Unpopular theatre opinions — Page 8

Moulin Rouge is irreparably bad. With the jukebox score of songs that were barely tolerable five years ago, there is literally nothing that can make that show good.

Lousy said: "Hadestown is a middling show that benefitted from opening in an otherwise weak year. In a standard year it would be third-string in the Best Musical race."

The thing is with Hadestown, and I say this as somebody whose favorite show it is, is that people connect with it for incredibly specific reasons that the show can’t necessarily take credit for. Like me personally, Orpheus (the current Broadway version, not the egomaniac from London) reminds me very much of my partner when we first met, so I sort of insert my own relationship into the story. That definitely wasn’t intended when the show was created, but connects me to it anyway. Most people I know who are obsessed with the show are also connected to it for random reasons.

So unless you’re hyper empathetic, or the show connects to your life experience in some way, there’s probably not too much for you left. It’s not like say Miss Saigon where it’s very rooted in reality and it’s impossible not to empathize. It certainly isn’t known for being a flashy show, so all it really has is it’s content. And if you don’t like that, the other small scale features won’t impress you.


My VERY unpopular opinion about the show is that I think it was actually too short, and would have done well being more of a traditional opera length. Not marketable for Broadway obviously, but I think it would have been better that way.

I don’t find The Play That Goes Wrong funny. The slapstick is super obvious and overplayed so you know exactly what’s going to happen, then they over-egg their reactions to let you know that ‘look something’s gone wrong!’
It would be better if they played it more straight and let the mistakes happen more organically so they felt believable and trusted the audience to laugh by themselves.
I want to love it because I’m a fan of old fashioned vaudeville slapstick, but they just don’t do it very well.

Also a lot of the hate towards ‘commercial’ shows comes across as snobbishness. Just because something is based on a movie, TV show or other property doesn’t mean it’s a cheap cash grab. The only reason Spongebob the musical didn’t win more Tony awards was because people judged it on its name and that it was based on a cartoon rather than how good the show actually was. As well as Ethan Slater and Gavin Lee, Mike Dobson deserved more recognition for doing live foley artistry every night without missing a beat.

As the thread title says, this is an opinion not something to ‘PROVE’

For a long time I thought the hype around Ginna Claire Mason in Wicked was a bit much... I saw her touring a few years ago and just didn't remember much of her performance at all. I felt like I was missing something I suppose.

Then they did their Tonight Show appearance the other day, and jeez. She's like a Disney princess and plays it with such nuance, I love that it isn't just the very "by the numbers" bouncing off the walls Glinda most folks tend to play up. This might be one of Wicked's best TV appearances... ever.

Moulin Rouge is a lightning in a bottle movie because of every element specific to the movie and it was just so its own thing and fresh in its originality. And that's what the creators of the broadway show didn't realize. Is it SHOULD be stupid. But the movie is what makes it work.

The star is Baz Luhrman's vision

Updated On: 9/21/21 at 11:53 AM

The music from Les Miserables SUCKS.

bway0 said: "soulmistin said: "Moulin Rouge is irreparably bad. With the jukebox score of songs that were barely tolerable five years ago, there is literally nothing that can make that show good."

Growing up my favorite movie of all time was Moulin Rouge. And still is. I watched that movie so many times my dvd broke and my family had to buy me a new one. That said, when I heard Moulin Rouge was finally coming to Broadway, I was extremely excited and couldn't wait to buy tickets. Once I heard about the music within the show, I thought wait.. what? Why change the music?! The movie music would have worked on stage. But unfortunately, that is not the case. Had the show kept the movie music, I would have seen the show 10 times by now. But I just can't see myself going and enjoying a Katy Perry song."

Yes, exactly this. Moulin Rouge was also my favorite movie as a kid, and I was so excited when I heard it was being adapted. I thought it would be an easy transition considering it's already a musical but they somehow screwed that up.

Nolan LuPone said: "The music from Les Miserables SUCKS."

Oh I so agree with this. It's a whole score of songs that sound like variations on God Bless America

Nolan LuPone said: "soulmistin said: "I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate on this one if you wouldn't mind."

Gladly. I don't have a problem with the lyrics, but the same musical themes are used over and over and over again for three hours. Not only is it overly repetative, but the written notes can sound cheesy at times and throughout the show there isan annoying "shring" noise (Can be heard at the beginning of Fantine's Death:Come To Me on the Original London Cast Recording)."

I have to agree about the music reuse, it reminds me of Wonderful Town in that way. I appreciate repeating themes when they make sense, but when it's disconnected characters basically singing the same song over and over it's irritating.



I also believe that Spongebob was not given a chance. It was certainly one of the most visually creative things I have ever seen. Also Ethan Slater and Gavin Lee both very much deserved to win Tonys for their work.

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The 2019 Cast Recording of Little Shop of Horrors is probably the best recording (except for Tammy Blanchard's autotune), and I'd feel comfortable calling it the definitive version of my favorite show.

I don't like Hamilton. God help me, I tried.