Wow, coincedentally I just saw TFM today(only saw it once when it was on broadway, I was younger and not quite as into/obsessed w/ bway as I am now so I'm glad I got to experience it again).
I mean in my opinion it's DRS no doubt, but I don't know if I can say much more than that, DRS is one of my fav shows, I have the cast recording and have seen it many times and while there is/was a lot of TFM I appreciated...I don't think there's much I would say that would live up to DRS in my head the way I am w/ it. I certainly think both pieces are strong and funny and BSo you're dead on about Yazbek writing for male characters, and not Curly-types ppl we're think we're in love characters, which is a rarity on Broadway these days.
Also I think Yazbek's score is more vital to DRS than it is to the Full Monty, there's not that much left in DRS when the songs are taken out, but TFM I think there were many aspects told appropriately not through song.
Not to say I didn't really like the songs, gotta say I loved the friends song they sang to Malcolm. Also noticed there were sweeter songs here than in DRS--in DRS, Love Sneaks In is a standout song as the more touching noncomedic, where in Monty there were really touching moments between Dave and Harold and wives told in song, which isn't to say one is better than the other, just something I thought of as I watched Monty today.
Eh, I can see either opinion being justified. I really like Yazbek's bway scores and I really can't wait for the next one.
"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli
