Worst Best Musical?- Page 4
Worst Best Musical?
Stand-by Joined: 4/26/04
re: Worst Best Musical?#75
Posted: 11/7/05 at 2:10am
the worst best musical, in my opinion, is
hands down---
cats. the most atrocious excuse for musical theater to grace our planet.
also i'd say spamalot was pretty mediocre
re: Worst Best Musical?#76
Posted: 11/7/05 at 3:19am
My choice for the worst musical to have won the Tony wold have to be SUNSET BLVD. Bad adaptation of the original film script, Bad (mainly recycled) music, Weak lyrics, - only the set was something to see and it dwarfed everything else.
THere are a few ultimate winners that I think were not the very best of their seasons. LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is a great show but THE RINK, BABY, and SUNDAY IN TEH PARK were all far superior.
I agree with many hear that LION KING should have been happy with teh design awards and the Best Musical of 1998 should have been RAGTIME (which won Best Book and Best Score.)In most cases the shows that win Best Book and Best Score are truly the best musicals of their seasons. (URINETOWN, PARADE, RAGTIME, FALSETTOS, INTO THE WOODS, etc)
In the 1953/54 season, PAJAMA GAME was not only the best of the new musicals, it was the biggest hit. The reason was that at the time it was state of the art in terms of musical theatre know-how. It has a solid bok, a great score (several songs made the hit parade), some inventive staging and great designs. I suspect the people who dislike it have either never seen it or only seen poor amatuer productions.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Leading Actor Joined: 3/10/05
re: Worst Best Musical?#77
Posted: 11/7/05 at 4:45am
Well I love Sunset Blvd - think the score is great, and the lyrics are far better than most of ALW's shows.
My worst best musicals are: Will Rogers Follies, How To Succeed..., Contact, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Avenue Q and Spamalot - which makes me ask, what the hell has happened to the Tony Awards?! Three incorrect choices in the past 4 years. Maybe next year the prize will go to Tarzan...(OK, I haven't seen it, to be fair, it could be amazing)
Mary P x
Updated On: 11/7/05 at 04:45 AM
re: Worst Best Musical?#78
Posted: 11/7/05 at 5:45am
ummmmm...
Follies didn't ever win the Tony for Best Musical, Two Gentlemen of Verona did.
And that's already even been mentioned on this thread...
And Follies is a MASTERPIECE, though a little problematic in the book department, especially at the end of Act II...
re: Worst Best Musical?#79
Posted: 11/7/05 at 5:57amAvenue Q. It's probably just me, but I didn't think that it was half as 'hilarious' and 'innovative' as people made it out to be.
re: Worst Best Musical?#80
Posted: 11/7/05 at 6:21amCats
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
re: Worst Best Musical?#81
Posted: 11/7/05 at 6:31amSo CATS actually won Best Musical?! Then I take back my choice of SUNSET BLVD. I pick CATS. It was the worst thing I ever saw (heard). SUNSET is second, though.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/12/04
re: Worst Best Musical?#82
Posted: 11/7/05 at 8:40am
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE.
Followed closely by
THE PRODUCERS and THE LION KING.
re: Worst Best Musical?#83
Posted: 11/7/05 at 8:51am
The Lion King. Maybe the voters only saw the (spectacular) first 10 minutes.
Thoroughly Modern Millie. A winning lead performer does not a good musical make...
I don't really get The Producers landslide either (Best Score that year should definatly have gone to The Full Monty)
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re: Worst Best Musical?#84
Posted: 11/7/05 at 8:59amI agree with everyone it has to be Thoroughly Modern Millie. I was so disappointed after I saw that and then to give the Tony award to Sutton Foster whose character was something out or a bad rerun of Get Smart. Mamma Mia! I though deserved the tony that year and so did Louise Petre for best actress.
re: Worst Best Musical?#85
Posted: 11/7/05 at 8:59amI agree with everyone it has to be Thoroughly Modern Millie. I was so disappointed after I saw that and then to give the Tony award to Sutton Foster whose character was something out or a bad rerun of Get Smart. Mamma Mia! I though deserved the tony that year and so did Louise Petre for best actress.
re: Worst Best Musical?#86
Posted: 11/7/05 at 10:30am
I really think that The Producers is the most overrated, but I cant say it is the worst to ever win.
My least favorite was definitely Will Rogers Follies. I hated every minute of it and wanted to smack the eye patch off the guy in the balcony...Keith Carradine was wonderful, tho. Once on this Island or Secret Garden shouldve won that year.
Also terrible is Applause, but only saw the television version so dont feel right voting for it...Purlie should've won the Tony.
