Show Expectations and Disappointments

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:08am

Many times a friend or someone recommends me a show and i see it and after all the expectations i had...i find the show boring or disappointing somehow. Then, when i hear a show is bad...i go to see it without expectations and i happen to love it. Any similar experiences???

[iwearshoes]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:09am

I know that I am going to be punched in the jaw for saying this but I didn't think that BKLYN was THAT bad.


*hides in a dark corner*

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:14am

i thought i would like BKLYN and i hated it...lol...anyhow...we all have different opinions of what "good" and "bad" is....i thought i would hate "Bombay Dreams" and i loved it...i thought Brooke Shields was going to be terrible in "Wonderful Town" and she was amazing. I thought "Wicked" was going to be super amazing...and it was good...but not all that. Then i thought "Chitty" was going to be the classic stupid children show and it happened to be amazing. I hated "Fiddler" with Alfred Molina and loved it with Rosie and Harvey.

[iwearshoes]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:18am

*comes back from dark corner*



And I think that is awesome. I am one of those passive people. I love to listen to people and learn about their opinions. That is why my posts are few and far between. I am not going to bash someone because they share different viewpoints. That just wastes time that I could spend procrastinating.

And on that note: I really enjoyed Wicked but the more I thought about it the less I liked it.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:21am

LOL!!! what did you like about BKLYN??? i hated paying what i paid to see it and see just 5 people on stage....i like big ensembles...and i hated the plot...Eden was amazing though...but i felt bad for her...to star in that show. Anyhow...what made u enjoy this show? the songs? Eden's amazing vocals? the story?

[iwearshoes]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:29am

I went with my school choir to NY last New Years for a week. We saw Wicked, BKLYN, Rent, Producers, and Beauty and the Beast. It was my first time there and I was just awestruck at everything and how much I wanted to be a part of it. When I saw the show it had a very intimate feel. There were so many things wrong with the show (plot-mostly) but the performers had such power to them. I tend to listen and enjoy the singing side of musicals so because I enjoyed the songs, I enjoyed the show. I know what you mean about Eden. She took from my voice teacher (represent!) and throughout the show I just kept asking myself why she was in this when she could move up the ranks in Wicked.

So basically I enjoyed the show because of the trip that surrounded it and the vocal powerhouses that were in it (mainly Eden and Ramona).

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:55am

What did you think of the Producers? I expected it to be over-hyped but I was cracking up the entire time. I'd go see it again, but I didn't feel compelled to run out and get the OBC. I thought Lion King was overblown. I guess all the technical stuff was good, but I hated the acting (I saw the tour). But It was fun to watch visually and the ppl I brought loved it.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 2:13am

well...i know u didnt ask me Rentboy...but i hated the Producers...it didnt make me laugh and i felt like they made fun of gay people...i hated it...lol....then "the lion king" was horrible...these r my least favorite shows along with "movin out".

Posted: 12/14/05 at 3:13am

It was Mamma Mia! for me. Heard lots of good things about it and the commercials looked fun, but I thought it was overhyped and overrated.

~Rosalynn

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 4:09am

I was really excited to see The Producers and got tickets before the opening, saw it with Lane and Broderick and was... completely and thoroughly disappointed. Ditto Hairspray. Ditto Spamalot. I was taken to see Lion King and wished I'd stayed home and rearranged my sock drawer (8:00 - 'Oh look, they're people dressed as animals' 8:05 - 'Okay, I'm bored now'). On the other hand, I had no expectations about Amour, A Class Act, The Life, or Naked Girl on the Appian Way and was knocked out by each show. Sometimes I think the hype puts a 'show me' attitude in my brain and I go into the theatre demanding to be overwhelmed. Or maybe I just root for the underdog. Beats me.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 7:07am

I had heard so many bad things about Little Women, but I decided to go because I am a huge Sutton fan. I ended up really really enjoying. Mostly for the music and the actors (the book left something to be desired). But I would definetly see it again.

[James2]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 7:33am

I thought Boy From Oz was going to be great performance, so-so show. I came out thinking gret performance, good show.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 7:39am

I expected Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to be the greatest thing I'd ever seen on stage, honestly. And well...I had to keep myself from falling asleep.

[littleredridinghood]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 7:46am

I thought the Rent movie was going to be awful, but I loved it (not saying it's a great movie, I just really, really liked it).
I thought The Lion King was going to be horrible and boring and it was great.
I thought Wicked was going to be amazing and it was incredibly ehhh.

[exedore]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 8:20am

Calling 'The Lion King' a disappointment would be an understatement, although I may have been going in with expectations far too high (saw AveQ and Hairspray for the first time that weekend as well). Nevertheless, I found it quite dull after the first 20 minutes, and even my mother (who was the one who really wanted to see it) was feeling less than bowled over by the end.

