The 20 Most Annoying Characters in Musical Theater- Page 2

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 6:43pm

I second Henry Higgins! I don't like the ending of My Fair Lady.

[jasonf]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 7:12pm

I disagreed with Javert -- Marius is WAY more annoying.

I love Peter's columns - I read them all the time -- and he's a really nice guy, too.

[Songsstresss]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 7:19pm

I agree with Epionine and Marius! They are whinny. And Zanida from Music Man! But my roommate votes for Amaryllis. "Amaryllis is so mean to poor Winthrop. She's SUCH a bitch," he says.

[grizzabella]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 10:57pm

Richard Henry Lee in 1776 - windbag, and egoist.
Also agree with Hines, in The Pajama Game.
Everyone in Les Miz annoys me. Sorry, it's just not my cup of tea.
Lancelot in Camelot - same reasons as Richard Henry Lee.
Also agree re: Henry Higgins. Mysoginistic, condescending and a bully.

[jasonf]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 12:16am

Richard Henry Lee is humorous -- the character works because of Franklin, but I don't think he's annoying at all.

Lancelot may be an arrogant, annoying character, but he got two of the best songs in the show!

[MyMeredithMonster]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 12:39am

"He forgot Roger from Rent."

Too funny! And I completely agree.

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 4:18am

How can anyone forget Cosette from Les Mis? Or Ellen from Miss Saigon?

The most annoying character ever has to be Bernadette from The Beatutiful Game though!

QM

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 12:34pm

Actually, as much as I love The Music Man (and I really do)... you could almost say the entire cast of characters is annoying. That's what I love about this satire. It's a town full of seemingly idealistic, sugary-sweet, really irritating people.

They make me laugh at them. Even hideous little Amarillitthhh.

[brdwaybaby17]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 12:54pm

"I agree with #18. I hate that show. It SUCKS."

I have no words...

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 1:00pm

How about Gertie Cummings from Oklahoma!....that laugh alone would make her top 10 most annoying characters.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 1:12pm

You know, an interesting thing is happening with The Music Man as I get older. When I was a kid, there were people around who grew up at the turn of the 20th century (yeah, the one BEFORE this last one). They understood what Meredith Wilson was satirizing with his affectionate yet pointed "valentine" to Small Town Nostalgia Americana. It was almost a sacred cow subject back then. The "great old days" were so much better and were given much reverence when talked about. His answer, in a way, was The Music Man. It was his "Oh, yeah?" retort. A fond trip back through Memory Lane for some, but with a clever and discerning raised eyebrow.

Today, people don't have a frame of reference. Actors and directors don't understand (or even care to learn about) what they're spoofing in this show. They just crank it out in "cartoon mode" and think people will laugh at these crazy characters on stage, or at least enjoy it because they know all the songs.

They're wrong... and they're ruining The Music Man for future audiences and performers.

I wonder if the same thing will happen to "How To Succeed" in another 20 years or so? Will people look back and say these characters are really annoying, instead of understanding that it's a spoof... and WHAT they're spoofing?

I would imagine so, and that's too bad for the posterity of shows like this.

[jam_man]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 2:17pm

Well then, on behalf of my generation, I'm sorry for ruining one of my favorite shows, The Music Man.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 4:23pm

jam_man --- No apology necessary! Sorry if I sounded cranky. I was more distressed and saddened by the transformation of this show. I think it means I'm getting older. Especially when I see a terrific musical that was considered brilliantly witty turn slowly over the decades into stale camp.

I stand by my rant, though... but I'll add this in for the "flip side" perspective... people shouldn't have to go to the theatre and read up on the history of what it was like at the turn of the century, and how people regarded the idealized "small town way of life" in the 1950s when this show first opened. They should be able to sit down and watch a show without Cliffs Notes, in other words. I think directors can help modern audiences out a lot, by adding some pre-show visuals and era music. Maybe an old fashioned soda fountain set-up in the lobby, or just some old corset ads and "there's no place like home" -type artwork here and there. It might get them in the mood more and even start making fun of it a bit themselves. Then when the show starts, they're already in the mood for a satire.

