#101
Posted: 5/31/14 at 9:10pm
I totally agree with you newtontown...especially when it comes to ANYONE CAN WHISTLE
What is the most underrated musical of all time — Page 5
#102
Posted: 5/31/14 at 9:17pm
Re: Cyrano. Do you mean '73 with Christopher Plummer and Leigh Beery or '93 with Bill van Dijk and Anne Runolfson? '73 was very, very underappreciated. '93? Meh.
#103
Posted: 5/31/14 at 10:24pm
Jarethan-- not sure if you're referring to The Robber Bridegroom in your post, but I'll assume you are..
"I don't know if you are old enough to have seen the production at the Broadway theatre 40 (ugh) years ago...I doubt it could be improved upon."
I happily AM old enough to have seen the OBC. Knowing nothing about the show, I was blown away by the score, the cast, the set by Doug Schmidt (a barn interior covered in a mural of the Natchez Trace woods). The hopeless love story was hypnotic and the environmental staging where the cast played instruments to tell a communal fable predated the technique common today on shows like ONCE by 39 years.
Does this show even exist out there in the world of regional theaters and high school productions? I have no idea why it hasn't been revived on the Encore/ Reprise circuit.
"I don't know if you are old enough to have seen the production at the Broadway theatre 40 (ugh) years ago...I doubt it could be improved upon."
I happily AM old enough to have seen the OBC. Knowing nothing about the show, I was blown away by the score, the cast, the set by Doug Schmidt (a barn interior covered in a mural of the Natchez Trace woods). The hopeless love story was hypnotic and the environmental staging where the cast played instruments to tell a communal fable predated the technique common today on shows like ONCE by 39 years.
Does this show even exist out there in the world of regional theaters and high school productions? I have no idea why it hasn't been revived on the Encore/ Reprise circuit.
Updated On: 5/31/14 at 10:24 PM
#104
Posted: 5/31/14 at 11:17pm
I was referring to the Christopher Plummer version. I still can't believe how little respect it got. Plummer gave what for my $$ was on of the two or three best performances ever given by a male in a musical. The CD contains a lot of dialogue from the show, yet manages to bear up to repeated listening...not an easy feat. And the score is really good.
#105
Posted: 5/31/14 at 11:20pm
I am not getting the hang of this yet...thought I was responding to a specific post, but it did not come out that way. I was referring to Cyrano. I was disappointed in Robber, although I thought Barry Bostwick deserved his Tony.
#106
Posted: 5/31/14 at 11:20pm
I am not getting the hang of this yet...thought I was responding to a specific post, but it did not come out that way. I was referring to Cyrano. I was disappointed in Robber, although I thought Barry Bostwick deserved his Tony.
#107
Posted: 6/1/14 at 12:00am
After thinking about it for a while, my vote goes for ONE TOUCH OF VENUS. Absolutely gorgeous score, and the script still holds up pretty well. It's certainly as good as some of its popular contemporaries that have become enduring favorites, yet it gets no recognition and is pretty much forgotten.
I could also argue for SHE LOVES ME. While it's hardly forgotten, it ought to be regarded as one of the all-time classics, but isn't. It's another case of being as good if not better than its enduring contemporaries, but somehow falling to the wayside. Its lack of a film adaption is probably a big reason behind that. I wish that infamous proposed version with Julie Andrews had panned out.
I could also argue for SHE LOVES ME. While it's hardly forgotten, it ought to be regarded as one of the all-time classics, but isn't. It's another case of being as good if not better than its enduring contemporaries, but somehow falling to the wayside. Its lack of a film adaption is probably a big reason behind that. I wish that infamous proposed version with Julie Andrews had panned out.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
#109
Posted: 6/1/14 at 10:40am
Good score notwithstanding, Chess is fairly rated.
Great score notwithstanding, Side Show is overrated.
Great score notwithstanding, Side Show is overrated.
Updated On: 6/1/14 at 10:40 AM
#110
Posted: 6/1/14 at 10:51am
1776 was the first musical I saw on Broadway back in 1971 (8th grade trip) and I'm amazed I grew up to be the big old musical queen that I am. I LOATHED 1776 -- both on stage and film.
#111
Posted: 10/1/14 at 8:08pm
Parade by Jason Robert Brown. It has some of the most beautiful music you will ever hear! And few people have even heard of it.
#112
Posted: 10/1/14 at 8:25pm
Once on this Island
Grey Gardens
Legally Blonde
Wicked
Anyone Can Whistle
The Last 5 Years
Dogfight
Sunset Boulevard
Grey Gardens
Legally Blonde
Wicked
Anyone Can Whistle
The Last 5 Years
Dogfight
Sunset Boulevard
#114
Posted: 10/1/14 at 8:39pm
I agree with 1776 - it is really an well structured show with a solid book and good music
I do love Whistle Down the Wind and Witches of Eastwick both of which Unsaw in the West End and both under-rated
Dark horse - I really thought Scarlet Pimpernel 2.0 was a very good show. Not so much 1.0 and 3.0
I loved the 2012 Follies which didn't get nearly the love I thought it should
I do love Whistle Down the Wind and Witches of Eastwick both of which Unsaw in the West End and both under-rated
Dark horse - I really thought Scarlet Pimpernel 2.0 was a very good show. Not so much 1.0 and 3.0
I loved the 2012 Follies which didn't get nearly the love I thought it should
#115
Posted: 10/1/14 at 8:40pm
How in the world could you consider Wicked underrated after ten sold out years on Broadway? Or 1776, the Tony Award-winning Best musical, a Tony-nominated revival and a staple of stock and amateur ever since? I evidently don't understand the meaning of "underrated." I think The Grass Harp is underrated.
