Broadway Composers Who Get Totally Screwed Over By Audiences

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 2:53pm

Even though I have professed my love for shows like Wicked and The Color Purple, it is my belief that the following composers do not get the attention they deserve from audiences even though many of them have won the Tony or five in the case of one of them.

Stephen Sondheim (none of his shows have had long runs)
Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza is absolutely breathtaking)
Jason Robert Brown (even thought the Livent scandal was really what killed it, Parade did not get the attention it deserved)
Michael John LaChiusa (This was probably the most mature show on Broadway and audiences turned their noses up at it.)
Jeanine Tesori (I'm not counting Thoroughly Modern Millie. I had no desire to see that show when it was on Broadway and I have no desire to see it now.)

[Julian2]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:09pm

"Jeanine Tesori (I'm not counting Thoroughly Modern Millie. I had no desire to see that show when it was on Broadway and I have no desire to see it now.)"

Hmm, refusing to see a good composer's show because its too commercial, now there's a twist.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:12pm

Michael John LaChiusa (This was probably the most mature show on Broadway and audiences turned their noses up at it.)

I wasn't aware this was the name of a show. Did LaChiusa compose it himself or was it just named for him?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:16pm

Ok, skittles, I was talking about The Wild Party.

And, Julian, the other reason I didn't see Thoroughly Modern Millie was because I saw the revival of Into the Woods instead.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:23pm

Sondheim is perhaps the best composer in Broadway history. People know his name, for sure, and they may be able to name a show he composed... But have they actually SEEN one or more of his shows? Probally not. Not saying that is true for all. Generally speaking if you know his name and a show he wrote, you are interested enough to go see it.

Updated On: 10/19/06 at 03:23 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:23pm

Anybody agree with these statements?

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:27pm

It's called thieves get rich and saints get shot,
It's called God don't answer prayers a lot,
Okay, now you know.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:27pm

Sondheim is perhaps the best composer in Broadway history. People know his name, for sure, and they may be able to name a show he composed... But have they actually SEEN one or more of his shows? Probally not. Not saying that is true for all. Generally speaking if you know his name and a show he wrote, you are interested enough to go see it.

I agree with you.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:47pm

>> Jeanine Tesori (I'm not counting Thoroughly Modern Millie. I had no desire to see that show when it was on Broadway and I have no desire to see it now.)

Having suffered through that show when it toured near here, I can only hope Ms. Tesori has done something -- anything -- else. TMM has one of the worst scores in recent memory, sorry. The movie had some brilliant numbers that were inexplicably cut and replaced with things that sounded like first-drafts.

So what else has she done to redeem herself of this atrocity?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:56pm

The thing with LaChiusa, for me, is that Broadway audiences are so tourist-heavy that yeah, when you're looking at theater that is however unfortunately truly a business, that's going to happen when you're dealing with pretentious, high art writing. Broadway isn't exactly about the highest, most complex art. It's about what sells. And... intellectual theater like LaChiusa's work isn't what sells to tourists. People outside of hardcore theater gurus don't exactly want to go see a show to be challenged or you know, have to think, which is a big part of the problem. It's as simple as that. I also happen to think that while he does turn out some great stuff, other work of his is pretentious to the point of being inaccessible and self-important, but that's another story.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:13pm

That's what I'm saying. These composers write what I consider to be the most intellectual music Broadway has seen in years and they all get screwed over by stupid Broadway tourists who think Avenue Q is a kid's show.

[jasonf]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:15pm

Guettel, Brown, Tesori and LaChiusa are still too new to be put into this category. They've all had what, ONE major Broadway run to each of their names? Hardly enough to say they're being screwed over!

People know who Sondheim is. The man is revered by many to be a virtual God, and you're saying that he doesn't get enough credit? Please. He doesn't appeal to the masses - so what? The masses are asses.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:20pm

They haven't just written Broadway shows. Adam Guettel has Floyd Collins, Jeanine Tesori has Violet, Jason Robert Brown has The Last 5 Years and Songs For A New World, and Michael John LaChiusa has been nominated not just for The Wild Party but for shows like Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Marie Christine. These people may be new to the Broadway scene but they sure as hell aren't new to the theatre scene. I'm just saying that when these people finally get their day in the sun (or days if you're Michael), they get screwed over by the masses. So, yes, the masses are asses.

