The Drowsy Chaperone Vs. The Wedding Singer Scores- Page 2

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 5:26pm

I love 80s bubblegum pop and a HUGE amount of 80s pop never lost its appeal with the public. However, if you are going to use the melodic style and arrangements as a basis for an original score, you need stronger lyrics and a more definitive sound. The Wedding Singer only hints at 80s pop without really capturing any authentic sound. They rely on the lyrics to supply the rest, but the whole thing comes across as one rather long gimmick in which someone got out an 80s reference guide and randomly threw in anything regardless of accuracy or intelligence.

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 5:28pm

Well Mr. Matt, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have the facts of life.

But seriously? I think they did a great job emulating the 80s sound, the score is so dang catchy, I love it!

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 5:35pm

i think Drowsy is better, i can't stop listening to it.... but wedding singer is great fun too.

I listen to Drowsy to listen and sing along to a great score.

I listen to Singer as background noise to hum along with.

[sO_aMaZinGly_giFTed]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 6:15pm

The Wedding Singer is better in my opinion.

[theatahguy]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 6:22pm

Wedding Singer for sheer listenability. The show might suck, but the CD is fun, light, great to sing along with.

However, I'd probably feel differently if I was able to see Drowsy Chaperone. Altho, that EFFING Toledo Surprise song GRAAAAAAAAAAATES on my one nerve...except for the record-skip part. That's pretty ingenius. And the CD make me fall even more in love with Georgia Engel than I was before and I didnt think that was possible. "OOO, is it going to be a wedding?!" "Oh, I forgot...tendale"

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 10:22pm

I see where you all are coming from and it's true.

The Drowsy Chaperone relates more to the traditional Broadway showtune and The Wedding Singer goes for a more modern time. But hey, if we live in a world where a show with puppet sex and porn gets named Best Musical, i'm almost positive that a period musical has more of a chance.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 10:41pm

As much as I LOVE TDC (I've been following it since L.A., and it's easily one of my favorite musicals of all time), I think TWS had a much better, stronger, more varied score. TDC's lyrics were fantastic, but yes, that's why it won book. I think the score is great, too, but the second I got TWS's recording, I was hooked. It was just so indescribably perfect. So I think TWS definitely has the better score, but both of them are so strong and hilarious that you can't go wrong with either. It would have been nice to see TWS get at least one Tony, though, for something it actually could have won.

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 10:44pm

"It would have been nice to see TWS get at least one Tony, though, for something it actually could have won."

AGREED! I would like to see it win Best Actor for Stephen Lynch, but out of all the nominees, I have to admit he didn't have much of a chance even if he did do alright. Probably just because i've been a huge Stephen Lynch fan for years.

But I really, really, really wanted them to AT LEAST win Best Choreography. All the 80s references just killed me. I was like "OH MY GOD THAT'S FROM...." and it's really cool to see them work that into the routine.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 11:14pm

The Wedding Singer may not have won any awards but the opening number on the Tonys probably helped boost the audience numbers and give the show a longer run which is good for all involved. God knows that cast is energetic, but I really believe that Drowsy Chaperone deserved its wins. That funny little show is going to be around for a long time, right down to the eventual Tams-Whitmark high school productions. It is a bizarre but utterly loveable classic.

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 11:17pm

It is really popular but a lot of popular shows with great reviews have closed at the Marquis. That theatre is cursed if you ask me...

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 11:49pm

Remember when The Drowsy Chaperone first opened and we all sat around thinking about how funny and cute it was because it was so accurate a pastiche of crappy musicals from the 1920s, but we worried that maybe it wasn't so good because it was an accurate pastiche of crappy musicals from the 1920s? IE The play within the play wasn't really all that good?

And then suddenly everybody turned around and changed their opinions and it won a Tony?

I must've been asleep.

There were a few off Broadway scores this past season that sadly were not eligible, and far outdid any of these new musicals that are playing on Broadway right now. As it stands, I think both are cute and funny and work for the show they're in. Not transcendent, earth shaking scores.

Also I think they're completely different scores so it's kind of a weird comparison to make anyway.

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 11:52pm

I don't think anyone should listen to the Tony's anymore.

They never award the real winners.