Remember those ABC TV Musicals?

[jagfkb]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 9:18am

As a young theatre nerd, I'll admit, they were my guilty pleasure. I mean, where else could you see such talent as Kathy Bates, Bernadette Peters, Molly Shannon, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Broderick, Kristen Chenoweth, even the recent Carol Burnett in a musical directed and choreographed by ACTUAL Broadway professionals, while not on Broadway! I really did love watching those over and over again, and I'm delighted that Disney is considerring turning Beauty & the Beast into one of these movies. I always love their art direction too, with extravegant set designs, beautiful costumes. Really, they're usually better adaptions of musicals then the recent movies which have been coming out. Anyone else agree with me on this?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 9:34am

I don't know that I'd agree that they are usually better than the recent theatrical musicals (although you could smear some curdled mayonnaise on a chalkboard and show that on tv for two hours and it would have been better than the ReNT movie), but I enjoyed many of these movies. I think I'm one of the only people in the world who genuinely enjoys the tv version of Bye Bye Birdie. I thought Annie's only real drawback was how much cutting they had to do.

I think older musicals tend to fare better for tv adaptations because there's generally less television-unfriendly material to worry about. I remember a long time ago when it was rumored that NBC was going to make a movie of ReNt and I thought WTF? Now I wonder if it would have been better than the dreck that Chris Columbus shat upon the screen.

[yeah]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 9:35am

I don't think they're the greatest adaptations of the musicals (I love "Once Upon a Mattress," which isn't the greatest musical ever, but still, the television film managed to bastardize it), but, I still really enjoy them. I think it's something that should be done annually! I'd love to see them do "Little Shop of Horrors," or better yet, "Caroline, or Change."

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 9:42am

They all looked great in advance - but I found most of them disappointing. It's always great to have Broadway people get a chance to strut their stuff on TV, but I wish they had been better.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 9:43am

I remember LOVING Gypsy when it aired and finding in later years that I didn't think it was all that great. I still love that Bye Bye Birdie, though.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 9:49am

I really love the version of Cinderella with Brandy, especially since it was the first time I saw Veanne Cox in anything.

[Larcen26]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 10:07am

I also guiltily love the Jason Alexander Bye Bye Birdie...I actually really like the changes they made by giving Ursula a song.

But that Music Man was terrible. Broderick's eyes bugged out like a deer in the headlights the entire time.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 10:23am

Stephen Schwartz's "Gepetto" with Drew Carey and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is now licensed in a stage version by MTI...

It's not quite a children's show, but it's not quite not. And the music, surprisingly, is much too hard for the average child, especially a teen or preteen boy, to vocally handle- the otherworldly range of Stromboli appears to be a direct parody of the mock-Italian opera of Pirelli in Sweeney Todd.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:00am

Some were good, while others were not. I remember not enjoying Annie. I watched it again recently, and do appreciate it a little more, but there didn't seem to be any character development. And there were a couple of other things that were unbelievable.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:09am

Funny, I think Annie is the best one they ever did. I think it improved on the show. Cinderella's a guilty pleasure (giving a beat track to "In My Own Little Corner" and "The Sweetest Sounds" is an interesting, if not entirely successful, idea) as is Gypsy.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:20am

Count me as another one who really liked the TV "Bye Bye, Birdie." I got to see it first on the big screen at its premiere in Los Angeles. It was held at the Motion Picture Academy on Wilshire with a full red carpet setup. The stars were all there, and afterward, there was a reception inside. My friend and I got to hang out with Billy Baldwin while his wife Chynna did the meet-and-greet with press and VIPs. It was a very exciting evening. So I admit when I see it now, all of those memories are included. Still, I think it's pretty terrific. And I easily prefer it to that soggy and largely miscast film version.

I think the reason we're not seeing TV musicals much anymore is that people like Rob Marshall, Craig Zadan, etc., have moved on to do feature films. And quite successfully as we all know. And sadly Emile Ardolino, who had directed Bette Midler's Gypsy, as well as Dirty Dancing and Sister Act, died that same year. In fact, he passed away a month before Gypsy first aired. It was his swan song.

I think we saw a mini-resurgence. Those TV musicals, along with Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, suddenly opened the door for big screen, mainstream musicals again. They were all "dress rehearsals" for Chicago and everything that has followed.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:22am

I appreciated all of them, but they all have their little flaws. The severe lack of choreography and the unfortunate casting of Wendt (and his gruesome teeth) in Bye Bye Birdie. Kathy Bates's rather dull performance in Annie. Matthew Broderick's utterly BLAND performance in The Music Man. The cutting YET AGAIN of Opening for a Princess in Once Upon a Mattress. I don't even remember how the new version opens, but I could never figure out why Opening For a Princess keeps getting cut, but not the obviously redundant Many Moons Ago, which has a pretty melody, but narrates the entire story of the show from the very start. Cinderella was ok, but some of the new dialogue was...odd. I found Gypsy to have the greatest success in being faithful to the show while featuring a wonderful cast. Geppetto was a delightful surprise. Drew Carey was rather bizarre casting, but the show was actually pretty good with some great music.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:32am

I actually didn't appreciate all of them. I thought Music Man and Mattress were terrible. I turned them both off after a painful hour.

