Listening to Cast Albums before seeing a Musical for the first time- Page 2

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/21/18 at 6:31pm

I have reached the following conclusion after many years:

-- If I believe the music is going to be more complex, I actually make an effort to become familiar with the score in advance.  This is particularly beneficial with Sondheim shows.  I have generally not appreciated many of his scores on first hearing.  As a result, I have not enjoyed many of his shows the first time I have seen them. only to end up loving them when I had become familiar with the score.  I made sure to do this with Hamilton, since I anticipated that there would be much more Rap than there actually is, and I was (probably unfoundedly) concerned that I would have a problem following the show if I could not seep up with the Rap.

-- If I believe the score is not going to be complex, e.g., Bandstand, Kinky Boots, Jerry Herman scores, etc., I make no effort to hear the score in advance.  In these cases, I believe I will enjoy the show more if I am a 'virgin'.

-- Now that I live away from NYC and only get there a few times a year, I generally purchase the recording when it is released, since I don't want to postpone possible enjoyment.  That has generally been fine, but has backfired a few times in recent years.  Two illustrations: I enjoyed the recordings to Fun Home and Come From Away more than the actual shows.  This is because the shows were virtually recreated on the recordings, so there was little 'discovery' when I saw the shows, i.e., there was no additional dialogue, there was no choreography, there were no IMO star turns that I had to see to appreciate.  I think I would have enjoyed CFA more had I not already been very familiar with the (straightforward) score; not sure re Fun Home, since I really disliked the show despite really enjoying the recording.

-- This is really weird, but here goers.  There is a final factor...if the show's music received mediocre reviews, I generally listen to the recording in advance because I have discovered over time that a not great score can still grow on me, and I well enjoy the show more if the score has grown on me.

 

[colorsblend]

Posted: 3/22/18 at 3:47am

I can only think of two shows where I hadn't hear the music beforehand (Hairspray and Legally Blonde). But both were part of group trips, not something I personally chose to see (enjoyed both of them). Maybe if I lived in New York and saw shows more often I'd go in blind?

[Playbill_Trash]

Posted: 3/22/18 at 10:16am

I feel the same with a lot of the points made about seeing visual promotion (press photos / videos) before the show. Depending on the show, especially if it is an adaptation of a pre-existing property, I will not look at any visuals of a show before seeing it because I am very curious of how they are going to adapt the setting of a story that already exists to the stage, and want to keep that a surprise.

But back on the topic of cast albums, I have an interesting experience with Book of Mormon. My family had gotten tickets in April 2011 (before the inevitable tony awards sweep that June) to see Book of Mormon in August 2011. My rule of not listening to cast albums before seeing a show was in effect so I didn't listen to the music and only knew I Believe from their Tony awards performance (Tony performances are my exception - if the point is to publicize a part of the show to the whole country that has not seen it, why should I stand in their way and deprive myself of a part of the telecast haha). 

Come time for my August 2011 NYC trip. We had Book of Mormon tickets (at the time - the hottest ticket in town) for a Saturday night, and Spiderman 2.0 tickets for the night before. Knowing I would want to listen to the BOM cast recording on my way home, I put the album on my ipod before the trip.

This particular weekend was also when Hurricane Irene hit (or didn't hit) NYC. Due to all of the weather forecasts and all of the closing of roads/highways and subways, all Broadway performances were cancelled that weekend for 3 performances, Saturday matinee and evening, and Sunday matinee since they believed all casts and crews would not be able to make it into the city.

My Friday night Spiderman still went on, but the Book of Mormon performance I had tickets for was cancelled. I was so upset. We got a refund at the box office because that's where we bought the tickets and the clerk said, "don't worry you can buy tickets for another time." He picked up a calendar and said, "any time after March." MARCH. I knew this would happen due to the popularity of the show, and my family and I did eventually see it a year later in June 2012. (This event has caused several other theatre going rules that I followed thereafter). 

But during that whole year in between, the Book of Mormon album was still on my ipod and I did not take it off. Whenever I listened to music on shuffle, songs from the show would come up and I would frantically skip. For a year. So when I eventually saw the show, I knew the title of each song  as soon as it started because I had associated the opening notes with the title of the song on my ipod screen before I would skip the song after 3 seconds. This is why I think I'm qualified to be the conductor for this show because I know all of the music cues after having them engraved in my head for a year.

I will forever know that one elder asking, "Do you have any idea where they'll be sending you, Elder Price?" is the cue for Two by Two, or Nikki M James shouting, "And Now, we wish to honor you with..." is the cue for Joseph Smith American Moses.

Could I have taken the music off of my ipod for a year? Yes. Recounting this story 6 years later has lead me to conclude that yes, I could have done that instead. 

 

[youwillbefound2]

Posted: 3/22/18 at 2:49pm

I will listen to the cast album before seeing it just to make sure I like the "feel", but I won't try to figure out the plot or anything. I did that with Dear Evan Hansen and when I saw it it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be because I knew the plot and how everything would turn out and I already knew all the jokes so I didn't laugh at any of them. Of course, the cast was still spectacular, but I feel like I spoiled the night for myself, so from then on, I stopped watching bootlegs or reading synopsises of a show before I saw it.

