What is the most obscure but brilliant musical you love?- Page 5

[newintown]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 2:06pm

Most Happy Fella - THREE (count 'em 3) commercial Broadway productions. City Center production. City Opera production. Community/summer theatre favorite for decades. Top 40 song from the score. Several other semi-standards from the score.

How much more "dues" do you propose it needs?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 2:24pm

I didn't think City Center and NYCO technically counted as commercial Broadway productions, but it's not like the property is amongst the more mainstream high-profile Broadway musicals. There was a brief revival when the Michigan Opera production (televised on PBS) transferred and the scaled-down Goodspeed revival in 1992, but the show itself never seemed to rank as highly as it deserved. I think having to compete with West Side Story, My Fair Lady and Bells are Ringing during its original run put the show at a disadvantage. Is it really a community/summer theatre "favorite"? I've only seen two productions advertised in my area (one in Houston and one in Chicago) over the last 18 years. The production at Theatre Under the Stars in Houston in the 90s is the best production of any show I've seen them produce. And if it weren't for regular subscribers, I doubt they would have the attendance to last a weekend.

How much more "dues" do you propose it needs?

Funny how when Follies is discussed, that question is rarely, if ever, raised.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 2:50pm

The City Center and NYCO productions of Fella were in addition to the 3 commercial Broadway productions.

I think any show with two Broadway revivals (no matter how successful) can be called mainstream.

I think it may be advisable to adhere to the original idea of obscure shows, as relative a term as that may be. Good definitions to consider; "relatively unknown," "not famous."

I think people familiar with musical theatre are familiar with Fella, "Standing On The Corner," "Joey, Joey, Joey," "Big D," "My Heart Is So Full of You."

I don't get the Follies comparison. Are you saying that it, too, is obscure? Or it hasn't received the respect and success it deserves? I believe every work of art receives the success that it is going to receive. We may love a painting or piece of music that is not world famous, and wish that more people love it as we did; that doesn't however, make it worthy of more success, respect, or "dues."

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 3:33pm

I think people familiar with musical theatre are familiar with Fella, "Standing On The Corner," "Joey, Joey, Joey," "Big D," "My Heart Is So Full of You."

Which is why I said it wasn't technically "obscure". It is just mostly forgotten.

I don't get the Follies comparison. Are you saying that it, too, is obscure? Or it hasn't received the respect and success it deserves?

I'm saying staunch Sondheim/Follies fans pretty much always say it hasn't received the respect and success it deserves. Personally, I don't care for the show. But I do think when it comes to any art form, many of the most respected pieces of art were not popular, successful or respected when they premiered. Often, it takes a long departure from current fashions and trends to properly respect what had been formally dismissed by critics and the general public.

But no, I don't think The Most Happy Fella is "mainstream", at least not in terms of the general public, who are probably familiar with "Standing on the Corner", but have no idea it was from a musical at all.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 5:54pm

Bajour was a fun show

It had a pleasant score & great dancing not to mention Herschel Bernardi & a young Chita Rivera

Celebration was really off beat. It should have been off broadway & it could easily be revived their now. Another off beat show is Phileoman by Jones & Schmidt.

Updated On: 4/22/10 at 05:54 PM

[twinbelters]

Posted: 4/22/10 at 5:45pm

I couldn't agree more Mister Matt. Fella is not a part of the mainstream vernacular as Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed... Perhaps because it was never a movie? Perhaps because it is more often performed in opera houses?

That being said I love Follies, and it is definitely not obscure.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/22/10 at 6:03pm

I wish there had been a film of Most Happy Fella, though it probably would have been hacked to bits, as was the custom at the time, especially considering the story was a bit "progressive" in terms of movie musicals of the era. But listening to the OBC, the score is so cinematic, it sounds as if no alternate arrangements are necessary to transfer it to the screen. The underscoring is some of the best ever written for Broadway. And that Italian trio, as irrelevant to the story as "Standing on the Corner" (not that I care in the least), is heavenly. The scene where they meet Rosabella is the essence of romance and charm.

*sigh*

What I wouldn't give to see another beautiful full staging of this show...