BROADWAY SECRETS: Wherein we confess our controversial opinions — Page 23

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Last Five Years is a more enjoyable listen as an album than watching it in any iteration."

I couldn't agree more.

I find Sutton Foster's singing in "Anything Goes" quite irritating.

Auggie27 said:

Every single thing Tom Stoppard ever wrote, a couple of scenes in "The Real Thing" aside, bores the bejesus outta me. Few plays are as insufferable, on the page or stage, as "Arcadia." The single longest night in the theater, ever. Waterboarding? Nothing compared to 20 minutes of "Arcadia."

"Equus" is brilliantly written, riveting theater, and a lot of hooey. For all its agonizing, not really about a damned thing.

Goldman's original (circa Winter Garden) book for "Follies" is smart, sharp and wonderful, the most unfairly maligned script in the history of musical theater.

I hated "Our Town" until I was middle aged; I now think it's one of the most perfect works of art ever conceived.

Landford Wilson won the Pulitzer for the wrong play. And on that subject: the fact that Annie Baker has a Pulitzer and John Guare does not makes me effing crazy.

"

I pretty much agree with all of Auggie's points, although I do love some Stoppard (including Arcadia and I have a soft spot for Rosencrantz but that may be due to being in a production that I loved doing.) I actually prefer his screenwriting work (even that bizarre recent Anna Karenina or tv work like Parade's End) and adaptations...

Fifth of July absolutely should have won the Pulitzer--I imagine Landford's prize for its prequel was partly an acknowledgement of that fact.

Is it still controversial to anyone but "Widow Goldman" that the original libretto of Follies is great? I know for decades the show had the reputation that it suffered from a poor book, but...

Equus is thrilling and yes *utter* hooey. I wonder if even Shaffer believed what he was selling, but boy does it work if you don't overthink it (or even slightly think about some of the psych stuff.)

Maybe I'm not old enough--I still find Our Town dull, though I do like Skin of Our Teeth.

And yes, I have no idea how Anne Frank won the Pulitzer! To me, it feels like a number of decidedly mediocre literary (well in this case not really literary, but) adaptations from the mid century done for the stage. What amazes me is Goodrich and Hackett's other works, at least their movie works are charming (well It's a Wonderful World is not a fave either,) and nearly all of them are so completely different than Anne Frank--The Thin Man, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Father of the Bride, etc...

I think Gwen Verdon was a great dancer but her speaking voice gets on my nerves.

I don't understand the point of Wicked or why it is so popular.

Chita Rivera is my favorite performer. Her talent is unsurpassed.

Ethel Merman belted and screeched out her songs. I don't call what she did singing.

The Book of Mormon is trash, not only in music and lyrics but subject matter, sense of humor, and any kind of support for an overblown and damaging cult full of the exact kind of people who want to see people like me dead.

Charley Kringas Inc said: "The Book of Mormon is trash, not only in music and lyrics but subject matter, sense of humor, and any kind of support for an overblown and damaging cult full of the exact kind of people who want to see people like me dead.

"

you sound as pressed as a freshly ironed shirt, tbh

c0113g3b0y said: "Charley Kringas Inc said: "The Book of Mormon is trash, not only in music and lyrics but subject matter, sense of humor, and any kind of support for an overblown and damaging cult full of the exact kind of people who want to see people like me dead.

"

you sound as pressed as a freshly ironed shirt, tbh

"

lmao

I think it [Amazing Grace] left out the religious references except for when they sang the title song.

Well, the entire point seems to be that when the protagonist was a nonbeliever, he was an evil slave-trader, but when he found Jesus, he became a holy abolitionist. In other words, the whole plot is a religious reference. It's not a huge leap to see the show as one big (and very offensive) argument that religious people are just better than nonreligious people.

Also, historically, this is a load of baloney, since John Newton continued to sell human beings long after he accepted Christ into his life.

[Edited because, apparently, what you see is not what you get!]

Updated On: 11/17/15 at 12:23 PM

(Does this thread remind anyone else of "In and Out," the still charming Kevin Kline starrer, in which late in the film a group of matrons confess secrets. "I hated 'The Bridges of Madison County,' 'My husband has three testicles!"

I am kind of falling in love with Carrie the musical and I think the duets between Carrie and her mom are bad ass.

I was not that moved by Gentlemen's Guide, and I have yet to hear someone else feel the same.

I also didn't like The Producers. I guess I'm odd for not finding Nazis funny??

I think Something Rotten is the funniest show I've seen.

Is anyone "moved" by Gentleman's Guide? It's a comedy, after all.