Broadway Ban — Page 5

whats your beef with carol?

Back to Fran and Barry--

Work for them and then see if you can use the phrase 'not totally evil' again regarding the Dear Weisslers.

Loathesome is such a small word.

They give producers a bad name and that is saying a whole lot.

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Cats is the worst show I've seen on broadway and Starlight express the worst show I've ever seen (west end) but my feelings on those seem to be echoed by many. I would have to vote for Grease!... yes the movie is a "classic" (one that I can enjoy, but do not love) but the stage show is simply horrible. I do not understand its popularity at all.

My choice would have to be Oklahoma! Mere words can not describe how much I hate this show, (been there, done it, even have the Tshirt somewhere) Movie, show, hate them both as much, so please no more Oklahoma ( Not even Hugh changed my mind!!)
B
Sorry for the ranting, but I feel so much better!

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Updated On: 5/19/04 at 10:52 AM

I absolutely LOVE Into the Woods and Oklahoma. Oklahoma has to be my favorite R&H show. I never get tired of it. Into the Woods has one of the funniest and inventive books in musical theatre. Grease is great when staged well with a good cast, interesting set and a good choreographer, though the recent Broadway and London revivals were pretty awful. The Broadway production looked more like a Vegas spectacular with a more sanitized-sounding orchestra. The London production is pretty much the movie on stage. Lasers should never be an option. I foudn Starlight Express enchanting in its original version and loved it. After its rewrites, I saw the London production in 1999 and the entire cast phoned it in. The audience chatted away through the entire show and everyone seemed to simply want to go home. At some point, the show seemed redesigned to be the live equivalent of a babysitting VCR. No one paid attention to the show unless something loud was happening. Kids were running amock in the theatre. Other than a jaw-dropping set, the show was wretched and lacked everything that made the original so special.

I thought of one show I simply cannot stand - Camelot. Nearly ever song grinds the story to a halt. I find the book tedious and dull. I think the score has a couple of decent songs, but is mostly bland.

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Camelot is definitely L&L's weakest show!

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I might get bashed for this, but I have a few rather popular shows to add to the mix. In no particular order:

Godspell (truely wretched and overproduced)
JC Superstar (love the music, hate every staging)
Pippin (how this made it on B-way...I'll never understand)
Footloose, Saturday Night Fever, Urban Cowboy, or any other pop song catalogue movie turned musical.

And yes of course...CATS

I think everyting embarrasing and insipid about musicals is perfectly embodied in 'Hello, Dolly!' and that the show should be taken out back and shot -- over and over again.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

And while MAMMA MIA! is entertaining, it is one of the most poorly written musicals I have ever seen. And of course, I will be bashed for saying:

CHICAGO

I'm so glad someone else hates Hello Dolly. I also don't like Mame or La Cage. I saw one really gorgeous production of JCS many years ago, but every production I've seen since then was awful. I also don't like Pippin, but I do understand how it made it to Broadway. Fosse's choreography is pretty amazing. Showboat was pretty much the birth of the dramatic Broadway musical, so I don't think it should be banned.....EVER. Besides the fact that it has a beautiful score and a wonderful book. AS for Saturday Night Fever....hee hee....I liked it. The dancing was fantastic! And the lights were great. I had a good time. I could have watched the choreography all night. And Orfeh was awesome!

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You have not seen it sense December?
Wow!