/hopes Color Purple lives up to its hype this week...

[enjolrasissex]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 8:32am

Avenue Q and Spelling Bee. I went in thinking that both would be hilarious, and neither were. Good thing I didn't pay for the tickets.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 10:17am

Disappointed in:

The Producers - agree with the feeling that it was making fun of gay people...I was embarrassed. It also was not as funny as the original film.

Grand Hotel...expected to like it...didnt at all.

Will Rogers Follies...ditto....hated it even more than GH, tho Keith Carradine was charming.

Nicest surprise:

Once on this Island...saw it in previews and loved it...went back a few times and loved it each time.

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 10:29am

I try really hard not to listen to hype - because it can ruin a show for me.

Example - Spamalot - I'm really glad I did standing room and didn't pay for more expensive tickets. I found it incredibly underwhelming, but that may have been because it was built up so much for me before I finally got around to seeing it. Another disappointment (probably hype related) - the Producers.

Now I try to go see shows before I read everyone else's opinion of them. I saw Hairspray and Wicked both in previews - and enjoyed the hell out of both shows. If I'd waited until every post on this board was WKIDDDDOMG I'm not quite sure what I would have thought.

My lesson has been learned. Don't listen to the hype. And don't listen to the naysayers either - just go to what interests you and see if YOU like it. And then, don't apologize for liking it. There is, despite vehament arguments to the contrary, nothing wrong with enjoying Wicked.

It can work the opposite way too - I heard so much about "Woman in White" being dull that when I saw it last weekend... my expectations were low and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'm even thinking of a repeat visit. Same thing happened with my family and "Secret Garden" - we read some bad reviews but already had the tickets - and boy, am I glad we went. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 10:45am

Avenue Q - really wanted to like it, but didn't

The Producers - same thing

Wicked - was somewhat hesitant because of all the hype and I was completely disappointed by this show, too.

Jersey Boys - not much to say, thought the book was weak as well as the Frankie Valli understudy.

Edit - I was expecting to be blown away by Chita's show, but also left disappointed: bad book, some horrible new songs, poor direction, Chita's horrible costume, bad poster; overall - underwhelming.

Pleasant surprises - Altar Boyz,

Light in the Piazza (not sure what I expected, but early in the run I heard mixed things); I absolutely LOVE this show!!

Updated On: 12/14/05 at 10:45 AM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 10:47am

Chita. I expected it to be brilliant and thought she deserved a much better show.

[SkierRob02]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 10:55am

Phantom of the Opera -- Totally overhyped. Everyone talked about the chandelier crashing to the stage. WTF? Pretty music, but that's about it.

[Sant]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 11:06am

THE PRODUCERS - what a disappointment after all the hype and Tonys.

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA - I had heard so much raves about this one, and even though it had a couple of absolutely fantastic things (Victoria Clark most of all!), I found this show very boring!

NOTRE DAME DE PARIS - after all the publicity and stuff, this was a TOTAL waste of time and money!!

* * *

RAGTIME - wasn't familiar with the story or the composers, I had heard great things about this show and I ended up LOVING it!

CHICAGO - was a bit doubtful about the revival's staging even after all the praise this production had received, I had never seen any kind of production of this show before, I knew about the plot but I knew only 2 songs of the score - and now this one is my absolute favorite show!!

[jasobres]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 11:22am

Well, it's not a show, it's the movie version of Rent. Of course, I was not expecting a straightforward film version of the entire musical. What I was expecting it to be was amazing. Boy, did Mr. Columbus prove me wrong.

[NightLaughs]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 11:35am

Phantom of the Opera - Biggest piece of s*** show I have ever seen. I wanted to gouge my eyes out I was so bored. And when the chandelier fell, I was like "This is the big chandelier scene?? THIS? Are you serious." Don't even get me started on some of the God-awful lyrics. I left the theater quite angry I had wasted a perfectly good trip to NYC to see that. Luckily my tickets were highley discounted.

Bat Boy - The premise seemed really strange and I wasn't sure I wanted to see it. The show was odd but charming and I loved a lot of the music. I bought the recording later.

[DefyingPopular]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:13pm

I was so excited to see the producers when it opened with Broderick/Lane, and I ended up not getting the chance, saw it in Toronto, and i really didn't like it. It was so dissapointing to me.

I didn't think I'd like 'The Light In The Piazza' cause it seemed sort of not my kinda thing, but I ended up amazed by it.

I was apprehensive to see Rent, but I ended up loving it.