Malinda5000 said: "Applause
Woman Of The Year
Victor/Victoria
No Revivals Please!!!"
I have to say that IMO none of the above were great musicals, but I agree with you re the scores. Woman of the Year in particular must represent the absolute bottom for Kander and Ebb;. To me, Applause was an entertaining musical buoyed by Lauren Bacall's charisma. Woman and V/V were slogs, although V/V was occasionally entertaining.
Re your earlier request, I am trying to remember shows that I have loved, but for which I never purchased the cast recording. Then I thought of several which I did purchase, and listened to about once.
-- Grand Hotel -- its success was due to Tommy Tune's direction / choreography / design concept. The score is almost impossible to get through.
-- Damn Yankees -- I don't know if this is a great show -- I have always thought it was cute and periodically boring -- but it was a huge hit in its original run, and still gets revived. Has a few good songs, but most are far inferior to the authors' score for The Pajama Game.
-- Me and My Girl -- I saw it three times when it ran in the early 80s and loved it every time; because of Robert Lindsay, a terrific production design, a very enjoyable (and funny) book, brilliant direction by Mike Ockrent, and terrific choreography. The score was very weak IMO. Even Lambeth Walk, which was a thoroughly delightful, crowd pleasing show-stopper, is not much of a song. The melody is incredibly catchy, but just repeats the same theme over and over again.
-- Book of Mormon -- IMO, and this is probably controversial, the score is cute and is not the reason the show is such a hit. The book (and its sheer audacity, sweetness, cleverness), the direction, the set design, the cast choices (I have seen it multiple times and have thought that every cast I saw was as good as the opening night cast) are the reason it has become a monster hit. It is NOT a bad score, it is just to me the weakest link in an incredibly strong fence.
-- Annie -- Despite Tomorrow, Easy Street, and Its a Hard Knock Life, I think the Annie score is second tier. The first time I saw Annie, I didn't even like it; I eventually concluded that it was due to my disappointment that the score wasn't up to the rest of the show. I know this is a big IMO, but there is an awful lot of filler.
-- Big River -- I will state up front that I did not like Big River; in a very bad year, it won the Tony for Best Score. I bought the cast recording and had to listen to it 3 or 4 timers just to get through one full playing. I tried other times as well, and decided that the score was the worst part of the show. Of course, any show whose highlight is the scenery is an issue.
-- They're Playing Our Song -- cute show that was the big hit of its season. The score was not the reason why. I bought the cast recording and listened to it a few times; concluded what I thought when I saw it, that the score was the letdown. Also possible that opening the same time as Sweeney Todd didn't help in assessing this score. Bubble gum...after the sugar has gone.
-- Billy Elliott -- Again, probably not a view shared on this site, but a very entertaining show, whose main strength was its direction IMO. Particularly in the first third of the show, every song (I may be forgetting one that snuck in) fit my definition of filler. There were a few good songs (or at least moving songs, as directed), the most impressive being Solidarity (or whatever its title was). In one number, the music was incredibly beautiful and (along with gorgeous choreography) lifted the entire show; but that music was not original...it was from Swan Lake. I have always assumed that the score was the reason the show was not a bigger hit than it was (had the show been selling better, the fact of a high nut due to all the kids in the cast wouldn't have mattered.
-- Grease -- I did not like Grease it its original production; the main reason was the score. If there was a r very good song in the show, I don't remember it right now. The movie added virtually every song that immediately makes you think of Grease when you hear it: Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, Grease, You're the One That I Want were all added in the movie. Once you get past the enjoyable 'Greased Lightning' and 'Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee', not exactly great songs themselves, you are left with a lousy score for a show that ran 8 or 9 years.
-- The Best Little Whorehouse. The song it is most famous for was added for the movie. The score was the weakest link in a show that had a good book and great direction / choreography by Tommy Tune. Try listening to the cast recording and see if you don't agree with me.
These are the ones I think of. Someone might say '1776' but I think the score was excellent;