#116
Posted: 10/1/14 at 8:58pm
"Bare/Bare: A Pop Opera/Bare: A Rock Musical".. (Whatever you want to call it.. the ORIGINAL "BARE" musical) I LOVE THE SCORE SO MUCH! The 2007 studio cast recording.. just superb.
&
"Legally Blonde" that score is amazing.. and "So Much Better".. come on now.
&
"Legally Blonde" that score is amazing.. and "So Much Better".. come on now.
#117
Posted: 10/1/14 at 9:06pm
I have a few more:
DONNYBROOK!
HAPPY HUNTING
NO STRINGS
TAKE ME ALONG
DONNYBROOK!
HAPPY HUNTING
NO STRINGS
TAKE ME ALONG
Anything regarding shows stated by this account is an attempt to convey opinion and not fact.
#118
Posted: 10/1/14 at 9:30pm
Wilmington, I can't speak for the book (it sounds a tad inert), but I just discovered the OBCR of THE GRASS HARP and I am obsessed with it! What an amazing quartet of singers (Barbara Cook, Russ Thacker, Karen Morrow and Carol Brice)!
(That it took me so long to discover the CD is particularly embarrassing since Barbara Cook is my all-time favorite Broadway soprano and Russ was a personal friend.)
***
As for underrated shows, I'd put STREET SCENE at the top of my list, though it is arguably an opera written for Broadway. Ditto for THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (overshadowed in its year by MY FAIR LADY) and THE GOLDEN APPLE. But all these shows are critically praised even if STREET SCENE and APPLE never recouped their expenses. So it's hard to call them truly "underrated" except by the general public.
(That it took me so long to discover the CD is particularly embarrassing since Barbara Cook is my all-time favorite Broadway soprano and Russ was a personal friend.)
***
As for underrated shows, I'd put STREET SCENE at the top of my list, though it is arguably an opera written for Broadway. Ditto for THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (overshadowed in its year by MY FAIR LADY) and THE GOLDEN APPLE. But all these shows are critically praised even if STREET SCENE and APPLE never recouped their expenses. So it's hard to call them truly "underrated" except by the general public.
#119
Posted: 10/1/14 at 9:37pm
^ I'm so glad that you've discovered the glorious score of The Grass Harp. And you have great taste. Street Scene, Golden Apple and Happy Fella are all compelling scores that I can never get enough of.
#120
Posted: 10/1/14 at 9:40pm
Shenandoah - saw the tour as a young lad and loved it. Not sure I'd love it as much now , but I do like much of the score
Catch Me If You Can - just for the 2 lead performances alone
Passing Strange - it should still be playing, IMHO
Catch Me If You Can - just for the 2 lead performances alone
Passing Strange - it should still be playing, IMHO
#121
Posted: 10/1/14 at 11:08pm
Mack and Mabel and Merrily We Roll Along are sensational scores from musicals that no one has quite figured out how to get right. The Rodgers & Hart score for Too Many Girls is a largely unknown gem.
#122
Posted: 10/2/14 at 12:37am
Gaveston, I'll have to listen to The Grass Harp - I've had the recording for a while, but never gotten around to listening. But with a Capote story and Barbara Cook starring, it has "wonderful" written all over it!
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
#123
Posted: 10/2/14 at 12:45am
THE GRASS HARP album is spectacular Sally! You should go listen to it right now. Of course then you'll likely be obsessively replaying it for weeks.
As a show though it sounds like kind of a mess.
As a show though it sounds like kind of a mess.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
#124
Posted: 10/2/14 at 1:15am
Once on this Island
I don't hear much about it at all any more, and it's still among the most fun and moving shows I've ever seen.
I don't hear much about it at all any more, and it's still among the most fun and moving shows I've ever seen.
#125
Posted: 10/2/14 at 1:28am
SUNSET BOULEVARD - there is just something about this show - the subject matter, the look of the original production, the great Normas that have played the role, the overall moodiness/Hollywoodness of it, that I can't get enough of. Elaine Paige (in London) gave the most memorable female leading performance I've ever seen. (Her small stature and overdone American accent actually made Norma seem even more a Hollywood creation.. and bad for talkies...
WILL ROGERS FOLLIES - This was a charmer from the second the lights went down. Carradine, Hoty and Latessa were perfection - the score's great, the production lush - and the ingenious Tommy Tune direction and choreography made it a total winner in my book.
GRAND HOTEL - I don't think I have seen a show that was more beautiful to look at (from the lighting, to the Tune staging - even the background performers were watching the action....) It's the one show for which I'd give anything to jump back 25 years and see again in original form on Broadway. Flaws and all, it blew me away. I might not even have liked it - but I loved it more than I can say. Those glowing, twirling chandeliers! Karen Akers! Jeter! (And missed David Carroll by one week... pity)
WILL ROGERS FOLLIES - This was a charmer from the second the lights went down. Carradine, Hoty and Latessa were perfection - the score's great, the production lush - and the ingenious Tommy Tune direction and choreography made it a total winner in my book.
GRAND HOTEL - I don't think I have seen a show that was more beautiful to look at (from the lighting, to the Tune staging - even the background performers were watching the action....) It's the one show for which I'd give anything to jump back 25 years and see again in original form on Broadway. Flaws and all, it blew me away. I might not even have liked it - but I loved it more than I can say. Those glowing, twirling chandeliers! Karen Akers! Jeter! (And missed David Carroll by one week... pity)
Updated On: 10/2/14 at 01:28 AM
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