Why Are Musicals Such An Acquired Taste?- Page 2

[glimpseofstocking]

Posted: 1/12/07 at 9:11pm

Another big factor in it is that people have a preconceived notion that all musicals are only up-beat and fluffy with a happy endings. Obviously, that's not the case, but a lot of people don't know about "darker" musicals. When the film version of Chicago came out I dragged a friend of mine along. She went in with a bad attitude, but she walked out of the movie theatre loving it. She told me that she had no idea that there were "musicals about murders". Again, this has everything to do with people being close minded and stero-typing musicals

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/12/07 at 9:22pm

I think it's a lack of exposure coupled with close-mindedness. My best friend in college HATED musicals -- and then I found out he'd never seen one! He REFUSED to go - all the usual defenses - they're for gay people (and I'm not gay), they're unrealistic, etc. etc.

Well, a couple of years after college, he had a girlfriend who made him go see Les Mis with her. HE LOVED IT!!! He's now been to about a dozen shows -- he doesn't collect albums, or go often, but his attitude HAS changed. He understands why I love them so much - its not HIS thing, but he can appreciate them.

I guess it takes someone FORCING someone who is close minded to go - though you have to be selective. Avenue Q - good choice for a first musical. Grey Gardens -probably not.

[fetzles1490]

Posted: 1/12/07 at 10:03pm

"It just seems to be the general consensus that all musicals are guys doing heel clicks and randomly bursting into love songs."

That's so true. People always say they just don't wanna see 'some gay guy dancing around and singing.' It's so dumb.

[gumbo2]

Posted: 1/12/07 at 10:25pm

Whenever I drive my friends I make them listen to a musical cd. I made a breakthrough the other day when we were listening to Spring Awakening. My friend said, "For a musical, this isn't bad." Everyone has all these preconceived notions of what a musical sounds like, which is just stupid.

[benjamin_barker]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 2:43am

I think that it's a range of factors.

Certainly, the fact that musicals aren't pop music is one of them. To most of my friends, you watch a movie or a play, enjoy it, and move on. And if you listen to music, you're listening to SONGS - not the music or the story. So something like this just doesn't work for them.

And, despite what Jerry Herman may have thought, that the best musicals these days often AREN'T "musical" at first glance. (Sondheim, obviously, is an example) - you have to actually appreciate the music as part of the story, and also get used to the fact that a lot of musical songs these days - unlike the George Gershwin kinda stuff - can't so easily be taken out of context and listened to without prior knowledge of the story.

And I think it has to do also with not growing up with them. Kids in the '50s and '60s, after all, heard these songs on the pop charts, and watched them at the cinema. Kids growing up in the '80s and '90s would possibly never have seen a musical film at the cinema - only "old" ones like The Sound of Music on TV - and so, without growing up on it, it became neither cool nor recognised.

Sadly, even my friends who love the well-known musicals like Grease, say, or my friends who have seen one (film or stage), say Chicago or Les Miz, don't really care enough to get into the genre as a whole, and definitely not to take a cast album, find out the plot, and get to know the songs.

And, yeah, it doesn't help that when people think musical, they think Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta bursting into song apropos of nothing, and then getting back to the plot!

I think the musical is destined to be a niche till the end of time: but I don't mind that... Sure, I get pissed that I have to come online to talk to anyone who even knows Sondheim's name, but it's nice to be unique! And it makes it more enjoyable when a musical does break through to the masses (like I'm hoping Sweeney Todd will, in spite of Burton's determination!)

Updated On: 1/13/07 at 02:43 AM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 3:16am

"It's just an ingrained concept to say 'I don't like musicals'. I had a friend who always said that. Then, a couple of years ago I took her to see the Hairspray tour for her birthday."

Why would you take her to a musical for HER birthday when she'd repeatedly stated she didn't like them? I don't much care for basketball or football and would be f*****g pissed if someone got me tickets to a game for MY birthday.

Updated On: 1/13/07 at 03:16 AM

[nztheatreluva]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 4:07am

I think it's just that sociey today doesn't accept musicals as part of pop culture, and people seem to think that it's weird to like them, especially teenagers. I think it's probably worse in New Zealand than it is in the States as well. Because the only shows that we really get over here are ALW shows and jukebox musicals, people don't really hear things like Rent or shows with pop and rock music. My friends love the Avenue Q songs, because I played The Internet is For Porn before telling them it was from a show, but they still won't give anything else a chance.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 4:20am

I think it's time you kicked your so-called friends to the curb, nztheatreluva. You'd be better off.

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 7:33am

Oddly enough, I don't tend to hang out with too many folks who don't like musicals. Those I do, I introduce through my own singing. You see, I'm one of those obsessive singers. I don't claim to be the next American Idol or even a Broadway star to be, I just love to sing. I walk around singing and when someone stops me and asks what I'm singing, I'll tell them. Next thing I know, they want to know more about the show! LOL!
(Not that I'm always on key or anything-never claimed to be perfect, just as accurate a representation of the show as I can.)

