I loathe the term and hatred toward "JUKE BOX Musicals" — Page 2

The problem is that with all those shows you listed, the scores were written to tell that specific story. Any theatre 101 student knows that the more specific and detailed a piece is, the more universal, and, in the end, the more affecting it is. 'Can't Help Falling In Love' is a lovely ballad...but also quite generic, which is why is has such widespread appeal. But it could never have the impact of something like the bench scene from Carousel because of how the creators used dialogue, lyrics and music to create two very specific characters about whom we care a great deal and, therefor, are moved when they kiss as the score overwhelms the moment.

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i agree smartpenguin.

i want to see good shows too, regardless of what their origin is.

Can anyone here confirm my IN MY LIFE question? Original score or no?

In My Life has an original score, which Mackie was trying to use it as a rhetorical example of why if it flops all original shows should stop being made.

Phantom2, that is not the case. LENNON in particular had much more of a effect it was trying to make and themes it wanted to contirbute than simple "fun."

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Just to clarify to all, "Crazy For You" is definitely a jukebox musical. There have been recent threads to discuss this as well.

The songs for "Crazy For You" were not written for this plot, and they weren't all written for the theatre, either. In fact half the songs were written for various movies the Gershwins worked on ("Damsel In Distress" and others), and there were a couple of stand alone songs as well. Its plot was loosely based on "Girl Crazy" an original '30s Gershwin musical, but it was changed and overhauled quite a bit.

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robbie J, I think Phantom was referring to my response posted at the same time as yours, about LENNON's attempt to be artistic.

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"Someone tell me what the difference is between writing an original Book and using a preexistig catalogue of music for the score (All Shook Up, Good Vibrations, Mamma Mia)... and writing a new score and using a pre-existing book (Hairspray, Producers, Spamelot.. etc)."

Certain types of stories are consistent through all cultures and can have thousands of different tones, translations and interpretations. The stories are versatile; the story of Aida can be a classic opera, as well as a Disney musical. The shows you used as an example were not just cases of throwing songs at books, they were stories that had the versatility to work as either a movie or a musical.

Preexisting scores do not have that same versatility, because regardless of the story, it is the music that sets the tone. And I don't care who's singing it, Mamma Mia will always be an Abba song, All Shook Up will always be an Elvis song, and Good Vibrations will always be a Beach Boys song. These shows aren't about artistry, they're about making money from people who want to hear ABBA songs and could care less about the book.

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Updated On: 9/21/05 at 11:38 AM

I don't like jukebox musicals of any sort because they teach theater going audiences to expect the expected...it's the musical form moving backwards.

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With all the crap going on in the world, who wouldn't want to be a Dancing Queen for a day?

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Updated On: 9/21/05 at 11:48 AM

I refer you to my original question (which has not, in fact, been answered):

'...can't something be fun and artistically valid at the same time? Does it really have to be one or the other?'

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If one person walks out of the theatre smiling and feeling better than before they came in, then the musical has done what it was supposed to do.

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can you re-word that last statement? i'm sorry, it may be my problem, but i can't understand it.

It gives people the chance to hear songs of the past or the new kids an opportunity to get into these tunes for the first time. And don't tell me to go buy the CD, because it's not a Broadway experience.

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