The pitiful state of the broadway musical: the parade — Page 2

It sickens me that these jukebox musicals are coming to Broadway. They belong in Las Vegas, not on a Broadway stage. These types of shows are taking away the integrity of broadway. Truly sad. These shows are certaintly proving that making money is more important than good art. But, out of All Shook Up and Good Vibrations, All Shook Up seems A LOT better. Good viabrations looks HORRIBLE from what I just saw. It REALLY does not belong on Broadway....AT ALL. Brooklyn looks like a masterpiece compared to Good Vibrations. At least Brooklyn has original songs.

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I liked All Shook Up's performance...wish I had taped it. But there is one thought that dwelled in my mind: that two of the shows featured in the Thanksgiving Parade were shows that didn't have original music. Also, All Shook Up is 50s and Good Vibrations is 60s, so the whole idea of "rock" in these shows is very similar. I think the performances this year could have used a bit more variety.

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INTO THE WOODS, Auggie? I have no idea.

Let's remember that The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a celebration of this holiday, and Broadway is a surrounding staple that is invited each year to perform. I'm no longer surprised or upset by lip synching or not on this day, I'm happy to see a few performances each year, since I'm not in NY.

I believe that those asked to perform are shows and numbers that are upbeat, fun bits from musicals. I'm not surprised some don't get to appear on national television Thanksgiving Day morning, even though I'd like that. I understand. I know many of us do. Whether we/some critique new shows and replacements on this day, that's completely allowed. But we should embrace the little we get to enjoy on major networks. It's fun. For producers biting their teeth over the box office results because of well-received performances today, maybe it's a bigger deal. Maybe any exposure is going to be positive because it's out there now, and seen by many.
Now I sound like a cheerleader.

Broadway isn't in a pitiful state.
It was just in a parade.

Is anyone else surprised that LITTLE WOMEN wasn't in the parade (unless there is hard-and-fast rule that no show in previews can be considered)? That should be 'clean' enough for the parade.

I dislike 'jukebox' musicals as much as the next guy, but they've been around for, what, thirty years now? They are just this generations EUBIE!, OH, COWARD and AINT MISBEHAVIN.

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No offense to the Hunterholics here, but if I see that gaddmm "I Want To Be A Producer" number ONE MORE TIME I will scream.

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I am so glad someone around here thinks this!....I am truly discouraged about whatis coming to Broadway.....Those performances on the Parade....were DREADFUL!

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The negativity on this board is horrendous. Everyone thinks they could be a better actor, director, choreographer or producer. It's a friggin' parade. Then again, this is the same group that trashed the Tony's and Broadway on Broadway. HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

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Updated On: 11/25/04 at 12:51 PM

Yeah, well Phantom2, one person's "negativity" is another's taste. And sense of history. Context -- this IS a great American art form -- is everything. I supposed people weaned on Disney shows and MAMA MIA are entitled to view the season through their filter. People who've been theatergoers for more than 2 or 3 years -- who attended with Rodgers and H and Lerner and Lowe shows, for example, when all those gentlemen were alive and writing for the stage -- have different experiences, and yes, call me a snob, standards. I feel "negatively" toward producers who see MAMA MIA and think, 'how do I make that kinda money?' without investing in new song-writing talent, and who care a whit about craft.

But Plum, you keep us honest, reminding of the things to come. Yes, there's promise on the horizon. This morning was a decidedly dreary snapshot of the autumn of 2004, alas. To return to my codger-speak a moment: I remember when October and November had 3-4 musical opening each. And that was the 80s.

Master's right, however: Why didn't the LITTLE WOMEN folks get their act together for this? Surely LITTLE WOMEN could fill the LA CAGE slot.

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Actually, the reaction to the Tonys ceremony was mostly positive as I remember it, Phantom2, except for the catfighting that emerged over Best Musical. This board is actually a whole lot happier than...other ones I've seen (theater-related and otherwise). How many "Fill-in-the-blank Appreciation" threads have been started on the OT board? We're filled with love.

But when something stinks, it gets criticized. I didn't see the parade and haven't commented on it, but I've already made my opinion of most jukebox shows abundantly clear. So I'll stop now.

Auggie27...Fine...you are a snob.Always try to please...And I am so glad that I do not "meet" your standards...Some 'clubs' are not worth belonging to.
All Shook Up...was GREAT!!!!!!!!
It is Definately not the "END" of Broadway...
I personally have no problem finding Many good shows to go to.Thank God that there is such a diverse field to choose from... Would be sad if all shows were made for only 'One" type of audience..I Love the variety.
To each there own...But all the doom and gloom...The End Of Broadway...Not even close...

Al Dente- Are you referring to their one sentence or less comments? I would NOT decide to see a show based on that.

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But you see Al...You say bad is bad...I and quite a few others say it was great...
One persons garbage is anothers treasures...I just can find no joy in constantly telling someone that their treasures are garbage...
So I say nothing if I have nothing decent to say.
Life is to short...and to precious...to always be looking to knock someones joy out of them...when it all comes down to personal choice...Is it really worth it?...On Thanksgfiving no less...

Broadwayguy2...Jenn was also Great...

BroadwayGuy makes a GREAT point.

We haven't seen ANY of these shows yet. Very often the GREATEST shows don't have numbers that work great out of context. Also- I doubt either of these numbers from Shook and Vibrations will even appear in the shows as we saw them. They were thrown together to make a certain point to the NBC morning family audiences. Maybe they succeeded. Maybe they didn't. They certainly didn't invite the critics and ask anyone to judge their entire show based on these singular numbers.

Here's a case in point: Brooklyn is not as good a show as the number they showed today on CBS. And The Producers is a MUCH better show than the number they showed.

Let's skewer these individual numbers all we want. But it's unfair to skewer the shows just because we didn't like MAMMA MIA. For all we know, ALL SHOOK UP will be terrific. Same with VIBRATIONS.

Also, we can't assume that the "highly anticipated" shows like SPAMALOT and PIAZZA will be good just because we like some of the people involved.

We just won't know until we see them.

Certainly, one of my pet peeves is when people "hate" shows they haven't seen.