henrikegerman said: "It's complicated.
On the one hand, there are scores I loved on hearing from shows I've later seen and not loved or even been very disappointed by.
And vice versa - there are scores that didn't thrill me from shows which I surprisingly later saw and loved. To the point sometimes where my feelings about the show as a whole made me appreciate the score very much.
On top of which, I often revise how I feel about shows based on productions that I feel unlocked or understood what was there in the text; often what was there that had eluded me for years based on either my hearing of the score and or my response to productions I saw earlier.
on top of on top of that, sometimes my revised opinion of a show has more to do with how I've changed than about how a newly seen production treated the show.
I agree with everything you said. Most recently, with one exception, I loved the CD to Fun Home; boy, was I surprised when I hated the show. So much that it colored my enjoyment of the CD!!!
I have a close friend who, for 30 years, cited Follies as the best musical he has ever seen. After seeing the first revival, he concluded that it is not as great a musical as he thought. After seeing the recent revival, he has concluded that it is a mediocre musical with a great score; and that it originally benefited from a once in a lifetime production. Anyone loving the various CDs and hearing of the legend that is the original production could conclude other it is a fave they have never seen, and there is a large possibility of major disappointment.
