Jersey Boys...why best musical? — Page 2

I hate to repeat myself but who cares where the music came from?

Someone still had to coreograph and produce it for the stage. Get over it.

I've never been more sure of a musical that deserved to win Best Musical.

JERSEY BOYS won because it was the superior show with a superior cast and one hell of a story.

I could not be happier right now.

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I don't care whether the music was written for the piece or not. BOOK All Shook Up) I fail to see the great book All Shook Up) I fail to see the great book in Jersey Boys that everyone else seems to see. I found it pedestrian at best. All of the humor was TERRIBLY forced, and there wasn't any dramatic tension at all. I didn't care what happened. A character got divorced? I didn't even know they were married to begin with. And the songs are mostly presented in concert form and therefore have no dramatic action to them and I found myself growing bored during many of them (I've heard four seasons music before...I don't need to pay 110 dollars to listen to a cover band.)

i think it was a good choice for best musical but simply more of a suprise. Especially after seeing who won as best actress in a musical.

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I agree completely with you about the importance of the composer, and that is what the Best Original Score Tony honors. Best Musical involves the whole creative and production process, not just the music.

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I disagree on the importance of the composer or pop music.
It's what the final product is all about.
I wasn't a huge Frankie Valli fan before this but I loved what they did with his music.

>>I disagree on the importance of the composer or pop music.
It's what the final product is all about.
I wasn't a huge Frankie Valli fan before this but I loved what they did with his music.

That's called hard work vs easy work. To admit the difference is called fair.

"Jersey Boys...Why Best Musical?"

Because it won. Case closed. The Tonys are over. If you didn't like it...tough.

Thank you for saying that. I swear the people who are upset about Jersey Boys winning are just as bad as the teenyboppers who were ranting about Wicked not winning in 2004.

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"I still want to know what music from Hairspray or Ragtime wasn't written for those shows!"

Seriously, if you're gonna make a statement like that then you better have some proof to back it up!

Most people agree that Contact was not a "musical" because there was no live music or singing. But that has nothing to do with a "jukebox musical" (which Jersey Boys is not) winning Best Musical, or even worse, creating a separate category. A musical that does not have an original score is still a musical. And if you think writing an original story around preexisting songs is easier, then by all means, try it. Jersey Boys is slightly different from s jukebox musical because of how the songs are used. Nonetheless, it is still very difficult. Try writing your Spice Girls musical and see how easy it is.

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>That's called hard work vs easy work. To admit the difference is called fair.<

In this case it's sour grapes. You cant seem to get passed the pop music factor.
Try telling the folks who put together JB that it was easy.
So how do you feel when a play is produced from a book? The script is already there is that Original? It's all about what comes out of it.

The term "jukebox musical" was coined after the success of Mamma Mia. It refers to a show with an original story created around a catalogue of songs in which the lyrics are incorporated into the plot. The songs of Mamma Mia actually contribute to the story. Jersey Boys is a bioghraphical catalogue musical like its predecessors, Elvis! and Buddy. The book is a biography of the artist(s) whose music is performed in the style of the original artist and few, if any, songs actually tell the story or comment on the action through the lyrics. They are simply performance numbers. And then there's the musical revue, which is a bookless musical in which the songs share a common theme, usually the composer/lyricist, or in the case of Jerome Robbins Broadway and Fosse, the choreographer. Both the catalogue and jukebox musicals are wildly popular in the West End. Buddy ran for over ten years and the first successful jukebox musical I can think of, Return to the Forbidden Planet, beat out Miss Saigon for the Olivier Award for Best Musical (and in my opinion, rightly so, the show is freakin' brilliant).

These various styles of musical theatre all existed prior to Mamma Mia and this has been explained numerous times on this message board, and in reviews and articles. People just enjoy misusing the term "jukebox musical" because it is catchy and they believe it indicates something which is inferior.

"I am not saying putting a musical together easy. I am saying borrowing the music instead of composing by yourself is easy. Understand the difference?"

I understand what you are trying to say, but its really not a fair comparison. Most often, the composer is not writing the book, so it is neither easier nor more difficult if he is not involved. Either you hire a composer or you don't. It is actually easier to have songs written for a specific plot and be able to make changes when necessary than to write a plot around songs (especially when limited to the catalogue of one artist) which may not allow you to change lyrics, tone, or certain arrangements due to copyright. With original music, you may change whatever is necessary to fit your book and vice-versa. It is far more versatile, creatively.

"why divide theater award into play and musical?"

Because they are two entirely different genres. Everything from direction to costuming to performance is handled entirely differently. The same cannot be said of the difference between a musical with an original score and a musical with preexisting songs.

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Updated On: 6/13/06 at 10:59 AM

the missusing of "jukebox musical"? Maybe, but I do believe the reason that people apply this term to Jersey is to emphasize the "non-original score" part,not the whole musical catelog theory you talked about.

Here is my point: this discussion is not about the clarification of Jersey's "jukebox musical or bioghraphical catalogue musical ". That is not the point. Is Jersey a musical featuring non-original score? Yes, it is. Can a jukebox musical (sorry again, non-original based score) be good and enjoyable and win the best award? Sure. Is the question people raising about its non-original-thus-controversal winning valid? Absolutely. Jersey maybe good. But can a musical featuring a non-original-based score be called great like other good musical based on original score? I don't think so.

Jersey won because other new shows are not good enough. A jukebox ( Damn, it is so easy to use this than NOSBM. So f*** u, I will stick with it. ) musical can be good. An orginal score based musical can suck. But I don't believe a jukebox musical can be said as good as an original score good musical, no matter how good it is. It is simply not fair.

>>"why divide theater award into play and musical?"

>>Because they are two entirely different genres. Everything from direction to costuming to performance is handled entirely differently. The same cannot be said of the difference between a musical with an original score and a musical with preexisting songs.

You are right. Unfortunately, there are some people who do not realize it here.