Are there ever good revues?- Page 2

[Justice]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 2:57pm

Well, if that is the case, 5 Guys Named Moe, Putting It Together, Mamma Mia are NOT revues. They all have plots.

Black and Blue was a revue.

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:00pm

and the world goes round is great. I have a confession though, did anyone see the awful revue, "The Look of Love" I loved it. i think it had cult fave potential.

and ps...what the heck would we do without Margo?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:07pm

Mamma Mia is certainly not a revue, but a jukebox musical. Whatever "plot" there is to 5 Guys Named Moe is too vague and sketchy to elevate it beyond being considered a "revue (it's similar in that regard to Ain't Misbehavin' which has "characters" and "vignettes" but still is by any definition a "revue").

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:13pm

tick tick Boom is not a revue. Neither is All Shook Up.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:30pm

I don't know any in the tri-state area, but in Orlando at Universal Studios there are two great revues:

Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue and The Blue Brothers Revue
________________________________________________________________
-It's a man's life in the British Dental Association."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus

[Jwei123]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:42pm

I <3 "Starting here, starting now"

[magruder]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:52pm

Long before revues became derided in our era as evenings of a composer's songbook loosely strung together with pretty people in evening clothes twirling about and making goo-goo eyes at each other, revues used to be created from scratch by some of the best writers in the business, with new songs and sketches.

Some of the great (and a few lesser) original revues of the Golden Era include:

The Band Wagon
Two on the Aisle
Call Me Mister
Pins and Needles
This is the Army
As Thousands Cheer
Lend an Ear
La Plume de ma Tante
Two's Company
The Show is On
New Faces of 1952
New Faces of 1956

The closest we've had to these type of evenings were the two Howard Crabtree shows, Whoop de Doo, and When Pigs Fly, both of which were completely delightful.

Updated On: 2/18/05 at 03:52 PM

[Firefly]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:39pm

"Ok I really didn't think of that Songs for a New World is good, but have you guys seen Working? Beehive? Leader of the Pack? A my name is alice? all shook up?

They are just BAD"


Makes it difficult to answer then, because obviously good and bad are matters of opinion! Having seen the original productions of Beehive, Leader of the Pack, and A...My Name Is Alice, I disagree. Well, okay, Leader of the Pack wasn't that good, but worth the ticket price to see Ellie Greenwich, Darlene Love and Annie Golden. Beehive, while not great, was very enjoyable. I thought Alice was wonderful. Maybe there are some things in there that were more fresh or relevant in 1984, but I really liked that show a lot.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:46pm

Songs for a New World is a GREAT review. I love A My Name Is Alice and Working. Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever are brilliant! I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change certainly has its merits. I also love And The World Goes 'Round.

[magruder]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:50pm

Once again (thanks Margo)

REVUE = A plotless musical theatre piece

REVIEW = A critical assessment

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 6:12pm

Sorry. I'm so ashamed I was so thoughtless. And the thing is, I get mad when people do that too.

[Razz77]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 8:19pm

While "A Grand Night For Singing" is rather dull, some of the vocal arrangements are really excellent...

[Jon]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 8:30pm

What's sad is that A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING, which was a revue with no plot, characters or dialogue, got a "Best Book" Tony nomination.

Must have been a really lousy year for new musicals.

[maybethistime]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 8:34pm

I adore Ain't Misbehavin, and SWING! and Smokey Joe's Cafe were pretty great to. Closer Than Ever and Lies & Legends are also great!

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 10:20am

Magruder, you forgot:

Music Box Revues
Garrick Gaieties
Life Begins At 8:40
Follies of 1936
The Show Is On
Set to Music
Shuffle Along
Inside USA

Miriam

Updated On: 2/19/05 at 10:20 AM

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 11:15am

SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM and PUTTING IT TOGETHER are both great.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 11:24am

I saw the original production of AIN'T MISBEHAVIN on Broadway and me and those I was with were terribly bored. After the forth time that the show's creators had the women jiggle their ample bosoms for comic effect, it was clear that this show was not my cup of tea.

However, just a few years ago, I saw a tour starring the Pointer Sisters and enjoyed the show much more than I did the original Broadway production. (apparently, the director of the Pointer Sisters tour did not think it was hysterically funny to have overweight women step forward and jiggle their breasts for comic effect--come to think of it, I guess there were no overweight women to jiggle their breasts in the Pointer Sisters revival of Ain't Misbehavin.)

But, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN beat ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY for the Best Musical Tony, if memory serves me correctly. That was simply preposterous.

Of course Nell Carter was great in AIN'T MISBEHAVIN and her Tony was richly deserved. I saw the divine Nell in a small, kinda private concert just a couple of years before she died. She was magnificent.

Updated On: 2/19/05 at 11:24 AM

[Razz77]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 11:24am

There's also Forever Plaid and The Taffetas -- which both have a little bit of a book and certainly have characters, but they are revues of songs...They cross a fine line between revues and jukebox musicals...

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 11:25am

Dancergirl16, i loooooooooooved BEEHIVE. Do you happen to know if a recording is available? I have been unable to find it on cd and would greatly enjoy having it.

BEEHIVE was a great, high energy show.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 2:22pm

I <3 Side by Side by Sondheim!

[eslgr8]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 3:14pm

Seems "review" can also refer to "A plotless musical theatre piece"... See photo above: Updated On: 2/19/05 at 03:14 PM

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 3:47pm

Ain't Misbehavin'
Swing!
Songs For a New World

[starlight2]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 9:41pm

ok, i am going to reply to this because i just got back from nyc and i do NOT have a negative review! saw "Spamalot" and it might be the funniest production I have ever seen of anything! Laughed all the way thru and thought Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, and Ramirez, and the whole cast was amazing and the show should run a long time! "Movin Out" was the most incredible dancing I have ever seen and the emotion and grace and talent that blessed that stage deserves a standing ovation! "Hairspray" was on fire and this cast is on a roll! My guess is a few of them will be leaving soon for other shows, etc. but congrats to a well-oiled, entertaining, high energy group! Carly ROCKS, a star in the making, Bruce is perfection, and Jordqan Ballard is beautiful & funny, and she and Barbra Walsh seem to have a fun mother/daughter thing going & Leslie Kritzer is hysterical! Tried to see "Wicked" but sold out, whatever, finished with that! Too many other great shows out there!!!!! and I only had 3 days. When I saw "Hairspray" Wed. guess who was there??!! Whoopi , the one and only! Did some shopping, and saw the VERY ORANGE gates in Central Park! Pretty, but wonder what else that 21 mil could have done, just a thought! happy weekend to all, tired, off to slumberland

[morosco]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 9:44pm

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/19/05 at 9:44pm

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD is not a revue. It is a song cycle. As is ELEGIES.