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 7:45am

bwaygal1, you theater snob, you, you're a girl after my own heart.

[GreenGirl22406]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 9:09am

Personally, I was raised on musicals. My Fair Lady was my favorite movie when I was about seven, and my mom always took me to see all sorts of shows as a little kid. But I only have a couple friends who are interested in theater, and only a few of them nearly as much as me. My other friends have to be pushed to listen to music from musicals or go to a school play or something. I don't think it's really a difficult taste to acquire, but it's steriotyped that way.

[Weez]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 9:21am

I frequently get asked by people what I'm listening to on my iPod, but answers like "'This Is The Moment' from the 1994 concept recording of 'Jekyll And Hyde'" tend to draw blank looks rather than "oh that sounds interesting". Maybe I should stick more to the singing thing, although that has been known to scare people even more when I use it as a springboard for discussion. :3

[benjamin_barker]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 9:37am

Eh, I've kind of resigned myself to this fate for the forseeable future. I can belt out songs from The Last Five Years all I want, once my friends get the expected rant about how good it is, they'll smile obligingly and move on. Such is life.

[glimpseofstocking]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 11:38am

bwaygal, I've done something similar with my sister. I don't have any friends that enjoy theatre, and neither does my family really. I always go around singing (and I use the word singing lightly because I'm horrible) showtunes and rambling on about what show they are from. I never though anyone actually listened to me but the other day I caught my sister singing "I'm The Greatest Star" from Funny Girl. Maybe I am getting through to her

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 3:47pm

I never knew how good I had it as a musical fan until I got into opera. Now THAT is something that people universally hate.

But anyway, I think the problem is, as people have said, ignorance. Most people imagine musicals as, say, Oklahoma!: happy, fun, silly, people randomly bursting into song and dance, etc.

My favorite argument is always the "People don't start to sing randomly in real life!" I like to tell people that the songs are just a way of expressing emotion, much like monologues in plays. I mean, you normally don't see people start to talk about their evil plan to destroy the Moor in real life (especially with other people around who magically "don't hear"! I always loved that about monologues.)

But I have a firm belief that there is a musical out there for everyone. My dad is always saying how stupid musicals are, and then I remind him that he loves JCS. He insists that it's difference because it's "rock." Riiiight.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 4:48pm

'Avenue Q' (my number one weapon in my arsenal!)

haha, me too. I have a list of cast recordings (in order) to introduce to my friends if they show even a slight interest in musicals.

[MLE]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 5:19pm

SM2,
Well, I proposed the idea to her and she agreed. I told her we'd be doing student rush and I'd pay. It was something different to do and it didn't cost her a thing.

It was like I said in my earlier post, most people who don't like musicals are that way because they haven't been properly educated into what musicals actually are. Basketball and football are different. We live in a sports saturated culture. There are 25+ channels dedicated completely to sports that take up space on my DirecTV guide.

The vast majority of people who say they don't like sports in America can base that on actual knowledge and experience. That is almost never the case with musicals.

The bottom line is that I didn't drag her kicking and screaming.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 1/13/07 at 11:45pm

basically i think it's because of the accepted trend in theater, realism. unlike a few decades ago audiences now a days want to see realistic people they can "relate" to in "relatable" situations and make them feel as if they are watching people interperate their own mother in the kitchen on a tuesday night. All these classic films, which I ADORE, of the 30's through even the 60's seem like melodramas to many now-a-days. many of us love watching gene kelly skip up and down the sidewalk in the pouring rain or the "corny" love duets between to angelic leading lady and the handsome leading man, but that's "corny" to too many people now. now most of our movies are based on real people in the real world dying, crying, suffering, and most of us like watching that! whereas the basic stereotype of the american musical is a few duets between the angelic leading lady and the too handsome for words leading man as the underappreciated chrous sing and tap their hearts out around them in a circle. That's what I think the main reason is behind a lot of the london musicals like phantom and les mis who struck a chord in every generation's heart and in most every person whose seen them both (not all, mind you, don't want to start a fight with "i hated it" or "it was terrible"). they were beautiful musicals about situations we can all relate to (beside falling in love with a scary masked man or being shot over a barricade wall) but we've all felt rejection or we've all had to make difficult descisions in our lives. they were realistic musicals thrown into a genre that was stereotyped as fluffy and fantastical.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/14/07 at 12:07am

dibble - you couldn't be more wrong about the realism thing. What are the highest grossing movies of the last ten years? Spiderman? X-Men? Lord of the Rings? Pirates? Not exactly realistic stuff...

