Unpopular theatre opinions — Page 7

Evan Hansen apologists....

What a stupid label. People who have a different opinion than you on Evan are NOT apologists. Ridiculous.

"Apologists" haha. I maintain that DEH cheats in its last act by functionally eliding the aftermath via "So Big, So Small", where Evan's mom's expression of unconditional love acts as a placeholder for everyone else's forgiveness. It's a beautiful moment, but Evan's actual actions are left unresolved. As a result, the final scene where Zoe is like "thanks for helping my family" before Evan is like "I'm me and that's great!" is such a weird, artificial narrative lurch. It brute forces an emotional conclusion, and if you're not won over by the actor playing Evan it means the whole show comes across as lopsided.

I don't think this would feel like half as big a deal as it does if the show hadn't branded itself as some kind of mental health awareness breakthrough.

My bigger hill I die on with Evan Hansen is I hate "Liar reveal" plots. It's thoroughly predictable and you're just watching it play out.

Cats is a fun, harmless show, and people who complain about it are taking it way too seriously.

Into the Woods has a pointlessly bleak message. Phantom 100% deserved Best Musical.

Ghost was a lot better than people gave it credit for. It was one of the few times I actually cried during a live performance.

Dance of the Vampires deserves another chance on Broadway.

Once was boring.

Catch Me If You Can deserved to be a hit.

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Updated On: 7/30/20 at 04:09 PM

I've never cared for Carol Channing. I just don't get her talent.

I don't think Madeline Kahn was an excellent singer (yes even in On The 20th Century).

Rosalie Craig was an excellent Bobbi vocally.

The 2018 Carousel Revival was excellent

The 2016 Sweet Charity revival was perfect.

My Fair Lady is just not a good show.

Miss Saigon rests on the music too hard and not enough on the story. Also, the helicopter is mediocre stagecraft.

Mamma Mia, may have been a bad show... but the production values were also horrible and just felt cheap.

Caroline Or Change is one of the most underrated musicals of all time and should have swept the 2004 Tonys.

Tamyra Grey, Deborah Cox, Heath Saunders are insanely underrated.

Chicago (the city, not musical) does not get nearly enough respect as a theater hub.

Tracy Letts is probably the most talented person in theater.

Joshua Henry was the best Burr and Karen Olivo was the best Angelica.

Something Just Broke is one of Sondheim's 10 best songs.

Audra McDonald has never been bad in anything she's ever done. She's a perfect performer.

There should be more Baritone, Bass and Alto leads.

I dont like Harvey Fierstein’s voice. I don’t get the hype around it, I don’t like hearing it, and it kinda makes listening to the OBC recording of Hairspray hard to listen to when he sings. Otherwise I love the album, hell i even love him as a performer and as a playwright and composer/Lyricist. I just don’t like his voice is all. Also I didn’t like Roland as Jeremy. He is a good actor even as Jeremy and has a good voice UNTIL he starts to get way too nasally. I don’t know if it’s just his voice or if it’s a character choice (or even a directorial choice from someone else) but I didn’t like his performance in that sense. At a few points in the show it became hard to listen to and at one point I literally cringed. First time I did that while seeing a Broadway show live

Of recent memory:

The recent Cats revival was much better than I thought it would be. Still not a great show, but certainly manageable.

I will admit that I had a good time at Escape to Margaritaville. It truly was not the disaster I was preparing for. The escapism factor in particular worked to perfection (a la Mamma Mia!, to a degree)- it was one of those shows where I could let loose and veer away from the plot. I saw a preview; it was frigid cold outside and I was in the mood for an easygoing, "tropical" show like that. Still not above-average overall, though.

I don't like Telly Leung and Carolee Carmello's singing voices. Leung sounds too nasal, and Carmello- despite her strong, beautiful presence in every show she does- needs to ease up on her vibrato.

I loved Something Rotten! more than I did The Book of Mormon.

Waitress was easily one of the worst shows I've ever seen. Great Comet ranks as one of my best. (Just thought I'd put that out there, because GC is not a "conventional" show, by all means)

From what I have seen and heard, Moulin Rouge! was better in Boston than in New York.

Judging from a tryout audio, a lot of the songs from Mrs. Doubtfire sound like tunes I have heard before, both in and out of the theatre world. (Someone else could possibly post a comment like this somewhere on the message boards again if Doubtfire eventually reopens. If not, I'll be more specific if more people get to see it)

Going forward, Broadway Cares fundraising should be less competitive and more collaborative. Don't pit shows against each other seeing who can raise the most money; work together to try and set new records.

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Updated On: 8/11/20 at 05:31 PM

1. Sondheim can be very hypocritical about different interpretations of his work and the work that he admires. And I don't understand why Follies is hyped up to the high heavens and to a lesser extent Sunday in the Park With George.

2. Spring Awakening has incredible music but a lot of the sexual humor in it takes away from the darkness of the show. I get any piece like that needs a bit of a lift but it throws off the balance of the show.

3. Never cared that much for A Chorus Line.

4. Composers should write more legit musical theatre style scores again. Sick of the pop/rock/contemporary MT trend.

5. Not necessarily an unpopular opinion but Ragtime glosses over and then glorifies Coalhouse's violent actions too much.

6. People on here look down on people who have just experienced the cast albums of shows and that pisses me off. Live theatre is a luxury and not everybody has the time or money to go to them nor does most of the country live in NYC. Those albums were life saving for me and many others. So take your snobbishness elsewhere.

Not every single movie turned musical needs a movie too. Proshot? Yes. I’d support that. A movie musical? Step too far and unnecessary.

Here's one: I dislike the choreography for Hamilton. I never thought it added much to the show and at times was distracting from the main action.

The songs in Beetlejuice are infuriating structurally. A lot of them have catchy ideas but they don't develop them so the songs don't stay memorable.

I'm the only person I know who wasn't impressed with Wicked. I actually almost fell asleep during the second act. There were a couple of numbers and stage design that were great, but I was stunned that this musical has lasted for such a long time and constantly sells well. However, to be fair, the only time I saw it was during the work week and I was exhausted. Since then I was always doubting myself whether the musical itself or my tiredness that day was the reason I didnt care for the show. That being said, I've decided to give Wicked another chance, so I'm seeing it again next week. Will make sure I'm getting a shot of espresso before the show!