[youwillbefound2]

Posted: 3/22/18 at 2:49pm

I will listen to the cast album before seeing it just to make sure I like the "feel", but I won't try to figure out the plot or anything. I did that with Dear Evan Hansen and when I saw it it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be because I knew the plot and how everything would turn out and I already knew all the jokes so I didn't laugh at any of them. Of course, the cast was still spectacular, but I feel like I spoiled the night for myself, so from then on, I stopped watching bootlegs or reading synopsises of a show before I saw it.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/22/18 at 3:39pm

I did not listen to Hamilton before I saw it and was so happy that I did because I think I was able to get into the experience the way some of my friends could not because they were obsessively listening to the cast recording and kept comparing the actors on stage to their expectations on the cast recording. I am glad I did it for Matilda though because I admit I probably would have had a hard time understanding some of the song lyrics had I not listened to the cast recording first (on the cast recording I could understand them just fine even if some of the accents forced me to relisten to some of the songs to hear what they're exactly saying). The first number live (by the adults more than anything actually) would have been very difficult for me to understand since all the singing goes together plus adding the quick lyrics and the accents would have probably frustrated me a bit.

For the most part though I rather not listen to the cast album before hand if I plan on seeing the show. I really wish I could have done that to some of my favorite revivals but those shows are so classic that I probably wouldn't have wanted to see those shows if I didn't know those beautiful scores ahead of time.

[AllThatJazz2]

Posted: 3/22/18 at 4:29pm

Most of the time I don't listen beforehand, but I have made exceptions. I knew it was going to be awhile before I was able to see Hamilton, so I did listen to that. For myself that actually worked in my favor because since I already knew the lyrics to every song, I was able to focus more on the performances, rather than having to parse out what everyone was singing. 

Usually I'll break out the cast album if I'm on the fence about seeing a show - that's how I wound up seeing Dear Evan Hansen, and why I finally have tickets to Come From Away. I was wary of both shows as the subject matter hits very close to home, and I wasn't sure I wanted to drop the money on tickets only to not enjoy myself. After listening to the albums I was swayed. 
 

[Mediamaven2]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 8:21pm

Interesting, the divided opinion. I can see how, if you don't get to go to musical theater much or on a 1x a year trip to a large city, you might listen to cast albums more often....but I live here in NYC and I can't imagine listening to a cast album before seeing a show.  I had a big furious argument with a friend about this! Though I am feeling less passionately about it now, I still believe that when I experience a 'show' I am seeing much more than just the music. Therefore I like to allow the entire experience to wash over me at once. I don't like to pre-judge an isolated, however important, aspect. It's like extracting a part of the show, and making a judgment on the whole based only on a part.

Also, I don't like for the element of dramatic surprise to be taken away by listening to a show beforehand. Even if I can't understand every single word of a lyric when hearing it for the first time, I certainly understand enough of it when it is being acted, live, in front of me as part of a dramatic story I am watching. If I really like the music, I will listen again (and again and again!) more closely after. I much prefer not to have the drama/element of surprise ruined. 

 

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 9:40pm

Mediamaven2 said: "Interesting, the divided opinion. I can see how, if you don't get to go to musical theater much or on a 1x a year trip to a large city, you might listen to cast albums more often....but I live here in NYC and I can't imagine listening to a cast album before seeing a show."

I’ve never seen a show in NYC, and I’m not sure if this would be considered a lot, but between Feb. 2017 and next weekend I would have attended 15 National Tours, most all of them in Pittsburgh (one each was in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Cleveland). Of those, I listened to all of the cast albums except two, “Fun Home” (couldn’t locate it beforehand) and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” (didn’t have one). I’m not sure relating the fewer shows you see and the greater likelihood of listening to the cast album is a valid connection. 

[David10086]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 9:56pm

Great thread!

In the beginning(1990-99), when I first started going to B'way musicals in NYC, I would usually buy/borrow the cast recordings to see if I liked the music. This included Phantom, Les Miz, Saigon, Cats and Sunset Boulevard  (though I never saw the movie SB). Mostly because I didn't want to invest a lot of money back then (yes, $50-75 was 'a lot of money LOL) on something I would not like listening to, despite the acting.

After that, I didn't - I saw the show first and then decided if I wanted the cast album. Not sure why I changed.

 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 3/24/18 at 12:12am

Now that I'm older I find myself not listening to cast recordings beforehand as much as when I was younger and didn't make trips to NY as frequently as I do now.  

Especially because sometimes it can lead to different outcomes.  

I fell in love with the recording of the 90s cast of She Loves Me and waited patiently for it to make its return.  It finally did a couple of years ago and I made the trip to NY to see it.  Needless to say, it did not disappoint.  The show was just as perfect as the music was when I was playing it over and over again.

Conversely though, I listened to the cast recording of Will Rogers Follies over and and over again and had this grand vision of what  I thought it would look like on stage.  I didn't see it in NY but LA.   I wasn't as taken by it as I thought I would be.

Again, now that my trips to NY are more annual in nature, I just wait until seeing the shows I'm interested in rather than previewing it beforehand.

[stoptheworld38]

Posted: 3/24/18 at 12:55pm

I do it all the time, but unfortunately I rarely get to see shows actually on Broadway. (Last one I saw was Wicked in 2012 on a school trip), although I do see a lot of local stuff. So I guess listening to the soundtracks and watching clips online is the next best thing.

[MsRed]

Posted: 3/25/18 at 2:49pm

I'd say I'm the exact opposite.

I read all possible spoilers before I watch a movie. I would not go to a concert of someone whose songs I can't sing along (I find it almost disrespectful). I had learned the lyrics to every single DEH song before I watched the show. (Don't worry, I know my modus operandi is not popular)

I'm not a fan of surprises, because I tend to be underwhelmed most times. I like knowing where I'm going and what I'm stepping on. Some mental issue, probably.