phantom, Stsrlight Express, etc) are the epitome of Broadway grandeur."

I've never understood the suggestion that a sumptuous visual design precludes an engaging story. Those who deride ALW love to dismiss Phantom as a "spectacle" (why that's an insult is also a mystery to me), and while it's certainly a beautiful show to look at, it's the story and the music that keep me coming back.