"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Conan O'Brien
"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions"
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"Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it, I swear I'll never do it again til the next time company comes."--"Lulu"
from "Can't Stop The Music"
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"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
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"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.
"I'd say Miss Saigon definitely has tragic elements, though I don't think it falls into the greek definition for "tragedy". "
It's obviously tragic, *SPOILER* Kim's death even happens offstage...totally Greek.
I think most of the musicals mentioned here are not tragedies. To begin with, you say you only know of RENT (which obviously has an uplifting ending, and refused its tragedy). When "Broadway Tragedies" was posted and RENT was mentioned, I thought you meant the passing away of its author.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
The hero goes to the Rumble to prevent the very thing he ultimately causes..his best friends death. This leads to his untimely death. I realise R+J is not regarded as a great Shakespearean tragedy but definitions change in my book.
I have never seen it but the Alan Jay Lerner "Lolita" certainly provides a tragic central character. Oh and Sweeney Todd is def a tragedy! He kills someone very close to him without realising it through his need for revenge.
I can see why some people have mentioned Ragtime but I dont think it fits. Oh and Bat Boy if viewed from meredith's eyes is certainly one if it were not so much of darn good black comedy!
I would consider Wicked a semi-tragedy because pretty mch Elphaba does live a tragic life, things don't ever work out for her, at least throughout the show. Then again, there are redeeming numbers like Popular that kind of perk things up.
West Side Story: Well, Romeo and Juliet misses the classical definition of tragedy in a few ways- too much coincidence and bad timing, mostly (and Friar Lawrence is a nitwit). I think WSS solves some of these weaknesses by the major changes at the end. I've never thought about whether it brings it closer to a classical tragedy, though- it's an interesting question.
"WHEN is the winter of our discontent?"
"NOW is the winter of our discontent!"
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Dracula closing was possibly one of the worst days of my life.
"You won't fight without layers of armor
Suit on up and come brace my sword
You look back when the pieces are missing
Hollowed out hope that no time can restore."
Roninjoey has a point here with "Floyd Collins" - Other than the fact that I am clausterphobic - try watching that and having a panic at the same time! Dollypop is also absolutely correct about that awful FW as well.
"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance." -
Elizabeth Taylor