Unpopular opinions you hold- Page 26

[hork]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 3:53pm

I didn't think Cynthia Erivo was very good in The Color Purple. Great singer, but she seemed to think that acting shy and meek meant mumbling through her dialogue in a monotone. I couldn't understand half of what she said in the first act.

[pupscotch]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 3:53pm

I think Dear Evan Hansen is one of the weakest new musicals of the season, and Platt seems to be playing an emotion the entire way through, rather than a chatacter. It may be the fault of the writers, or it may be Platt's, but I have a hard time finding any discernable personality traits from Evan. 

Updated On: 5/24/17 at 03:53 PM

[MsEmilia]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 4:05pm

- I really liked Daphne Rubin-Vega as Fantne in Les Mis, it's the only time she's ever been good 
- Bernadette Peters was a way better Sally than Victoria Clark - Victoria Clark's voice does absolutely nothing for me.
- The new revival of The Glass Menagerie was excellent, and only got bad reviews because of the unimaginative broadway purists (i know someone already posted this but I agree)
- Sunset Boulevard should have been nominated for Best Revival, not Falsettos - also, I really don't get the hype around Falsettos, as a musical it's really quite dull
- Come From Away is a mediocre show and has only been as well received as it has been because of its plot and it's "timeliness," because it has a completely trite script and a wholely unmemorable score.
- The Great Comet should win best musical
- War Paint should have been nominated for best score 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 4:12pm

hork said: "I've come to realize that I hate West Side Story.

Despite loving the score, I have never enjoyed WSS.  And, here's the sacrilege, I think it was because of the  choreography...I just didn't enjoy It, especially the opening number and dance at the gym.

i used to agree with Mr. Novak re MFL, until I saw two scaled-down productions within a year and loved them both.  I concluded that a well-done scaled down production was much better than a mediocre lavish production.

i also think Hamilton is too busy.  Loved it the first time, not nearly as much the second time, and in no rush to see it a third.  

I think the first act of SITPWG is boring and think the second act is incredibly moving.

I hated every production of Into the Woods I have ever seen, and finally came to realize it is because I dislike the score so much, particularly the title theme that seems to be constantly played.

i loved The Crucible last year, probably more than any production of Miller I have ever seen.

i think Jan Maxwell is overrated and was terrible in Follies.

i think Patti Lupone's best performance was in Anything Goes, and that Bernadette Peters was better as Mama Rose.

 

[Cat Guy]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 5:02pm

Well.

I hate the musical "Rent," and I hate the song "Seasons of Love" even more.  My worst night in a theatre was having to endure sitting through that dreadful thing.  Just too schmaltzy.

[hork]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 5:15pm

Jarethan said: "hork said: "I've come to realize that I hate West Side Story.

Despite loving the score, I have never enjoyed WSS.  And, here's the sacrilege, I think it was because of the  choreography...I just didn't enjoy It, especially the opening number and dance at the gym.
 

Yeah, the dancing is my biggest problem with it, although I also think the book is kind of terrible. But then, I've never really liked Romeo and Juliet, either. I do like some of the songs, especially "Gee, Officer Krupke" and "America."

Updated On: 5/24/17 at 05:15 PM

[Dave28282]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 5:16pm

I can't stand Ramin Karimloo.

Seldom have I heard anyone sing more off key. This man is not able to sing melodies. The notes are systematically above the supposed note and low notes are avoided overall, replaced by off key high notes, resulting in a totally different melody.

I actually wonder if he is unable to control his voice aside from the wailing, or that his musicality is just inadequate.

[A Canadian in NYC]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 5:33pm

TranVanDinh said: "Nicole 10 said: "Josh Groban didn't deserve the nomination. Jon Jon Briones did." 

I agree 1000% Nicole.  :)

 

Me three - Jon Jon was robbed!!!

This is fun.

 

 

"

 

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 5:55pm

Dave28282 said: "I can't stand Ramin Karimloo.

Seldom have I heard anyone sing more off key. This man is not able to sing melodies. The notes are systematically above the supposed note and low notes are avoided overall, replaced by off key high notes, resulting in a totally different melody.

I actually wonder if he is unable to control his voice aside from the wailing, or that his musicality is just inadequate.

 

"

 When I read the YouTube fangirl comments about how he was the best Phantom/Enjolras/valjean/Chris ever, I just assume that they haven't listened to many other male singers. Because he isn't the best of any role he has performed (maybe Gleb . His social media accounts are also dreadful. 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 6:52pm

From this season:

1. I don't think Hello Dolly! belongs on the list of greatest American musical comedies. I think the score is hummable but not that memorable except for the title song and the script is very dated and the humor very predictable, and relies too much on the schtick of the title character. Guys and Dolls, She Loves Me, On the Town, Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate, Music Man ... Those are the great American musical comedies. 

2. I liked Nixon better as Regina and Linney better as Birdie in The Little Foxes.

3. I think Jennifer Ehle and Jefferson Mays were the least deserving to be nominated from Oslo's cast. For me, that show was about Anthony Azizi and Michael Aronov. 

4. I think Groundhog Day has a better score than Great Comet.

[Chicken_Flavor]

Posted: 5/24/17 at 7:29pm

dear evan hansen is annoying

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 2:57am

I like Brittain's voice and I thought that was a wonderful moment in the theater. But then I like more unusual singer songwriter voices. And I think it's good that musical theater is opened up to more unique voices and not just that same bland contemporary musical theater sound that makes actors versatile but also sound the same. I do think the vocals in the music video don't sound as good as they did in person. 

It really isn't difficult to understand Great Comet. 

