Have you ever gotten bored at a play or musical? If so, what was it? — Page 6

Dozens.

Ones that come immediately to mind:

Thom Pain (based on nothing) -- third rate Beckett
Hurlyburly -- painfully interminable and self-indulgent
King Lear -- Plummer and Brent Carver were quite good, but every other aspect was pedestrian
Donkey Show -- pointless
Stomp -- just not my kind of show
Dance of Death -- Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren were undone by Sean Matthias' lifeless direction
Kiss Me Kate (revival) -- lacked spark
Phantom of the Opera -- weak repetitive faux gothic romanticism
Cats -- found it bland and superficial (and I was 13)
The Fantasticks -- I know it ran for 40 years, but the cast I saw was sub-high school level
Closer Than Ever -- too precious by half, I left at intermission
All Over -- I adore Albee and Rosemary Harris and Michael Learned, but man, did this show drag
Alice in Bed (NYTW) -- Pretentious clap trap from Ivo van Hove
Lydie Breeze (NYTW) -- Three and half hours of muted epic melodrama
Steel Pier -- The very definition of monotony
Wonderful Town -- not a drop of warm blood ran through the veins of this production
Little Women -- was never crazy about the book either
Sunset Boulevard -- had I not been with relatives, I'd have left at intermission
Further Than The Furthest Thing (MTC) -- a blur in my memory

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Updated On: 7/4/05 at 03:07 PM

Hairspray
Grease! (I saw it when Lucy Lawless was in it)
Caroline, or Change
Wicked (Yes, act I is WAY too long. I was there for stinking Opening night and at intermission my only comment was "could they please make it longer?")
Brooklyn
Thou Shalt Not (The minute she started her hanging the laundry ballet I zoned)
All Shook Up
Phantom of the Opera
Forbidden Broadway: SVU (I agree completely with what popcultureboy said early in the thread. Mind you, I'd seen every show they spoofed when I saw it, so don't say it's because I don't see a lot of theater, I do.)


Edit: I'd say I was bored at Rent but I was too busy thinking it was complete and utter crap to get bored.

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Updated On: 7/4/05 at 03:57 PM

"Babes in Arms" - the middle of the second act is funny, but the rest is toooooooorture.

I saw this God Awful musical called Puck's Potion that I would have left at intermission, but since I was chaperoning studnets I couldn't. Um...also not too crazy about Pirates of Penzance either time I had to see it.

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There are more of these than I would care to remember. I'll limit my choices to professional productions.

I could not stay awake during "I Am My Own Wife," which I do not blame on the play, since many people I know loved it. It was just one of those days for me, try as I might to stay alert.
To date, the only Broadway show I've walked out on (I waited for intermission): "Starlight Express." My favorite description of this silly musical is "the ideal show for people who thought "Cats" was too intellectual."
"The Play About the Baby". I was angry as well as bored, and kept saying to myself, "This play is a crock!" And those poor young actors who had to get naked should have sued Albee for exploitation.
"Chronicle of a Death Foretold" - even Graciela Danielle's choreography couldn't make it interesting.
"Homebody/Kabul" - I liked the "Kabul" part, the second act, but the endless "Homebody" monologue put me out like a light in about ten minutes.

Okay, I've finally got around to organizing my list:

Oliver -- it was a community production. The horrid teen who played the artful dodger was tone deaf. Oliver himself was clearly going through puberty and his voice was cracking all over. He also talked in an acting voice that wasn't believable. Do you know what I'm saying? It was almost stillted. You just wanted to cover your ears whenever he spoke. In addition to those two horrid singers, the owner of the orphanage forgot all of his lines - clearly he didn't study them - and during "boy for sale" he forgot some of the lyrics and started going "la la la" and the audience - including me - started to laugh. He then blushed and ran off stage. The show stopped for a couple minutes. Apparentely, the rumor is that he threw up. I was stupid enough to see it a second time to try and give it a second chance. That was certainly a good choice. Oliver was sick that day and an understudy took over. The owner of the orphanage had rehearsed his lines (and songs) and he was more confident. The artfull dodger was still tone deaf, but better. Overall, it was BORING both times.

Sorry that was a huge review. ^^

Footloose - Another community one. Awesome singers! Boring show. The dialogue put me to sleep.

Fame (revival) - I was going for my b-day and it practically put me to sleep.

It's hard to put down anything else; it's all great

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I have never really gotten bored during a show, though I was very confused when I saw RENT, well i was young, didn't know the sotry, the references....etc. Now, i absolutely love it!

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I usually don't get bored unless it's a very, very poorly done HS or MS musical. It’s very rare that I don’t get into a show, unless the acting/singing is so bad it takes away from it.

Oklahoma - it is kind of a boring musical, I only went to see it because I had just recently been in a production of it at school. That acting was only average and the costumes looked too much alike, it was hard to tell some of the men apart.

Ok, this last wasn‘t AT an actual show. And I don't know, am I crazy or is there some kind of Cats movie or video? I SWEAR I remember watching some of it at school. I was in middle school then and I don't know why, but our teacher put it in. I almost fell asleep. I thought it was one of the strangest and most boring things I had ever seen. So due to that I really have no desire to actually see the show live.

But seriously, is there a video or something? ....or am I just losing my mind at a young age??

It may sound blasphemous, it was the london production of 'Phantom'. I fell asleep, the one and only time in any show ever. I had seen it before but wanted to hear the new cast. The london version has become tired and slow, it needs a good kick up the arse and som of the staging needs to be changed. For a show that hasn't changed since it's opening in 20 years, you can't really be suprised that it has become tired and boring!