Which Musical (Original or Revival) Was A major Dissappointment For You?- Page 5

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 4/3/13 at 4:22pm

@ g.d.e.l.g.i.: I believe he may be referring to the fact that the original Broadway production of JCS was... well, strange. It prompted outrage, yes, but even more outrageous was O"Horgan's vision for the piece, which used "Nature" as its stepping stone. The gold chrysalis for Christ was waaaaaaay over the top, and the weird backbone-spine-thing for the Pharisees was just... I dont know... It was a terrible, ugly production. What rocked the world was the concept album, not this piece of... interesting theatre...

What you say about O'Horgan's production is unquestionably true. But in my subjective opinion, you're wrong about the rest. Look at the facts: in 1969 a smattering of clergy members protested the initial Murray Head single, but the album was never the subject of any organized protest. In fact, it was embraced by many Christian leaders, who reasoned that any record about Jesus being marketed to young people should be accepted and encouraged.

But from the time of the Broadway premiere? Protesters and picketers outside the Hellinger with signs protesting the depiction of various characters! The American Jewish Committee and B'nai B'rith condemning the depiction of the high priests as "Christ killers"! Catholics and Baptists protesting a sympathetic portrayal of Judas and the perceived denial of Jesus' divinity! And all of this despite the fact that the Broadway production was lyrically identical to the concept album (except for the addition of "Could We Start Again, Please?" and new lines in the "Trial" scene).

Tom himself made that point in one of our last conversations before he died: "A lot of people who wouldn't even look at or come to see Jesus Christ Superstar were offended that it existed. So there was always somebody picketing in front of the theater. On the other hand, people who bought the records wanted to buy the records, but it wasn't being foisted off on anybody." A staged musical, unlike a record, exists in a specific location, and so the production was more easily targeted than a sound recording.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 4/3/13 at 4:56pm

>> "the production was more easily targeted than a sound recording"

And that's kind of the point. This thing could have been directed by Harold Prince with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick and been the most amazing thing since OKLAHOMA, but it wasnt about the production. It was about the idea of the production, to have the temerity to even consider the possibility of using that... awful... icky... "rock" music to talk Our Lord Above! I mean, my heavens!

The protesters outside the Hellinger had a specific target, as you point out, but that doesnt dilute the fact that the show had garnered a lot of outrage prior to Broadway. OHorgan simply gilded the OMIGODWHATARETHEYDOINGTOMYLORD&SAVIOR furor that was already simmering.

And man, was it an ugly production... LOL

[Born in a Ditch]

Posted: 4/3/13 at 5:28pm

Cinderella. Osnes was the only bright spot, and she wasn't even as great as I anticipated.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/3/13 at 5:34pm

The Drood revival (and, perhaps, DROOD as a show in general) gets my vote.

Loved the cast recording as a theatre-obsessed child/teenager. Love Chita Rivera. Love Stephanie Block. Love Jim Norton. Love Betsy Wolfe.

Have never been so bored in my life. The book scenes seemed endless. Several performers with absolutely no feeling for music hall style, and pretty much every performer performing as if they were in a different show. After reading rapturous reviews on this board and in print, I was surprised by how little I cared about anything happening on stage.

I know the revival has its devotees, but I'm sure as hell not one of them.

[MazingerZ]

Posted: 4/9/13 at 12:34am

* The 1994 revival of "Grease". (So cheaply produced and badly performed, that it broke my heart. First disappointing Broadway experience I ever had.)
* John Doyle's Productions of "Sweeney Todd" and "Company". (I thought that the actors playing instruments on stage was a distraction, and it got on the way of the tension, and realistically telling the story. It also ruined the full-orchestrations of two beautiful scores.)
* Both revivals of "Follies". (The staging in 2001 was ugly, and it lacked all possible magic, heart, and charm. The 2011 revival was better, but it was cast mostly with stars in their prime, so the effect of watching faded-stars of yesteryear in their last stretch - so key to the show- was ruined. It was more of a show-off, showcase production for "top-notch", still "hot" contemporary performers (some of whom were badly miscast), than a real tribute to the old-timers, appearing on stage probably for the last time.)
* The 2009 revival of "West Side Story". (The Spanish language was a bad idea in this particular case. I also felt that the lead performances were all weak and unimpressive, and the show felt slow and boring.)
* The revival of "Evita". (Ricky Martin smiling, and shaking his hips, and the direction were beyond terrible.)
Other very disappointing musicals that I've seen on Broadway: "Wonderland", "Juan Darien", "Beauty and The Beast", "The Lion King", "Aida", "A Funny Thing" with Whoopi Goldberg.