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
re: Worst Best Musical?#87
Posted: 11/7/05 at 10:35amI would have to say Spamalot. It was up against: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which was amazing and Light in the Piazza which won best book and best score, how can something that didn't win either win Best Musical?????? It baffles me. Even if it was a fun show, it wasn't best musical. Dirty Rotten and Piazza were 100 times more exciting to see.
re: Worst Best Musical?#88
Posted: 11/7/05 at 10:46am
I'm still surprised at how many people list Pajama Game as a "worst show." That doesn't make sense to me.
...And no, not everything old is fantastic or brilliant or "automatically good" (as someone alluded to). But not everything new or recent is "the best thing ever" either.
It's a very successful show that spawned several pop hits and Broadway standards (Hey There, Steam Heat, Hernando's Hideaway), it told a simple but entertaining story, and was the first time that an entire stage show was choreographed by Fosse using his "new" unorthodox defining style. People found it charming and entertaining. You'd be hard pressed to find ANYONE around back then that thought it was a BAD choice for Best Musical, let alone one of the worst choices EVER.
The upcoming revival will have its work cut out for it, though... I mean, Babe is hardly Norma Rae, fighting for a 7.5 cent raise (per hour) for her fellow workers as head of the "grievance committee." Sally Field & co. kinda blew that story out of the water for all time. It does feel like a giant step backwards to visit the plot of Pajama Game. But that's NOW... not THEN.
I would just encourage all of you to think about the history of the era when a show debuted. Artistic "timing" is crucial for theatre and a particular show's success or failure. Many old shows would be laughed at if they made their debut now "as is," and in turn, many of today's "modern" shows would be boo'ed off the stage for their weak or badly constructed storylines or (especially) inferior lyrics.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Broadway Star Joined: 1/6/05
re: Worst Best Musical?#89
Posted: 11/7/05 at 10:56amCONTACT SHOULD NEVER HAVE WON THE TONY, THAT WAS THE FURTHEST THING FROM A GOD D*MNED MUSICAL.
re: Worst Best Musical?#90
Posted: 11/7/05 at 10:58amFosse, hands down...I saw in previews, granted, but it wasn't even performed well, much less conceived well.
re: Worst Best Musical?#91
Posted: 11/7/05 at 11:12am
Fosse was my second choice, lildogs. Right behind Titanic.
Fosse WASN'T performed well, thank you for saying it. They all looked like perfect little robot toys that were in desperate need of a battery change. They all kicked and pointed the same height (fine, if you're in the Rockettes), but with no energy or personality to show for it. But for me, this wasn't even a musical. It was a dance recital. It had no arch or emotional build to it. More like a jukebox put on "randomize." And it was painfully ENDLESS.
Titanic WAS a musical... and an incredibly BAD one. The only thing I was impressed with was the choral singing in the group numbers. Everything else put me to sleep. I had a comp ticket to see it in New York... and I remember thinking I wanted my money back.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
re: Worst Best Musical?#92
Posted: 11/7/05 at 11:17am
I really enjoyed Titanic....except the cheesy first act curtain with the tiny boat.
Hated The Life and Steel Pier.
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
re: Worst Best Musical?#93
Posted: 11/7/05 at 11:25am
Ken Mandelbaum (Broadway.com) and Peter Filchia (TheaterMania.com), who both know a thing or two about musicals, and have seen just about everything over the past 40 years or so, addressed this subject not too long ago. Their vote?
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
re: Worst Best Musical?#94
Posted: 11/7/05 at 11:26am
I would have to say Spamalot. It was up against: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which was amazing and Light in the Piazza which won best book and best score, how can something that didn't win either win Best Musical??????
Spelling Bee won Best Book, remember?
And yes, that show is miles better than Spamalot too.
And another yes to The Producers being overrated.
I enjoyed it more than Spamalot, though.
~Steven
re: Worst Best Musical?#95
Posted: 11/7/05 at 11:58am
A few Sondheim shows have taken home the prizes for Book and Score, without nabbing the top honor.
So did Ragtime.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Chorus Member Joined: 8/1/05
re: Worst Best Musical?#96
Posted: 11/7/05 at 12:13pm'Contact' - Very energetic and the music was familiar but it wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a musical.
Understudy Joined: 9/28/05
re: Worst Best Musical?#98
Posted: 11/7/05 at 1:20pm
"I agree with everyone it has to be Thoroughly Modern Millie. I was so disappointed after I saw that and then to give the Tony award to Sutton Foster whose character was something out or a bad rerun of Get Smart. Mamma Mia! I though deserved the tony that year and so did Louise Petre for best actress."
That is one of the scariest things I have ever read...
re: Worst Best Musical?#99
Posted: 11/7/05 at 1:23pm
Paradox,
I decided to block that sentence out and pretend I never saw it.
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