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 1/14/07 at 10:24pm

very true, those movies you mentioned are not physically realistic or maybe even possible, but notice how I said "most" of our movies were based on the real world, and even those movies you mentioned are or can be related to the modern world. and eace movie you mentioned has a situation many of us can relate to. the actors may not always be in the real world but they are relatable and not melodramatic. is their acting so ridiculous you can't relate to them? are they bursting into tap dances and random song? no. even though you may not have webs coming out of your wrists, you can relate to spidy's problems of difficult decisions with life and relationships? can we all not relate to some of the LOTR characters who are caught in war? the actors are realistic actors, they may not be in a real world, but they are relatable.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 1/14/07 at 10:56pm

I've always found it odd that people seem to reject musicals so much...look at MTV music videos. Each one is like a mini-pop-musical.

Then again...look at High School Musical...

But then again...if they're SO Anti Happy people singing why is High School Musical such a hit?

"They love Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, or Rent. But if you mention to them the name of a new or obscure show, they'll automatically assume it's bad."

I've found this to be very true Jelly. With televison shows as well. It does seem as though if something isn't well know, even if critically praised, people seem unwilling to give it a shot.

It's also interesting that it's acceptable in cartoons as well. I don't know many kids who didn't grow up enjoying The Little Mermaid- which has a very modern Broadway kind of sound- but are repulsed when other musicals by the same composers are mentioned.

I had a kid in my musical theater class who claimed he HATED Sondheim (who he'd never seen a show of. Then someone convinced him to see Company (this had me a bit worried, I don't think of Company as a great intro show) but he claimed to enjoy it, so there ya go.

"Most people imagine musicals as, say, Oklahoma!: happy, fun, silly, people randomly bursting into song and dance, etc."

This amuses me SporkGoddess, as Oklahoma! has some pretty dark themes. But yes, I've experienced "Oklahoma!" cited as one of the early traumas potential musical theater fans.

I never will understand the "realistic" aspects of theater and hollywood. Real life is boring.

There's nothing realistic about expecting women to all be thin (But NOT TOOO thin...unless you have big boobs!!!), men to be muscular and handsome, and for half of the movies to have a "happily ever ever after" ending.

Me, sometimes I like realism. I find horror films that use "real" looking people a lot scarier than if they use blondes with capped teeth and breast implants.

But then again, I like fantasy too.

Updated On: 1/14/07 at 10:56 PM

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 1/14/07 at 11:02pm

Not exactly on topic but in the original post you said "you never hear "I don't like comedies" or "I don't like action.'"
You will hear I don't like action from me

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 1/14/07 at 11:34pm

Bursting into song is as natural a human phenomenon as breathing. To claim the musical genre is foreign or unreal to contemporary audiences is unbelievably perverse and false and a dodge of the first order. The blame falls not on audiences but the dim-witted, untalented boneheads on Broadway and in Hollywood who have not an idea of how to assemble a musical and for whom the idea of craftsmanship is an alien concept. To create a musical that erupts into song naturally and spontaneously was as hard for Rodgers and Hammerstein as it was for Sondheim and anybody else. The contemporary writers/directors/producers simply need to roll up their sleeves and get to work and stop blaming the audiences for their own laziness, ineptitude and lack of ability. But I wouldn't hold my breath.


Harry "I hated RAGTIME" Houdini
Submerged in a water tank



Updated On: 1/14/07 at 11:34 PM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/15/07 at 4:07am

Why Are Musicals Such An Acquired Taste? Because, there were so many poor ones done in the late 1960s and early 1970s that were geared wither to "family" audiences (SOUND OF MUSIC, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG) or older adult audiences (MAME, FUNNY GIRL, CAMELOT) so the core movie-goers (teens, 20-somethngs) opted for other styles of movies.

When GREASE came out in June 1978, many kids in the audience started giggling and laughing when the cast started singing "Summer nights." I didn't understand why until I asked a friend of mine. He said it struck people silly that these "high school" students were singing in a cafeteria...but the song was so good they made the transition and throughout the rest of the film they didn't laugh at the concept.

While GREASE was hardly a great musical, it was a fun and entertaining film and the movie soundtrack album was (and still is) a best seller. Problem is Hollywood didn't make more musicals lie GREASE. They turned out truly awful films of ANNIE (family audience again), THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE (shorn of most of its songs), SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (so terrible it isn't even camp) and THE WIZ. They all failed. Even the film of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS didn't do nearly as well as the producers hoped.

CHICAGO did do quite well, but read the book Colored Lights to see the behind-the-scenes nonsense that Kander and Ebb had to endure because Sony wanted Janet Jackson to write a new song for it.

I have no doubt that Hollywood will do everything in its power to destroy what little audience there is for movie musicals so they can get back to their expensive (and lucrative) action-adventure films that score with 14 year old boys: their target audience.

[NiteOwl]

Posted: 1/15/07 at 6:59am

I personally think it's sad that an art form so great as musicals is the subject of scorn and indifference.

I think the bottom line is narrow mindedness (is that a word?), people can't grasp the concept that it's just a form of expression, a story told through song and dance.