Unpopular opinions you hold- Page 42

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 9:12am

note to self get ready for the hate here...I thought THE BANDS VISIT was boring, and i couldn't understand half the actors for their "accents"!...(Tony Shalhoub was not in it when i saw it...talk about understudies ruining my BAND'S visit!!)

[theaterlyfe19]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 10:32am

I don’t worship at the altar of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Do I think he’s brilliant? Yes. Do I think everyone MUST know who he is and feel ashamed if they don’t? No. Because not everyone knows theater or follows it. It’s OKAY to not know who he is.


Don’t @ me.

[theaterlyfe19]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 10:32am

It could be because I wasn’t feeling well that night, but I didn’t enjoy The Bands Visit as much as I thought I would.

[Dave28282]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 10:57am

I think Hamilton is in the same category as RENT, quality wise.

Reasonably entertaining, here and there a catchy tune and an emotional moment, but overall too many characters to really care for them, and too flawed to be called a "good" show. Cliche's in staging and storytelling, inconsistent, leaning towards musical parody (show title/character sung 40 times to make clear what the show is about), head flip on last chord, people standing in row singing to the audience, messed up balance between the storytelling in acting and singing, lack of sincerity, songs that feel forced and very annoyingly composed sequences in between scenes. (tune up#1, christmas bells, lots of that in Hamilton too). Funny comedic song in the middle by random unknown character, jumping from 1 style to the other. I do have to say that RENT understands the balance between sung thoughts and sung dialogue a bit more, Hamilton is all over the place. In the music, every now and then there is a line that leans towards being beautiful, but then quickly cut off for some generic noise. (for example, mimi in another day singing a beautiful line, quickly cut off by roger "excuse me, if I'm on crack", in Hamilton, most of Eliza's lines are cut off with generic noise too). It never gets really beautiful in both shows. That's not the end of the world per se, if we could have emotional connections with all characters, so at least that would keep me invested. But in both shows there's just too many characters with random one liners or songs. At the end, of course, a preach song to the audience (or life is yours to miss/who tells your story), to speak to the audience in a way too literal manner, extremely cliche. 

Updated On: 12/17/18 at 10:57 AM

[Impossible2]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 3:27pm

I only saw Hamilton 3 weeks ago and have been back a 2nd time since.

I think the first 3/4 is brilliant, the last section however is complete and utter tosh on every level and lets the whole thing down.

I saw Rent once, didn't like it at all and I have no idea how it could be compared to Hamilton they are completely different in every way.

[BobBenson]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 5:43pm

It is absolutely ridiculous that the creators of HA MILTON are receiving anything from the Kennedy Center. Absolutely abhorrent and shocking.  It is a travesty. Don't @ me.

[Sincerely Werk!]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 9:29pm

The obc of Hamilton, while mostly good, isn't perfect. I never got the hype over Anthony Ramos (his Phillip is cute but his Laurens sounds seriously out of breath) and even my middle aged mother with literally no experience with musical theater says that Lin can't sing or rap. 

[alex814]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 9:40pm

Hair and Spring Awakening would've lasted a little longer if they had catered some casting choices to fan favorites instead of the mediocre-at-best replacements both productions brought in.  

[mamaleh]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 10:00pm

MATILDA deserved the Tony over KINKY BOOTS (MATILDA deserved the longer run, too).  

It is maddening to hear people gush about THE COLOR PURPLE, film or musical, when it is based on a book by an avowed antisemite (Alice Walker openly owns up to that title, by the way).  Those who pat themselves on the back for being so morally "woke"/socially progressive think nothing of lauding her.   

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 10:27pm

mamaleh said: "MATILDA deserved the Tony over KINKY BOOTS (MATILDA deserved the longer run, too).

It is maddening to hear people gush about THE COLOR PURPLE, film or musical,when it is based on a book by an avowed antisemite (Alice Walker openly owns up to that title, by the way). Those who pat themselves on the back for being so morally "woke"/socially progressivethink nothingof lauding her. "

I think lots of people think Matilda was superior to Kinky Boots. 

I had no idea about Walker’s anti-semitism, but a quick google search seems to confirm it. It’s quite disappointing. But let me be clear. I love the book and the movie, but not because I consider myself “woke.”  If you think by liking either, I’m condoning her anti-semitism, please consider that her reported anti-semitism is nowhere to be found in the book and the movie was directed by a Jewish man. As far as the musical revival (never saw the original), I thought it was flawed especially in the hurried wrapping up of plot-lines at the end of Act 2, but was redeemed by great performances. 

[LLW2]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 10:35pm

Impossible2 said: "I only saw Hamilton 3 weeks ago and have been back a 2nd time since.

I think the first 3/4 is brilliant, the last section however is complete and utter tosh on every level and lets the whole thing down."

I don't argue with this but I am curious about your take. How is the last 1/4 different from the first 3/4?

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 12/17/18 at 11:26pm

Maybe it didn't belong in a Broadway house, but The Story of My Life is a genuinely beautiful musical that more people should know about and more theatres should present.

