Great Scores But Weak Shows?- Page 2

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 5/15/19 at 2:04pm

^ Not that it couldn't still be improved upon with a few more Fosse-isms restored.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 12:29am

JudyDenmark said: "Carousel for sure. Stunning score, but it's a total head scratcher to me that that weirdshow isconsidered a masterpiece of musical theatre.

But what first came to mind was Hair. One of my favorite scores to listen to (I have like 5 different recordings in my library) but every time I see the show itself I find it really underwhelming."

Hair produced so many top ten hits on covers. "Aquarius," "Easy to be Hard," "Hair," "Good Morning Starshine," "Let the Sunshine In."

And those weren't even my favorites. Love the "Black Boys" "White Boys" exchange, "What a Piece of Work is Man.' (Brush up your Shakespeare) And the dramatic segre from "The Flesh Failures" into "Let the Sunshine In."  "Facing a dying nation," "A moving paper fantasy."

Did Rado and Ragni do anything nearly as successful again?

 

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 1:49am

Not sure if many people would call it a "great score," but when I saw the recent Off-Broadway production of Alice By Heart I couldn't help but be struck by how much I enjoyed the musical numbers as individual moments vs. the overall plot and spoken scenes. I thought they did some rather brilliant stuff with some of the music in that show (and the design elements, but that's another discussion), but unfortunately the book made me leave the show feeling overall rather unsatisfied with the production as a whole. 

Updated On: 5/16/19 at 01:49 AM

[AngusN]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 1:59am

broadwayindie said: "Little Women epitomizes this"

What? The Little Women story is one of the greatest and most popular stories of all time. Personally, I think Allan Knee’s book does the novel justice. It’s a cracking show.

[AADA81]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 9:26am

Candide, 1956

Goldilocks, 1958

Juno, 1959

Anyone Can Whistle, 1964

Hallelujah,Baby!, 1968

Dear World, 1969

Company, 1970

The Rothschilds, 1971

Two By Two, 1971

Mack and Mabel, 1974

Pacific Overtures, 1976

Merrily We Roll Along, 1981

Song and Dance, 1986

Into the Woods, 1987

Parade, 1999

Sweet Smell of Success, 2002

Wicked, 2003

I don't think any of these are "bad shows", so to speak, but I do think all were great scores hampered by problematic books.

 

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 10:08am

"Bonnie and Clyde is what always comes to my mind"

I am willing to bet if the composer was not named Wildhorn, this show and score would have been received better -lol

[Alex M]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 10:17am

I’ve always said that Spring Awakening would have been a much better concept album then a show. The show always has seemed all over the place and messy but I love the score so much.

[aj88]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 10:20am

For me, I’ve always adored the score to ANNIE GET YOUR GUN for the most part but find any version of the book to be incredibly problematic.

I also second CHESS and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG...and I also love a lot of the songs from THE BAKER’S WIFE despite its obvious issues.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/16/19 at 10:47am

I love The Light in the Piazza and its absolutely gorgeous score, but the storyline is kind of weird.