Most surprisingly good/most disappointing show?- Page 2

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 9/13/08 at 10:37pm

I was ok with where Wicked was going until the drastic changes to the ending.

I was also very under-whelmed by The Producers. It was ok, but definitely did not deserve to sweep the Tonys like it did that year.

I think James Joyce's The Dead was a show that surprised me. Not that I was expecting something bad, but I just didn't know much about it, and my friend and I only went because we were both madly in love with Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner. There was just a simple, innocent kind of beauty about it that captured both of us.

In terms of shows I've worked on, I was really not looking forward to having to do Meet Me in St. Louis a couple summers ago (and to top it all off, I was doing the show in St. Louis). However, that ended up being the show I had the most fun on that summer.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 9/13/08 at 11:04pm

Surprisingly Good: Speech and Debate, Mary Poppins, In the Heights



Disappointing: Next to Normal, and LuPone Gypsy (I am not denying that Gypsy is a good show, but for some reason it just didn't do it for me.)

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 10:50am

I went into Tarzan thinking it was going to be a stinking green turd, and actually found myself liking it quite a bit. Not a great show, but still a good show.

On the other hand, I wanted to love Mary Poppins, I really did. But between the changes in music and the bland characterization, I just stopped caring.

[bwayfan9]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 3:27pm

I thought I was going to hate hairspray but my was I wrong!

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 6:25pm

One show I never saw live but was still rather disappointed with based on the recording was "Woman In White." Now, if you buy the CD, it has the entire show, with all of the dialogue and everything (and the CD came with the libretto), so if you listen to it, it's like listening to a radio broadcast musical. That said, I know a lot of people have said the staging was terrible, so I apparently wasn't missing much.

Well, before I got the CD, I'd heard many of the songs-- "You Can Get Away With Anything," "I Believe My Heart," "All For Laura," "Evermore Without You," and "If I Could Only Dream This World Away" (Anne Hathaway's version). I liked those songs a lot, and I was rather disconcerted when I got the CD to discover that there were surprisingly few "songs." It was mostly recitative, and recurring themes flowing into recurring themes with very few standalone numbers.

I still like the CD, but I was expecting better based on the songs that I'd heard beforehand. (Also, I was not impressed with Michael Crawford's turn as Count Fosco on the CD, because I'd seen several videos of Michael Ball playing the role on youtube, and I thought MC seemed really miscast.)

[defyinggravity42694]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 6:56pm

Most surprisingly good: 13
Most disappointing: Young Frankenstein

Updated On: 9/14/08 at 06:56 PM

[hpeabody930]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 10:18pm

Surprisingly good: Hair in Central park, I'm not a huge fan of the show and I was extremely skeptical, but my oh my was i wrong. One of the greatest theatrical experiences ever.

Bad: I was very underwhelmed by Adding Machine. The book was a mess, the music was alright but overall i just wasn't a fan

Boeing, Boeing, the cast was great (mark rylance alone is worth the price of admission) i just think the script (and directing and set etc etc) left a lot to be desired.

[BobRandomGuyMan]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 1:04am

The good: when I went to [title of show] off-Broadway, I had no idea what to expect and I was floored. I became an instant fan and I am so so so so glad they are now on Broadway. YAY!

The bad: the Fantasticks. I really love this piece, but the actors were so tired... some of them were just going through the motions, and others were trying to hard. It was a shame because they really didn't do justice to the piece.

[winston89]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 2:48am

I had heard good things about Jersey Boys and after I left I was let down. I had hoped to see this amazing show that deserved to win the Tony but in the end, it really didn't do anything for me.

Another show that I was looking forward to seeing was Patti's Gypsy. To be honest that was one of the most non memorable nights I spent in the theatre. Nothing to write home about.

[BobbyErikValjean]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 5:03pm

I enjoyed Xanadu. Thought I'd hate it, but it was entertaining.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 5:11pm

Surprisingly Good: Altar Boyz - I avoided it like the plague. I did not like the recording at all. In 2006 I was on vacation with my best friend and we got comps for it so I kinda had to go. Loved it!!!

Bad: Even though I knew the show got bad reviews and the word of mouth was not good, I had higher hopes for Hot Feet. Well we all know how bad it was. Although I did enjoy the music and off-stage vocalists.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 1:53am

Let's see....In the Heights, amazingly, surprisingly disappointing. Terrible book, forgettable songs, the theater was only half full at the performance I attended and I remember thinking it wouldn't last much longer. then it won all those awards and now I'm sure there will be a big, money-making tour. Hmmmm, what else....the John Doyle Sweeney Todd but probably because the tour was BRILLIANT by comparison. What a different a couple of cast changes makes. Several Years ago One Flew Over the Kuckoo's Nest was deadly dull. Can't think of anything else. Probably because it was unmemorable.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 7:05am

The good: I knew really nothing about Sunday In The Park With George and fell head over heels in love with it.

The bad: Avenue Q. I don't know if it's that it took me SOOOO long to win the lotto (and that was my friend getting HER name drawn for me) that it had gotten built up in my head or that I'd listened to the cast recodring too much, but that show just didn't do it for mw.