Your Top 5 LEAST Favorite Musicals- Page 6

[BwayDreamer00]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 12:04am

Oklahoma-Great score, some songs are actually really beautiful...but it was so long and boring...it was about taking a girl to a dance for crying out loud and it felt like it was 4 hours long!!

Grease-Same thing....great score, some songs are some of the most iconic songs in musical theater (Summer Nights, Hand Jive, You're The One That I Want) but it's just so boring....fun at times but mostly just boring

Cats-Except for the catchy opening.....it's pretty much a show with cats on stage......

Motown-I love Motown music and the cast was great! Full of energy! But it felt like it was wayyyyy to long and forced 

Mama Mia!-The songs are irresistible well I mean duh it's ABBA but the plot is just so frustrating!! And the ending is even worse!! And the movie did it zero favors!! 

That's pretty much it as like someone said before it takes a lot to hate a musical!! 


EXCEPTIONS:

In their defense.....I can understand why people would hate Aida and Footloose but to me both shows are fun guilty pleasure gems (more so Footloose).....

Aida's Elton John music makes all of the songs insanely catchy (Strongest Suit, God's Love Nubia, Elaborate Lives) and Footloose is pretty much an 80's jukebox musical? (Let's Hear It For The Boy, Holding Out For A Hero, Girl Gets Around) but with the thin characters and cheesy book it's understandable as to why it's not too loved.... 

Updated On: 11/26/17 at 12:04 AM

[curtain_call2]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 12:35am

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Rock of Ages

Rent (I gave this show so many tries in an attempt to like it, but I just can't)

The Fantasticks (ugh. no.)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I would rather swallow nails than watch it again)

 

[jessepp]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 1:43am

My Fair Lady

Escape from Margaritaville 

War Paint

Meet Me in St. Louis

Peter Pan
 

Updated On: 11/26/17 at 01:43 AM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 2:01pm

BwayDreamer00 said: "Oklahoma-Great score, some songs are actually really beautiful...but it was so long and boring...it was about taking a girl to a dance for crying out loud and it felt like it was 4 hours long!!

Grease-Same thing....great score, some songs are some of the most iconic songs in musical theater (Summer Nights, Hand Jive, You're The One That I Want) but it's just so boring....fun at times but mostly just boring

Cats-Except for the catchy opening.....it's pretty much a show with cats on stage......

Motown-I love Motown music and the cast was great! Full of energy! But it felt like it was wayyyyy to long and forced

Mama Mia!-The songs are irresistible well I mean duh it's ABBA but the plot is just so frustrating!! And the ending is even worse!! And the movie did it zero favors!!

That's pretty much it as like someone said before it takes a lot to hate a musical!!


EXCEPTIONS:

In their defense.....I can understand why people would hate Aida and Footloose but to me both shows are fun guilty pleasure gems (more so Footloose).....

Aida's Elton John music makes all of the songs insanely catchy (Strongest Suit, God's Love Nubia, Elaborate Lives) and Footloose is pretty much an 80's jukebox musical? (Let's Hear It For The Boy, Holding Out For A Hero, Girl Gets Around) but with the thin characters and cheesy book it's understandable as to why it's not too loved...."

For what it is worth, two of the songs you mentioned for Grease were not even in the original production.  they were added to the movie.  Can you imagine how awful it was without those songs.  I think Hopelessly Devote to You was also added to the movie.  I remember when I saw the original production that I ernkoyed about two of the original numbers: 'Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee' and...I am sure there was one other.

[Emma White]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 4:59pm

1. Jersey Boys

2. Jersey Boys

3. Jersey Boys

4. Jersey Boys

5. Jersey Boys

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 5:23pm

1. Oklahoma is not ok. Some of the tunes are terrific. But the show has an unrealistic nasty villain, pathetic "good guys" and still manages to be a snoozefest.

