Raciest show ever?

[mtboi77]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 8:52pm

I just recieved the Avenue Q soundtrack in the mail today and laughed at the Parental Advisory sticker on the cover. My roommate and I were trying to think of another show that may have a sticker. Is Ave. Q the "raciest" show ever on Broadway???

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 8:53pm

lol i got mine the other day and remember thinking the exact same thing. i don't know what else would need it. I think Hedwig might have one.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 8:55pm

Rocky Horror? I don't know if that's racy. If not, maybe Oh Calcutta! It certainly made Belasco's ghost dissapear

[mtboi77]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 8:58pm

I don't think either Hedwig has a sticker, I know for sure the movie does not. But Hediwg is pretty racey too. I think the humor in Hedwig is a little more subtle, ironically enough. Ave. Q is so blunt.

[mtboi77]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:01pm

Oh Calcutta...thats a good one. I just know it's a "naked" show. Is the soundtrack pretty racey?

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:03pm

I don't think so. It might be. I haven't heard much of it. I think the fact that it's an al[l naked show. Also the kind of crowd it brought in.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:03pm

I don't think so. It might be. I haven't heard much of it. I think the fact that it's an al[l naked show. Also the kind of crowd it brought in.

[mtboi77]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:06pm

Naked Boys Singing is a 'naked' show also, but not as lyrically blunt as Ave Q.

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:10pm

Hedwig does have a Parental Advisory sticker on it.

[dymk]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:12pm

I remember reading when the Ave. Q CD came out, they stated that this was the 1st Broadway Cast Recording to have the sticker on it. I just looked at my CD for the Original Cast Recording of Hedwig and it does have the sticker, although technically not a Broadway show. So then Ave. Q IS the 1st?

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:16pm

I don't remember, did the RENT OBC had a parental advisory sticker ? Because the theme is quite adult and there are a couple of "bad" words in it

Take care

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:33pm

mine didn't, but I bought it relatively recently. maybe it did when it first came out?

[dymk]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:35pm

Interesting Greek, I just checked the RENT CD because I thought that it did too, but, surprise, no sticker. Hmmm, the plot thickens . . .

[dymk]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 9:39pm

Actually, I was just talking to my partner, and the Stickers are voluntary from the label. RENT was out shortly after the whole "sticker" buzz, I guess the label decided that they didn't need one. To take it a little further, maybe the record label for Ave. Q didn't want parents picking up the CD thinking it was a kids show. I know it's a stretch, but the CD is sold everywhere: Best Buy, Target, etc.

[PJ]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 10:35pm

'98 Revival of Cabaret was pretty damn racy. Not tasteless, but racy. I loved it.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/26/04 at 10:39pm

Oh! Calcutta is not that racy unless you are watching it of course. I would expect that "Hair" should have one of those stickers, although it doesn't.

[MusicalComedyMan]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 2:42am

I know this might be off point... BUT with the new Spamalot musical coming... I think that the most racist CD I own would probably be one of my Monty Pythons...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 9:31am

PJ, the actual show was pretty racy, but not really the music. For the most part, just listening to cast recording doesn't show how provocative (did I spell that right?) the show was. But I agree, very tasteful. I loved it too (obviously)

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 9:35am

For a little historical perspective, I remember sitting in the Minskoff watching PIPPIN back in 1977. I was 15. The dance number that followed "With You" was pretty ding-dang racy, I must tell you. All kinds of sexual couplings, lithe half clothed bodies prancing about, etc. I definitely think THAT show, and THAT number, have a place in the "Racy Hall of Fame".

