I MISS THE GOLDEN AGE of MUSICALS

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 4:37pm

My first Broadway musical was the Mary Martin PETER PAN. From there I went on to see most of the hits and flops of The Golden Age, from the hits MY FAIR LADY to WEST SIDE STORY to GYPSY to COMPANY to A CHORUS LINE and from such flops as GOLDILOCKS with Elaine Stritch to BAJOUR with Chita Rivera. While the books of the flops were a problem, they frequently had most of the same qualities that the Golden Age hits had: good acting and stars with real stage presence, good scores, good direction and choreography, and good overall production values.

I just got back from a short trip to NYC where I had time to see only one show. I chose LEGALLY BLONDE because I had seen all of the current revivals in their original productions and I wanted to go to a light show that would make me laugh. Big mistake! I was very disappointed with Laura Bell Bundy and most of the cast with the exception of Orfeh and Christian Borle. And LEGALLY BLONDE just didn't have any of the qualities that the Golden Age musicals had. For me, it was a bomb. I should have seen A CHORUS LINE or COMPANY.

Updated On: 5/6/07 at 04:37 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 4:47pm

I still wish I was around to see the 1966 Lincoln Center productions of GREY GARDENS and MISS SAIGON. At least we have those original cast recordings to get a scope of what they were like.

Posted: 5/6/07 at 6:12pm

Horses for corses I suppose--in terms of what shows I really love I think the golden age for me woulda been around 1966 (let's say startign with Sweet Charity and Cabaret) to 1979 or so (Evita and Sweeney Todd). Kinda ironic that that is exac tly one of the ifrst times when peopel started commenting on the death of musicals...

Posted: 5/6/07 at 6:12pm

double post Updated On: 5/6/07 at 06:12 PM

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 6:17pm

Im suprsied that out of all the cast you only liked orfeh and christian...most people are under whelemed by him.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 6:18pm

in terms of what shows I really love I think the golden age for me woulda been around 1966 (let's say startign with Sweet Charity and Cabaret) to 1979 or so (Evita and Sweeney Todd).

I've always said the same thing. Or to be a little broader (more broad?) from 1957 to 1979 (West Side Story to Evita)

And people speak of how bad Broadway was in the early 70s, when my favourite musicals are from that time. I've always disagreed with what other people the "Golden Age" of Broadway is.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 6:22pm

Actually, I though most peope really enjoyed Christian and called him a standout. I think most are underwhelmed by LBB.


But, yes it's a sham we don't have as many musicals as brilliant as those in the Golden Age.

[mateo]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 6:23pm

ahmelie i agree!

Most of my favorite musicals are from the early to mid 70's aswell.

[StageFan2]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 6:59pm

Sorry you didn't enjoy the show Gypsy9. I too was diappointed with LB but chalked it up to the screaming mimis sitting near me. Next time, if you're looking for a good old fashioned good-time musical, try CURTAINS. It has its share of naysayers, which is to be expected, but I found it fun, old-fashioned and fluffy good. Best of all, it's original.

[BroadwaySinger2]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 7:05pm

I think that while this seems to be the death of the old-fashioned way of Broadway, it is a birth to a new age of it. For a while, I've felt that Broadway was doomed, but recently I've decided that it simply isn't true. Society changes and as a result, musicals change. I believe that instead of being upset about the death of the old-fashioned classics, we should embrace the new musicals that reflect modern society. Just my opinion.

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 7:10pm

This is not a huge deal. What people have to understand is that if an artform doesn't change with the times, It's not really a viable artform. Art if meant to hold a mirror up to reality and our lives, otherwise it doesn't resonate, and while some of the "golden age" shows have timeless elements in them, their forms are outdated and hinder the resonance. Not that these shows aren't masterpieces. I'm a big fan.

But to call oneself a fan of musical theater and not have a intimate knowledge and appreciate of how the form changes is fairly dim. If youre only a fan of certain period of these shows, then you're a collector of antiquities rather than a true fan of a living, breathing artform.

