The Most overrated and underrated musicals- Page 3

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 12:48pm

I think everything on that list is idiotic, but Book of Mormon. It may be goofy and vulgar, but it still has a great score. I also think it's one of the best modern mega musicals.
The producers on the other hand, was pretty bad. As was the god awful Spamalot and Young Frankenstein.

[JamesBroadwayWiner]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 12:50pm

Overrated: Into the Woods. (I am planning on seeing the movie and am excited about it, but I think it's one of Sondehim's worse scores.)

Underrated: Kinky Boots (This is an AMAZING show, every song is great, the story is great. It's just fabulous).

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 2:13pm

Is Kinky Boots considered underrated? It won the Tony, and gets raves from everyone I know who's seen it. And it's still on Broadway. Is it not making its investment back?

[somechrysanthemumtea]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 8:58pm

Pacific Overtures as a movie would be an real treat for me.

But would it really work? It's such a theatrical musical, and for me I can't see it being as alluring as a movie. (read a more in depth post about why it wouldnt work on tumblr somewhere but i've lost it now!)

[JamesBroadwayWiner]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 11:02pm

I guess KB is not really underrated, it did win the Tony. But its not as widely known or respected for being great as other musicals. If that makes sense.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 6:25pm

Overrated: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. (Yes, the OBCR is gorgeous, but if I ever have to sit through that show again, please shoot me first.)

Underrated: STREET SCENE. (Underrated by Broadway audiences, not in opera houses.)

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 7:30pm

Absolutely, Gaveston. Street Scene has absolutely wonderful music. I also think Lost in the Stars is under appreciated.

Add to my underrated:
Flower Drum Song
George C Wolfe's The Wild Party (I have varied thoughts about this show, mainly that the book is a mess and the score is too harsh, but it has moments of brilliant intensity and many of the songs are fun and surprisingly catchy [especially for LaChiusa music], but it is almost forgotten and never produced anywhere, and I think it deserves a little more recognition than it gets)
After the Ball
Bravo Giovanni
By Jeeves
The Nervous Set
Most Bock and Harnick shows

Add to overrated:
Side Show (it's fine, but people praise it as brilliance, which I disagree with)
Spring Awakening
In the Heights
Light in the Piazza
Carrie (there's a reason why it's never successful)

Updated On: 11/27/14 at 07:30 PM

[inception]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 9:09pm

The mention of Street Scene reminded me of Blitzstein's Regina, his adaptation of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. I saw a production in 2008 which knocked my socks off. A really great musical/opera that should be performed more.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/28/14 at 7:41pm

Absolutely, Gaveston. Street Scene has absolutely wonderful music. I also think Lost in the Stars is under appreciated....

Okay, now I'm SURE you're not 16. In fact, except for LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (which I found breathtaking on TV), I agree with most of your choices above.

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/28/14 at 8:17pm

Though I am going to assume your comment is lighthearted, other posters on this Board have though that I was lying about my age and took it very seriously (they thought I was Dollypop), with PalJoey accusing me of breaking the law, but if you look in my comment history you will see I posted a video on the off topic Board where I proved that I was, in fact, 16.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/28/14 at 8:58pm

Pacific Overtures as a movie would be an real treat for me.

But would it really work? It's such a theatrical musical, and for me I can't see it being as alluring as a movie. (read a more in depth post about why it wouldnt work on tumblr somewhere but i've lost it now!)

I'd love to hear the argument. Kabuki is one of Japan's traditional musical-theater forms. I've watch enough films of kabuki that I have to think the right director could find a way to do PACIFIC OVERTURES.

FWIW, I didn't see the Broadway production, but the off-Broadway production at the Promenade in the 1980s used minimal design elements and worked beautifully. The show does NOT require the full spectacle to work. In fact, the off-Broadway relatively greater success might argue the show is better without lavish sets.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/28/14 at 9:05pm

Fantod, I apologize. You are very precocious and I did indeed think you were older than 16. (You must be one of four 16-year-olds on the planet who know STREET SCENE. The other three appeared in the Scottish Opera production.)

