Musicals that actually DESERVE to be the longest running...

[jasobres]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 12:49pm

Because I don't think that Phantom really deserves that title. When I saw it last holiday season, my reaction to it was that it was good, but it wasn't great.

When I saw Les Miz, I was only like eight years old and did not understand a single part of it. Now that I'm older and listening to the soundtrack album, I'm thinking that that actually deserved to be the longest running musical had it not closed.

But what do you guys think?

Updated On: 12/12/05 at 12:49 PM

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 2:42pm

Phantom rightly deserves it's title as longest running musical. Great music, dazzling spectacle, romantic (and tragic) love story, and at the core of it all - it's PURE THEATER, which is more than we can say about a lot of the short-lived musicals on Broadway today.

The story is timeless - that's why it's done so well.

[pab]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 2:50pm

Phantom is very overrated IMO. The last longest running show that I felt deserved to be running as long as it did was A Chorus Line.

[Dre2387]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 2:54pm

no, les mis should have stayed while Phantom should have left. I find it annoying actually.

[DG]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 2:57pm

The shows that continue to sell the tickets should run the longest - and interestingly, that's the way it works out.

[Kringas]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 2:57pm

I'm just not sure what you mean by "deserve." It would seem the shows that keep people coming in year after year are indeed the ones that "deserve" to be the longest running, whether you like the show or not.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 2:59pm

I love to when people "Phantom hate".......I think it does rightly deserve to be the longest-running musical. If the others shows were doing well enough to stay open ..then yeah then they deserve to be the longest-running...but they didn't so thats that.


But if not to financial problems I really think Ragtime would sooner or later have become the longest-running musical.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:01pm

"Phantom... - it's PURE THEATER, which is more than we can say about a lot of the short-lived musicals on Broadway today.

Can't believe you said that one.


Updated On: 12/12/05 at 03:01 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:01pm

People are entitled to hate Phantom. Get over it.

[wicked_mimi]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:05pm

All I know is Cats had no reason to be on Broadway as long as it was...

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:07pm

A Chorus Line.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:09pm

I didn't say anything about anyone's entitlements...I just said I love to see when people "phantom hate".

I'm know Phantom isn't going anywhere for along time....but what's going to happen Beauty and The Beast take the title?
People are going to "Beauty Hate".

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:11pm

I'm gunna go ahead and say I think Phantom deserves it's title. People love it, so it should stay. Just look at the statistics.

Just throwing my opinion out there. People are perfectly entitled to hate or love phantom, as with any other musical!

[AnotherDay46]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:11pm

I love Phantom and think it deserves to be the longest running show on broadway. Many new shows are closing within weeks because of lack of attendence, and some are just bad *imo*. Phantom is still up there after this long, so i def. believe it should be the longest running show. ^_^

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:31pm

There are unfortunately a LOT of wonderful works that have been on Broadway and closed quickly. Being long running doesn't necessarily equal quality, just a good international marketing campaign. Phantom deserves this distinction because the producers fashioned a piece that's known all over the world. It's the same thing with CATS -- you could go almost anywhere in the world and people knew what CATS was.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:37pm

If it was up to me, the original production of A CHORUS LINE (the most rapturous theater-going experience I've ever witnessed) would still be running with no apparent end.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:40pm

I don't mind Phantom having this title, but I wish Les Mis had it also.

[Kringas]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:41pm

I hate Phantom (on stage, that is. I'm one of the few people who liked the movie) and Cats with a passion. I also hate Celine Dion, Everybody Loves Raymond and anything associated with Julia Roberts. I realize that my tastes are often not the mainstream, but not only is there a market for these things, there's a huge market. Someone makes these things popular.

Again, I just don't get what makes one show more "deserving" over another.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:42pm

I'm not going to get into the whole Cats/Phantom debate, but I think that Ragtime deserved a much longer run than it had.

[Kringas]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:44pm

But why? If the audiences dried up, why should that show deserve to still be here?

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:47pm

Because audience attendance has nothing to do with quality.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:49pm

Okay, should I rephrase to say that I think that it was deserving of more audience attention than it got? I just think that it was a great production.

I don't have a problem with the long-running shows that are mentioned here, I'm just always sad that there have been some that seem like they SHOULD have been hits that for whatever reason aren't. Maybe "deserve" isn't the right word. More wishful thinking?

[pab]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:49pm

"Because audience attendance has nothing to do with quality.""

Exactly, if that were the case then O Calcutta! would have been a great show. It wasn't.

Updated On: 12/12/05 at 03:49 PM

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 3:53pm

The thing that really bothers me about the whole situation is the number of people who make regular trips to NY to see Phantom, and yet have not seen anything else on Broadway, or off-Broadway for that matter. I have a friend who comes up to NY from NC and virtually EVERY time she comes here, she wants to see Phantom. I've been with her twice, but last time, I forced her to see Harvey in Hairspray (a week before he left), Bernadette in Gypsy (just weeks before it closed) and Little Shop of Horrors. If Phantom was far and away the BEST thing to ever grace the boards, I might understand. Even Les Miz was better, but not the best thing I've seen on Broadway. Most of the things I'VE thought are the best generally have shorter runs.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/12/05 at 5:04pm

No, Phantom does not deserve it. I think it is, quite honestly, a terrible show.

And I agree about how annoying it is that people go to Broadway only to see it. If I got a chance to go there, Phantom would be the last show I'd choose!

As was said, usually the most deserving musicals have the shortest runs. Ragtime and Parade definitely deserved longer.