#26
Posted: 7/9/06 at 6:59pm
We thought all of Rent was depressing
Poster Emeritus
Depressing endings — Page 2
#27
Posted: 7/9/06 at 6:59pm
Miss Saigon
The Last 5 Years
High School Musical
and IMO the most depressing ending; Bare.
The Last 5 Years
High School Musical
and IMO the most depressing ending; Bare.
Updated On: 7/9/06 at 06:59 PM
#28
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:10pm
Not because people die at the end makes the finale depressing --
In Les Miserables, almost everyone dies at the end - but I never felt depressed in all the times I have seen it. In a way, it is uplifting because it tells a very human story of triumphs and tragedies.
The Beautiful Game ( Hey, congrats to Italy
) is the saddest show I have ever seen - very sad ending - but there is hope also personified ( by his son learning how to play the beautiful game)
Miss Saigon ended tragically, but it was a show of a mother's love which it depicted at the end.
Passion - that was rather sad, too -- Fosca died and Giorgio became mentally ill ( although there was a glimmer of hope that he would come out of it eventually).
If you attended the TALE of SWEENEY TODD -- that was pretty depressing, too...but you forget that because the story-telling was excellent, if quite dark.
In Les Miserables, almost everyone dies at the end - but I never felt depressed in all the times I have seen it. In a way, it is uplifting because it tells a very human story of triumphs and tragedies.
The Beautiful Game ( Hey, congrats to Italy
) is the saddest show I have ever seen - very sad ending - but there is hope also personified ( by his son learning how to play the beautiful game) Miss Saigon ended tragically, but it was a show of a mother's love which it depicted at the end.
Passion - that was rather sad, too -- Fosca died and Giorgio became mentally ill ( although there was a glimmer of hope that he would come out of it eventually).
If you attended the TALE of SWEENEY TODD -- that was pretty depressing, too...but you forget that because the story-telling was excellent, if quite dark.
#29
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:12pm
Miss Saigon and POTO but Miss Saigon is definately the top one!
I found Aida depressing until they met in another lifetime as they promised each other...
I found Aida depressing until they met in another lifetime as they promised each other...
#30
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:12pm
Follies - One guy has a breakdown, other characters have things revealed & the theater comes down
Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 7/9/06 at 07:12 PM
#31
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:37pm
the most depressing endings in my opinion:
Kiss of the Spider Woman
&
Company
Kiss of the Spider Woman
&
Company
#32
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:41pm
Grey Gardens
Sweet Charity, Sweeney Todd, and Little Shop of Horrors all have bittersweet endings, although not entirely sad.
Sweet Charity, Sweeney Todd, and Little Shop of Horrors all have bittersweet endings, although not entirely sad.
"The hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility. Oh brother, that got me, that did me in!"
#34
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:45pm
Little Shop
Fiddler on the Roof
Sweet Charity
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Bounce
that's all I can think of now.....and not all were depressing but they were kinda sad in a way!
Fiddler on the Roof
Sweet Charity
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Bounce
that's all I can think of now.....and not all were depressing but they were kinda sad in a way!
"I'm tellin' you, the only times I really feel the presence of God are when I'm having sex and during a great Broadway musical." - Nathan Lane - Jeffrey
#35
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:49pm
I'd go with Phantom, Les Mis, and Rent. Phantom's just depressing while Les Mis and Rent usually leave me in tears. Aida is creepy/depressing, IMO.
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
#36
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:51pm
Shiksa_goddess beat me to it, but my first thought was Last 5 Years. So sad. And what makes it worse is that you know how it's going to end from the beginning. So beautiful, so depressing. And others that people have mentioned.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#37
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:54pm
In my opinion, RENT is not a depressing ending. It has a tragic moment--but, Mimi doesn't even die! She comes back, revived, instilled with new life. As are they all and then they sing that whole ending song that is all about carrying on and living life to the fullest, day by day. Nope, not depressing.
CAROLINE, or CHANGE. . .pretty depressing, in a way.
CAROLINE, or CHANGE. . .pretty depressing, in a way.
whatever and ever amen - ben folds five
#38
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:56pm
The end of Phantom is not depressing! I mean come on! It's over! Why's that depressing? lol
"I'm tellin' you, the only times I really feel the presence of God are when I'm having sex and during a great Broadway musical." - Nathan Lane - Jeffrey
#39
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:57pm
I think Rent's ending is actually pretty uplifting. Yes, there is tragedy, but it shows that there is hope and I just cannot feel sad when the cast is singing it.
#40
Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:57pm
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Miss Saigon
Parade
Bare
Ragtime
Passion
Miss Saigon
Parade
Bare
Ragtime
Passion
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
#41
Posted: 7/9/06 at 8:00pm
I also don't think you can classify RAGTIME as one with a depressing ending.