[lc1965]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 2:24pm

rlbgbc: you took the clicks right off my keyboard! it's really all about timing & context. pal joey was considered pretty racy in its day as well & now it seems sort of quaint in many respects.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 2:43pm

Though he is now thought of as the epitome of sophistication, Cole Porter was regularly rapped about the raciness of his shows. Brooks Atkinson tut-tutted that DUBARRY WAS A LADY boasted "the dirtiest book in recent years" with "slatternly lyrics" more fit for a low-down grind house (He astutely noted that "things that are objectionable for a quarter become modish at $4.40" - a top price for a Broadway show in 1939). And I guess that the triple-entendre of "But in the Morning, No" (with allusions to three-way sex and erection problems) MAY have been a bit much for the 1939 Broadway audience. Maybe. And the scanty costumes of many Porter shows were often found offensive: the chorus boys and girls of OUT OF THIS WORLD were thought to be wearing , as one critic noted, "little more than tissue paper & cellophane".

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 2:50pm

I think Hair had one in the 60's.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 3:01pm

Mae West's infamous play SEX was so racy it was raided in many towns that tried to present it and Mae was arrested for indecency. I forget all the details this was in 1926 and my memory is pretty foggy.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 4:34pm

Awwww! I directed a rather bizarre, yet well-received production of Sex. The entire rehearsal period just smacked of Noises Off, but I have fond memories of the performances.

I do remember quite a stir with an Off-Broadway revue in the 70s entitled Let My People Come. It was similar to Oh! Calcutta!, but with less slapstick comedy and was more sexually explicit.

I found this from an article on adult musicals of the 70s by Jonathan Ward (edited for PG rating):

" In January of 1974, the single most liberated sex musical opened at the historic Village Gate Theater on Bleecker Street. Directed by Oesterman with music, lyrics and skits written by Wilson, Let My People Come was an underground sensation. It broke all barriers - simulated sex, orgies, lesbianism, homosexuality, simulated oral sex, bisexuality, all celebrated, all hilariously carefree. To deliberately upset the critics, Oesterman and Wilson didn't even invite them to review it, instead letting word of mouth carry the show. 'The critics don't know anything about young people and what they have to say about their bodies or their feelings or sex,' said Wilson. The ploy worked. The show wasn't reviewed in the Times until May, and by that time it was sold out every night, the cast had joined Actor's Equity and an album had already been recorded.

Billed as 'A Sexual Musical', Let My People Come was again a revue with no plot to speak of, but its energy, honesty and daring in regards to exploring sexual issues was a first...

...Naturally, there were some complications. Someone at the State Liquor Authority must have heard about the show as two undercover agents attempted to stop it by shutting down the club, claiming that liquor could not be served at a show depicting simulated sex. The producer attempted to weasel out of the charge saying that the show was in fact a "nude ballet." However, it wasn't until a group of actors, reviewers and personalities came to the show's defense against the charges of lewdness and indecency that the state backed off. Famed sociologist Alvin Toffler (Future Shock) and feminist Betty Friedan both testified in court that they believed Let My People Come was a legitimate work of art; an important one, in fact. 'I regard the Village Gate as a cultural institution of New York,' said Toffler. 'It has served as a testing ground for new talent, new ideas, new music. Let My People Come is directly in that stream of social comment... It is not dirty, just happy and healthy.' Friedan chimed in to say that she had seen the show twice and was planning to take her college-aged daughter. Eventually the charges were settled with the Village Gate having to fix minor building violations.
Let My People Come broke all box office records at the Village Gate and played for 1,167 performances. Unfortunately, once it went to Broadway, it suffered more setbacks. It was condemned by local theater groups and composer Earl Wilson, Jr. demanded that his name be removed from the credits, claiming, of all things, that the show had become too vulgar. The publishers of the Andrews Sisters' song 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' then sued Let My People Come and its producers, because of their parody entitled 'The Cunnilingus Champion of Company C'. In fact, it was an early test of the Fair Use statute, and Let My People Come lost due to the fact that the law didn't provide for direct parody without permission. A full 20% of the Broadway profits had to be paid out, and unfortunately, the show closed after 106 performances."


I actually have the LP, but have only heard it once. I remember the print ads when it toured.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 1/27/04 at 4:43pm

Broadway Bares?