Thinking more about this, it makes me wonder how some of our current shows will be perceived in 25-50 years... like Rent, for instance. Something that is so tied into its era. "A Chorus Line" is already showing signs of age, which never occurred to me at the time it burst onto the scene. First it was the music (with that Wa-Wa guitar from "Shaft"), but now it's the whole frame of mind and all the "modern" references throughout.

I think the ones that will age the worst are satires (where you have to know what their spoofing in order to fully get the joke)... or pieces like Rent, Angels in America, etc. which are tied into the "voice" of a generation or era. I'll bet 50 years from now, people will be scratching their heads wondering what the fuss was all about. Some of them already are.

(Okay, sorry for the thread-jack.)

[brdwaybaby17]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 4:37pm

I think it's important to keep the musicals in their setting and time... they aren't "dated" necessarily... but rather do show what was going on during the time of the show.
It's ok not to get all of the jokes and not to understand some of the comments made... at least I think.
I have a problem thinking anything is ever going to be dated... I believe there is always something you can learn from a show... if you actually try.
best12bars, thank you for all you've said... I just can't quite believe that someone said the Music Man "sucks." It makes me sick to my stomach. It's the reason I fell in love with musical theater.

[thez914]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 4:51pm

best12bars...i think you should start a thread regarding how a musical ages. I found what you've wrote extremely intriguing as well as disheartening. To see how musicals have developed over the years (through interpretation, a changing society, new structures) and how the characters and material resonate differently (or not at all).

[grizzabella]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 6:22pm

Jasonf, you're right. Richard Henry Lee's character does work - but I still want to groan whenever he shows up. Still, don't get me wrong. I love 1776.
Best12bars, I so appreciate what you've said, especially about not needing Cliff Notes for a show in order to get what it's satirizing. You've brought up some very thoughtful points, but I don't know the answer. Humor, especially satirical humor, can become dated very quickly unless it's so universal that the perspectives it's satirizing are recognizable to vast numbers of people and fairly broad. In our present, pluralistic society, it's even hard to agree on a general set of assumptions. Your comments about The Music Man are completely true; the frame of reference has been lost. Far from being campy, Professor Hill is an amoral conman using insular, small-town America's gullability in a rather grand swindle as effectively as some dot.com scams use technology today. Perhaps a really clever promotional campaign could set up the audience for this side of the show, giving it back a little of it's original, satiric edge, rather than being presented as campy, or creakily quaint, entertainment.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 6:26pm

grizzabella -- Thanks! And I love your Music Man comments.

I've actually taken thez914's advice and started a new thread about this subject of "timeless" or "dated" shows...


Musicals: Showing their age? Or timeless?

[kyle33nyc]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 6:55pm

How many characters were there in In My Life? That should take up half the list, with the drunk driving boyfriend clearly at the top.

[beyondthebreakofday]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 10:14pm

What about Lucy from YGMCB? It's doesn't get much worse than that.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 12/3/05 at 10:27pm

lucy is annoying but i think the actress playing her controls that. I liked 3 the best but I dont agree with Javert.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/4/05 at 2:41pm

Bud Frump?
What is this guy talking about. Bud Frump is the best characther in "How to Succeed..." second only to Finch.
I'll agree with him on Javert though.

[sweeneyfan]

Posted: 12/4/05 at 3:52pm

Fosca's relative - the Lieutenant in PASSION
Stein in CITY OF ANGELS
Cinderella's Prince in INTO THE WOODS (Revival) Talk about agony...

Wait... they were all played by Gregg Edelman... I find it annoying that he continues to be cast. I've gotten more for my theatre dollar from watching the ushers than from him.

[GClef2]

Posted: 12/4/05 at 7:56pm

Uhh one character always cuts right through me. That little girl in Sunday in the Park with George. She was such a brat it drove me crazy, especially in the DVD. Every line of hers is just sheer pain for me. Does this make me a bad person?