It's definitely a show with it's fair share of tragic elements, but there is also a lot of hope at the end for some of the other characters. Sure, some are dead, but others more on to do great things and live out their dreams and rebuild their lives. . .So it's only PARTIALLY depressing, if that.
I mean, the Walker name lives on in baby Coalhouse. . .so that line is not final. Tateh begins a new, happier life, as does Mother. . .Eh, I wouldn't call it depressing, either.
It's definitely a show with it's fair share of tragic elements, but there is also a lot of hope at the end for some of the other characters. Sure, some are dead, but others more on to do great things and live out their dreams and rebuild their lives. . .So it's only PARTIALLY depressing, if that.
I mean, the Walker name lives on in baby Coalhouse. . .so that line is not final. Tateh begins a new, happier life, as does Mother. . .Eh, I wouldn't call it depressing, either.
whatever and ever amen - ben folds five
#42
Posted: 7/9/06 at 8:05pm
Here's a conversation with my grandmother whom I took to the Rent tour a few months ago. We were in the fourth row- brave Grandma, huh?
Grandma: You didn't tell me it was going to be so sad!
Me: But she's alive at the end.
Grandma: Yeah, for now!
Maybe bittersweet is a better word for Rent's ending.
Grandma: You didn't tell me it was going to be so sad!
Me: But she's alive at the end.
Grandma: Yeah, for now!
Maybe bittersweet is a better word for Rent's ending.
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
Updated On: 7/9/06 at 08:05 PM
#43
Posted: 7/9/06 at 8:13pm
in response to rent being uplifting...if you think about it and/or believe what chris columbus said in the movie commentary, mimi probably probably didn't have much longer to live after that anyway. that kinda ruined the warm fuzzy feeling at the end for me...
#44
Posted: 7/9/06 at 8:19pm
Interesting that a sad, or even tragic ending, is here (or in today's climate) assumed to be "depressing." Personally, I am often exhiliarated by a powerful story that ends with a tragic dimension, well told.
Does anyone leave WEST SIDE STORY depressed, after the brilliance of Bernstein, Sondheim, and Robbins have cast such a spell? In the best show, we may shed tears, but they are earned, and they are cathartic for the characters, and for us. I agree that many of the shows mentioned here have sad resolutions (SAIGON and PARADE by anyone's definition). But they can leave you deeply moved by the mysterious ways the collaborative artists have illuminated the human condition.
I am more often depressed by a manipulative, schematic entertainment that aims no higher than a predictable feel-good ending.
Does anyone leave WEST SIDE STORY depressed, after the brilliance of Bernstein, Sondheim, and Robbins have cast such a spell? In the best show, we may shed tears, but they are earned, and they are cathartic for the characters, and for us. I agree that many of the shows mentioned here have sad resolutions (SAIGON and PARADE by anyone's definition). But they can leave you deeply moved by the mysterious ways the collaborative artists have illuminated the human condition.
I am more often depressed by a manipulative, schematic entertainment that aims no higher than a predictable feel-good ending.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#45
Posted: 7/9/06 at 8:21pm
Saigon still gets me(sniff)
And Carrie has a sad ending (all thoose poor pig killing teenagers get burnt alive by carrie and then the whole mother daughter slaughter)very sad hehe.They were no one left alive for the curtain call.
And Carrie has a sad ending (all thoose poor pig killing teenagers get burnt alive by carrie and then the whole mother daughter slaughter)very sad hehe.They were no one left alive for the curtain call.
#46
Posted: 7/9/06 at 8:35pm
The only musical I can think of having been depressing to me was Miss Saigon, and maybe West Side Story.
The endings of Rent, Sweeney, Les Mis, etc., I suppose could be considered sad, but the shows don't seem to end on entirely grim notes.
The endings of Rent, Sweeney, Les Mis, etc., I suppose could be considered sad, but the shows don't seem to end on entirely grim notes.
#47
Posted: 7/9/06 at 9:44pm
I'd have to say Oliver!
"For example, if I should paint my fingernails green -
and it just so happens I do paint them green. Well, if anyone should ask me why, I say: 'I think it's pretty!'"
#48
Posted: 7/9/06 at 9:50pm
Saigon
Parade
Side Show
CARRIE! So Sad, For me at least!
Parade
Side Show
CARRIE! So Sad, For me at least!
...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...
#49
Posted: 7/9/06 at 9:51pm
Annie, according to a broadway producer who saw it on opening night, and at the end realized he had no money in the show and cried.
otherwise, I cried at the end of Miss Saigon.
I think Company has a depressing ending.
I don't find West Side Story "depressing" - sad and tearful.
otherwise, I cried at the end of Miss Saigon.
I think Company has a depressing ending.
I don't find West Side Story "depressing" - sad and tearful.
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