The Critics Rave,, You Go --- It's Horrible! — Page 3

Lion King
Once
The Producers
Peter and the Starcatcher

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I don't get the adoration for Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, Kinky Boots, Thoroughly Modern Millie and the biggest disappointment of all: The Producers. Saw the original cast, literally giggled ONCE, and then laughed heartily at the boobs in front of me who paid nearly $200 for back row orchestra seats and couldn't see around the people in front of them, whilst I saw everything PERFECTLY from my $25 standing room ticket.

RENT
ONCE
ROCK OF AGES (was it praised?)
LION KING
THE PRODUCERS
PORGY AND BESS
BOMC
BOOK OF MORMON (enjoyed enough, but didn't think it was anything special)
BEAUTIFUL
BILLY ELLIOT (awful)
IN THE HEIGHTS
SPRING AWAKENING

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^^ Me too. It's rare I don't find something to love about a show. But as noted earlier, I had the hardest time at Cats and Rent...

When a critic raves about a highly intellectual play, I often find the play boring or meaningless. I certainly don't mind being challenged, and I don't mind ambiguities, but I want a plot, I want characterization, and I want to understand what I'm seeing. I remember reading "America Hurrah" as a teenager and thinking "huh?" I still can't see any point except shocking people.

Regarding musicals, I find that critics often rave about revivals of early to mid 20th century shows that don't appeal to modern audiences. I find that most critics are unwilling to refer to a show as dated unless it expresses bigotry. Yet, there are numerous reasons for a show's not fitting in the modern era. A big one is that a musical with song and dance numbers a la Astaire and Rogers or numbers that emphasize top hats and canes seem passe to me. I think that most Cole Porter shows are relics, as is "Oklahoma." Nonetheless, such revivals often receive a thumbs-up.

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Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson - Loved the theater decorations but that was it
Nine
Hedwig
Almost all Sondheim except Sweeney and Forum
Billy Elliott
Evita


I don't mind a period piece - The Lincoln Center production of South Pacific was wonderful. The new musical Top Hat that played in London a year ago was fantastic with all the tap and canes But old or new, a musical that doesn't establish a rhythm that keeps the audience interested is doomed.

Updated On: 7/6/14 at 01:32 AM

My list is not so long but still represents hours out of my life that could have been better spent:
The Coast of Utopia - all 3 parts (Billy Crudup was wonderful but the rest was largely a snoozefest)
The Light in the Piazza
Cats
Lion King
Bullets Over Broadway
The Tap Dance Kid
One Man, Two Guvnors (How did he win the Tony over Philip Seymour Hoffman for Death of a Salesman??????)
Jersey Boys
Hairspray
Mary Poppins
Young Frankenstein
Newsies
Julius Caesar starring Denzel Washington (Denzel was out of his league)
....But I truly loved Big Fish, Venus & Fur & The Motherf*er with the Hat

Updated On: 7/6/14 at 03:26 AM

You better not be talking about the original version of "Sweeney Todd" cause them's is fighting words!

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Listening to the signature song in Once has been banned by the Geneva Convention as cruel and unusual punishment.

Andrew Jackson reminded me of a bad high school play. Amateurish but I have to agree on the set.

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Updated On: 7/6/14 at 08:53 AM

The second half of Tom Stoppard's COAST OF UTOPIA -- meaning Act Two of SHIPWRECK and the whole bloody entirety of SALVAGE.

Tom Stoppard's ROCK AND ROLL.

Alan Bennett's obscenely overrated THE HISTORY BOYS.

I will never take Ben Brantley seriously again when it comes to work by these playwrights, or indeed, most highly praised British imports. I'm convinced he's on the take, there must be huge sums of money changing hands, or maybe the Society of West End Theaters has Brantley's mother tied up somewhere with a gun to her head.

I believe I've said it before -- Tom Stoppard will never lack toilet paper while Ben Brantley has a face.

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I couldn't stand any of the new musicals this year except Beautiful and that's only because I was already familiar with the music.

A lot of the mentioned shows, I really like. However, I must agree that God of Carnage was one of the most pedestrian plays I've seen in years. No idea why critics seemed to love it.

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