Worst Musical of all time? — Page 5

I second Scandalous. I think it makes a lot of the shows listed here look great by comparison.

^I've seen a bootleg video of In My Life. So someone did want to tape it.

I am curious about all the hate for "Cats." I am genuinely asking, and not fishing for snark but for a real discussion. What do you hate about the show? What is it trying to accomplish that it isn't? I feel based on what they wanted to achieve the creators not only hit the mark but exceeded it. They wanted to put up a visual poem about cats. Whether that was worth turning into a musical is one discussion but based on what the intention was it feels very successful (as opposed to say, Memphis, which IMO attempted to present the sound and feel of Memphis soul but never really had any songs that matched the power of that genre. Maybe I view "bad" differently. I personally try to judge art based on what it is trying to achieve and how successfully it achieves THAT. Following my own logic, Cats does a fine job. But I'd love to hear some thoughts.

Updated On: 6/23/14 at 01:40 PM

I am a CATS fan, as well, and the one thing I always hear from people who show disgust when I say it's one of my favorites is that it has no plot. UHH.....

Scandalous is the only musical I've ever fallen asleep during. What a disastrous waste of time, money, and talent. I think it's the first time I've ever been embarrassed for a cast.

But I do think The Addams Family is the worst musical I've seen. I can't recall feeling so angry at a show as I was at that one.

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Updated On: 6/23/14 at 02:16 PM

Good Vibrations!

Was...Pretty Bad!

Updated On: 6/23/14 at 02:26 PM

Scandalous is the worst Broadway musical that I have seen as well.

I saw the first preview of In My Life. Although it was astoundingly bizarre and awful, it's one of the most fun nights I've ever had in the theater. I was never, ever bored. Plus, I sat between Margo Channing and iflitifloat, two posters I dearly miss.

Of what I've seen in my life, The Red Shoes was the most astonishingly boring mess I've ever slogged through.

I don't know if either of these is the worst musical of all time, but the worst musicals I have seen on Broadway were The Capeman, and Brooklyn...just AWFUL

Cats isn't the WORST musical of all time, but it is one of my least favorites. It has a good score, and choreography, but other than that, it was an extremely overrated musical. It really did not affect my emotions whatsoever...the subject material wasn't enough in my opinion to spark any sympathy for the "characters" Sure, you can feel bad for Grizzabella...but I didn't. All I thought was "Oh that's a pretty song she's singing." A lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals are overreaching. He is a talented composer, but sometimes, gets in over his head. Evita is his best musical in my opinion, great subject material, fantastic leads (OBC Of course) and a rollicking, memorable score and songs. I feel Webber tries too hard to match his success with Phantom. Cats was pre-phantom, but even so, did not need to be made, and is extremely overrated with its "quality."

A Catered Affair
Cats
Leap of Faith

I think Cats is the easiest example of a popular, long-running, successful show that many people think is bad. As opposed to Scandalous and others, which was just bad and closed early. So, by the very nature of its long run, more people had the opportunity to see and dislike it.

I made the mistake a few years ago of going to the whatever anniversary tour of Cats, and having not seen it for a few decades thought, "Hmm, I remember some songs, but can't recall much of the story or any of the dialogue." Guess I didn't forget anything.