Flaws in Successful Broadway Shows- Page 2

[SuttonFan]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 1:06am

I agree with you Misto. There are several shows that have a song that just make me tune out or go, "HUH?" Hairspray's "I know where I've been" is one of those where I just thought, "This is a waste of time." Another song I ALWAYS skip is "Something bad" in Wicked. That song just makes me cringe. I would have rather them further the story line by just having a dialogue there instead of that terrible song. Other songs that invoke similar thoughs in HIT shows: "Little Lamb," from Gypsy; "They don't know" from Thoroughly Modern Millie; "What you own" from Rent; or "Gary, Indiana" from Music Man.

Oh and I know Little Women wasn't a hit, but "Small umbrella in the rain" also fits in that "What the" category for me.

[LyTeMyCanDyI]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 2:50am

The Light in the Piazza. It needs subtitles. The songs that are in Italian don't move the plot along if they can't be understood.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 3:00am

I don't know, the only real song in LITP that leaves the audience without translation word-wise is Il Mundo Era Vuoto. I feel that moment is important to be left untranslated because the audience can know the difficulty of the language barrier seperating the two to an extent and yet acted onstage, we can get a common understanding of the scene. It allows us to get a feel of the culture and the situation faced in the musical.

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 3:05am

I actually thought that Tarzan is a pretty good show, however, I did keep thinking as I was watching it that the stage so resembled a high school production. I think that if it were a different theater then it may have done better.

I agree that there are a lot of musicals where there is that one song that makes you think what were they thinking.

I still don't understand in Avenue Q why Brian breaks out in song about "Not wearing any underwear today"

[jimnysf]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 7:26am

What? "I Know Where I've Been" is one of the best songs in "Hairspray" and is central to the theme of the show. It is far from a "waste of time".

[Holliwoodblonde]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 7:41am

The "I love you" song in Spelling Bee, as pretty as it is, absolutely kills the momentum of the show. It brings everything down to a point where it never really recovers afterwards in my opinion.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 11:00am

I like Wicked but, some lyric's sound like a 8 year-old wrote them.
Wicked's choreography is really odd.

I love RENT but, songs like Christmas Bells and Contact are pointless.

"The Light in the Piazza. It needs subtitles. The songs that are in Italian don't move the plot along if they can't be understood."

I does. I wanna know what is going on.

"I love The Light in the Piazza but how many measures of ahs do we need in practically every song? Especially in "Say it Somehow".

Sometime's that song sounds funny just because of all the ah's in it.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 1:03pm

The "Ah's" in "Say It Somehow" are a killer. I sang that song once and it made me cry.

And, trying to re-work "Cats" would be like trying to re-work an acid trip.

"The Miller's Son" has a kind of awkward place in "Little Night Music." I LOVE that song and that show, but it really is in a bad place.

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 1:10pm

Follies needs someone to fix its book so the show can rise to the level of its songs.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 1:46pm

Most shows have problems with their villain character songs.

Les Miserables needs to write some actual dialogue music instead of recycling the melodies of other songs over and over and OVER again. It kills me.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 2:59pm

"Hairspray's "I know where I've been" is one of those where I just thought, "This is a waste of time." "

Not only is that my favorite song in the show, but it also means you missed a big point of the show.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 3:07pm

"Phantom" would be a bigger favorite for me if those horrendous lyrics would just be rewritten.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 3:17pm

"Hairspray's "I know where I've been" is one of those where I just thought, "This is a waste of time." "

Not only is that my favorite song in the show, but it also means you missed a big point of the show.

No, I think I know what that poster is saying...trust me, I completely understand what the song tries to do and how important a theme it addresses, but it just felt so cheap--"Hmmm...how to deal with heavy issues...Oooh, let's stick in an obligatory downtempo blues song about segregation and then we're set! Enjoy the finale!" For a musical whose plot was driven by the "big point" that "segregation = wrong", Hairspray doesn't have anything new to say about the topic...and then they expect us to just settle for a "token" song full of Big Important Ideas. The lighter songs in the show do a better job of handling the issue. I love Hairspray, but I just think that "I Know Where I've Been" is an unoriginal, plot-killing attempt to inject a feeling of importance into a show that otherwise deals with segregation cleverly.

Updated On: 8/21/06 at 03:17 PM

[mateo]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 4:30pm

"I know where Ive been" was the first song shaiman/wittman wrote for the show.

It is one of the best moments in the musical, for me at least.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 4:36pm

The plot of RENT. Like how Mark leaves to go help Maureen and then suddenly is back for "YOU'LL SEE". I also find it very far fetched that all of that could happen in one night. The time line worked better in the movie, although nothing else did.

Updated On: 8/22/06 at 04:36 PM

[alliez92092]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 4:40pm

Give me a successful show that doesn't have a flaw.

[JACXR71]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 4:49pm

"'What you own' from Rent"

"I love RENT but, songs like Christmas Bells and Contact are pointless. "

Wow. Someone wanna field these ones?

