The Musicals where NOTHING happens!

[TRiceFan]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 11:07pm

Mr. Sondheim has often done much with musicals where nothing is happening. Follies and Company, nothing really happen much. Second half of Sunday? Nothing happens. In "Sondheim: Enlarged and Updated", it talked about how he drove himself crazy writing Lesson 8 and Children and Art. What shows can you think of where nothing happens?
I'm not saying horrid books, im saying when there's no story.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 11:14pm

Song and Dance

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 12:07am

My Fair Lady

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 12:07am

You are greatly mistaken if you do not believe much happens in COMPANY, FOLLIES, and the second act of SUNDAY. While these musicals do not follow linear plots, the complex characters in them still grow, change, and learn.
Updated On: 1/29/11 at 12:07 AM

[HummingAlong]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 12:43am

i guess that's the danger of the question...there's a gigantic difference between plot and story. a plot can be relatively stark and tell a beautiful, full story, or conversely it can be very full and tell hardly any story at all.

I would offer that nothing much happens in Company PLOTwise...that much, I think, is true. Summary of show? People come over. And sing. About relationships. (I tried to make it long...) I guess I'm looking to you for the growth aspect that you speak of, and how you think he's learned/changed at the end of the show. I never felt any sort of cathartic response to the show, but I can be blind to obscure messages at times.

What, in your opinion, is the full, "happening" story of Company? (This shouldn't be read as a challenge. I'm interested in your opinion!)
Updated On: 1/29/11 at 12:43 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 12:56am

^ I'll let Emcee take on that one. FOLLIES is more my forte than COMPANY.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:01am

I'm not here to argue either point, but COMPANY is widely known to be the first 'Concept Musical' so while much may not 'happen' the show has a lot to say.

I would argue that much does happen though.

[vlegra]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:09am

1st Act of HAIR
Grand Hotel

[HummingAlong]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:12am

plot-wise, idina? from a book writing standpoint, I guess I don't understand that.

But from a story standpoint, educate me! It's been years since I've seen it. I remember loving people playing their own instruments, and certain songs broaching interesting concepts, giving me more to think about. But in terms of what I walk away with, it still just feels like snippets of things, not one cohesive thing. Maybe it just doesn't strike the same emotional chord with me, but I don't feel like I walk away with the realization that Marriage is good or marriage is awful or it's better to be alone or relationships mean nothing or are everything...(not to say that the message would have to be so black or white...)

Anyhow, looking forward to hearing more thoughts on it!

[chewy5000]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:16am

Drowsy Chaperone: Man listens to record

[Q]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 2:23am

Did someone really say MY FAIR LADY?

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 2:41am

COMPANY:
Bobby is turning 35.

Bobby wishes he could meet someone he wanted to marry, but everyone is a neurotic douchebag, including him.

Curtain.


(ETA - for the record, I love Company.)

Updated On: 1/29/11 at 02:41 AM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 3:13am

There's a lot of stuff happening in Song & Dance. Emma dates several guys, moves to LA, gets her green card, she gets dumped, etc, etc.

[dex]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 4:01am

CATS

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 5:54am

Fela!

[trentsketch]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 8:40am

Brooklyn: street musicians beg you for money.

[singtopher]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 8:58am

COMPANY follows a circular plot structure rather than a linear one. The story is Bobby coming to terms with what he wants out of a relationship.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 9:07am

I'm sure this will be contested, because it's technically not 'nothing,' but 'Caroline, Or Change,' seems largely an internal sort of monologue until the conclusion of the second act. Of course things do happen- since the show's structure isn't as 'circular' as Company's, but the much of what Caroline seems to be dealing with during the show is a state of stasis, and so when action finally is taken in the end, it's all the more resounding.

[theminutepast]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 9:36am

The first act of La Cage has a slow plot. After the son tells Georges that he will be married and doesn't want Albin there, Georges has to tell Albin. That's it. But there is a lot of character exploration and discussion of the past. Still, it felt slow.

[sally1112]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 11:41am

@ Dex- I agree completely with Cats.

It was one of the first musicals I saw as a kid, and I did not "get it" at all. Luckily the second show I saw was a tour of Evita, and my love of musicals began....

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 12:42pm

Wow, I knew I shouldn't haven't opened this thread. Or at least, not first think upon waking up.

As many said previously, most of these mentioned shows are rich in happenings, just not the linear kind.

I'd wager to say more happens in Company and Follies than the lot of linear musicals being slogged out today.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 12:52pm

Nothing Really Happened in "Is There Life After High School?"

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:39pm

We don't agree politically, Goth, but that was pretty clever.

[mikem]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:46pm

Most revue-type musicals, the most Bway example being Sondheim on Sondheim, don't really tell a story.

The Drowsy Chaperone was a great example -- the main character (Man in Chair) doesn't really go through any kind of evolution during the course of the show. He's the same person in the same situation at the beginning of the show and at the end of the show. I'm having trouble thinking of another non-revue musical in which the protagonist does not undergo any change during the show (whether internally or in his or her circumstances).

[JP2]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:49pm

American Idiot is the only show that immediately pops into my mind.