Is THE PRODUCERS the most overated musical ever?

I know I'm probably a couple years too late for this topic, but I'm still new here, so bear with me. :)

Do you think THE PRODUCERS deservered all 12 Tony Awards it received? I will say to my death that THE FULL MONTY should have gotten at least two: Best Score and Best Featured Actress (The late, great Kathleen Freeman). Instead, its up there with the original production of CHICAGO as one of the best musicals to receive NO Tony Awards! The banners in front of the St. James Theatre read "BEST MUSICAL EVER", but the show can only do sellout business when Nathan Lane and/or Matthew Broderick are headlining. Was it wise of the Tony Committee to put all of its awards in one basket?

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They always vote in blocks. They like a show, they give it more than one. See "Avenue Q"'s list of wins this year.

Best SCORE?

I agree PRODUCERS deserved best score too. I think AVE Q won it b/c the category is Best Original Score, Music and/OR LYRICS. I don't agree with that or Best Musical against WICKED, but any other Tony year...Anyway, I think the PRODUCERS is great even without the duo, I just wish that the actors I had seen didn't try to be Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick (pardon if I spelled wrong). THAT'S NOT GOOD ACTING. THAT'S COPYING...

I loved The Full Monty, but I don't think it deserved Best Score. With the exception of two songs, I found the music rather forgettable.

I rather liked The Producers, but I'll agree that it isn't exactly the "best musical ever."

How can you say that Avenue Q had a "list of wins"? It got 3, a very respectable number, but hardly a list produced by "block voting"! It received the same number as Wicked. If anything, it was Assassins which produced the "list of wins."

Avenue Q definitely deserved Best Score. Like Hairspray, its music is both poking fun at, and paying homage to, a nostalgic past - in this case, those children's television sing-a-longs we all grew up with. The tunes are infectious and instantly memorable. Plus, Avenue Q's hilarious lyrics are very cleverly constructed - have you noticed that all the rhymes in the entire libretto are perfect rhymes? (ie. "sometimes / hate crimes"). It's very difficult to pull off, but it gives the songs that Sesame Street feel. =-)

I think Avenue Q's biggest rival in the Best Score category was Taboo, whose music was the only thing critics lavished praise on. I don't think Wicked was in really a contender at all.

Oh, and the most overrated musical of all is Cats. I know we all hate it here, but how did it ever survive so many years on Broadway?!

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Updated On: 6/8/04 at 09:58 PM

For real! I have seen newspapers and online stories saying how "Q sweeps the Tonys"! They only got 3! Everyone forgot about Assassins who was what... like 6 or 7? Whats with that

Assassins won 5 of the 7 they were nominated for. Happily, Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisehauer won for lighting design this year just like they should have in 2001*(Jane Eyre)

* sorry, theatreguy. You're right. my sources were screwed up, i apologize. they DEFINITELY should have won.

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Updated On: 6/10/04 at 10:11 PM

Really? I actually found that most articles had Assassins in their headline.

And I loved The Lion King! It was a very unique and startling mixture of family-entertainment-meets-high-art. I never saw Ragtime, so I really can't say who should have won what, but I wouldn't call TLK the most overrated.

Ya know, I never liked Phantom all that much, but I can see why others do. I still think it's overrated, though, considering it's such a staple on Broadway. That "falling" chandelier is pretty anti-climatic.

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I saw the Producers three times with Nathan, Matthew and the original cast and absolutely loved it. But then, I'm someone who's a huge fan of the original movie with Mostel and Wilder, so I'm very biased. I haven't seen the show without the originals so I'm not sure how well it holds up without them. Most overrated? -- I could easily name a dozen or two I would put ahead of The Producers (including two or three long runners currently playing).

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Did you actually see "The Producers" to ask this question? It is one of the funniest musicals you will ever have the pleasure of seeing. Overrated? Let me check. Well there is RENT, CATS, LION KING, WILL ROGERS FOLLIES, and PHANTOM all Best Musical winners. And from the non-Tony file MAMMA MIA...shall I go on?

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Updated On: 6/8/04 at 11:31 PM

I agree with Broadway Matt that "The Lion King" is the most overrated show on Broadway. How that abomination still packs the Amsterdam is beyond me. "Mamma Mia" is right up there, too. I'm just going to keep my mouth shut about CATS. I don't feel like starting a fight...

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I'm not sure if The Producers is the most overrated show ever... having seen it in previews, I have to say that I was a little taken aback with the critics adoration for it. And certainly Monty was a better score. From Breeze Off The River to You Rule My World.... to making the working class sing without seeming like it's out of place is everything that Producers tried to be and only briefly succeeded in doing so because of the showmen in the roles. Having seen it with later sucessors to the roles only made that point more obvious. For all of it's accolades, The Producers was not the "second coming" of musical theatre. Quite to the contrary, it was a throwback to a time and place that most of us never lived in. Sure it was good. But it had nothing to do with who you and I are. And isn't that why we go to the theatre? I go to see a piece of me in a character. I saw a great performance that had nothing to do with me, or them. Them being Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. I hoped for more, I got a musical comedy that should have a decent run, but 12 tonys and sellout crowds? "You Walk With Me" was the most touching moment of that season as far as musicals go.

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We could argue this all month; it's all our personal taste and opinion anyway! (I, myself, loved The Lion King.)

Still, I'll throw in a few points anyway.

- Rent, overrated?! No matter if you like the show or not, you have to admit it was a breath of fresh air!

- Again, I can completely see why people would like Phantom, and I don't want to start an argument since I don't have a strong opinion about this, but you have to admit, Phantom is MELODRAMATIC! I mean, that's kind of the point, isn't it? This isn't an insult - it's written to be a Broadway opera about an opera! Its very form is melodramatic! (It's also kinda ironic that Phantom is seen as this staple of American theatre, when it's really a British musical.) One arguable point is whether it's just pure spectacle - I personally think it is, which is my main reason for not liking it. To me, there's a little too much emphasis on the falling chandelier, the disappearing tricks, and the sound design that was state-of-the-art for its time. I'm waiting for a future revival of the show, when hopefully some talented director out there can make it meatier and give the show more complexity.

- FindingNamo, you are HILARIOUS!!!

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Updated On: 6/9/04 at 01:20 AM

"Happily, Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisehauer won for lighting design this year just like they did in 2001 (Jane Eyre) when Producers wasn't even nominated for it. So there."

What? The Producers was nominated for and won the Tony for Best Lightign that year (though Jules and Peggy definitely deserved it that year).

". . . it has become a tourist attraction like all the Best Musical Tony Award Winners."

Yes, Passion was sure popular with the tourists . . .