Just my (educated) opinion.

Fenchurch (still reeling from the experience of seeing the future of America Music Theater last night in Brooklyn)

Updated On: 5/6/07 at 07:10 PM

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 8:34pm

I guess I AM a fan and collector of antiquities, especially if they include the genius of GYPSY(1959) and WEST SIDE STORY(1957). We have a goldmine of great theatre of the past which deserves to be revived from time to time. But I had originally written a longer post which was erased by mistake and is floating somewhere in Cyberspace. In that post I stated that I had seen and loved GREY GARDENS and THE COLOR PURPLE in December, proof that Broadway was still very much alive and important.

My disappointment in LEGALLY BLONDE was my motivation in writing my original post. The lead, the score, the choreography and direction are sub par, even in comparing it with flops from the Golden Age, IMO.

[BroadwaySinger2]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 8:47pm

Very well said, Fenchurch.

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 9:07pm

Gypsy9, I hear your complaints about LB. In my estimation, there are two reasons a show becomes popular.

1) It's designed to, from the green makeup to leg warmers to pink textbooks, it's made specifically to attract on a superficial level, and once they're in the theater as long as you keep them going wow, you've already got they're money.

2) A piece resonates with a large portion of the population in an ineffable way. They capture the essence of a generation (Hair, ACL, Company, and to lesser extent, even a show like Rent). They say the things we're afraid to say or they talk about something succinctly in a beautifully artistic way.

There are examples of both types of those shows in all the eras of musical theater, but in my opinion there are more of the former than the latter in recent history, at least on Broadway. It's one of the reasons I've been really excited lately about contemporary opera more than musical theater.

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:00pm

Well said Ahmelie. And yeah to be broader I'd start with WSS too (as I said in my 50th anniversary thread for it for me it truly represents the first "modern" fully integrated, and personal fave style of musical).

Fen--what modern opera has excited you? As I said in my Blitzstein post I'd like to get more into modern opera but aside from some crossover acts like LaChiusa (and I don't even know his commissioned opera Friends and Lovers) I don't really know where to begin

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:03pm

I don't miss the golden age.

I miss solid craftsmanship in writing shows.

[StageFan2]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:06pm

Perfect BFB Bravo!

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:07pm

I still wish I was around to see the 1966 Lincoln Center productions of GREY GARDENS and MISS SAIGON. At least we have those original cast recordings to get a scope of what they were like.

Um... I'm a little confused... neither Miss Saigon nor Grey Gardens were around in 1966.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:08pm

BigFatBlonde, that is what made the Golden Age of Musicals...

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:11pm

istillbelieve... Me too! I kept thinking I'd read it wrong.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:47pm

Mama can't stand all the little ones being confused about the 1966
Grey Gardens

So here goes:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=934189#2992540

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 10:58pm

Oh, my GOD, BFB. Did people actually fall for that?

Oh... and I prefer the 1911 version of "Oklahoma!" too. In the original Chinese, of course.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/6/07 at 11:41pm

B12B-
Don't forget the 1912 Production of "Titanic" that opened in January...talk about prophetic.

For me, the Golden Age begins in late 1959, and ends about 1987 (So, "Once Upon a Mattress" through "Into the Woods"). Don't get me wrong, I like a fair number pre and post, but the majority of my favorite shows come from then.

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 9:55am

There are certainly many shows I would have loved to see in their original run. But, if the shows didn't evolve and new styles of music, sets, costumes that would make the theater boring. What made most of the shows you remember fondly great is the innovations they introduced.

There are certainly seasons that leave much to be desired, but if you can't find several things you like on broadway now you need help.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 10:25am

There were flops and bad shows during the so-called "golden age" as well. To say you miss an entire era of shows (of which hundreds of shows opened and only a handful are ever mentioned) based on the dislike of one show show is a bit extreme.