[jwsel]

Posted: 4/9/13 at 1:36am

Les Miz: I expected so much more after all the hype. I saw it when I was 20 and was terribly underwhelmed. When I had a chance to see the last revival, I decided to go just to see if there was something I had missed the first time. Nope.

Mazinger2 mentioned Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd and I totally have to agree with all of those comments. I think the instruments also made it impossible for the actors to play up any of the humor.

The last revival of A Chorus Line. I'm not sure why it fell so flat, but other than a few standouts -- Deidre Goodwin, Jason Tam -- it just felt dated and lacked the energy ACL needs.

Leap of Faith. This is more disappointing on reflection, because I had no real expectations and I saw a pre-Broadway run. However, listening to the OBC, I really think there are some tremendous elements in the show and it could have been so much better than it was.

[broadwaybabe1234]

Posted: 4/9/13 at 2:04am

i may get a lot of hate for this but... Grey Gardens.

I really wanted to like it and despite the powerhouse performers who were on that stage i could not get interested in the story. I hated the music (with the expception of "Another Winter in a Summer Town") and felt the second act turned into an episode of hoarders.

Was i missing something?

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 4/9/13 at 2:33am

Once.

I don't get what's so amazing, and why everyone thinks its a fantastic piece of art.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/21/13 at 10:30am

Bounce - Was really excited about a new Sondheim musical. Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. And if you had no idea who Sondheim was or were unfamiliar with his work, you might not have been disappointed. But you probably wouldn't have enjoyed it, either.

It depended on when you saw the show. On message boards at the time those who saw the early performances wrote lengthy diatribes about how long and boring it was. (One scribe who went on and on about what a mess the staging was could not answer any specific questions and finally admitted he had not seen the show - he was just repeating what he had heard from someone else.) As the run progressed more favourable comments began to appear, though none were claiming this to be "Sondheim's best show to date." (No one has ever said that about BOUNCE/ROAD SHOW!)

I caught the show late in the Chicago run and by that time it was playing fine and even the Overture received enthusiastic applause. The friend who attended with commented at intermission that he did not like the cartoonish staging and what he called the flat two-dimensional characters, be he found the second act better.

I had a very mixed reaction. I loved much of the score and enjoyed the leading performers, especially Gavin Creel. Prince brought his usual brilliance to the staging of several sequences, but I just could not understand what attracted Sondheim to this particular story. All shows he wrote before this were clear to me from first viewing what the intention was. I never got that sense from BOUNCE.

When the CD came out I thought the cover art provided an interesting concept but one that was never fully exploited in the show.

[secondstar2theright]

Posted: 4/21/13 at 3:52pm

Vegetables will get thrown at me for this, but for me it would have to be Pippin.

Out of all the new shows that I had come into the city for to watch this spring, this was the one that I was looking forward to the most. Everyone and their mothers were raving about this show; people are expecting this to win Best Revival. I was expecting it to be my new favorite.

It just didn't happen. Maybe I hyped it up too much in my head. :-/ My friend who came with me did not like it either. :-/

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/21/13 at 5:50pm

KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN.

I thought Kander & Ebb and Prince were the perfect team for it until I saw it. Who are a bunch of wealthy Americans from Connecticut to mock Latin American political ideals?

(Since there were different versions, I should probably say I saw the national tour after the Broadway run.)

Updated On: 4/21/13 at 05:50 PM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 4/21/13 at 5:52pm

SH*T, I'll bring it up again. Why not?

Godspell. 2011/12.

Cue Namo in three... two...

[Outoftowner2]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 1:36am

Spring Awakening

[Scottsacto]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 2:23am

I am in agreement with Addams Family. I was, also, so disappointed in Priscilla, Passing Strange,and Lestat (Le-Stink). Went in expecting Magic--came out BORED!

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 6:33am

I recently saw Once which was by no means awful but it was incredibly disappointing. Not really a musical, the songs all sound the same, overpriced and the diction/style of singing was so poor it couldn't be carried/maintained.