I might have said this already but I'm not impressed with Duncan Sheik's music. There were parts of Spring Awakening I liked but it wasn't that remarkable. American Psycho was mostly... not good. And Mother Courage barely deserves to be mentioned. It was that embarrassing.

I enjoyed parts of Falsettos but it felt like separate plays that had been mashed together awkwardly and some parts were underdeveloped. Whizzer and Marvin who should have been the strongest were the weakest and I did not cry. And I'll cry at some real nonsense. 

I think almost all the songs in Come From Away sound the same. 

Ramin Karimloo is a bland actor. And Broadgrass is stupid and sounds terrible.

[cam5y]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 9:09am

I thought A Doll's House Part 2 was a dreadful play, full of cliches and ultimately trite (well acted though). I also think the plot of Dear Evan Hansen was so unearned and made me so uncomfortable that I was unable to enjoy the (generally good) score. I think taking the extract from War and Peace that they did for Great Comet made the story silly and ultimately meaningless. 

Hello Dolly was fun, but really nothing beyond that. It was well executed by competent professionals. I really didn't understand the multiple standing ovations and general hysteria. 

[Miss Jezebel DuPree2]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 9:27am

Idina Menzel and Lea Michelle are not talented. 

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 1:25pm

Despite raves from this board- found Side Show mediocre- did not like Fun Home at all- thought View From the Bridge was mediocre- liked Glass Menagerie with Sally, miscasting and all in that production- thought In The Heights was more entertaining than Hamilton.

[elephantseye]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 2:49pm

- Lin Manuel Miranda needs to stop casting himself in his own shows (I think a couple of other people have already said this)

- Great Comet was mediocre at best; the lighting design was stunning but everything else was meh

- Denée Benton was bland for me; not bad by any measure, but not amazing (although I think that has more to do with the book than with her acting)

- Falsettos should win the Tony for revival

- Brittain Ashford always sounds like she has cotton balls shoved in her nose; I cannot imagine how or why she was cast, she completely took me out of the show

- I didn't like The Color Purple but I thought Cynthia Erivo was wonderful; being at closing night was fun because of the audience's enthusiasm, but if it'd be a regular performance I probably would have fallen asleep

- I enjoyed The Present; wasn't the best theatre I've seen, but it certainly wasn't as awful as everyone else seemed to think

[yfs]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 3:27pm

"The Miller's Son" is a simply terrible song. 

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 7:30pm

Add me to the "Jon Jon Briones was robbed" list. I personally would have nominated him over David Hyde Pierce. 

[A Canadian in NYC]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 7:54pm

Emmaloucbway said: "Add me to the "Jon Jon Briones was robbed" list. I personally would have nominated him over David Hyde Pierce. 

 

"

I actually legitimately do not understand how he was not nominated.  I loved Josh Groban in THC - but he wasn't a large presence and felt more like a featured role than a leading role. I get why he's termed leading but still... compared to Jon Jon. Well I just don't understand it. 

 

[ThaDudeAbides]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 8:16pm

I am close to shedding a tear, now that I've found my people. It almost makes me angry that I have no choice but to listen to Brittain Ashford singing "Sonya Alone". Such a beautiful melody, but she's on every dang recording. I'm sure she's a lovely person, but that mannered singing style grates me something fierce.

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 9:09pm

I actually thought Ashford was the highlight of Great Comet. That being said, I HATED Lucas Steele SO much.

[willrolandsframes]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 9:57pm

I'm probably the only person in the world with this opinion, but Bette Midler does not deserve the Tony over Eva Noblezada. For the past 5-10 years (sometimes longer), whenever people would ask "Who's someone you would really want to play Dolly Levi?", one of the top answers was Bette Midler. Everyone knew she would do great in the role. And she has. She has met everyone's expectations.

Meanwhile at the Broadway Theatre, Eva Noblezada, a young girl who may not even be 21 and doesn't even have a Wikipedia page, has come out and given an incredible performance as Kim. I've even heard a few people say she was better than Lea Salonga herself. While the revival of Miss Saigon is inferior to that of Hello, Dolly!, I personally believe that Noblezada puts on the better performance altogether, and therefore deserves the Tony.

But my opinion is worthless anyways, because even if the Tony voters decided that Eva Noblezada WAS better than Midler, Scott Rudin would still do whatever it possibly would take to get Bette that Tony.

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 10:03pm

n2nbaby said: "I actually thought Ashford was the highlight of Great Comet. That being said, I HATED Lucas Steele SO much."

YES. I hate his high notes and while I'm a lesbian, I don't find him "hot" either. I still think I'm not over hearing him butcher Hedwig too.

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 10:16pm

ChildofEarth said: "n2nbaby said: "I actually thought Ashford was the highlight of Great Comet. That being said, I HATED Lucas Steele SO much."

YES. I hate his high notes and while I'm a lesbian, I don't find him "hot" either. I still think I'm not over hearing him butcher Hedwig too."

My mom turned to me at intermission and said, "we must have the understudy - what's wrong with his voice??" Never mind the total misconception of the talent of understudies, but it made me laugh. I have mixed feelings about him... I think he was flawless as the character, but his voice always sounds to me like someone who is faking what he thinks an opera singer should sound like. 

And @willrolandsframes - you're not alone. I thought Eva Noblezada was incredible. I have a lifelong love of Bette and think she absolutely nailed the humor and character of Dolly, so I'm still rooting for her and I'd be shocked if she doesn't win. But if she wasn't in the race I'd be Team Noblezada all the way.

[ThaDudeAbides]

Posted: 5/25/17 at 11:03pm

Lucas Steele was out, when I saw Great Comet. Maybe I got lucky. Somebody let me know when Ashford's understudy goes on...