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 4:50pm

Like how Mark leaves to go help Maureen and then suddenly is back from "YOU'LL SEE".

Huh? I do agree with you that it seems unbelievable that so much could have happened in one night (although I suppose it's possible), but I don't understand that one sentence.

ETA:
"'What you own' from Rent"

"I love RENT but, songs like Christmas Bells and Contact are pointless. "

Wow. Someone wanna field these ones?

Haha, while I'm on the topic of Rent I'll give it a shot. I think those two songs actually serve more of a purpose than most other songs in the show. Christmas Bells does a fantastic job of accomplishing two things--it paints a picture of the wonderfully dirty and diverse grab bag that is the Alphabet City community, and it furthers the relationship between Roger and Mimi (a third thing it does, I guess, is build up to the moment we finally see Maureen). Before Christmas Bells, we have an undeveloped picture of one-note background characters (the homeless, the police, the junkies), and it is only during that number that we finally see all the layers converging, interacting, and playing off each other in St. Mark's Place. Christmas Bells is essential to making us walk away from Rent feeling like we've "been there".

As for Contact, there are days when I listen to it and could argue that it's the most important number in the entire show. Melissa Anelli said it best on the Rent Podcast--love, illness, tenderness, sex, release, and most importantly life and death all come together for that one number. It's beautiful and frightening at the same time. I've heard Angel's "Today me, tomorrow you" interpreted as his foreboding reminder that there is a dark cloud looming over all of the other characters--today it's his death; whose will it be tomorrow? It's an embodiment of all of the wild, on-the-edge abandon of their lives coming to a boiling point and finally resulting in loss. Next to Seasons of Love and Another Day, Contact is easily one of the most beautifully staged numbers in the show in my opinion, and yes, it's definitely there for a point.

Updated On: 8/21/06 at 04:50 PM

[Christopher Gough]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 4:59pm

Agreed. One man's flaw is another man's high spot. These can only be subjective and not objective views. It is very easy to say something is a flaw when you don't understand it or particularly like it.

We haven't seen 'Light in the Piazza' here in London; but I bought the cast recording and it is wonderful. The fact that part is sung in Italian isn't a 'flaw' - I just don't speak Italian! If I want to understand the piece I have to make the effort to find out what I do not understand.

I notice that quite a lot of people on here in various posts say they hate 'Cats'. I think quite a lot of that has to do with appreciation of the T S Eliot vers - which is particularly 'English'.

I read quite a few reviews of Avenue Q that said we Brits wouldn't understand (meaning like) it because we don't know who Gary Coleman is! If you don't know - find out and learn what the composer/librettist is getting at!

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 5:07pm

Woman in White would have been much better with the ORIGINAL london ending, no pixilated sets and some more period references in the music.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 5:11pm

"I think "The Drowsy Chaperone" would work with a little more ensemble work in it. Though "Toledo Surprise" is a big dance number, it's still not enough to be a chorus line showstopper."

I liked the show within a show...it was cute, clever, and funny. I thought the size of the ensemble was just right...the show is supposed to come alive in the Man in the Chair's apartment...it's intimate and doesn't need to be a huge flashy musical like 42nd Street or Wicked.

[JACXR71]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 5:14pm

Thanks, SDav - my sentiments exactly, only I'm nowhere near eloquent enough to put it into words that drive the point home. Well done!

[Nathan_Lane_Rules!]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 5:20pm

The score of The Light in the Piazza. Sorry just didn't do much for me...

[theminutepast]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 5:39pm

"Les Miserables is just way too long."

If you have ever seen the School Edition, you will see firsthand what a shortened Les Mis looks like, and it is not good. Les Mis is a LONG book, so it would naturally be a long musical. If you cut it down, it just loses emotion and fullness.

"Miss Saigon would be better without Ellen's 2nd Act song."

Sure, Ellen's song does not add to the plot, but it expresses an emotion she must be feeling and that others might relate to (Boublil and Schoenberg often write lyrics in a way that are not limited to the musical, but can represent a somewhat universal experience).

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 6:26pm

Actually, Les Miserables could use a much tighter (and abridged) book although with the source material I believe they did a very good job in the adaptation. However, I truly dislike it when British musicals pretentiously try to be operas but they're not like the awkward recitative in Les Miserables. I believe the show might've worked better for me if it had spoken dialogue instead of recitative (it is arguably the most-loved musical so I'm probably the only person who thinks this). I dislike Rent but I do think it succeeds in being a sung-through musical ("Christmas Bells" is a very well-crafted sequence that was clearly inspired by Sondheim's "A Weekend in the Country," Larson at his best if you ask me).
The Light in the Piazza has a magnificent score, the Italian songs serve to express Fabrizio's feelings, not to "advance the plot." It is there to speak about the romanticism of the show, the immense explosion of feelings of the character, it's a concept song, not a plot song. The show could use a more complex book, especially in the development of Clara's love for Fabrizio.