Jukebox Musicals

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Jukebox Musicals

Posted: 1/18/05 at 1:23pm

I have to say that I am seeing a trend I don't like - Jukebox musicals. I've now seen two and I will not see another. Although Hugh Jackman's performance was amazing, The Boy From Oz was terrible. Same with Mamma Mia. And I will not waste my money on All Shook Up or Good Vibrations. Taking existing songs and cramming a story around them is the complete antithesis of originality. Songs need to arise out of the situation. Cramming existing pop songs into a book just does not work.

The truly beautiful should be lawfully restricted from wearing clothing; and the truly butt-ugly should be lawfully mandated from going naked.

Updated On: 1/18/05 at 01:23 PM

re: Jukebox Musicals

Posted: 1/18/05 at 1:59pm

I agree with you to a certain extent but the first thing that I have to point out is that this is not new to Broadway. Back in the 70s there was "Betlemania" which ran for over 1000 performances. Not a great show by any means but that kind of show has existed for a while.

There have been other shows and I'm not sure if one can call them Jukebox Musicals but they have taken existing songs and sort of "crammed them into a book" and they have worked. The best case for that was "Ain't Misbehivin'" which won the Best Musical Tony in 1978. It was a show with existing Fats Waller songs that had been compiled together to make a show (review). "Eubie" and "Sophisticated Ladies" are other examples of these kinds of shows and there are many more. Some have worked and some have not but I agree that there are too many of these at this time trying to pass for actual musical theatre and it's not a happy trend.

"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"

re: Jukebox Musicals

Posted: 1/18/05 at 2:02pm

I understand where your comming from and i really hated the Boy From Oz and i don't particularly care for Mamma Mia but i will argue for All Shook Up...it is one of THE funnest shows i've seen in a while. I didn't think that they could incorporate Elvis's songs but they really did and the songs work really well with the story and some of the scenes are just soo adorable. It might not be the show for your but it is a very good musical. So All Shook Up proves the "Juke Box Musicals Dont Work" theory wrong

RIP Natasha Richardson. ~You were a light on this earth ~

re: Jukebox Musicals

Posted: 1/18/05 at 2:04pm

I don't believe Beatlemania, Ain't Misbehavin' or Sophisticated Ladies were book musicals. They were reviews - a celebration of the songwriters music. The Boy From Oz, Mamma Mia, et al, are book musicals. There is a story to tell in these musicals and where a song would normally move the story along, the powers that be take a song that they think best fits, that was not written specifically for that purpose. It completely halts the progression of the story. The lyrics of the songs make no sense most of the time in the confines of the story.

The truly beautiful should be lawfully restricted from wearing clothing; and the truly butt-ugly should be lawfully mandated from going naked.

Updated On: 1/18/05 at 02:04 PM

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