Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
#1Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/20/11 at 9:52pm
So is anyone else out there sick of musicals where the score is made up of music written by someone else and completed unrelated to anything theatre based? These, "Juke Box Musicals" can be fun, but I just view them as lazy. Take the horrible woman (I can say that because I've had to deal with her professionally) who "wrote" Menopause: The Musical. She has told several interviewers (proudly) "I just got drunk on a bottle of wine one night and picked my favorite songs." And BAM she found someone with a lot of money and she had "conceived" a musical.
So...anyone else tired of these. No offense to those who love them, because I love you.
#2Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/20/11 at 10:05pm
I'm not sick of jukebox musicals. I'm sick of BAD jukebox musicals.
I'm a big believer in Andy Warhol's philosophy. Art (or at least "pop art") is what it is. Anything can be made, transformed or repurposed into a new work of art. A good jukebox musical does more than just hit you with a stream of songs you know and love- it makes you feel or think or experience something more than the song itself would have made you feel. There are more bad ones than good ones (and Menopause is certainly one of the bad ones- a blatant ripoff of Mamma Mia), but there CAN be good ones.
#2Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/20/11 at 10:07pmI think Rock of Ages was a decent jukebox musical, nothing incredible but there was definitely some effort put into it unlike American Idiot which was a horrific waste of my life.
#3Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/20/11 at 10:36pmI was never a big fan of Crazy For You, but I know that can't really be considered a Juke Box musical. I guess you have to look at the product itself too. I mean, if they ever made a musical of THE BIG CHILL (which I don't think they need to do) the music in that would affect me differently than if I just listened to the songs themselves.
peerrjb
Featured Actor Joined: 7/7/09
#4Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/20/11 at 11:55pm
Well, based on the title of the thread, the concept isn't just "Juke Box Musicals", which is a relatively new theatrical term. So....
While "Ain't Misbehavin'" is more of a revue (and in its original incarnation a blazingly good one), "Tintypes" on the other hand, was music from 1888 to 1918, using songs of the era (some written for the theatre, most not) which had an emotional arc, amazing vocal and band arrangements, 5 performers playing a central "character" (Anna Held, Teddy Roosevelt, Emma Goldman, etc.) but also a myriad of other types...AND connected the audience with another era: had the show been created in 1920, I suppose it would have been the era's equivalent of a "JBM". But then again, its purpose WAS to celebrate an era of wild change, anger, hopefulness, and dreamy-"reality".
So maybe it gets back to HOW something is created, the artistry of the creators involved, and the REASON it's being put up.
#5Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 12:06am
And let us not forget KISMET, which is almost entirely Mussorsky.
A few years ago, I actually opened some talks with the agency that controls the music for (wait for it) the Village People. I had the idea in mind to look at a jukie called MACHO MAN that would use VP songs. Unfortunately, at the time, they were also working on such a thing and werent interested in sharing.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#6Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 1:31am
Actually, Kismet is Borodin, not Mussorgsky. Similarly, Song of Norway was Grieg and Magdalena was Villa-Lobos.
I really don't care where the music comes from as long as it's good and is given a good treatment. Of course we can all bemoan the lack of enough good music being currently written for the theater, but I'd prefer a recycled quality score to a bad new one.
#7Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 1:59am
Other than Momma Mia and Jersey Boys have there been any that have been real money makers? Momma Mia was very unique at the time and Jersey Boys has a great book and set the bar pretty high for the future.
It seems to me that having a good book with a jutebox musical is quite difficult. To me they are generally not very exciting and seem more like a concert.
#8Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 2:17amI apologize. I know a revue is something quite different. The term Juke Box Musical is so often the term now I applied it incorrectly.
#9Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 2:40am
>> "Actually, Kismet is Borodin, not Mussorgsky"
OMG, you're right. My music teacher would be appalled with me right now. 
#10Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 2:43amI love the knowledge and intillect on this board.
#11Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 5:23amBoth CRAZY FOR YOU, which I adored and saw 4 times, and MY ONE AND ONLY with Tommy Tune and Twiggy, which I liked very much, both utilize the music of the great theatre composer George Gershwin and his brother lyricist Ira Gershwin. These are neither juke box musicals nor revues, since they are book shows. CRAZY FOR YOU successfully re-invents GIRL CRAZY, while adding in songs from other Gershwin shows. The vastly under-appreciated Harry Groener and a stellar cast (except for co-lead Jodi Benson whose vibrato drove me nuts) brought the music of the Gershwin brothers to new heights, aided immeasurably by the brilliant choreography of Susan Stroman.
