Musicals that actually DESERVE to be the longest running...- Page 3

[jacco]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 11:58am

Am I the only one who thinks Ragtime was overrated? It was a tough and VERY long evening with brilliant singing but over the top staging. I much prefered the London concert version with maria Friedman (and now you USA people can see why....)

[Kgshrauder]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:11pm

I used to be a very big phantom fan. Then the movie came out and had a whole other group fans following that and thinking it was broadway. I'm not bashing the movie, because I thoroughly loved the rent movie(sorry for that). Anyway Phantom does have some excellent songs, however I feel that other shows should have longer runs than Phantom. Les Miz, while it had a great run, should still be running today. Let it be known that I am NOT a Phantom Hater!

Many people say they see Les Miz when they are young and don't fully understand it. This is a case where as these people grow up they may have an opportunity to see it again on Broadway and fully understand it and enjoy it more.

[Danielm]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 2:18pm

One factor for most long running shows is that you don't have to understand English to enjoy them--Cats, Phanto, Les Mis, Mama Mia are all big spectacle shows that tourists who don't speak the language to enjoy--in fact, with many of them, I suspect they are better if you don't understand the language.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 2:41pm

Danielm -- I was going to say the same thing REALLY early in the thread, but wasn't sure how it would be taken. The Producers PROBABLY won't come close to breaking this record because, not only do you need to understand English to truly enjoy the show, you also SORT OF need to understand Mel Brooks humor AND have a grasp on the industry to get a lot of the inside jokes.

[Danielm]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 5:18pm

Exactly Hanna, A friend of mine is a good friend of the man who played the theatre cat on Broadway in the original cast or early on. He came back into the cast after a long absense and I guess they had cut the "7 cat calls" line. He had always got a good laugh on it and they put it back in, he did the line and got nothing and realized it was because the audience was almost completely foreign tourists.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 6:28pm

I love Phantom and think it deserves to be one of the longest running musicals. But, I love Les Miz more than Phantom. It is just a better musical, though Phantom is still an excellent piece of work. Les Miz should have been the longest and I Think the only reason it isn't is because of some poor cast changes.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 7:33pm

Deserves, hmmmm. Hard one. Keep in mind that the hits help pay for new productions, interest people in going to the theater who wouldn't otherwise, keep people working...
It's hard to nail one---I'd say Phantom based on the above---it struck a chord (no pun intended) with a wide audience, and as long as those tourist dollars keep flowing in, shows, like Phantom, Lion King, etc. will play.
I guess I should see Phantom on Broadway once, just to say I did...

[sanda]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 7:36pm

Les Miz, absolutely.

[sanda]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 8:49pm

"One factor for most long running shows is that you don't have to understand English to enjoy them--Cats, Phanto, Les Mis, Mama Mia are all big spectacle shows that tourists who don't speak the language to enjoy--in fact, with many of them, I suspect they are better if you don't understand the language. "

I call that universal appealing. And, do u really think Les Miz and Mama Mia are "big spectacle" shows?

[jeremykushnier1fan]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 9:02pm

I don't mind Phantom having the title. But it's not my favorite musical... RENT...meep.

[lesmisforever]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 12:27am

I find phantom to be very overrated. The music isn't really that complicated, and the same six themes are heard over and over and over again until you get sick of them. I actually think "the music of the night" is maddeningly boring. Most of the lyrics, in my opinion, are poorly written. "All I Ask of You" is a silly song lyric wise. I have it in different languages (German, Korean, Japanese, English, etc), but I have noticed that most of the interpretations are EXACTLY THE SAME. The characters are all flat and uninteresting, and you don't really care for any of the characters. You may feel sorry for the phantom, but that's about it. I must admit to liking the musical, but I do think it is way overrated.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 12:42am

I'm sorry, but I have to protest the claim that "The characters are all flat and uninteresting." ALl of them have many different layers to their personalities and are all very human.
And there are far more than 6 themes. I count at least 13

[Danielm]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 12:50pm

"I call that universal appealing. And, do u really think Les Miz and Mama Mia are "big spectacle" shows?"

I did not cast aspersions on the shows, I just said you don't have to understand the language to enjoy them. And yes, I really think Les Miz and Mama Mia are "big spectacle shows". When we saw Les Miz back when it opened, all we talked about was the bridge.

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:45pm

I like Phantom of the Opera, but I have to say I like Phantom better. They were written at the same time, but Phantom's music is prettier. Some things about ALW's music is I dont know...too techno for me. The music is still very nice, and I think that it's his best work, but Les Mis definietly deserved it. It's the kind of theatre that makes you think. I love that. Phantom of the Opera is just kind of like an "aw...ooh geez..aw" reaction. Theatre with a purpose is the way to go.

Therefore...CATS should never have opened.

[nydirector2]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 2:36pm

I don't think that it should necessarily(sp?) run forever, but I think there should always be a classic old show like the Follies(or a modern adaptation like Crazy For You) on Broadway. Shows can come and go, but as long as you have the great writers/composers represented, I don't care what is the longest running. So...Noel Coward, Kander and Ebb, Gerswhin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hartt, George Cohan, and of course Stephen Sondheim should ALL be represented on Broadway on any given date.