The Faith Healer - I was bored and totally dissapointed. The acting was superb, but there was no interaction among the characters. It was a play comprising of three monologues. I never saw more people yawn in a show in the 15 years that I have been going to plays and musicals. It was a total waste of money and time.
I'm with EastWickian. While I see the validity of people learning from bad art, there's nothing I've seen that I can't say I didn't find one thing I enjoyed that made my experience worth going. Ring of Fire might have come close, but fortunately I went for free, and saw some very talented performers.
Brooklyn I might have come close to saying I regretted. Even if I wanted to sleep through it, i coudlnt' because the singers and the orchestra was soo loud that it gave me a huige headache (a reason I can regret it). But I did like "Once Upon A Time" and decided the performance of Ramona Keller made it worth going (not for any more than I paid for student rush of course)
"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli
I always seem to have a good time at the theatre, whatever I'm seeing. I may not have enjoyed some shows as much as others and I'm a bit sad I missed a few, but I'm in the "something to enjoy about everything" camp. Every experience counts. :3
I'd never use theatre chat to attempt to sound cultured though; if I get started on theatre, I just sound nerdy! Which is an accurate enough assessment, I suppose... ^_^
I've never regretted seeing a show, good or bad, else how would I know if I liked it or not unless I saw it? I do, however, regret not seeing many shows.
You learn as much, if not more, from seeing bad shows as you do from good ones.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
SH*Tty Chitty Bang Bang - I know, what was I thinking. And there are plenty of others I resented wasting my time and money for, except for the fact that they can be the subject of a good rant occasionally, and provide fodder for when I feel like being angry about something. [title of show] can get me going for a full 15 minutes, Spamalot for 10.
As for the educational aspect, I guess I'm not a perennial student like Munkustrap. I don't go to a show to learn something. If it happens great, but I don't think it's "idiotic" to regret going to a show you hate.
I think that even if you are interested in the arts, you can regret going to a show. I am a Performing Arts Management major, BUT I fully regret going to see Tony Danza in The Producers this past December. I figured if Mel thought he was good enough to play Max, then he must be. BIGGEST mistake of my life.
Hold me touch me, Hold me touch me... Kiss me feel me, Yank me spank me, Suck me fu... ah! Hold me touch me!
LEGALLY BLONDE (walked out in the second act and went to see The Hoax) THREPENNY OPERA (revival) THE PRODUCERS MAMMA MIA HAIRSPRAY LES MISERABLES PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
I used to believe that any show, no matter how bad, was worth seeing, but now, firmly entrenched in Old Geezerhood; I feel my time and money are too valuable to waste on shows I know I won't like. So I stayed away from RENT, MISS SAIGON, and WEDDING SINGER
'Our whole family shouts. It comes from us livin' so close to the railroad tracks'
Wow, I don't think I have ever heard someone say Altar Boyz was bad. I absolutely love that show. But anyway. I have never walked out of a show because its a big deal for me to go to the city and go back two hours before I was supposed to.
Adding to my "I saw it...I never have to see it again" list is Spring Awakening. I know I'm in the vast minority, but I just didn't get it. A chorus consisting largely of the word "Blah"? Give me a break. At least I only paid $26. The women next to me felt pretty much the same and they'd paid full price.
Experience live theater. Experience paintings. Experience books. Live, look and listen like artists! ~ imaginethis
LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!
Thanks for your thoughts, but GG certainly did not go over my head. It's one thing to question someone's motivations behind their thoughts on a show, but to question their intelligence playing a role is crass, undignified and in an ironic twist, makes you look like the un-intelligent one. I hope that in the future, you think before being nasty to people you don't even know and that whatever has your panties in a twist this morning looses up and you can have a better day.
I almost never regret having seen a show, I usually regret having paid to see it. Having seen PIRATE QUEEN for free, I can say I certainly got my money's worth. Some of my most precious theatrical memories are of pure hilarious trash like DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES.
There are a couple of shows, though, that I have a hard time forgiving or forgetting. The horrifying RING OF FIRE, the outrageous GOOD VIBRATIONS and the unspeakable CORAM BOY should all burn forever in the darkest lowest circles of Theatre Hell.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
"Fame" in London was an absolute waste of time and money....at least on the night I saw it on Thanksgiving 2001. I appreciated the effort, but some of the cast just couldn't handle the material, dance- and singing-wise.
On the road of life, do not pause for suicidal chipmunks who freeze in your headlights, seeking death by your tires...