The thread on plays got me thinking about the most boring musicals I have seen. Mine are...
My Fair Lady
Million Dollar Quartet (this was by far the most boring thing I have seen on stage)
The Lion King
RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles
Annie
The second act of Fiddler on the Roof is so boring.
I thought Aida was boring, but that may be from my high expectations on finally getting to see a touring company of it after listening to the CD for years.
Updated On: 6/15/12 at 11:18 AM
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
Here Are the most crashing bores, musicals division:
Follies
Pacific Overtures
Sunday in the Park With George
Marie Christine
Queen of the Mist
And this year's winner and new champion, Once.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/16/11
I haven't seen ONCE, but from the performances I've seen and the music i've heard it just seems so boring!
I agree, Once is beautiful...but boring.....the guy sitting behind me fell asleep
Phantom
Little Women
A Tale of Two Cities
Poppin (again beautiful to look at, but the plot is paper thin)
Jesus Christ Superstar. (I wanted to pull my eyes out)
Bonnie and Clyde...(it took way to long to get into the blood and I didn't care about either in the slightest)
Follies (this may be because I am to young to appreciate it)
Man of La Mancha
The People in the Picture wins this one very easily for me.
Oh please...did any of you sit through paint-drying catastrophe that was THE RED SHOES? I mean...it was astounding in its soul-brushing boring-ness.
Only the last 10 minutes were any kind of nutty fun...but that's about it.
A Catered Affair
Marie Christine
Passion
Thou Shalt Not
Leap of Faith
Catch Me If You Can
Ring of Fire
Lennon
The Times, They Are A-Changin'
Spider-Man
February House
The Adding Machine
Summer of 42
Bonnie and Clyde
Leap of Faith
Wonderland
The People in the Picture
High Fidelity
Next To Normal
Les Miserables
Cats
Lestat
Dracula
I could go on and on... it does make me realize that good storytelling in commercial theatre really is rarer than one might think.
I fell asleep in Phantom.
I nearly fell asleep in Cats from high in the second balcony at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco - but was entranced at the Winter Garden.
I keep ragging on it - but Three Penny Opera with Sting was duller than dull.
Haha, agreed SonofRobbie! THE RED SHOES was so bad that my friend and I only made it though the first act (and i was in college and broke so any ticket was a splurge. This was the only show I ever left at intermission during that time).
In general, I feel like its more inept productions than bad material per se that make shows bland. But, I'm sure that once I have my morning coffee, I'll come up with a few.
I think FELA! is the only show I actually wanted to leave because of how boring it was to me. I'm usually very tolerant to shows I don't like, but FELA! had absolutely nothing that entertainment me.
Ok, well I haven't seen it, but every time I've seen a Newsies performance I get bored. Thanksgiving Day Parade and Tonys, I was absolutely uninterested and bored by the music.
Understudy Joined: 1/6/12
sound of music idk i never could get into it
leap of faith
curtains was a tad boring
act 2 of annie get your gun
when it comes to community theater i find hello dolly always a bore
THE STORY OF MY LIFE. How anyone gave that show a dime is beyond me. Wanted to stick hot forks in my eyes from the begining.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
I'm usually so annoyed by terrible musicals that my adrenaline gets flowing and I sit there thinking of terrible things to say about them, so boredom isn't really an issue.
That said, I was pretty damn bored by NEXT TO NORMAL. At least the original Second Stage production was agonizingly terrible. The revised version that hit Broadway (and picked up all those undeserved awards including the Pulitzer for reasons that pass understanding) was so tasteless and bland that I found myself watching the lights go on and off rather than paying attention to that tired storyline.
PETER PAN with Cathy Rigby -- I actually fell asleep watching that. The only part that was at least slighty entertaining was when Tinker Bell called Wendy a silly ass. That was still pretty darn awful.
Updated On: 6/15/12 at 12:46 PM
When you listen to the songs and get familiar with them, ONCE is really not boring at all.
someone.else's.story, I too was in college. My friend and I got $15 tix (remember THOSE days???), and we forced ourselves through to the end. Thankfully, the last 10 minutes were kinda hilariously crazy...but it didn't make up for the 2+ hours of crushing boredom that came before. Poor Hugh Panaro. Poor Roger Rees. Such a misuse of his talent.
OH...one bright spot...Jule Styne resused a song from an earlier musical in the entr'acte for the second act. All of a sudden I started singing along to 'I, Yes Me, That's Who' from Look to the Lillies. That was fun for 15 seconds.
Swing Joined: 2/7/09
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
Love Never Dies took me to new levels of boredom
The worst was "Copacabana" - A tour that turned the song by Barry Mannillow into a 2 1/2 hour snooze fest.
Videos