But I didn't think you were "lying" (which implies some nefarious intent), just joking. I don't need any proof beyond your say-so.

Since you are 16, you probably SHOULDN'T like Sondheim, since almost all his work is about how our dreams betray us in the end. That PalJoey and I understood him completely as teenagers says something very sad about our childhoods, I fear.

Updated On: 11/28/14 at 09:05 PM

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 11/29/14 at 12:46am

Galveston, I remember thinking I must have been the only 16 year old to enjoy "Follies", "Passion", and "Sunday...". I believe the most telling thing was how completely I understood Fosca at that age and how, when we watched the taped recording as part of my Drama class at school, I was the only student who had a shred of understanding for her. Everyone else hated her and found the ending completely absurd. It was not encouraging for me that I could relate to Fosca, Sally, Dot, and George at my age.

*This post is written in past tense, sorry for any confusion.

Updated On: 11/29/14 at 12:46 AM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/29/14 at 6:51pm

Am I the only one here who is old enough to drink?

Sally, I had no idea! I have been assuming you and I were more or less contemporaries!

[theleadingplyr]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 12:01am

Overrated: The Producers

Underrated: A New Brain, My One & Only

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 3:26am

I'm another who came to love Sondheim and his shows like FOLLIES at a very young age. I must have been only about 14 (I'm a bit older now) when I discovered the wonders of SUNDAY and FOLLIES and COMPANY and others.

[somechrysanthemumtea]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 4:39am

I can't seem to find the post which I previously saw but I agree that it might work as a film, now thinking about it. But don't a crop of other problems then arise?

Such as an All-Asian cast? Knowing Hollywood (assuming its hollywood) would they just yellow-face cast the whole movie? And there's the whole "all-male" cast issue, would they do that as well? I think the score works very very well with an all male cast.

I do prefer the lavish scenery and costumes (just because I love Aronson's design of the American ship, and his gorgeous curtain designs) but it's a show, to me, with a great score and can be appreciated with a minimalistic take.

And, on another note, I am in fact 13 years old, and adore Sondheim. I might not fully get all of the messages in his musicals, but I can identify with a few themes.

Have a good day to all!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 6:27pm

SCT, I was speaking at least partially tongue-in-cheek. If teenagers aren't still falling in love with Sondheim, then I don't want to know--Wait! Wrong lyricist.

[RENT_is_Wicked2]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 11:07pm

Overrated: Les Mis (Especially since the movie was released)

Underrated: Assassins, Catch Me If You Can

[GreatWhiteGay]

Posted: 12/1/14 at 2:07am

Overrated: Company, Billy Elliot, Spelling Bee

Underrated: Sunset Blvd, Little Women, Carrie Updated On: 12/1/14 at 02:07 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 12/1/14 at 7:01am

Overrated:

Everything by Sondheim.

Everything by Brown.

Everything by LaChiusa.

Everything by Guettel.

Also: Rent, Ragtime, Once, Matilda, and that putrid item that we're all told to bow and scrape before, Fun Home.


Underrated:

All the others that are actually good!

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 12/1/14 at 10:55pm

Givesmevoice, I totally agree with you about Big River.

[Fantod]

Posted: 12/1/14 at 11:25pm

Is Ragtime really overrated? I was under the impression that most of the theatre community thought that it was a middling and puzzling musical with a few good songs and nice production values.

[tazber]

Posted: 12/23/14 at 5:57am

bump

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/14 at 10:00am

Around here, the popular consensus regarding Ragtime is that it was robbed of Best Musical and often considered one of the American greats. Personally, I thought it was a show with a gorgeous score, but the book and staging were something of a mess. Some great moments, but schizo staging and inconsistent use of characters kept me from being wowed by it. The original cast was wonderful and I did enjoy hearing the score performed live.