Ignored The Critics, Saw A Show, Loved It!- Page 2

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 11:44am

Jekyll & Hyde - 1997
Catch Me If You Can
Wicked
Singing In The Rain

[DAME]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 12:01pm

Harrigan n Hart
Jerry's Girls
GHOST
Singing in the rain

[loliveve]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 12:54pm

I've only recently started traveling to NYC to see shows (yay!), but the shows where I disagreed with the critics included:
Big Fish
Chaplin
A Time to Kill




Updated On: 7/5/14 at 12:54 PM

[Wickedmonkey332]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 12:57pm

Chaplin Chaplin Chaplin

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 1:12pm

The Scarlet Pimpernel (first version)
Legally Blonde (liked it, but truly fell in love with the London production)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Jane Eyre
American Idiot
Aspects of Love
Big (Broadway, not the tour)
Proposals
The Dinner Party

And in reverse:
Spring Awakening
The Producers
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The Last Ship (pre-Broadway)
Desire Under the Elms (pre-Broadway)

Updated On: 7/5/14 at 01:12 PM

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 1:18pm

GHOST -- of all the musicals despised by critics, this is easily my favorite

ROCKY -- one of the more enjoyable nights at the theater during our recent visit. Not a masterpiece by any means, but highly entertaining

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 1:22pm

The B'way BIG. Still love that OBC, too. The score.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 2:19pm

Nano, the Wonen on the Verge thread is one of the most hilarious/disturbing threads I have seen on here, especially that Kyle demon who didn't know anything about how to format writing and when and when not to use caps lock.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 2:33pm

I know I have lots of company here by listing BONNIE AND CLYDE, though we saw it before the critics had savaged it.

I'll put in a vote for the first act and second act opening ballet of THE COLOR PURPLE (went downhill steeply after that.)

I'm more out on a limb with the NINE revival starring Antonio Banderas. Loved it despite all the nay-sayers.

[David2]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 3:17pm

Legally Blonde, Wicked, If/Then, Catch Me if You Can and I'm sure there have been other ones

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 3:37pm

Big Fish, may it rest.

Sigh.

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 7:39pm

If/Then, Legally Blonde, The Wild Party (LaChuisa), Women On The Verge, and Bonnie & Clyde, The Civil War and The Scarlet Pimpernel

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 9:04pm

Every single LaChiusa show + Wicked

[Musical Master]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 10:42pm

Cinderella- A show that's been torn up for the critics (and some on here), but I enjoyed every second of it for reasons I have already made in the past.

Women on the Verge- Same reasons as others who've enjoyed it for what it was.

[teresa2]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 10:59pm

I loved Cinderella, American Idiot, Ghost, Wicked, Chaplin, Rocky, Bullets Over Broadway, If/Then, Scarlet Pimpernel and a Tale of Two Cities

[mamaleh]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 11:14pm

Maggie Flynn
Purlie
Seesaw
Mack and Mabel
Big
Sunset Boulevard
A Class Act
The Boy from Oz
Jane Eyre
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Bullets Over Broadway
Rocky
The Bridges of Madison County

...are just a few that come to mind.


Updated On: 7/5/14 at 11:14 PM

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 11:34pm

teresa2: "I loved Cinderella, American Idiot, Ghost, Wicked, Chaplin, Rocky, Bullets Over Broadway, If/Then, Scarlet Pimpernel and a Tale of Two Cities"

I am impressed that you SAW A Tale of Two Cities!

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 11:42pm

I loved If/Then, even when it was still a bit rough around the edges during the previews in DC. I loved the Australian version of Love Never Dies (which I saw in the movie theater), which the critics mostly panned, although some did have kind words for the music itself. And, of course, there is the gem of a review by a VERY well-known reviewer (about a VERY well-known show) that grudgingly admitted that the audience is likely to have fun. The review (in a VERY well-known publication) includes the following excerpts:

"What one finds ... is a characteristic [composer] project -- long on pop professionalism and melody, impoverished of artistic personality and passion -- that the director..., the designer... and the mesmerizing actor ... have elevated quite literally to the roof. [The show] is as much a victory of dynamic stagecraft over musical kitsch as it is a triumph of merchandising uber alles."

Is the reviewer decrying "Spiderman?" How about "Mary Poppins?" Hint: The review date is January 27, 1988. The reviewer is the eminent Frank Rich, writing in the NYT about none other than the multiple Tony winner "The Phantom of the Opera." Unsurprisingly, I don't agree with his assessment even though I envy his ability to skewer a show with such clever turns of phrase. How on earth did Frank Rich not manage to get goosebumps during "Music of the Night?"

I guess ALW sobbed all the way to the bank.

[IndyTheatreGeek]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 2:12am

Ghost
Legally Blonde
Rocky
Cinderella
Jekyll and Hyde
Suddenly Seeking Susan (London)
Performers
Bring It On
We Will Rock You
Mary Poppins

I trust the opinions of other folks in line at TDF or in rush lines more than the critics. If someone has liked shows I've liked for similar reasons, their opinion is much more influential than any critic.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 8:51am

Big Fish. <3

[MVintheheartland]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 9:25am

Bullets over Broadway.
Obviously not great art, but it was enjoyable.

[teresa2]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 9:45am

Did I get the title wrong? A Tale of Two Cities was the one a few years back with James Barbour and Aaron Lazer correct?
The other shows I mentioned I might not have totally loved, but they weren't as bad as the critics made them out to be and I am glad I saw them and enjoyed them. I loved Cinderella with Laura and Santino. I also really loved Aida, Lestat, the Boy from Oz, Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Next to Normal, In the Heights, Wicked, Rocky, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Scarlet Pimpernal and have seen each several times.The only ones I truly disliked/hated that I can recall are Cats, Once, Hedwig, the Producers and Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 10:55am

I saw The People in the Picture and loved it, thought looking back I remember very very little and can concede that they was more'n likely right.

Edit: Forgot to mention Women on the Verge. I didn't exactly love it but Patti doing Invisible remains one of the best things I've ever seen. I just remember not wanting that number to ever be over.

Updated On: 7/6/14 at 10:55 AM

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 11:05am

teresa2: Sorry. Yes, you got the title right! What I meant was I'm impressed that you actually got to see it, with its short run!

[teresa2]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 1:21pm

Oh that's fine. I thought it was correct, but as you said it was a short run. I really liked it tho, especially James Barbour, and was able to see it a few times before it closed
Another one I liked that was ravaged was Leap of Faith. Saw that a few times also.
Two others I thought of that I disliked were the History Boys and Spelling Bee. Wasnt crazy about Bridges or Light in the Piazza either.