What happened to originality?

[kathy selden]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:31am

Is anyone else tired of musicals/plays inspired by movies? What has happened to originality? Come on - Shrek The Musical? Disney? Anything with someone who appeared on American Idol or won a contest to star in it makes one stand at TKTS and think 'not so much'. Why would I want to plunk down $120 for a ticket to that? Clay Aiken billed as an "International Superstar" on what planet?
Anyone else craving originality?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:34am

What did happen to originality? How many times are we going to have new threads covering the same topic over and over with someone lamenting the lack of originality on Broadway?

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:46am

I was just about to post something very similar, Cats!

Posted: 11/26/08 at 1:07am

The really original musicals we all remember have almost always been the exception, not the rule with Broadway... Look at a random New York season like say 1954, and I doubt it will seem all that groundbreaking or original.

[cello_dude]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 1:08am

nothing is original. Before movies musicals were based on books and plays, which were based on operas or folk tales

[MusicAndPassion]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 1:52am

I think originality is still alive and well in the plays of New York. Check most Off-Broadway and Broadway plays. Except for revivals most of them relate to themes of today. You have disfunctional families, drug and alcohol abuse, abuse of political power, politics, affairs, sex, war and so much more.

[binau]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 2:00am

Look at this week's grosses and you'll see why there is little originality..

[deadparrot]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 2:09am

As others have stated above, musical theatre has never been a particularly original medium--people who think they remember a great golden age of originality are deluding themselves. Look at the classics--nearly all are adapted from some other source material, be it a book, play, movie, etc.

Comment on and debate the quality of today's musicals all you want, but let's not revise history here.

[Cartwheel]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 11:51am

"Anything with someone who appeared on American Idol or won a contest to star in it makes one stand at TKTS and think 'not so much'."

So? Go ahead and skip a great performance if you are so particular about the way Idol stars got into the show business.

Most "proper" actors would soil their pants if they had to compete with 100,000 other hopefuls to even get close to winning a role, and then had to have several months worth of auditions, where their every note and move was critiqued on national TV. It's not for the faint of heart.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 11:55am

Or the closeted.

[Cartwheel]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:08pm

While the homophobia may have prevented Clay from winning American Idol, he still accomplished a hell of a lot more than many whiny losers that are so resentful of his path to success. And that is exactly my point.

[A Fleur De Toi]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:09pm

What happened to originality?

Well, that's an original question, for sure.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:10pm

Many of the books/plays/folk tales that are deserving of being musicalized already have been so it's not such a huge thing for them to cast their eyes to Hollywood. As many other posters have stated there isn't a whole lot of original material out there.

Not long ago TCM aired the film version of the Matchmaker with Anthony Perkins. I think I actually enjoyed it more than "Hello, Dolly". I found it to have much more wit and charm.

And just because people have a different way of saying "look at me - I have talent" than they did 50 years ago doesn't mean they actually have less talent than anyone else. Sure, there are people from AI that I, personally, don't like but I don't think they're undeserving.

[Dre2387]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:17pm

Name the latest original musical (besides In the Heights and 13).

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:30pm

While the homophobia may have prevented Clay from winning American Idol, he still accomplished a hell of a lot more than many whiny losers that are so resentful of his path to success. And that is exactly my point

As opposed, I guess, to the shrill and humorless who must appear to defend their queen any time there's even a whiff of criticism and then has the never to sling the words "whiny losers" at others.

[Cartwheel]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:39pm

Yeah. As opposed to the haters who must show up to trash him and derail every thread where his name is mentioned.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:42pm

hmm... the last original thing??
curtains?? that was surely original (as far as i know)

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:44pm

Drowsy wasn't based on anything either if I am not mistaken. But shows like Curtains and Drowsy are few and far between.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:45pm

exactly, and look at how long they lasted :/ quite unfortunate

but I must say... i had the wonderful chance to see Curtains and i LOVVVVED it!
The material was great, so was everything else!

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:49pm

Umm originality? Most of the "most loved" musicals in the history of theatre are not original.

Oklahoma? Yeah, that was based on a little play called Green Grow the Lilacs.

Gypsy? Yeah, that's based on a book, based on a real person.

My Fair Lady? A little play called Pygmalion.

West Side Story? Romeo & Juliet

Les Miserables? A book of the same name.

Showboat? A book

South Pacific? A novel

Sound of Music? A memoir by Maria von Trapp

Into the Woods? famous fairytales and a book from the 60s


A lack of Originality ISN'T NEW.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:55pm

Two things:

CATSNYrevival & EricMontreal - Word. This topic has been discussed to death.

Avenue Q was an original musical that has run for over 5 years and won the Tony for Best Musical.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:57pm

Can you call truly Avenue Q an "original musical" since it's a parody of Sesame Street? While it's not based on it there is source material.

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:57pm

it's original but a large part of the concept is based on Sesame St. and the story of a person looking for purpose in their life isn't exactly unheard of.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 1:00pm

Cartwheel, your little picture, while cute, doesn't really apply since my comment was already the pot calling your kettle.

I expect dumpy middle-aged women to be smarter than this.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 1:26pm

Can you call truly Avenue Q an "original musical" since it's a parody of Sesame Street? While it's not based on it there is source material.

Yes. An original musical is one that contains an original book and an original score. While the concept for the show may be based on Sesame Street, the show itself is original material.

it's original but a large part of the concept is based on Sesame St. and the story of a person looking for purpose in their life isn't exactly unheard of.

Boiling down the plot to its bare minimum doesn't really make it less original. It's like saying Curtains is not original because it is a murder mystery.