Survey- worst show on broadway- Page 3

[brad3]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 6:45pm

Best: Mamma Mia
Worst: Spelling Bee

[snl89]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 6:50pm

Not to change the topic or start a fight (and I'm really not picking a fight with any individual), but how can people say that Spring Awakening is the best while Wicked is the worst? Both are very watered daown versions of the oringal text that they're based on and have plently of "plot holes."

they're such entirely different stories though! I could definitely see how people who dont like wicked would really like SA, because it kind of does exactly what Wicked doesn't do. It keeps so much darkness. It may very well be watered down from its original text, but it's still very dark, with very dark plot points. It seems like a lot of the people who dont like wicked dont like it because they took what was a very dark, interesting book and made it into a children's show. Granted I love wicked, but I DEF see where people come from with the fact that it it was made much more... fluffy. I happen to enjoy "fluffy" shows when they're good, but I can see how people who dont wouldn't like wicked. SA on the other hand, I could see them liking very much.

[geekgirl06]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 6:55pm

Best: Spring Awakening
Worst: The Phantom of the Opera

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 8:10pm

Nave you seen or studied ALL the current Broadway musicals? Listened to the cast albums? Read the scripts?

If so, I seriously doubt anyone considers WICKED among the very best currently running. One of the most popular, yes. But far from being great or even very good.

It is also far from being the worst. TARZAN and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA would be my top two choices.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 8:17pm

snl89, I see what you're saying, but I have to disagree. Wedekind's original play was very dark and complex and I feel that the new musical version is over-simplified (just as many would say about Wicked). (SPOILERS) I love the compexity in the rape scene in the original play, but the musical kind of "fluffs" it up (END SPOILERS). This is not to say I didn't like Spring Awakening (I did) or that it's not a good piece of theater (IMO it is). I think part of my "resentment" for the musical is the whole mic situation (It annoyed me to no end that there was no rhyme or reason to when the hand held mics were used).

[&OneForMahler]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 8:22pm

Wosts: Phantom & Tarzan.

Bests: Company, Spelling Bee, & Spring Awakening.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 8:27pm

for my theater arts class, we have to do a project on the best and worst shows out on broadway.

What teacher assigns that? You are such a joke.

[jv92]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:21pm

Best: Grey Gardens
Worst: The Phantom of the Opera, Tarzan

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:36pm

Best: Wicked, Mary Poppins

Worst: Spring Awakening, Spelling Bee, Phantom


PS: Mamma Mia! is only a bad show when Carolee Carmello isn't in it. Just my opinion.

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:51pm

wow i didnt know so many people on this board hated phantom so much.

[The White Half-Mask]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:57pm

Best (IMO): The Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Avenue Q

Worst: I can't really think of one. I didn't like "Movin' Out", but that's not on Broadway anymore. It moved out.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 11:14pm

The cast makes or brakes the show..hands down.

My favorite: Phantom

I'm not going to say it's the worst, but I think "The Producers" was hilarious, but highly overrated.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 11:24pm

gumbo2-when yo usay that the songs don't advance the plot and are there to represent feelings, I ask you, what do you think musicals were like in the '20s, '30s, and '40s? Or rather, pre-Oklahoma and even selective musicals after it. All of the songs spoke of the characters feelings though didn't quite advance the plot (Pal Joey being one major exception). And before Show Boat, many shows had songs with a very thin plotline connecting them that was only written so that the show could move from song to song. Spring Awakening's concept of how to use their songs isn't new.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 11:52pm

There's simply no way, NO way that ACL and Les Miserables deserve to be on any "best of Broadway" list. If you want to say popular, sure. They're popular. But the BEST? In a field that includes Company, Grey Gardens, Drowsy Chaperone, Spring Awakening, Spelling Bee, Avenue Q... NO WAY do these 2 "revivals" deserve to be there.

The worst is still Tarzan.

