Broadway musicals now....vs. Broadway musicals then.....

[donte7162004]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 10:03pm

Ok...so today I was listening to that TV station that plays Broadway music all the time.....you know that station where they play tons of stuff from long ago in addition to what's appeared on Broadway recently. I'm interested to know if people think the quality of the musicals being made today meets...or exceeds...the musicals that were made many, many years ago. In my opinion.....with very few exceptions, nothing made in the last several years even comes close to the classics......discuss...
Updated On: 3/28/11 at 10:03 PM

[binau]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 10:05pm

I think that people forget about the musicals of the past that were bad. The Sound of Music, GYPSY and West Side Story (I assume) aren't representative of all musicals in their era.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 10:20pm

^I agree...the one's you mentioned I think are the gems out of generally poor shows (with a few more you can add)

I think now, we have A LOT more variety. Back then, a lot of Broadway shows consisted of the same thing...man falls for women, they begin a relationship, there's conflict, then they marry.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 10:20pm

Exactly. Unless a show is an underrated treasure (Grey Gardens) or a megahit (Phantom), it usually tends to fade into obscurity. Unless, of course, it's something like Carrie, Moose Murders, or Glory Days.

[wendilin622]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 10:33pm

Also, keep in mind that generally only the "good" ones make the history books. We generally don't hear about the flops. In 50 years, people are going to remember shows like Next to Normal (I hope) and Hairspray and will forget all about Young Frankensteins.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 1:41am

The style if Broadway has changed as well. Musicals today are very different then they were 50 years ago. There were hits and flops back then, and there are hits and flops now. Some flops will be remember (just like Carrie), and others will be forgotten.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 12:47pm

The dancing is more athletic now, the lighting and sound are better; the sets are more three-dimensional and so are the stories.

However, in 1940, three bucks could buy you a ticket to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsvDiqzSUBQ

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 1:18pm

As one who has seen a lot of Broadway musicals both then and now, all I can say is, then was better.

Lots.

As for sets, today's may be technologically more sophisticated, but they're more often than not ugly as sin. (cf. this season's Wonderland, How to Succeed, Catch Me If You Can.)

And frankly, I don't recall any musical in I don't know how long that can even remotely compare to the beautiful scenic designs of past shows like House of Flowers, Saratoga, Camelot, 13 Daughters, The Gay Life, Kean, The Student Gypsy.......

[twinbelters]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 1:22pm

Economics have always guided the quality of Broadway musicals, but so has audience demand and the level of "informed" audiences. For instance, it's curious that foreign movies, books, and plays were often adapted into musicals in the Golden age up through the 1980s. More recently, musicals are adapted from movies made within the last 10 years or so.. I think this speaks to the level of "informed" audiences we are now catering to.

What's interesting to me is how in the last several years there have been a number of completely original musicals, musicals not adapted from previously existing source material or subject matter. In the Heights, Next to Normal, Urinetown, Avenue Q, and The Book of Mormon come to mind. Yes, BoM is about Joseph Smith, but it opens the subject up into an original narrative.

How many completely original musicals like those have appeared on Broadway? They are rare, yes? Anyone Can Whistle sticks out in my mind, but honestly I am searching for another....

I think the quality of musicals is continuously uneven and will remain forever so.

[dented146]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 2:18am

Everyone has touched on some aspect of the difference but I think the main difference is that in the 30's 40's and 50's the musical was more mainstream. By that I mean the music in the musical was the same thing you listened to on the radio or on the Hit Parade. Much of it was the popular music of the day. And the finist songwriters of the day were writing for Broadway.

Look at Anything Goes. It's 75 years old and even today there are three or four songs by Porter that are still commonly heard and known. Can anyone think of three or four songs from all the musicals in the last ten years which might be remembered in 75 years?

I love modern musicals. The stories are more diverse. The music is likely more organic to the story. The dance is often fabulous. I absolutely loved In the Heights but I doubt I could hum one number.