Memory Lane — Page 2

Well said After

As another old guy here, I too think back on the 60's when I first started attending theatre, and some of the great shows and traditions. There was a certain elegance and propriety about the evening. Many of the shows I saw early on are classics, and stand out as such

However, I am also thrilled by today's theatre. Yes, bad behavior abounds, but some of the art is amazing. I love a classic old revival, big dance numbers, classic drama. But I also love the new grittier pieces, filled with every kind of music from jazz to rap. I like to revere the past and enjoy the present. I await each season to see what 'new' idea comes out. I enjoy living in the moment of live theatre. And even though we have had some bad shows in recent years, there were certainly just as many in the 60s and , God help us, the 70s.

After Eight said: "Some people would have you believe that a toxic waste dump is an improvement over the flower-filled garden destroyed to make way for it, and that the fumes emanating therefrom are superior to the perfumes of yore.

Malevolent people.

Then they rage against those who refuse to buy their toxic lies.

They can stew in their own bile."

The problem with everything you say is that, to some, the theatre they see is not a " toxic waste dump." You are entitled to think it is, of course, but you are not entitled to substitute your taste for theirs. There are those who found your " flower-filled garden" to be a trash heap. My great-grandmother was one of them.

This thread, however, is not about our disparate tastes. It is about living in memories. As I said, that's a choice to which you are entitled; my point is that when you live in the past, you are no longer a theatre-lover, because the theatre exists only n the present.

Jane2 said: "In saying we are "deluded" in having our opinions, you are insulting the whole population of older folks."

The "delusion" (as is clear from everything I wrote) is not your opinions; it is the act of cocooning yourself in the past. As I have stated repeatedly, the theatre (being ephemeral) does not exist in the past. Nothing wrong with having memories; what's unhealthy is living only in them and closing yourself off to the present.

And that's not age-related so stop trying to invent victimhood.

Hogan, that's also the premise of another (less savory to After Eight) musical by, as devonian.t said "our greatest living lyricist (and composer)".

I remember the sixties too- I was going to matinees every Saturday when I was in the seventh grade- saw Liza and Barbra- Julie Harris in Skyscraper- Alan King in The Impossible Years- Angela Lansbury and Be a Arthur in Mame- James Earl Jones in Great White Hope- and on and on.....loved those years- but also recently loved Beautiful, Kinky Boots, revival of Golden Boys, The Heiress,- and in November seeing Hamilton AAIP, School of Rock, Fun Home and View From the Bridge- so I have no complaints at all.

I'm not reminiscing. Didn't you hear me say that the best of times is now?

And there's nothing wrong with today's music. We have plenty of great bands still.

Hogan said - "And that's not age-related so stop trying to invent victimhood."

HAHAHAHAHA It's too bad you don't know how far off you are.

Just like you paint "old" people with a broad brush saying they're wrapping themselves in cocoons. Judgmental much?

Stop trying to invent scenarios. Be nice for a change.

Anyway, the people who know me also know I am as far as you can get from being, or trying to be a victim. Of anything. They also know that my chronological age is not related to my real age in any way.

None of your scenarios nor judgments apply to me. Talk to someone who resembles the people who you are creating in your delusions.

Updated On: 9/17/15 at 04:47 PM

"Are you here defending wallowing?"

Nope, not a wallower. I do appreciate my disco and doo wops and hair metal and 80's but I don't wallow in them!

Dear After Eight, Mr. Roxy and Jane2-

I stand by my comment about Alter Kockers wallowing in the past.

BTW, Jane2 - I spelled A.K. the way Leo Rosten spells it in The Joys of Yiddish. If it's good enough for Leo, it's good enough for me.

BTW, the war in Vietnam was a current event when I was an undergrad in college.

BTW, I am not jealous of or envy the three of you.

BTW, as for After Eight whining about stomping on his memories, pot meet kettle. Whenever anyone post saying how much they enjoy a show that After Eight hates, he/she appears as Little Mary Gloomshine dropping poison ivy over their enjoyment.

BTW, in my younger days, I was a Neil Simon fan. I bought each new play when it was printed. No more! After reading comedies from the 1920s and 1930s, I realized Simon's plays had as much substance as wet cardboard. When I downsized my library, I sold all the Simon plays. The plays don't hold up. I will only see a Simon play if I know someone in the cast. His plays make me cringe.

BTW, many comedies from the late 1960s and beyond have much in common with those from the 1920s and 1930s. IMO, Mary, Mary is not one that does.

BTW, I have fond memories of plays, musicals, and movie I saw or read in my younger days. However, when I've seen or re-read some of these plays and musical today, I wonder why I liked them before.

BTW, I enjoyed the last production of South Pacific and I also enjoyed RENT, Passing Strange, Spring Awakening, Next To Normal, The Light in the Piazza, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and In the Heights. And yes, I'm a big Sondheim fan.

BTW, I find After Eight's comments to be of little value because they are over the top. Toxic waste indeed. His/Her comments are BS.

To quote one of my favorite lyricists, After Eight, Mr. Roxy and Jane2 are the AKs who give the OKs. His brother is one of my favorite composers.

I guess the most confounding thing about A8 is that he can never say he just likes something. He always has to add several hyperbolic negatives about everything and everyone who likes something different.

Even this thread would have been so much better if it was just about sharing enthusiasm for older musicals. I would have loved to read some of our older poster's first hand accounts of those wonderful shows.

Or if he wanted to discuss how they differ from newer musicals that could have really been a wonderful and enlightening thread.

But no, he just pulls the same divisive and closed minded shtick insulting anyone who gets in the way.

It's totally fine for people to have different tastes. I never judge anyone for what they enjoy. I remember how it felt when all my friends were rocking out to Korn on their iPods and I was listening to Passion.

So it's never been about age with A8. Jane has said she's older as well but I've never seen her insult anyone for their opinion (or really anything). It's his judgmental and hurtful comments about people who like anything other than the very narrow niche that he does. (and his crazy ramblings about some mysterious cabal with a nefarious agenda to force the world to embrace Sondheim, but those comments are really more humorous than insulting).

I've been made fun of plenty for loving showtunes. I don't need to see that kind of intolerance on a message board dedicated to theater.

Anyway, he doesn't bother me anymore because I realize that he has a need to validate himself by belittling others. That's his problem, not mine. I mostly just chuckle at his posts.

But make no mistake - it's never acceptable or clever to try and make people feel ashamed because they enjoy something different. That's not what this board should be about.

I rest my case.