"I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and bet that you're saying they were stolen from Les Mis? Um? It was kind of written by the same guys, so they kind of can't steal their own material?"
Yeah, the score is a mash-up of Les Mis, Miss Saigon, and Martin Guerre. I like or love all three of those scores. I didn't need to hear them a fourth time - though the score wasn't NEARLY as bad for me as the book was (which is where the real trouble with the musical is). On TheaterTalk this week they reran interviews with Peter Stone who, in MANY people's opinions, wrote one of the greatest books in musical theater history -- 1776. In the interview, he talks about how a show can have an amazing score and a terrible book and flop, but a show with a decent score and an excellent book can be a huge success because the story is what draws people in. The music in PQ isn't horrible because it IS written in a similar idiom to those other shows. The lyrics and book, however, are some of the worst I've ever seen, which, again following what Stone said, makes the show virtually unwatchable to many people.
At least with Tarzan the book followed the movie - it wasn't the greatest, but it was coherent. (And I would probably choose the PQ MUSIC over Tarzan's music any day -- lyric-wise - ugh, don't even want to think about it).
Hi, Shirley Temple Pudding.