Does BWW MATILDA backlash Have Much to Do with KINKY love?

And before someone yells ONE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OTHER...well, of course it has. In a lot of fan-based competitions part of championing a favorite is sh*t-talking the main challenger. And make no mistake, this IS a competition (and I don't just mean for the Tony).

Of course Matilda has had detractors before Kinky appeared. But not many. But as the backlash has escalated, I have noticed a lot of Matilda hater avatars also attached to pro Kinky postings.

I posted a similar comment in another thread recently.

All this "I was at a restaurant and heard 4 possible Tony voters say they love Kinky Boots, so clearly it's gonna win, 'cuz no one can understand the lyrics to Matilda" stuff...

I also think some people are reacting to Brantley's over-hype of Matilda -- that puff piece in the NYT Tony issue has antagonized quite a few of us.

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"The School Song" has ingenuous lyrics.

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The problem I had with Matilda's lyrics (all sound issues aside), was that, once I read what they were, I felt they were too 'busy' (for lack of a better term) and tried too hard to be clever. (Too 'wordy' might be a better way to put it-they're just too complex in a way. Sometimes, I feel less is more. And I still contend the songs are not tuneful. I scarcely remember a song from that show aside from "Telly"-and I'm not so sure that song is really one the writers cared whether the audience remembered or not.)

I did mean "ingenious". Serves me right for posting from my phone, putting myself at the mercy of autocorrect.

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While I don't love the entire score, I think "Naughty", "The School Song", "When I Grow Up", and "The Smell of Rebellion" are all excellent, excellent songs- lyrically and musically. Not really sure how one could dismiss them as not being "tuneful."

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"The problem I had with Matilda's lyrics (all sound issues aside), was that, once I read what they were, I felt they were too 'busy' (for lack of a better term)..."

Or, as Joseph II, Emperor of Austria, might say: "Too many words?"

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/tony_turmoil_in_overdrive_9hALuvCvTh0DrxqAoxmeUP

I went to school in England and am very, very well-versed in Anglo English (as opposed to American). I've been to the theater there and am culturally quite comfortable. My critique of the score has absolutely nothing to do with the British aspect of the show. (I leave the issues with hearing and understanding to the sound department-not the British nature of the show.) I knew it was going to take place in England going in and that didn't matter one iota-I grew up on that and all of Dahl's books.

My critiques are strictly artistic (and/or technical) and have very little to do with the British aspect at all.

I really don't think those sentiments are have anything to do with the British or "non-American," as it were, element of MATILDA. For me, the problems with the accents are because (in general) child actors tend to swallow their words every now and then, even without worrying about putting on a fake British accent. Here, the kid actors, who make up most of the cast and have a bulk of the storytelling on their shoulders, are asked to put on the accent and it makes some of their lines (mostly their singing) hard to understand. The accents in something like BILLY ELLIOT, for example, were a lot easier to understand because the only real major kid roles are Billy and Michael. And all of the Billys and Michaels I saw were much more well-trained in the art of mastering the accent while singing than the kids in MATILDA are.

I don't even know what "it's too British" means. And the complaints about "copying" SPRING AWAKENING seem ridiculous to me.

My main issues with the show are structural, just as they are with any show, be it British, American, or from another planet. I obviously can't speak for everyone on here, but I really have no problem with the show having a British sensibility, creative team, etc.

"Yes, and as Joseph II points out, there are only so many words the ear can be expected to take in during the course of a performance."

A) I think using Joseph II (as presented in Amadeus) as a reliable authority might not be advisable, and

B) I think the underlined the above needs to be replaced by my. Personally, I can take in a patter song, or a wordy lyric by Sondheim or Zippel with no problem, and I'm sure many, many others can as well.

Updated On: 5/23/13 at 11:52 AM

newintown-I listen to Sondheim all the time-he's my favorite composer. I even listen-gasp-to OPERA-in other languages!

Oh, and as an historian, you're sorely mistaken about Joseph II's ability to judge art-he was a heavy patron of the arts and a very cultured man, indeed. He studied music and while he was not a consummate performer, he had a great deal of technical knowledge and a true appreciation for music and the arts. He was considered one of the most cultured rulers of his age who did a great deal to enhance German cultural identity through music and the arts. (I suppose as presented in Amadeus you may have a point-but the character is based on a real person-one who was highly appreciative of the arts.)

I can take any of the wordy music as long as I can understand it. If it's unintelligible, I am completely turned off.