I know that people know who Sondheim is. I'm not saying he's the theatre's best kept secret. I'm just saying that his shows haven't gotten the credit they deserve. People are always saying, "I liked the first act of Into the Woods better" or "Fosca's crazy (that's what my mom says anyway)" or "Sweeney Todd is too gross!!!"

Basically, "the masses are asses" is my point.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:21pm

Bump!

[jasonf]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:33pm

I know that they've written more than Broadway shows -- but with VERY few exceptions, off-Broadway rarely becomes a place where "mass" audiences are drawn. Those shows can't be counted in terms of being screwed over as you're saying - especially since, and correct me if I'm way off base here - these artists have had what for off-Broadway would be considered fairly successful careers...

Of the four mentioned, LaChiusa has been the most prolific, but his shows, even for a theater geek like me, are less easily accessible than even the most challenging of Sondheim. Someone writing the way he does will NEVER get mass audience appeal the way a Webber, Coleman, or Rodgers and Hammerstein can.

Guettel has a huge chance as a breakout with The Princess Bride, as does Tesori with Shrek - but would you consider those to be a result of the artist or of the property? I doubt many who don't already know these artists will go to either show and seek out Floyd Collins and Violet -- just like I doubt interest in Pippin or The Baker's Wife peaked much after Wicked's success...

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 6:02pm

I didn't care for "The Light in the Piazza", but it didn't stop me from seeking out "Floyd Collins" and "Myths & Hymns" both of which I play plenty.

I liked "Thoroughly Modern Millie" on tour. I just bought "Twelfth night" by Jeanine Tesori. I have to do some research because I thought Millie was related to the Julie Andrews movie which I assumed it was an adaptation of a stage show.

Edit: I didn't get a chance to finish. I had to leave at a moments notice.

The point I think I was trying to make is that I think it is unfair to blame the audience. I am one of your "ignorant tourists" who doesn't have a chance to see off-broadway material. But, have to seek it out by way of recommendations on boards like these and picking up names and following the composers bios to find other material. Your list of composers have an amazing body of work available on CD. Which in previous years would not have happened based on ticket sales. Their level of exposure is way ahead of many prominent composers at this point in their career. I hear fans of every genre of music say the same thing. Punk rockers are out there saying the rest of the world is brain dead because they don't love punkrock music. They have a choice, write what they love and try better marketing or try to write what will sell to the size audience they want to attract. In that sense, maybe the composers are screwing the audience for NOT giving them what they want.



Updated On: 10/19/06 at 06:02 PM

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 7:00pm

Possibly the most ignorant post ever.







Mayella Ewell
Maycomb, Alabama

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 7:12pm

>> I thought Millie was related to the Julie Andrews movie which I assumed it was an adaptation of a stage show

Other way around, as I'm sure you've found out by now.

[jasonf]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 7:38pm

This is an official sign of the apocolypse. I agree with The Enchanted Hunter.

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 8:19pm

Sondheim is a well-known name, but I wouldn't say he is the most well-known composer. I'm sure many people heard of Rodgers and Hammerstein or even Andrew Lloyd Webber before they heard of Sondheim, simply because their shows have been more sucessful than Sondheim- whether in movies (Sound of Music) or on the stage (Cats, Phantom)

[Lizzya9]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 8:33pm

Alan Menken. He is supported but people still have this thing in their head that it is "kiddie" music. I think he is the best composer EVER. People can be so quick to judge!

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 8:57pm

There have been tribute concerts and recordings and productions for Sondheim up the wazoo for decades...all within his lifetime. I can't name another musical theatre composer who has been more honored. I can't deny that he's never been a huge smash with audiences--and I know that's what the title of this thread says it's about--but the way Sondheim has been deified, I don't think he quite belongs on the same list as the other composers in the original post. He hasn't been "totally screwed over". His shows are generally pretty accessible for those who go to see them, and many audiences have seen them--more, I bet, than all of those other composers' shows combined.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:28pm

LaChiusa needs to write some beautiful music - no lyrics - representing the stupidity of the tourists in the audience - and this stupidity leads to their downfall in not enjoying artistic work.

Then the curtain will open and there will just be a big mirror pointing at the audience as this music plays for two hours.

Now if that ain't heaven, I ain't gonna be good.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 11/4/06 at 4:23pm

Incidentally, I didn't even know that Jeanine Tesori composed Millie till I read her playbill bio at Caroline, or Change. I saw it on the Tonies and it just looked really unappealing.

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 11/4/06 at 5:49pm

sondheim always gets screwed over by audiences... even though his music is probably the most brilliant on broadway