Bat Boy.
I posted this somewhere before, I think, but I almost left the theatre when I saw it (OOBC) in NYC. Too campy and over the top. My friends made me stay and somewhere in the middle of the Children, Children number...I got it! Went back a number of times, love the recording, and have seen 3 or 4 regional productions.
yeah i have to agree with WAT. i saw Little Women in Boston and abhored it. then i made a friend of mine go see it with me because it was really the only theatre in town that i'd subject on someone and figured he'd enjoy it (which he did) and i really ended up liking it.
it's such a guilty pleasure but i LOVE the score :)
Updated On: 5/29/07 at 04:52 PM
I've managed to warm up to pretty much any show I've been involve in that I hated before. That's saying something because I've been involved in at least four shows that are technically considered horrible and with good reason: Footloose, Jekyll and Hyde, Joseph... Dreamcoat and High School Musical. I began to really like all of those shows except High School Musical.
I hated the Light in the Piazza when I first got the recording too. Like absolutely despised it. But it's slowly growing on me, more and more.
Broadway Star Joined: 2/7/06
I didn't hate Passion after I listened to it for the first time, but every time I listen to it, I enjoy it more and more. It's definately a recording that needs to be listened to multiple times.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/3/06
les mis
Grey Gardens
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/25/05
ANNIE--I've had to sit through so many bad productions of this show (due to people I know being in it, etc.) that I never wanted to hear about it again. Then I ended up directing it (?) and actually working on it made me appreciate it.
GUYS AND DOLLS--same thing--SO sick of bad high school, community theatre, etc., productions, but working on it (twice) won me over.
FOOTLOOSE and FAME--extremely bad books, but both shows have so much youthful energy in the music and staging that they're irresistible when the cast is in the right spirit.
On the other hand, I've worked on two productions of BRIGADOON and two SOUND OF MUSICs, and I haven't been able to find anything redeeming about either show--I still think they're the sappiest, most insipid musicals ever written.
RENT.
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.
SWEENEY TODD.
COMPANY.
THE PRODUCERS. still not totally sold on its greatness.
I wasn't particularly fond of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels but after listening to the cast recording a few times I like it a lot.
The Secret Garden
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Not sure this counts but I saw Whistle Down the Wind in London purely because it was at the half price booth that day and I thought this would be one big chance to see an infamous flop that I could tellpeople I saw (I only knew of the disastrous US Hal Prince premiere--not how the London one had been doing). While I was sceptical at first, and it's was far form perfect, it ended up being one of my fave things I saw that trip (this was in '99) and I'm glad I went.
On CD even as a teen I was used to havign to give as how a few listens before fully "getting"--being already a Sondheim freak. But when someone on the old Sondheim listserv told me, after I had fallen for Passion the week it came out, to check out the CD of LaChiusa's Hello Again for another interesting new musical and one with Donna Murphy I played it about 3 times and simply never took to it or grasped any of its melodies and put it away. Probably until 5 years later when LaChiusa had Wild Party and Marie Christine and I started to see his name again--I pulled it out and it quickly became one of my fave cast albums (still is)--LaChiusa does take a lot of investment to really get into his scores I think but I've never had one take that long--I think as a kid I just never gave it the proper chance.
E
Broadway Star Joined: 11/2/06
When I first got the CD to Piazza, I hated it. I could barely get through the songs. Eventually, I found one song I liked, and then I found myself falling in love with all the other ones.
Two of my top 10 favorite scores: PASSION and CAROLINE, OR CHANGE.
At first I didn't know what to make of either one of them, now I think both are some of the most brilliant shows written for the stage.
Seussical.
I saw the tour with Cathy Rigby. The nosebleed seats might've contributed to my feelings about the show, but it was just...boring. The tickets were comps. I had a very important project to work on so my family and I left at intermission.
Despite the experience, I caved in and saw a youth production of it. I had front row seats. Although I still think the show is "eh," I enjoyed it much better than the tour and have better opinions about it.
Chorus Member Joined: 5/26/07
Chorus Member Joined: 12/31/69
FOr some reason Passion grabbed me from the start (although I admit that it wasn't till I had heard it a few times that I really noticed the gorgeous melodies--and watching the PBS airing helped a lot too). But I think I get what people mean--Light in the Piazza for me was the way many reacted at first to Passion--just no real melodies to grasp at it seemed, etc and a similarly fragmented but lush score. I now love it (I still haven't completely falled for Guettel's Floyd however though I adore the last song and some other parts--maybe I need to see it or give it a few more listens...)
On the other hand as much as I love "difficult" musical scores I've had My Life with Albertine for a few years now and still *zilch*
E
right now it's Follies. I'm really starting to get more into the music with the complete recording, but I still don't understand the young counterparts concept.
Company
La Cage Aux Folles
RENT (but I'm not a big fan anymore)
WICKED!!!!!!!!
Hairspray - I saw the Tony performance and I thought Marisa's character voice was absolutely horrible. I felt sorry for her and thought the girl was nervous or something. It looked really tacky and I just was NOT interested. I refused to see the show for a couple years until a friend loved it.
Then I saw the whole thing and actually loved it.
Stand-by Joined: 2/14/07
Avenue Q. I absolutely love it now.
When I first heard the Urinetown cast recording, I didn't get it and didn't like it. Most likely because I didn't really understand it. But after seeing it onstage, I absolutely love it. I've seen it twice since.
When I got the Mamma Mia! cast recording a few years ago, I thought, "Why the heck did I buy this? I never want to even see this." I rarely listened to it at all. For some reason, little by little I got more interested in it and eventually decided to see it. Despite the corniness, I had fun!
Wicked actually.
I had been obsessed with the cast recording before my very first trip to NYC in March of 2005. I went with a group and we sat in the last row of the Gershwin. Everyone loved it, and I thought it kinda was blah. Jennifer Laura Thompson was Glinda and Saycon was on for Sho Bean-it was her second show her first being the matinee.
But then I saw the tour in Chicago with Stephanie J. Block (front row mind you) and I saw how Elphaba could be portrayed and fell in love with the Block as well as seeing that arc and journey that a character SHOULD make during a night of theatre. So needless to say I've had high standards for my Elphabas since...(note: I've seen the show a total of 9 times now, with 7 different Elphabas)
bare
Into the Woods
A Chorus Line (now I LOVE it)
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Last Five Years
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