Broadway's Tragedies — Page 2

"the ending of the first act of "john and jen" is sooo tragic. i cry every time i listen to the recording."

Nah, that's not tragedy, just poorly written soap opera.


Allison McKenzie
Peyton Place, New Hampshire

coughIdinasfallwasatradedycough

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West Side Story?

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!

Or Andrew Lloyd Webber.

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ASU, Lestat, Cats running for as long as it did, TOO LONG.

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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.

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What's ASU?


CATS was a disaster.

It's an oldie, but "Starlight Express" was one of the worst things I've ever seen.