Thom Pain just goes right over my head.

Adam Guettel's music is not very good. A lot of it just sounds muddled and confused

[Here I Am]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 1:16am

‘The Story of My Life’ is a gorgeous show! Thank you for mentioning it!!

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 1:29am

Patti Lupone isn't all that.

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 3:49am

I loved the recent revival of The Glass Menagerie staring Sally Field

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 5:42am

Some posters on here are so ridiculously irrelevant and jaded it's hard to take an opinion they have seriously. I also see the same three or four names pop up in every single thread and I pity the woman who carried a child for nine months just for them to grow up and get their justification from an anonymous board about Broadway theater. It reeks of pity.

 

Also "THE RINK" is a great show. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 10:16am

mamaleh said: "MATILDA deserved the Tony over KINKY BOOTS (MATILDA deserved the longer run, too)."

Definitely. 

 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 2:42pm

Some posters on here are so ridiculously irrelevant and jaded it's hard to take an opinion they have seriously.

That's sort of how I felt about this:

Lin Manuel Miranda needs to just stop. HAMILTONn is a decent piece of theatre but it definitely isn't the game changer that people claim it to be. His sudden Hollywood fame and appearance EVERYWHERE really is grating on me. His accent in MARY POPPINS RETURNS turns what could have been an instant classic into a farce. 

Teenage girls are ruining contemporary musical theatre. 

I hope he doesn't stop.  At all.  I think he deserves the praise and the fame.  And it's so refreshing that the newest bonafide musical theatre composer to become a household name and recognized internationally actually IS a Broadway game-changer through his award-winning compositions, and also a POC.

The English wouldn't know good theatre if it slapped them across the face.

AND YET...they awarded Caroline or Change the Olivier for Best Musical!

"I love Rent" is an unpopular opinion?  That's really depressing.

[Sincerely Werk!]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 4:19pm

Mister Matt said: "Some posters on here are so ridiculously irrelevant and jaded it's hard to take an opinion they have seriously.

That's sort of how I felt about this:

Lin Manuel Miranda needs to just stop. HAMILTONn is a decent piece of theatre but it definitely isn't the game changer that people claim it to be. His sudden Hollywood fame and appearance EVERYWHERE really is grating on me. His accent in MARY POPPINS RETURNS turns what could have been an instant classic into a farce.

Teenage girls are ruining contemporary musical theatre.

I hope he doesn't stop. At all. I think he deserves the praise and the fame. And it's so refreshing that the newest bonafide musical theatre composer to become a household name and recognized internationally actually IS a Broadway game-changer through his award-winning compositions, and also a POC.

The English wouldn't know good theatre if it slapped them across the face.

AND YET...they awarded Caroline or Change the Olivier for Best Musical!

"I love Rent" is an unpopular opinion? That's really depressing."

I agree with you about the Lin thing. He might not be perfect in the singing department but he's super talented and a great person. 

[Impossible2]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 4:54pm

LLW2 said: "Impossible2 said: "I only saw Hamilton 3 weeks ago and have been back a 2nd time since.

I think the first 3/4 is brilliant, the last section however is complete and utter tosh on every level and lets the whole thing down."

I don't argue with this but I am curious about your take. How is the last 1/4 different from the first 3/4?"

First off I thought it was an amazing show don't get me wrong, I just thought that during the 'death' segment of the show the quality of the music and lyrics dropped off and became cliched, manipulative (only it failed for me) and became very bog standard 'Broadway musical' compared to the first 3/4 of the show which was so highly original.

Whereas I found both Wait for It and Dear Theodosia beautiful and moving, those last fews songs were clumsy muck.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 5:04pm

I love those last songs. To each their own.

[Impossible2]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 5:07pm

Miles2Go2 said: "I love those last songs. To each their own."

They're fine, just just not as strong as the best songs in the show.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 5:25pm

Impossible2 said: "Miles2Go2 said: "I love those last songs. To each their own."

They're fine, just just not as strong as the best songs in the show."

Yep, that’s your opinion. Just not one I share. 

[mordav]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 8:38pm

I wasn’t blown away by The Ferryman, but have mixed feelings.

 

SPOILERS BELOW 

I find myself agreeing with some of the critics who were, well, critical of - Irish cliches and stereotypes, the cliched (and a little offensive) intellectually slow character who becomes uncontrollably violent, the use of a character, Maggie, as little more than a contrivance, moving in and out of being far away, just to add exposition to the plot, the lack of agency of the women, especially the cliche of the bed-ridden wife, the cliched ‘bad guy’, unnuanced and dressed in black. And the “wrath of Quinn” ending (as one critic put it) had me rolling my eyes.
The reason that my feelings are mixed is that the scene with the teenage boys discussing the Bobby Sands funeral and the IRA was one of the best things I’ve ever seen in the theatre.

Updated On: 12/18/18 at 08:38 PM

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 12/18/18 at 9:01pm

The Ferryman didn't live up to the hype at all. Poorly constructed, poorly paced, manipulative direction, every cliche you could possibly think of and a laughable ending.