Is Kinky's Score Really Better Than Matilda's?

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 5:46pm

Sorry for this thread. I know I'm so late but it's just been bothering me. I wasn't familiar with the Kinky Boots score last month. Today after listening to the whole CD I just can't see how it's better than Matilda's. Yes, Kinky Boots has Cyndi behind it, but did she really write a better score than Tim Minchin did? I guess it's a taste issue, but I just think the Matilda score is far, far superior.

Posted: 7/11/13 at 5:48pm

Yes.

[sophie72]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 5:50pm

I liked Kinky Boots when I saw it, however it's the first time (that I can recall) that I've been horribly disappointed in the CD recording of a show. The show is fun, upbeat and lively-the recording is, in my opinion, a lead brick. To compare the 2 recordings is tough-Matilda is captured much better on CD than Kinky Boots.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 5:54pm

Here we go again...

Personally, I think KINKY has better music, but MATILDA has better lyrics. I would probably have voted for KINKY BOOTS, had I been a Tony voter. So, sure. I guess so.

I wish the Tonys had separate categories for Best Lyrics and Best Music. Updated On: 7/11/13 at 05:54 PM

Posted: 7/11/13 at 5:56pm

HEY! QUIT TALKING! You asked, I told you, case closed.

Who's playing Boq next?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 5:59pm

...what?

[showchoirguy]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 6:07pm

It's all based on personal taste. I personally thought Matilda's music had more of a variety and was far superior to Kinky's score, which was just as great. Personally, I enjoyed Matilda's score far more than Kinky's.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 6:08pm

I agree that Matilda has much better lyrics. Like I said, I guess in terms of music it just comes down to taste. Neither score is bad. And yes, there should be separate Music and Lyrics Tonys. Matilda has better lyrics than Kinky, Grey Gardens has better lyrics than Spring Awakening, et al.

[Matt1]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 6:14pm

Both are good, but I agree that Matilda is better.

[binau]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 6:25pm

Well it depends how you define better. If by better you mean an accessible generic pop score with generic lyrics then yes it is MUCH better than Matilda's score. Everybody say yeah!

However, if by better you mean a witty, surprising, smart, score that explores its characters in some kind of depth then Matilda has the better score.

I know that a lot here are a fan of the score and (especially) Cyndi Lauper. But this is such a typical Tony awards scenario where the more accessible score is favoured....

And I feel that the backlash re: the score/relentless discussion of it reflects this.

If Kinky Boots is the better musical so be it, but Tim Minchin should have a Tony right now.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 6:32pm

I preferred Matilda for pretty much every aspect.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 6:42pm

I'm glad ROCKS brought up the lyrics. They're some of the wittiest I've heard in a while.

That's right honey, look at mummy.
Don't put honey on your brother.
Smile for mummy, smile for mother.
I think she blinked-
WELL TAKE ANOTHER.

The incorporation of the alphabet into School Song is also genius.

I don't think either score is particularly inaccessible, though.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 6:54pm

Some of the lyrics in Matilda, while extremely witty, strike me as completely unmusical. Even though I remember a few of the tunes in Matilda, I remember them in that grating way where I wish they would get out of my head. I can't remember a note of the songs with dramatic moments I connected with. (I don't count When I Grow Up because I had heard that countless times prior to seeing the show).

Kinky Boots probably got best score because elements of pop music are much more accessible. It's fun and infectious, and in a sense, easier to process. It's all a lot more crowd pleasing (not that that in any way correlates with quality).

Updated On: 7/11/13 at 06:54 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 7:05pm

It was also Cyndi Lauper, local girl who made good and is very much loved.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 7:09pm

^Very true. I also think the fact that Billy Porter is so well-loved in the community contributed to his win (not that his performance wasn't deserving in it's own right).

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 7:17pm

According to the Tony voters -- Yes. According to posters here? Probably pretty evenly split.

I will agree with the above poster that said the recording of KB was pretty lackluster.

Personally, I'll agree with other comments: lyrics I thought Matilda was superior, music I'd go with Kinky.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 7:33pm

does anyone know why the reason as to why they give the award to the score as a whole instead separate for lyrics and music?

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 7:44pm

I totally agree with wickedrocks. Lyrics are far superior in Matilda but the music is much more catchy and energized in Kinky Boots. I think Kinky Boots's music is better live but Matilda's CD is better. I've now seen both shows. loved both of them. Matilda I thought was better but still loved Kinky Boots.

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 8:24pm

I have to agree that Matilda's lyrics are superior to Kinky Boots, but if we are basing our decisions on how they play during a performance and not CD, Kinky Boots has the clear edge. Matilda's sound design is so terrible that you can barely make out the lyrics. Even with the cd, I had to replay songs several times just so that I could understand the lyrics.