The Sunshine Boys with Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths saw a master class comic performance from DeVito but Griffiths was miscast and the play itself is just so boring.

Also, Spring Awakening. What a load of bollocks that was.

[kadu335]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 7:58am

I guess mine would be Drood... I went to see the last revival when they were still in early previews and had pretty high expectations after all the comments in here. I just didn't get the hype.

Updated On: 4/22/13 at 07:58 AM

[ajh]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 12:13pm

ANNIE:I booked it way before it opened as I'd only ever seen a lukewarm revival in London and I thought it would be magical to see it in a major new production on Broadway: hugely disappointed....cheap,ugly, unimaginative sets, uninspired direction, a young leading lady who was utterly lacking in charm and appeared to be channelling Bride Of Chucky. Had been excited to see Katie Finneran but she appeared to have been directed in such a way as to suck all the fun out of Miss Hannigan. It was a pleasure to see Anthony Warlowe, and Clarke Thorell was a terrific show-stealer as Rooster. The "gritty" approach drained the show of most of its' fun....just not very enjoyable.

Apart from Warlowe and Thorell, I did like the orphans doing "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile" as it was closest to the original spirit of the piece. And I enjoyed the intermission. I had wine.

[mc1227]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 2:27pm

Gotham. No I mean the original production with Patti and Mandy. I just did not care for it and I compare it with people who feel that current day productions that are overhyped like BOM or Wicked. Granted, I was much younger back then and that probably had much to do with it but I disliked it enough not to want to see this years revival with Ricky martin. I had a similar reaction to seeing Phantom but did not see the original cast in that show.

[Kbradstein]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 2:41pm

for me it would have to be Once and Motown. Once was okay, but did not live up to the hype. Motown was just absolutely awful, and does not deserve to be on broadway. it is the worst thing i have ever seen.

Also, Matilda wasn't a disappointment, but just a bit of a letdown for me. I guess i built my standards to high and it could not reach that. I still loved it though, but the book, which i think was the lowest part of the show, was a little flawed and , but still would say the show is great.

[suestorm]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 2:47pm

the new ONCE with the Hipster Guy and the English Girl

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 2:48pm

I'm not considering things like Addams Family, Copacabana, Hardbody, Lestat etc. as I didn't expect them to be fantastic and therefore the disappointment level wasn't high. I *was* disappointed by Phantom, in which I couldn't get emotionally involved, and Merrily was heartbreaking considering the creative team and that great score.

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 4/22/13 at 3:03pm

Mine would probably have to be Dirty Dancing which I saw on tour at the Pantages in LA....biggest piece of crap ever. They could have done so much with it.

[manhattandreamer]

Posted: 6/2/13 at 7:49pm

Even tho I adore the script and Mamet, The Anarchist was a massive let down. LuPone was phenomenal in her role, but Debra Winger was disappointing. I expected the show to be amazing, but Winger cannot act. She was monotonous and boring. The ending was fab, but no one applauded because no one thought it was over. It only ran 65 minutes.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/2/13 at 8:05pm

Annie - disappointing (though I loved Lilla and Anthony)It had some nice moments but "something was missing".

Cinderalla - the politically updated script was awful - though there were some lovely moments.

Matilda for me was extremely uneven. I loved loved loved certain parts and really disliked other parts. Maybe the hype got to me. The parts of the script and some of the songs were pretty amazing. But a lot of it was just blah for me. It just didn't flow the way it should have.

Shouldn't even mention Jekyl and Hyde, right? Not a great show but I have seen some productions that had some moving and/or powerful moments. This past one.....ummm...Not so much.

[IronMan]

Posted: 6/2/13 at 10:41pm

The 2002 revival of INTO THE WOODS. Having seen the original several times (and still wishing they'd have kept some of the plot points from previews), I was so excited to see this that I got excellent tix way in advance... then the show happened.

The cast seemed to be trying so very hard NOT to do the same line readings as the original cast- but without coming up with any reason for doing so other than to be different. It killed almost all the jokes (you can't change the reading of a demand laugh- it doesn't work) and many of the voices were appalling. The Jack and Red were so bad I had to restrain myself from throwing my program at them.

What I did like was John McMartin, the Princes, the Cow, and the staging of the finale. But not enough to dispel my hated for the rest of it.