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#12Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 5:43am
@dented146: I'm sure "Ain't Misbehavin'" made a fortune for its day. Not "Mamma Mia" size fortune, maybe, but then shows (other than "A Chorus Line" and "Cats") weren't running for 20 years back then.
I believe "Sophisticated Lady" (Ellington) and "Bubbling Brown Sugar" (music of Harlem in the 20s and 30s) made money, as have a lot of juke box musicals. As a rule, they aren't expensive to produce.
But, yes, I was already tired of them 30 years ago, with the exception of "Ain't Misbehavin'", one of the best shows of any type I've ever seen. Richard Maltby, Jr., made what might have been just a review of great songs into something that seemed to dramatize the African American experience of the mid-20th century. And, oh, what a cast!
#13Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 6:12amCarmen Jones
#14Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 8:53amTHE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD had music by Offenbach, with lyrics by E.Y.Harburg.
ajh
Broadway Star Joined: 5/6/11
#15Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 8:55am
I do agree that this is frequently a lazy way of putting a musical together. When Mamma Mia first arrived, the embarrassingly cheezy way that numbers were shoehorned into the plot was novel and fun, but it should have been a one-off, instead of which shows like We Will Rock You, Tonight's The Night and Good Vibrations abandoned any attempt at credible, well written scripts and just hurled the numbers at undiscerning audiences any old how.
Rock Of Ages is genuinely witty and inventive however, and stands as a good example of well-crafted popular entertainment.
IMHO the best example of the genre, by a long margin, was the British musical Our House, which took a clever, emotionally involving script (inspired by the dual "what if"-style storytelling of movies like It's A Wonderful Life and especially Sliding Doors) and used the songs of Madness (the London 80s/90s band rather than the condition!) to propel the story/stories. So cleverly interpolated were the numbers, and so strong was the book (by playwright Tim Firth), that somebody who had never heard of the band would probably have thought they were watching a superb new, fully integrated pop musical (winner of the Olivier for Best Musical 2003 incidentally). The production was classy (directed by Matthew Warchus, and choreographed by Billy Elliot's Peter Darling) and, unusually for this genre, pleased both the Madness fans AND musical theatre afficionados. It only lasted a year in the West End however, which I think is a telling reflection of what the majority of people who flock to "pop" musicals really want.
#16Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 9:03amOUR HOUSE is definitely a winner! Fortunately, it has been preserved on DVD, and if you can accomodate R2 discs, grab it from Amazon UK.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#17Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 9:51amAlso, La Belle, Helen Goes to Troy (Offenbach), My Darlin' Aida (Verdi), Gypsy Lady (Herbert),
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#18Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 9:51amUpdated On: 7/21/11 at 09:51 AM
#19Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 11:48am
I don't necessarily hate the jukebox musical.
I liked PRISCILLA, despite the fact some of the songs changed/added were thrown in (I would've preferred "Downtown" to "It's Raining Men").ROCK OF AGES was a blast because it got laughs by acknowledging it own cheesiness, and integrated the songs into the plot well. I also know many people didn't like AMERICAN IDIOT, but I found it to very effective as mostly sung-through, and the songs managed to flesh out the characters' plights and problems well.
The one jukebox musical that I've seen that was an absolute abortion was BABY, IT'S YOU. I probably heard one complete song in the entire show, and not one of those 40+ songs advanced the otherwise clunky plot.
#20Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 12:10pmOh, quiz, it could be far, far worse. I used to design for this dinner theatre out in... well, we wont say: it's a small world after all. Anyway, the guy who ran it loved to put together these "revues", but to get around licensing, you never heard more than (I swear to God) thirty seconds of any one song. One show, a sort of history piece of the 20th century, had over 240 song cues.
#21Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 4:32pm
Don't forget Hot Feet!
I love the Chicago production of Alien Queen, a ridiculous and campy adaptation of the first two Alien movies with songs from Queen brilliantly interpolated. I bet you can guess the opening song.
#22Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 4:49pmWasn't Lovemusik a jukebox musical?
#23Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 5:10pmAnd a poor one, too.
N2NFTW
Swing Joined: 6/13/11
#24Musicals that use music not written for theatre OR by those who conceived it.
Posted: 7/21/11 at 10:20pmJukebox musicals are fun, but I feel like they shouldn't be considered for Tony's that much. I didn't see American Idiot (cause I hate Green Day) but when you put it up against an ORIGINAL concept like Memphis, then it shouldn't have a shot. Granted, it didn't win, but my point is that it shouldn't have a shot at anything when put up against an original concept
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