Cinderella was good. I still prefer the two previous TV versions.

Annie, Gypsy, and Bye Bye Birdie were all great, though, even if they were flawed. All were better than the feature films (well, maybe Gypsy was a tie).

[Jon]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:39am

Bye Bye Birdie was dull as dishwater. They turned Sweet Apple, Ohio into this dreary, grey-on-beige town. Chynna Phillips looked about 30. Tyne Daly was over the top. Mae should be annoying, but in a funny way. This Mae was a horrible beast you wanted to strangle. George Wendt took a character with some incredibly funny lines, and killed every possible laugh.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:45am

Ha! I would say Bye Bye Birdie was a tie. Though the original film hacked the book and score to bits, the musical numbers were beautifully filmed and performed. Honestly Sincere in the original film remains one of my favorite musical production numbers of any film I've seen. The energy and exuberance are thrilling and the direction/choreography paired with the cinematography/editing put it over the top. I never get tired of watching that number.

Numbers such as Telephone Song, Honestly Sincere and Lot of Living to Do in the TV version were an embarrassment. It's like they ran out of rehearsal budget and decided to cut the choreography down to one or two simple steps so as not to have to teach anything to the performers.

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:55am

I remembered really enjoying Bye Bye Birdie. I still listen to the soundtrack of that fairly often, if nothing else for Marc Kudisch's Birdie.

I remember not liking Mattress at all other than Carol Burnett. I barely made it through that one...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:56am

I won't argue about Chynna Phillips looking old. In one of her first scenes she lays back on the bed and she just looks decrepit. Even so, I love that movie, and Vanessa Williams knocked every scene she was in out of the park.
Updated On: 7/23/09 at 11:56 AM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 11:59am

I thought Annie was rather charming, and Gypsy and Cinderella were fine. Gypsy's cast was hit or miss, my favorite was Gibb as Gypsy. Reigert was TERRIBLE!

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:21pm

I think their best one was Stephen Schwartz's Geppetto, which had a better score than anything he's written for the stage in decades.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:26pm

I own all three versions of Cinderella and I don't put one above the each because they each stand out in their own way. I enjoyed the multi-ethnic casting. How did Whoopi and Victor get Paulo? lol. I liked the added songs and wished that they had released a soundtrack like they did for BBB, Music Man, and Annie.

Phillips was my biggest issue with Bye Bye Birdie as well. She was, simply, too old for the part. Normally, that might have been fine but they cast more age appropriately for Ursula, Hugo, and the rest of the Sweet Apple teens which made her stand out even more.

Speaking of Ursula...she stole the film right out from under the noses of the leads. Every scene she was in was a delight and I loved her exuberance.

As for Annie...I don't know if that film could have been cast any better. Cheno as Lily? Kathy Bates as Hannigan? Alan Cumming as Rooster? They were perfect. And Victor Garber's "Something Was Missing" always got me right in the heart.

I liked aspects of the Music Man. Yes, Broderick should never have been cast as Hill but the rest of the cast was great. I listen to the CD just to hear Cheno sing those glorious songs. I loved her in it. And Victor Garber and Molly Shannon were great as the mayor and his wife.

Gypsy aired on CBS if I'm not mistaken. I thought Bette and Gibb were well cast and Ed Asner was a short treat as Rose's dad. It was the first time I ever saw Gypsy so, at the time, I had nothing to compare it to. I thought it was good for what it was.

I don't remember much about Once Upon a Mattress. It's the only one listed that I don't own. I remember liking Morrison and Deschanel in their roles.

[NGeorgiaBwayFan]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:41pm

Well, I really liked Music Man. I agree with Eris0303, that maybe Broderick wasn't that great, but I really enjoyed the rest of the cast. I think Cheno was fabulous and I loved Debra Monk in it, too, and the young man that played Winthrop. I thought it was a visually beautiful production.

I've watched the tv musicals through the years, but somehow must have missed Birdie. I hope I can find it on dvd or something.

I remember enjoying Gypsy, too.

I think that those tv musicals and the times that great performances ran a broadway musical were such a treat. For a lot of people, it's the only experience they may have with musical theatre.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:42pm

I think Birdie is the only one I haven't seen.

I'm always the odd duck, but the only one I really didn't like was Gepetto, but I've never been a fan of the Pinocchio story (and really only got it because I had enough Disney Movie Rewards points).

I really loved Mattress, Cinderella, Annie and Gypsy. Music Man grew on me after a while, because aside from Broderick, the rest of the cast is pretty good.

Does anyone remember Polly, or Polly Comes Home? I have both, haven't watched yet.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:44pm

I agree that the Music Man was pretty good other than Broderick.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:44pm

I remember them in theory, but only vaguely remember watching the first one.

ETA: That's regarding the Polly movies. Updated On: 7/23/09 at 12:44 PM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:48pm

What's wrong with the OT board?