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 9:40am

LMFAO SPELLING BEE AND AVENUE Q as the best?! what a joke. les mis is a classic and so is acl- they are and always will be the best of broadway and unlike avenue q or spelling bee( which is barely selling tickets) les mis and acl will be around for a long long time. it takes a classic to play over 10 years and i HIGHLY doubt either of those nonsense shows will last more than 2 more years. that gave me a GOOD LAUGH ahahah

[NS]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:13am

Best - Les Miz, Ave Q, Phantom, Lion King, Mamma Mia, RENT (cast depending)

Worst - Spamalot, Chorus Line, Tarzan, Mary Poppins (technically good but lacking in magic)

Updated On: 2/4/07 at 11:13 AM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:18am

Best-Les Miz, Ave Q, Wicked, ACL, and Beauty and the Beast

Worst-Tarzan, The Producers, Phantom, Lion King

[D2]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:19am

PHANTOM isn't the worst. It's just old, it's an ALW show, and it seems to be unassailable at the box office. So it might be the most resented musical on Broadway, but certainly not the worst.

In terms of quality of material, direction, performance and design, TARZAN takes top honors, or should I say scrapes the bottom, for being the worst musical currently on Broadway.

IMHO

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:29am

A lot of times, how a show is selling doesn't define how good it is. A lot of long running shows just have a good appeal to tourists.

[fairygodmother]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:41am

jeez, Zeitoujo, you are really rude. the more i look at this the more i think it was just to stir - you have no sense of looking at it objectively. if you are asking for people's opinions on their faves/worsts, then you have to take each of them, not cherry pick the ones you agree with. however, if you are studying the most wholly successful clssics etc against the ones that failed miserably, then that's a different thing.

ps good luck writing any kind of project - i've never seen a post by you that made sense.

[D2]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:45am

Let me clarify about PHANTOM, then. It's not just about the box office. IMHO, it has ALW's most varied score. In most of his shows there are three discernible tunes repeated endlessly in minor variations throughout the evening. PHANTOM has a full blown score with at least 9 distinct musical themes. PHANTOM, like EVITA, benefits from the brilliant direction of Harold Prince, a master of his craft at the height of his powers with this show. He knows just how to polish the good stuff and hide the flaws (and there are many in PHANTOM, don't get me wrong.) And while it is not the greatest musical ever written or produced, it is one of the most visually stunning, and it is, at the very least, entertaining. And compared to that big green blob at the Richard Rodgers, PHANTOM does not deserve to be labeled "the worst." It is what it is - not the best, not the worst, but a musical that touches a lot of people.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:46am

how the hell can people put a chorus line as the worst show

The production is a carbon copy of the original and the cast are fine.

This is a show that IS broadway,im guessing the ones who dont like it are pretty young.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:47am

Z asks for people's opinions and then says they aren't right.
Updated On: 2/4/07 at 11:47 AM

[Jellylorum]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 12:45pm

"LMFAO SPELLING BEE AND AVENUE Q as the best?! what a joke."
What others think is best isn't necessarily what you think is the best. You asked for people's opinions, and you got them. Why even bother asking for opinions if you're just going to be rude and put them down?

"les mis is a classic and so is acl- they are and always will be the best of broadway and unlike avenue q or spelling bee( which is barely selling tickets) les mis and acl will be around for a long long time."
How can you even compare Spelling Bee and Q to Les Miz and ACL? The former are relatively new shows, and the latter are revivals of shows that have already run for a long time. A lot of the ticket sales depends on the non-theatre geek tourists, and it takes a while for shows to reach that demographic. For instance, one of my non-theater geek friends lives less than an hour away from New York. She is deciding just now to go see Avenue Q, which she heard is a good show. And over the past few years, she's gone to the city to see Rent five times, The Lion King twice, and Les Miz three times. Like Becoz said, a lot of the long running show just have a good appeal to tourists.

"it takes a classic to play over 10 years and i HIGHLY doubt either of those nonsense shows will last more than 2 more years"
For your information, Avenue Q has been on Broadway for almost four years. Spelling Bee is almost at two, but it's definitely going to play longer than that.

"that gave me a GOOD LAUGH ahahah"
Your post gave me a good laugh too.

Updated On: 2/4/07 at 12:45 PM

[wickedfan]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 1:01pm

I figured everyone realized by now that this isn't a real survey. If it was, Z would keep him or herself emotionally detahced from people's answers. The "School survey" is just another excuse for Z to have a "whats your opinion?" thread.