Riedel on Hamilton parody

It looks like Hamilton is one part of a new Forbidden Broadway. Should be interesting and funny.

After Eight, twas ever thus. There will always be a tug of war between fans who want their preferred art form to be "important" and those who want it to be "joyful." The rest of us fall somewhere in between.

I'm certain in 1952 someone was saying "Lord that Oscar Hammerstein is pretentious. The King and I has all that politics and diversity but Yul Brynner can't even sing! Why couldn't they give the Tony to something fun like Top Banana?"

I enjoy Hamilton and The King and I but I have plenty of unpopular opinions. I can't stand The Sound of Music and I find Carousel to be a dreary bore.

Updated On: 6/17/16 at 08:47 AM

Mrs Sally Adams said:

"After Eight, twas ever thus."

I'm sorry, but I can attest to the fact that it was never thus. In the good old days, we didn't have songs about "*** ing frogs, Joan's ass in her Levi's, or repetitious doggerel about having one's shot. That's what made them the good old days.

"There will always be a tug of war between fans who want their preferred art form to be "important" and those who want it to be "joyful."

Please do not confuse dramatic/moving with "important," which all too-often means "self-important," with a capital S. The present item offers a case in point.

"Why couldn't they give the Tony to something fun like Top Banana?""

I'll take Johnny Mercer any day over Lin Manuel Miranda, or any of the other critics' darlings of today. The few minutes of Top Banana's "Elvator Song" contain more wit, insight, and dare I say, entertainment, than all three hours of that ponderous pachyderm of a musical being trumpeted to all four corners of the unverse.

^

Then why aren't you using it?

Off Topic, but After Eight has inspired me to look up repetitive and/or vulgar lyrics from the musicals of the 1950's. Here's a good one from Cole Porter's Out of This World (1950):

JUPITER
I'm tired of blasai goddesses
With busting-out-all-over bodices
I crave a sassy mortal with a merry air
And a not-too-plump, bump-to-bump derriere.

GODS
Derriere, boom.

JUPITER/GODS
I/He Jupiter, I/He Rex
I/He Jupiter Rex
Am positively teeming (He's positively teeming)
Yes, positively steaming with sex!

GODS
Brek, ek, awek, awex, sex!
Brek, ek, awek, awex, sex!
Brek, ek, awek, awex, sex!
Brek, ek, awek, awex, sex!
Brek, ek, awek, awex, sex!
Brek, ek, awek, awex, sex!
Brek, ek, awek, awek, awek, awek, awex!

JUPITER
SEX!!!



Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times wrote: "Although it is difficult to make sex a tiresome subject, "Out of This World" has very nearly succeeded. "

Updated On: 6/17/16 at 05:27 PM

Fair enough After Eight. I don't mean to denigrate older shows any more than I mean to convince anyone to love modern shows. Alessandrini himself loves (most) of the shows he mocks but is willing to examine their flaws.

I suppose what I'm trying to articulate is that these things happen in cycles. Popular music of past decades could be risque, vulgar, or even crass. Hamilton may be celebrated for it's use of popular music forms, political history or diverse casting but shows from past decades laid the groundwork by breaking the social barriers and taboos of their own times. A small point but worth restating.

Updated On: 6/17/16 at 07:51 PM

After Eight said: "

Unfortunately, there's little laughter to be derived from the selling of this thing.


"

Actually everyone involved is laughing..all the way to the bank!

I guess that's what you can expect when we are told it's the "only good musical ever made".

Updated On: 6/17/16 at 08:53 PM

That's not a lyric, that's a line. The lyric is: "And even though people wanted to see the golden plates, Joseph never showed 'em." "I've got maggots in my scrotum."

It's a comedy. From the creators of South Park. What did you expect.

"It's a comedy. From the creators of South Park. What did you expect."



Vulgar, stupid, unfunny, juvenile crap. And that's exactly what we got.



To get back on topic, I'm sorry Alessandrini is turning his attention to this. The last thing this grotesquely overhyped opus needs is to receive yet further attention. Unwittingly, Alessandrini is helping do the work of the gargantuan media machine as much as any fanboy/girl, and as, qolbinau states, the producers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Updated On: 6/18/16 at 12:16 AM

I frequently disagree with After Eight and do enjoy many of the shows he doesn't enjoy, including most of those mentioned in this thread (I suppose this isn't hard because After Eight doesn't seem to enjoy much these days haha). However, as odd as it may sound to some people I have grown to appreciate his presence - I like the humour in his posts and do appreciate a different point of view. I'm convinced that even though After Eight does hold the views he does, he must ham it up a little to make his posts a bit more interesting. And after accepting that, his posts don't bother me and I can even enjoy them.

You may have posted it elsewhere but After Eight, have you seen HAMILTON?

he allegedly saw it the first week or so of previews off Broadway. how lucky for him!