Music wise though, I find Matilda's score very redundant and repetitive. When sitting in the theater seeing Matilda, during intermission I turned to a friend and said "Is Matilda ever going to sing something other than a reprise of Naughty?"

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 8:28pm

I liked certain songs in both shows very much...and I can certainly understand why some of Matilda's lyrics are applauded. But it's really like comparing apples to oranges to me....totally different styles and types of music/theater. It's hard for me to think of one or the other as better...

Overall, I personally LIKED the entire musical package at KB. For me, Matilda is very clever while KB is more emotional..and I related more to the KB score. I didn't love all the songs in either show. But I just preferred KB to Matilda as a whole package and the music was a big part of it.

That said, I just ordered the Matilda CD and I already have the KB CD. I plan to enjoy both of them.

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 8:42pm

Here are my two cents:

MATILDA obviously has the much better lyrics of the two. Tim Minchin's score is so witty and the lyrics are incredibly well written. The use of the alphabet in "School Song" floored me - absolutely brilliant writing. The score varies greatly in tone and style, being both very uplifting and very dark at times throughout the piece. It is wordy - which is something I loved and is a testament to the kids singing it (though many understandably had trouble hearing every word).

While I LOVE the score Cyndi Lauper has written for KINKY BOOTS (a great theatrical debut), I can't get away from the fact that 75% of the score could basically be top 40 radio hits and stand alone outside of the show. This, however, is also a something of a strength to the show bc people want to listen to it over and over again - it is infectious. The score is just slightly theatrical and character driven enough to make it work. Theatrically, it doesn't hold a candle to MATILDA.

So, looking back, yes KINKY is the score that gets more plays on my iPhone on a regular basis (like my pop songs). It has more songs in its score that I listen to regularly than MATILDA's. But the ones that are real gems in MATILDA are big ones - "Naughty", "When I Grow Up", "Revolting Children", etc. "When I Grow Up" should win a Tony by itself in my opinion. So, yes KINKY BOOTS has more catchy songs - but the few in MATILDA's score are better than any in KINKY BOOTS in my opinion. I often feel the best scores are the ones that serve the material well - and that is how I feel about MATILDA. In the context of the show, MATILDA's score is so effective and flows in and out of the show's fantastic book with extreme ease. The transitions from dialogue to song are so seamless it is like the show is one musical piece itself.

Not taking anything away from Cyndi Lauper, whose score I loved, but I just think from a theatrical sense MATILDA's score is far superior.

Seriously, that alphabet part is fantastic.


So, in recap, LOVE them both - edge to MATILDA.



Updated On: 7/11/13 at 08:42 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 9:06pm

Kinky Boots' score: fair. Matilda's: ugly.

Kinky Boots is better.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 9:20pm

I prefer Matilda because I fell really hard for some of the piano riffs (that opening to "Quiet" is just gorgeous), but I think Kinky Boots is a more cohesive score. They're both good. I would have been happy with either show winning. Minchin and Lauper really got into writing their scores and I can't imagine neither of them writing second shows in a few years.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 10:10pm

I can hear Matilda's score in a Tim Burton film (the mysterious and creepy sound. Especially the newly added overture, don't get me started on that one). I'm going to go ahead and think that Tim Burton will be the director of the "confirmed in the works" film adaption. Back on topic, it's hard to say. Matilda has the better written lyrics, but the music of Kinky Boots is very catchy. I'm going to have to go with Matilda, the score is very diverse.

[NotTheComfyChair]

Posted: 7/11/13 at 11:50pm

My response comes from having seen both shows, having the iTunes of Matilda and listening to the EW stream of KB.
In my opinion, the lyrics of Matilda are far more interesting and challenging for the listener than KB.
Musically, I prefer Matilda as I feel it has more variety of style and makes me want to listen again to peel off another layer. E.g., the almost Jaws-like strings that begins The Hammer song makes me smile and fits the character performing the song perfectly.
The pop of KB works better, I think, in the theatre than in the very poor OCR. Not the fault of Ms Lauper's composition but more the bad producing and weak vocal performances. However, in the Hirschfeld, the pop score with it's more uniform time signatures works well to get the audience up and cheering/screaming and that may be why they won the Score Tony.
To conclude.
Lyrics. For me, Matilda wins easily.
Music. KB presses the right buttons for the audience (which mnay will say is a legitimate goal for a musical) but, for me, much less so in the OCR. Matildas music is, I think, more varied and less formulaic.