Was it such a bad musical theatre season after all?

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 9:56pm

I must say that I truly enjoyed at least 5 musicals this past season.

The 2009-2010 theatre season includes:

-Bye Bye Birdie
-Fela!
-American Idiot
-White Christmas
-Come Fly With Me
-All About Me
-Finian's Rainbow
-Promises, Promises
-A Little Night Music
-Ragtime
-Everyday Rapture
-Memphis
-Million Dollar Quartet
-La Cage
-Sondheim on Sondheim
-The Addams Family

Off-Broadway hits:
-Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
-Scottsborough Boys
-Yank!

Let me know if I forgot any musicals...

Updated On: 6/17/10 at 09:56 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 9:59pm

The Addams Family

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:01pm

Thanks!

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:03pm

If you enjoyed 5 musicals then it's a GREAT season.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:03pm

IT SUCKED THE BIG WAZOO!

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:09pm

I thought Fela, American Idiot, Ragtime, Everyday Rapture, and La Cage were all very strong.

[singtopher]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:10pm

The season for me was highlighted by RAGTIME which at this point seems like 5 years ago after sitting through a lot of lackluster material this spring.

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:11pm

I normally only like musicals and I was much more intrigued by the plays this season, so that says something in my mind at least.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:22pm

Yes, it was.

None of the new musicals were any good, save for Everyday Rapture, and to a lesser extent Sondheim on Sondheim (though it's hard to screw up a revue).

Ragtime was the highlight of the season, and as an earlier posted pointed out, that feels like ages ago.

It was, however, an excellent season for play revivals.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:23pm

Was it a bad musical season? Not at all. It was a bad season for NEW musicals on Broadway. Take out all the revivals from your list and I bet you wouldn't have enjoyed nearly as many.

Also, WHITE CHRISTMAS and ALL ABOUT ME both played this season.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:35pm

Oh, and COME FLY AWAY. I always forget that's still running.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:53pm

Oh thanks!

[Shubert Alley Cat]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 10:59pm

Of the musicals I saw this season, here is where I stand. I broke them down by quality category. In each category, they go from my favorite to least favorite.

Excellent -- Ragtime, La Cage, Sondheim on Sondheim

Good -- A Little Night Music, Memphis, Promises, BBAJ

Fair -- American Idiot, Come Fly with Me, The Addams Family

I saw nothing that I would consider poor quality.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 11:07pm

And I rank:

5(Absolutely phenomenal):
Fela!
American Idiot
Ragtime
The Scottsboro Boys
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
La Cage Aux Folles

The only truly horrible productions tihs year were All About Me, Promises, Promises, and Million Dollar Failboat... nuff said. Not as bad as the year of Sunset, but definately not a 2005 or 2007

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 11:36pm

-Bye Bye Birdie ***** not excellent by any means, but I did have an excellent time while seeing it.
-Fela!*
-American Idiot *
-White Christmas N/A
-Come Fly With Me *
-All About Me *
-Finian's Rainbow *****
-Promises, Promises *****
-A Little Night Music ***
-Ragtime N/A
-Everyday Rapture **
-Memphis *****
-Million Dollar Quartet ***
-La Cage ***
-Sondheim on Sondheim **
-The Addams Family N/A

Off-Broadway hits:
-Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson **
-Scottsborough Boys N/A
-Yank! ***


Excellent *****
Very Good ****
Good ***
Fair **
Didn't like it *
Didn't see it N/A

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 11:54pm

And all but two Broadway musicals that you gave three or more stars to were revivals. Although I'm confused why you ranked BYE BYE BIRDIE as Excellent, than immediately said it was not excellent by any means.

I repeat: it was a lousy season for new musicals on Broadway.

Also, it's spelled "Scottsboro."

[Here I Am]

Posted: 6/18/10 at 12:29am

The plays were very strong this year (on and off-Broadway). And yes, it was a weak year for musicals (considering how strong last year was), but there were some gems. Out of the ones I've seen I absolutely loved American Idiot, Everyday Rapture and A Little Night Music.

ps- muscle, I'm very confused and perplexed by your list. lol. But hey, opinions are opinions. No judgements. Updated On: 6/18/10 at 12:29 AM

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 6/18/10 at 2:19am

Stop trying to stir up **** Muscle.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/18/10 at 2:24am

Mildred asking a poster to stop stirring things up. Now that is rich! :)

[jv92]

Posted: 6/18/10 at 11:25am

It was a bad new musical season on Broadway. The revivals were all fairly good, with Birdie being the big(artistic) bomb and Ragtime being the big (artistic) success. However regarding Off-Broadway, when you have a new musical like The Scottsboro Boys, why complain?

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/18/10 at 7:24pm

I'd say you can measure how bad the season was this way:

Take what you thought was the worst new musical of last season and ask yourself, if it had opened this season would it have won any of the creative Tony's this year?

If the answer is yes, then it was a bad season.

This was a bad season.

There wasn't even anything enjoyably bad this year.

It was all so.....beige.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 6/18/10 at 7:30pm

I just am going to measure things this way.

If Muscle likes it, it really means it is bad.
If Muscle hates it, it really means it is good.

[jan.kaim]

Posted: 6/18/10 at 10:54pm

well said.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/19/10 at 12:04am

Then the translation for the people on the board obsessed with me would be:

Amazing: Fela, American Idiot, Come Fly and All About Me.

Terrible: Bye Bye Birdie, Promises, Memphis, A Little Night Music and Yank!

[quizking101]

Posted: 6/19/10 at 1:50pm

I speak in defense of ALL ABOUT ME. It was a hot mess, but for what it was worth, it was a very enjoyable hot mess...