#101
Posted: 12/31/10 at 2:43am
Original Score and book not based on previous play, film or novel....
AVENUE Q - Cute, clever and very funny.
BOUNCE/ROAD SHOW - Neither version was 100% but both had many fine moments.
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE - technically this premiered in Toronto in 1998, but it was substantially revised for the Broadway opening in 2006
THE LAST FIVE YEARS - each time I see it I find new things to admire in this show.
THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS - easily my favourite show so far this season
THE STORY OF MY LIFE - The NY critics failed this show, and I do not know why. Fortunately, it is being done in regional theatres and will soon become another LAST FIVE YEARS.
**I have not seen CAROLINE...OR CHANGE as yet, so cannot comment on that show. Based on the enthusiastic endorsements by several BWW members whose opinions I respect I will probably like it a lot when I do get to see it. The cast album has not won me over as yet but maybe you have to see this show, and maybe the cast album doesn't do it justice.
Adaptations....
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS- Great fun and highly enjoyable score
FELA! - a unique theatrical experience (even tho the music is beyond my area of interest)
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA - Beautiful show with a lush, romantic score. So glad it was shown on Live from Lincoln Center.
JERSEY BOYS - a play about popular music, though not necessarily a true "musical" it still combined an excellent book with some powerhouse acting and singing to make sensational entertainment.
THE PRODUCERS - The Broadway production was a joy. Letter touring production (and an underpowered Toronto production) have done nothing to dim the memories of the original.
TRISTAN - a chamber musical based on the Thomas Mann novel that premiered at the Shaw Festival in 2006. The cast album is available and well worth exploring.
Major disappointments...
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - great cast wasted with inferior material
AMERICAN IDIOT - Why is this even on Broadway? Shouldn't it be touring rock arenas?
BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON - I really wanted this to involve me more than it did, but Benjamin Walker was sensational.
SPAMALOT - The joke wears thin very quickly
SPRING AWAKENING - Nope - stick with the original play which still packs a punch that the musical trades for cheap laughs and sickening sentimentality.
Sensational revivals....
COMPANY - The actor/musician concept worked well adn Raul Esparza's sensitive portrayal made Bobby a more compelling leading character.
(**HONORABLE MENTION to the Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration in the summer of 2002, notably PASSION with Judy Kuhn and COMPANY with John Barrowman. The whole series was THE theatrical event of the decade.)
FINIAN'S RAINBOW - a sparkling production of this 1947 musical comedy. The critics raved yet audiences stayed home. Why?
GYPSY (Patti Lupone) - as close to Merman as we will ever likely get (**did not see B.Peters)
INTO THE WOODS - again the Stratford production (2005)delighted the eyes and ears in many unexpected ways.
OKLAHOMA! - The 2002 Broadway revival was exhilarating from the start of the Overture through the final curtain call.
RAGTIME - another show that got near unanimous praise from the critics (with one holdout) yet failed to ignite at the the box office.
WEST SIDE STORY - no not the Broadway revival (which I thought was very good) but the summer 2009 staging at the Stratford Festival in Ontario.
AVENUE Q - Cute, clever and very funny.
BOUNCE/ROAD SHOW - Neither version was 100% but both had many fine moments.
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE - technically this premiered in Toronto in 1998, but it was substantially revised for the Broadway opening in 2006
THE LAST FIVE YEARS - each time I see it I find new things to admire in this show.
THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS - easily my favourite show so far this season
THE STORY OF MY LIFE - The NY critics failed this show, and I do not know why. Fortunately, it is being done in regional theatres and will soon become another LAST FIVE YEARS.
**I have not seen CAROLINE...OR CHANGE as yet, so cannot comment on that show. Based on the enthusiastic endorsements by several BWW members whose opinions I respect I will probably like it a lot when I do get to see it. The cast album has not won me over as yet but maybe you have to see this show, and maybe the cast album doesn't do it justice.
Adaptations....
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS- Great fun and highly enjoyable score
FELA! - a unique theatrical experience (even tho the music is beyond my area of interest)
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA - Beautiful show with a lush, romantic score. So glad it was shown on Live from Lincoln Center.
JERSEY BOYS - a play about popular music, though not necessarily a true "musical" it still combined an excellent book with some powerhouse acting and singing to make sensational entertainment.
THE PRODUCERS - The Broadway production was a joy. Letter touring production (and an underpowered Toronto production) have done nothing to dim the memories of the original.
TRISTAN - a chamber musical based on the Thomas Mann novel that premiered at the Shaw Festival in 2006. The cast album is available and well worth exploring.
Major disappointments...
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - great cast wasted with inferior material
AMERICAN IDIOT - Why is this even on Broadway? Shouldn't it be touring rock arenas?
BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON - I really wanted this to involve me more than it did, but Benjamin Walker was sensational.
SPAMALOT - The joke wears thin very quickly
SPRING AWAKENING - Nope - stick with the original play which still packs a punch that the musical trades for cheap laughs and sickening sentimentality.
Sensational revivals....
COMPANY - The actor/musician concept worked well adn Raul Esparza's sensitive portrayal made Bobby a more compelling leading character.
(**HONORABLE MENTION to the Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration in the summer of 2002, notably PASSION with Judy Kuhn and COMPANY with John Barrowman. The whole series was THE theatrical event of the decade.)
FINIAN'S RAINBOW - a sparkling production of this 1947 musical comedy. The critics raved yet audiences stayed home. Why?
GYPSY (Patti Lupone) - as close to Merman as we will ever likely get (**did not see B.Peters)
INTO THE WOODS - again the Stratford production (2005)delighted the eyes and ears in many unexpected ways.
OKLAHOMA! - The 2002 Broadway revival was exhilarating from the start of the Overture through the final curtain call.
RAGTIME - another show that got near unanimous praise from the critics (with one holdout) yet failed to ignite at the the box office.
WEST SIDE STORY - no not the Broadway revival (which I thought was very good) but the summer 2009 staging at the Stratford Festival in Ontario.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
