Great Musicals with So-So Music? — Page 2

I like the Forum score a lot, it gives the audience a moment to collect itself and it's also perfectly mid-60s in a really sweet sort of way.

Wicked

I feel like I'd like the music in Fun Home more if the (album) performances were earthier, but I think the obsessive cleanliness of modern recordings really damages a lot of could-be-great music.

Funny, I was going to say that for me it's always all about the music, and if the songs are dull then the most brilliant book in the world can't save it. But then several people mentioned 1776, and I realized that might be the exception. I find the score weak (and unevenly distributed), but it still makes for a great evening of theater. Another one might be A Gentleman's Guide, but that could be due entirely to the spectacular performance by Jefferson Mays.

On the other hand, I'll happily watch the silliest stuff if the songs and the performances are great (e.g., 42nd Street).

Liked John's score for Lestat and that will never even see the light of day. It currently resides on Broadway Cast Album Boot Hill. What a pity.

Peter2 said: "Funny, I was going to say that for me it's always all about the music, and if the songs are dull then the most brilliant book in the world can't save it. But then several people mentioned 1776, and I realized that might be the exception. I find the score weak (and unevenly distributed), but it still makes for a great evening of theater. Another one might be A Gentleman's Guide, but that could be due entirely to the spectacular performance by Jefferson Mays.

On the other hand, I'll happily watch the silliest stuff if the songs and the performances are great (e.g., 42nd Street).

I have to second Peter2 here. These were the two i was going to talk about. both shows wer fantastic, and I never listen to cast recordings of either and when i do, im not moved. I also thought fun home was spectacular and moving live, and doesn't translate very well as a cast recording

Disagree but you are entitled to your opinion.It is a superb score but it is up to an individuals taste.

Strongly agree with Billy Elliot, while the book and story itself are absolutely incredible, this is a prime example of a musical where the score is not the prime draw to the show itself.

Like many have said, Billy Elliot. Marvelous, marvelous musical, but I dont feel the same about the cast recording. In fact, I never listen to it, while I absolutely love the show and the dvd (so glad they released it!).

I also love Once and Violet, but those are two musicals I almost never listen to. They work onstage just fine, but they're not something I like to listen to as a whole (I only listen to one song from Once and three or four from Violet in the very rare occasions I listen to their cast recordings).

Updated On: 12/23/15 at 09:56 PM

"The Book of Mormon" is, in my view, a great musical, but most of the score is forgettable -- it's the book, lyrics, and performances that make the show. I won't quickly forget the translation of "Hasa Diga Eboway" or the line, "I have maggots in my scrotum," but the music itself, for me, is NOT the key to the show.

While not a "great" show, "Something Rotten" is terrific -- but once again, it's the clever premise, the humor, the wordplay, the dancing, and the satire that make it terrific. The music is forgettable, except that it consists largely of songs that would violate copyright except that the music parodies the originals.

Fun Home and Grey Gardens. I think both shows are incredible, even groundbreaking, however, I don't feel the music is the most listenable. Their narrative and character depiction, on the other hand, are incredible.

I don't think Fun Home has a weak score, I think it just has an incredibly strong book, and that's why it feels like a "play with music"

I've never liked the score for Promises, Promises much but I find it to be a fun show.

Even the filler songs to My Fair Lady were special. "On the Street Where You Live" and "Show Me." Julie Andrews must have loved Show Me because she sang it so often in concerts and on TV specials.

I had low expectations for 1776 because the score was completely unfamiliar to me. My weakness. I could see why most of the music wouldn't work outside of the context of the show, and frankly weren't long on melody, but in the show they just worked. Very clever lyrics.

Hello Dolly. Agree that not much was memorable outside of the title song, but what a title song. For those who don't go back that far, which is most, Louis Armstrong's single hit the Top 40 stations right in the teeth of Beatlemania and took over the number one spot from a 14 week domination by the Beatles. His "Hello Dolly" was the third most popular hit of 1964 after "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."