Hokey Broadway Musicals!- Page 2

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 10:45am

*how to be a striper*

As in "striped bass"?

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 11:07am

Lots of Jerry Herman stuff, but I love 'im!

Don't forget "Brigadoon"!

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 11:28am

How could u miss "Millie"?!!!

[magruder]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 11:59am

What qualifies these shows as hokey? I think several shows mentioned here have darker elements that are being overlooked.

OKLAHOMA is about Curley and Laurey, who sublimate their feelings to the point that Laurey takes Jud, an obsessive lonely sexual deviant to a party to make Curley jealous. It results in Jud threatening Laurey’s life and attempting to kill Curley not once but twice, before dying a violent death.

GYPSY is about a woman living vicariously through her daughters until she drives one to run away and the other to take up a seedy profession. It concludes with the comforting message that your parents destroy your life until they grow old and you get to take care of them.

ANNIE has all the elements of hoke – kids, dogs and a Christmas tree. But the Broadway revival and the two movies dulled and softened the show’s more adult elements that were present in the unparalleled original Broadway production. An orphan pining for the parents who abandoned her. An abusive, alcoholic orphanage matron. A kidnapping plot. Hooverville bums. A country in the midst of the depression. Also, ANNIE has to be viewed in the time in which it opened – 1977 – with New York City on the brink of financial ruin, and the country still reeling from the Vietnam War and Watergate. ANNIE was a corollary – a reminder that the country faced tough times before and a leader with vision and our own optimism for the future (tomorrow’s only a day away after all) saw us through.

ANYONE CAN WHISTLE does have a sentimental streak – the Fay/Hapgood romance – but it is surrounded by a very unconventional, somewhat cynical show.

BYE BYE BIRDIE and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN seem to have nothing on their minds but to entertain. They are models of the musical comedy form, both with sublime scores. (Is there any score with more song hits than ANNIE GET YOUR GUN?) ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, with its original book, creaks a bit, but the 1966 Lincoln Center rewrite that removed Tommy and Winnie actually made a huge difference and that version of the show still plays beautifully.

As far as THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE…I can’t get a good handle on that show. The score is outstanding, but I’ve never seen a satisfactory (or satisfying) production. The 1963 Off-Broadway production produced my favorite recording of the score, but I’m still holding out hope to see a good production of the show.

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 12:08pm

Millie- definately hokey.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 2:43pm

Thanks for the clarification Magster. You do mind if I call you that don't you?

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 3:09pm

I have to say Oklahoma. The who;e story line was who was going to take Laurey to the dance. I saw it because I like musicals and I wanted to see Patrick Wilson as Curley.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 4:24pm

I have to say, Krisjoseph - thats one of the funniest posts I've seen on here - a HOCKEY musical - just what this f**ked up country needs!

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 4:50pm

Oh please! "The Music Man" is pure corn!

"One Greecian urn! Two Greecian Urns! Three Greecian Urns, and a fountain! Trickle, trickle, trickle!"

[nycgirl]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 5:24pm

oh come one now.....obviously its BOYS FROM SYRACUSE! i mean whats hokier than a bunch of guys dancing in circles...and i mean just look at the title first of all they are MEN not Boys and from SYRACUSE(no offence to anyone who lives there) but i never hear anything about that city! and also You're A Good Man Charlie Brown....good show....but very hokey

[magruder]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 5:32pm

The Syracuse in the title of The Boys from Syracuse is the Syracuse of ancient Sicily, not upstate New York. But the title was also an in-joke. Brothers Lee and J.J. Shubert, of the famous Shubert theatre chain, hailed from Syracuse, NY and were often referred to as "the boys from Syracuse". (There is even a biography about the Shubert Brothers named The Boys from Syracuse). Rodgers and Hart's title, while appropriate for the show itself, was a sly allusion to the Shubert brothers.

Here's more about the book about the Shubert brothers...
The Boys from Syracuse - Shubert brothers biography

Updated On: 3/4/04 at 05:32 PM

[Phantom05]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 6:17pm

"Bye Bye Birdie"....Ahhhhh, after seeing several times, I'm not to sure I could take it again....Hahaha!!!

Later!

Phantom05

Posted: 3/4/04 at 8:35pm

Joizey defines "hokey musicals" as "...Those really corny musicals that have that ole' feel good lesson that's learned with some pretty crazy and lovey dovey songs along the way!"

Here's one that wasn't produced 70 years ago, nor 60 years ago, nor 50 years ago, nor 40 years ago. In fact, it was produced on Broadway just 2 or 3 years ago. Can you name it?

Yes, that's right...HAIRSPRAY!

Do you love it any less?

The moral of this is that hokey, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.

Hokey, dokey?

Yours for no hokes on Broadway!

Bulldog

P.S. "MyNameInLights" get the award for being the first to identify most contemporary hokey musical.

Updated On: 3/4/04 at 08:35 PM

[MyNameInLights]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 8:45pm

YES! I WIN!!

krisjoseph, I thought I was the only one who read about how if ever they revive Starlight Express, Affleck would star in it. That's the funniest thing I've heard... ever!

[marincrazy11]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 8:56pm

I think I'd have to go with The Music Man too, although I do enjoy the music.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 9:11pm

ooh I forgot The Music Man! I hated it when I saw it on Broadway, then my school did it and I fell in love with it - strange. The music is good though.

[alterego]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 9:31pm

How about CATS, JOSEPH, CHESS, THE CIVIL WAR, THE SECRET GARDEN for starters? No, I guess they aren't 'hokey' just bad shows.

How could GYPSY, BYE, BYE BIRDIE, OKLAHOMA and THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE be nominated as 'hokey'. They are classics of the form of musical comedy.

[TTL]

Posted: 3/4/04 at 10:04pm

LI'L ABNER

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 3/5/04 at 3:28pm

uh, alterego - the Secret Garden is a bad show? have you ever done a production of it? Its really wonderful to be in and is so beautiful to look at and listen to...but hokey? no way...and bad? Thats an opinion you are entitled to.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 3/5/04 at 4:32pm

yes.. TMM is deffinitly hoky....but entertaining

[MusicMan]

Posted: 3/5/04 at 7:50pm

I don't think most posters on this thread understand the meaning of the word "hokey:" mawkishly sentimental, corny.
"Hokey" doesn't mean, "A musical I didn't like" (and, in reality, probably didn't have the brains or good taste to appreciate).

[alterego]

Posted: 3/6/04 at 1:24am

Yep that's Secret Garden.Lily's Eyes, ggrrrr. Cloyingly cute? Meet Me In St Louis.

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 3/6/04 at 11:23am

My Maryland
Yes! Yes! Yvette
Hello, Daddy
Fine and Dandy
Take A Chance
Dubarry Was A Lady
Panama Hattie (And as filthy as they get!)
Beat The Band
Something For the Boys
Follow The Girls (Still my favorite!)
Star And Garter
Toplitzky of Notre Dame
High Button Shoes
Barefoot Boy With Cheek
Where's Charley?

Don't you wish you could have seen these!!!

Miriam

Posted: 3/6/04 at 2:01pm

Hi Miriam,

Of your list I would have liked to have seen:

FIN AND DANDY
DUBARRY WAS A LADY
TAKE A CHANCE
PANAMA HATTIE
SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS
FOLLOW THE GIRLS
STAR AND GARTER
HIGH BUTTON SHOES
WHERE'S CHARLEY?

You're one lucky lady based on the experiences you've shared with us.

Broadway Bulldog

[durleste]

Posted: 3/8/04 at 10:43pm

Without a doubt, it's "Home Sweet Homer."

(That comment ought to separate the wheat from the chaffe on this board.)