2019/20 season shaping to be another jukebox season

Just looking at the confirmed and rumoured shows are their any original musicals that dont have a jukebox set?
Moulin Rouge
Jagged Little Pill
Tina
Dont Stop Til you had enough
Possibly Girl From the North County



then add that to shows already running. Cher show, ain’t too proud, beautiful

Updated On: 4/30/19 at 11:55 PM

Look, I don’t like all these bio-jukebox musicals either. Hell I’d be the first to crusade against them. But I don’t think it’s totally fair to complain about shows like Moulin Rouge, Jagged Little Pill, and Girl From the North Country, when they are in such a different vein as these hyper-commercial biographical shows. It seems like those three fall more in the artsy, creative side,

It’s kind of like when people complain about all the film adaptations, but don’t complain about something like The Band’s Visit. Because sure, it’s based on a movie, but it’s not the same KIND of adaptation that we’re so tired of seeing.

I feel like this situation is sort of equivalent.

Updated On: 5/1/19 at 10:50 AM

OneL99 said: "I do wonder though.....at what point are we not going to have nominees for Best Original Score? Tom Kitt worked magic with Alanis' music in JLP, for example, so I know the orchestration can be nominated, but, a jukebox can't get original score, correct?"



Yeah, it does. It's full title is "Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre", that's why Ain't Too Proud didn't get a nom for score, but Mockingbird did

OneL99 said: "I'm going to use my 1st post on this board to say....Jagged Little Pill is the best show I have ever seen. Easily. And I've seen pretty much everything (some people buy clothes, I drive to NYC from Boston several times a month...we all have our weakness). It has its own original story, the choreography is mind-blowing, and the orchestrations of Alanis' music and the new songs they incorporate are all top notch.

Welcome to the board! JLP is the "best show you've ever seen". I know you're just new here, but that's a little much for a show stuffed with every single problem facing our society today and only one true showstopping moment. Just at the A.R.T. alone, Porgy and Bess and Pippin far exceeded JLP. I'd be curious what the best show you've ever seen was prior to JLP.

I dont think it really matters since the musicals have for the most part been well received. Moulin Rouge, JLP, and Tina [i think] all got really good reviews so it's not like we're getting 5 productions of Summer.

JBroadway said: "Look, I don’t like all these bio-jukebox musicals either. Hell I’d be the first to crusade against them. But I don’t think it’s totally fair to complain about shows like Moulin Rouge, Jagged Little Pill, and Girl From the North Country, when they are in such a different vein as these hyper-commercial biographical shows. It seems like those three fall more in the artsy, creative side,

It’s kind of like when people complain about all the film adaptations, but don’t complain about something like The Band’s Visit. Because sure, it’s based on a movie, but it’s not the same KIND of adaptation that we’re so tired of seeing.

I feel like this situation is sort of equivalent."

This is a great point. As someone who rarely gets excited for musicals these days, these 3 all have my attention. They seem not only well done, but different forms of their genre. Im expecting a lot from these, and have already enjoyed Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge excels in bringing you INTO the story with its immersive set and lighting, along with the incredibly talented cast that comes alongside it. JLP seems like she tells a story with the music, which surprisingly not all jukebox or bio musicals do/pull off. I think these 3 shows are much more unique, yes.

I don't really mind movie-based musicals, which have functionally been the dominant force for the entire history of musicals - exchange movie for play, book, etc, it's all the same. And we've had garbage adaptations of movies for ages (Henry Sweet Henry is a great example - the musical makes such a huge assumption that the audience is familiar with the movie that the plot doesn't really make any sense).

Jukebox musicals are more frustrating because the ratio of good to awful is so much worse than movie adaptations. The bad ones are either so obsequious that you might as well just stay home and read a bootlicking autobiography while listening to a compilation album or so stupid that they should pack a gun into the program to shoot yourself with. And it's not just that they're bad, it's that they're basically huge advertisements that you pay for and then subsequently have to, more often than not, suffer through.

It's like going up to a cover band and asking them to spit on you while telling you about the band's rise to fame.

hveasey said: " if Adrienne Warren comes with the production’s Transfer I’ll be excited to see it just for her performance."



Well, you're in luck

Call_me_jorge said: "I hope Ride the Cyclone transfers finally."

I agree. That would be fantastic!

three main factors account for the high volume of jukebox musicals. 1. They come with easy money. 2. They come with a built in audience. 3. Producers still do not see very much really good material. It's this last factor that controls. If material that is both good and that people are interested in materialized in volume, the money would follow. (It's not like the track record of the jukeboxes is especially good overall, but you can't sell something that no one wants to buy.)

Updated On: 5/1/19 at 09:39 PM

delete

Updated On: 5/1/19 at 09:40 PM