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When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in this country.

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#1

When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in this country.

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:29pm

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/91215.html
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
#5

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:32pm

Mamma Mia! always heads the class in terms of weekly grosses and attendance.
"I'm learning to dig deep down inside and find the truth within myself and put that out. I think what we identify with in popular music more than anything else is when someone just shares a truth that we can relate to. That's what I'm searching for in my music." - Ron Bohmer

"I broke the boundaries. It wasn't cool to be in plays- especially if you were in sports & I was in both." - Ashton Kutcher

Updated On: 2/14/05 at 09:32 PM

#6

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in this country.

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:33pm

Doesn't matter to me. I hate MAMMA MIA!. The music is great - show is lousy. Should have closed long ago, but its a great tourist attraction, so it has remained.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
#8

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:34pm

I am coming to NY again in March for a yearbook conference and my teacher wants to see a show. Her FIRST choice, out of all the shows on Broadway, is Mamma Mia. Are you kidding me? Now, I have never seen it because I don't really have any interest to, but the first choice? Uh oh.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#15

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:40pm

Believe me, I am no fan of Mamma Mia, in fact I hated it, but Mamma Mia is tourist AND kid friendly. Avenue Q is not.
The truly beautiful should be lawfully restricted from wearing clothing; and the truly butt-ugly should be lawfully mandated from going naked.
#17

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:48pm

Q may not have the wide appeal that "Mamma Mia" does, but if I was going to New York, you can bet I'd be trying desperately to get "Avenue Q" tickets (if I didn't already order them :)) Oh, why must I live so far from New York??
http://community.livejournal.com/ltd_brands_suck/
#18

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:18pm

BEKA531, I gotta say, I love your avatar...*grin* Seeing my comic there just made my day. You rule. :)

Ooookay. I adore Avenue Q, don't get me wrong...I think it deals with real situations, and a couple of the songs hold a deep meaning for me...

But for the general audience? I think they see Q as a novelty act, and Mamma Mia as lovable nostalgia.

Argh. Mamma Mia...just, argh.
"Well, obviously Company is about the Kennedy family. Bobby is played by Raul, and JFK is played by Harvey Fierstein." -vfd88
#20

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/15/05 at 1:11am

I'm not a fan of Mamma Mia, but it is still doing good on B-way. It isn't helping my argument that jukebox musicals aren't good. Well Good Vibrations is down at 53.4% so that is saying something.
I most definitely have issues with my word choices on this board.
#21

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/15/05 at 11:05am

In defense of Mamma Mia, which I have seen twice, it does what it sets out to do and it does it well. I wonder how many detractors are not big ABBA fans or dislike the music to start with. If you don't like ABBA, there's no way you'll like Mamma Mia. But if you can't stop wanting to sing along to all their hits (despite the silly not-really-English) lyrics, Mamma Mia is hardly a disaster. True, the book is flimsy, but I give credit to the writer for having figured out a way to tie the songs together (even if she borrowed from a number of old movies). The choreography is bouncy, the chorus boys always very hunky, and both times I've seen it, the lead voices have been top notch, far better than those on the dismal non-Broadway Original Cast recording. Plus the ABBA medley after curtain calls gets the audience up on its feet and singing along as they've been wanting to from the start. I love the GREAT shows (Caroline, or Change, The Last Five Years, Carousel, just to mention a few from various eras and genres), but Mamma Mia is still one I'll be glad to see again when it plays in Pasadena next year.
#22

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/15/05 at 11:12am

It's so nice to see so many like-minded people that understand that Mama Mia is such a WEAK show.
I LOVE Abba, but that show was excruciatingly hard to sit through. I find it so hard to understand why that show stays open while other fantastic shows shut down.
#23

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/15/05 at 11:45am

i'm amazed to see all of these people complaining about Mamma Mia when it quite obviously is doing well. Tell me, all of you who hate Mamma Mia, when was the last time you purchased a full price theatre ticket? if producers left it up to 'theatre people' to attend their performances, Broadway would be over in no time. People who like the 'high art' of theatre don't have any money. People who have money like Mamma Mia. The fact that Mamma Mia is playing means that producers are still encouraged to produce shows, and that's a good enough reason for me to support it.
#24

re: When MAMMA MIA fills more seats than AVENUE Q - something is wrong in t

Posted: 2/15/05 at 11:49am

I LOVE Mamma Mia! and it sounds like a lot of other people do too. The fact that it's doing better than Avenue Q is just fine with me. There is nothing wrong with the world...get over it. :)

I like Avenue Q as well, but come on now....

Updated On: 2/15/05 at 11:49 AM

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