Good Parts of "Eh" Musicals & Bad Parts of Good Musicals — Page 3

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#51

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/8/16 at 7:28am

Good parts in "eh" musicals for me:

Savion Glover's choreography in SHUFFLE ALONG...otherwise, I felt like it was gorgeously presented theater history/black history lesson...which is fine, but there was no catharsis for me...HAMILTON, on the other hand, brought history to dazzling, urgent, astonishing life! Grips one by the throat and has an emotional wallop...

Anytime Norbert Leo Butz was on-stage in BIG FISH...

Anytime Patti LuPone was on-stage in WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN...

This is going back a-ways, but a song by Carol Woods was the ONLY good part of THE GOODBYE GIRL for me...any show that can actually make me not like Bernadette Peters and Martin Short had something very askew...

"Eh" parts of good musicals:

"Mister's Song-Celie's Curse" in THE COLOR PURPLE...this song sticks out for me as being too "on the nose" lyric-wise and even musically, in an otherwise glorious score.

"Ribbons Down My Back" in HELLO, DOLLY...this might be because I saw an okay community theater production of this as a kid, but the woman who played Irene Malloy was really, really bad, and her version of this song was a real torture to sit through! :) It's in my mind every time I've seen the show since...

Cocky has too many songs in ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT...and I played Cocky once! Anthony Newley should have edited himself (or been edited)...I'd throw out at least 2 of Cocky's solos...

Too much use of the conveyor belts in KINKY BOOTS! Yes, it was very clever, and yes, we get it - inspired use of typical factory apparatus...but it felt to me like it put some limitations on what could have been rousing choreography...

That's all I got for now....but will keep thinking about this today - fun post!!

#52

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/8/16 at 1:42pm

I adore Next to Normal, but I think Dan's song near the end of the first act ("I've Been" is a big letdown. The lyrics are painfully pedestrian and I think the melody sounds like it belongs in a commercial for a pickup truck. :)

#53

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/8/16 at 2:17pm

I agree with the comment about how "One Last Kiss" is the true soul of Follies.

I always enjoyed the song but then when i saw it on stage, it gutted me. It hit me so hard and blew me away.

Poo Musical "Thou Shalt Not" ;-- two good parts. "Take Her to the Mardi Gras" and watching Norbert Leo Butz basically become the legend that he is now performing.... "Ain't it Sweet"

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

#54

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/8/16 at 2:29pm

kdogg36 said: "I adore Next to Normal, but I think Dan's song near the end of the first act ("I've Been" is a big letdown. The lyrics are painfully pedestrian and I think the melody sounds like it belongs in a commercial for a pickup truck. :)"

If I remember correctly, Tom Kitt wrote that song for himself with different lyrics then adapted it for Next to Normal so that might be why.

#55

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/8/16 at 2:51pm

While the "critics" didn't agree, I really liked Bullets Over Broadway. But the Bananas song at the end didn't work for me and the show just kind of ended. It felt like it needed some rousing curtain call, a la Crazy for You.

#56

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/8/16 at 2:57pm

I agree that One More Kiss is the soul of Follies and I love the song in the show, but it just isn't my favorite moment.

#57

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/8/16 at 10:55pm

Good parts of "eh" shows:
"Veronique" from On the 20th Century.
"Always Starting Over" from If/Then

"eh" parts from good shows:
"Over the Moon" from Rent

#58

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/9/16 at 2:48am

I have a couple more to add, and I'll probably have more in the future, haha.

"Eh" show with good part: Shrek's What's Up, Duloc? was fairly entertaining.

Good show with "Eh" part: Mix Tape from Avenue Q has a cute melody and some cute rhymes in it, but it feels kind of dated now.

#59

Good Parts of

Posted: 5/10/16 at 5:27pm

Good Parts of "Eh" Shows:

"Are You There?" is a fantastic male/male duet and isn't particularly melodramatic, unlike the rest of bare: a pop opera

"Mamma Who Bore Me (Reprise)" and "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind" in Spring Awakening are pretty great.

"Old Deuteronomy," "Macavity," and "Memory" from Cats are some of my favorite showtunes, though admittedly I don't have a hatred of Cats to begin with.

"Eh" Parts of Good Shows:

Anything with the King in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

"Come with Me" from The Wild Party (Lippa), the lyrics in it are downright painful. Also most of the songs not having to do with the main four are just a little too repetitive and forgettable.

"Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc." in Ragtime.

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