2. Sweet Charity. A major downer. Yet somehow, the film with Shirley MacLaine and the "downbeat" ending is fine.  

3. Carousel. I can't get past the domestic violence overtones in order to enjoy the show's other fine qualities.

4. Young Frankenstein. Finally, a Broadway musical my husband was interested in seeing! Afterwards, it took 10 years to get him to go to another one.

5. Tarzan. I was comped. And still wanted a refund.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 8:45pm

All this thread proves is that we have different tastes in musicals.  Well duh. I adore some mentioned by others as hated, and I agree 100% that some were garbage. So what? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hork]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 10:20pm

RaisedOnMusicals said: "All this thread proves is that we have different tastes inmusicals. 

 

That's all that literally every single conversation about musicals has ever proven. I bet you're fun on a first date. "Why are you telling me about your favorite movies? So what? It proves nothing!"

Updated On: 11/26/17 at 10:20 PM

[mtcond]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 10:55pm

1. Bridges of Madison County--An insufferably self-important score, over-orchestrated to tell me what to feel all the time. I love both Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale, but they couldn't redeem this. I can listen to the songs out of context (at least, their songs), but within the show it's just pretentious.

2. Side Show--More or less the same objection as above. I sat through nearly three hours of power ballads and pastiche to be told "I Will Never Leave You"? #self-evident

3. Urinetown--Glib and moronic.

4. Jekyll and Hyde--Especially the last tour made a bad score with under-developed characters even worse. Ugly things happen, which is fine. Everything around the story shouldn't compete for the prize of ugliest element (the costumes were good, I'll give them that). 

5. Jasper in Deadland--Actually, this was the worst thing I've ever sat through in my theatrical life. Tonally a huge mess, and no story to tell. They had no idea if it was a comedy or a drama, and kept throwing ideas at the audience hoping we wouldn't notice we were on a journey to nowhere. Plus a numbingly bad score. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/26/17 at 10:55pm

1. The only musical that ever made me genuinely mad that I paid money to see it was It Shoulda Been You. Just inconceivably bad.

2. On the 20th Century drove me up a wall, too. I thought Kristin was amazing, but the material was grating and annoying beyond belief.

3. Dear Evan Hansen is also probably the most overrated thing I've ever seen. Amazing performances with mediocre material.

4. Side Show. Another example of an overrated work.

5. Titanic. I get why people love the score, but I think it's just impossible to care about the characters.

Bonus: This doesn't really count for this thread, since Hedwig is one of my all-time favorite musicals, but Taye Diggs' Hedwig is one of my least favorite things I've ever seen on the stage.

Updated On: 11/26/17 at 10:55 PM

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 1:03am

Urinetown, Jekyll and Hyde, Cats, Kinky Boots and Mamma Mia.

[Cryoutloud131]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 1:12am

5)The Music Man
4)Phantom of the Opera
3)Shrek
2)Mamma Mía
1)Dear Evan Hansen

[Cryoutloud131]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 1:16am

Mister Matt said: "I have to make one revision...as much as I dislike Carousel (which is about half the score and much of the book), I have to replace it with Dear Evan Hansen. By intermission of DEH, I wasn't really sold on the story, but by the end, I was angry and felt sick. The fact that it won Tonys for Musical, Book and Score seemed ludicrous to me."

THANK YOU!!!! 

[asoftplacetoland]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 2:09am

BroadwayConcierge said: "1. The only musical that ever made me genuinely mad that I paid money to see it was It Shoulda Been You. Just inconceivablybad.

Can you elaborate? I’ve heard mixed things about ISBY. I’m interested to hear why you didn’t like it. 

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 11:28am

Of what I've seen--

5. BIG FISH- Disappointing score, disappointing book, completely unmemorable to me.

4. SIDE SHOW revival- Bored to tears. How many ballads can you write for one score?

3. 2012 BARE Revisal(?)- Being a huge fan of the 2004 production, I was infuriated by whatever this was. The only time I've ever regretted seeing something.

2. SISTER ACT- I've seen some truly unfunny things, but whoever wrote the "jokes" for the male characters should be banned from writing anything else.

1. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA- three melodies on repeat for three hours. No thank you.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 1:09pm

Picking the worst of each major songwriting team that I've seen, I'd go with:

STARLIGHT EXPRESS for ALW (B'way show which was significantly worse than London's)

CURTAINS for Kander & Ebb

THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE for Schonberg/Boublil/Kretzmer

THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL for Wildhorn

And only if I must--

THE FROGS for Sondheim

 

 

 

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 1:19pm

Love reading everyone's choices.

1) Into The Woods

2) A Change In The Heir (Judy Blazer, JK Simmons, Mary Stout...ran about 2 weeks)

3) Metro (the subway musical performed in Polish...ran about 10 days)

4) A Chorus Line

5) Spiderman

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 4:28pm

THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE for Schonberg/Boublil/Kretzmer

Wait..which one?  The Schönberg/Boublil musical was called Martin Guerre, but there were three different versions (1996 West End, 1999 West End and 1999/2000 US Tour) and as of 2015, a fourth version was rumored to open.  But before that, there was a musical called Martin Guerre in 1993 by Ames and Harrington that premiered at Hartford Stage.  And in 2005, there was the musical The House of Martin Guerre by Leslie Arden that premiered at the Goodman.  

Personally, I love the 1996 Martin Guerre by Schönberg/Boublil.  I think it contains some of their most gorgeous music (Working on the Land, Welcome Home, Bethlehem, Someone, I Will Make You Proud and the title song).  Despite the awful orchestrations, I liked How Many Tears and Who? from the recording of the 1999 version (though I believe Who? was in the original version, just left off the truncated cast recording), but the rest was disappointing.

[nyc88]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 5:18pm

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

[Dave28282]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 5:20pm

1) Into The Woods

 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 5:54pm

"THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE for Schonberg/Boublil/Kretzmer

Wait..which one?" 

It was the show that came to the Ahmanson in LA (I guess that would be the '99 tour). Yes, there were one or two tuneful passages, but mostly it was a lot off witless clog dancing with pitchforks and zero romantic chemistry building to an extremely lame fire sequence. Which just goes to show that any of our choices for worst show is totally predicated on the particular production we saw. I believe there's no such thing as a worst score or book in a vacuum-- you need a dreadful production to bring it to full fruition of worstness.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/27/17 at 10:31pm

Ah yes, that was the Kenwright production reworked for the US tour, which only played 5 cities in 5 months.  I didn't hear anything good about it.

But you are right about productions.  I really enjoyed Big on Broadway.  The subsequent tour was one of the worst pieces of crap I've ever seen.  Two completely different shows.

Updated On: 11/27/17 at 10:31 PM

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 11/28/17 at 1:07am

It looks like many people here haven't actually seen bad musicals - only ones that they don't like. There is a big difference. And there are many more bad musicals than good ones. Here are my worst.

Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It) - Brooklyn girl makes good, becomes a star. Sound like anyone you know? Flopped during previews so bad that several chorus members questioned why they were even in the business, which led to the first rap sessions which later formed the basis of A Chorus Line.

Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentleman - John Patrick adapted his play Teahouse of the August Moon into a musical. This one actually opened, but closed after two weeks. It was one of those shows that leave you asking "Why bother?".

Scarlett - Musical version of Gone With the Wind starring Lesley Ann Warren and Pernell Roberts. Despite heroic work from the leads this 1974 show alternated between laughable and deadly dull. It only made it as far as the third stop on its pre-Broadway tour before the producers put everyone out of their misery.

Bounce - Later became Road Show, but I didn't see that incarnation. I love Sondheim, and he has a knack for taking unlikable complicated characters and putting them in an interesting context. But bickering real estate scam artists made me want to run from the theater. Plus it was downright ugly.

Tarzan - Nice flying effects was about all this Disney monstrosity had going for it.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 11/28/17 at 2:17am

In no order: 

1. Little Women- I'm so partial to the 1994 film version that I'm a little biased, but I don't care for this material at least from the clips I've seen and a good chunk of the score, save Astonishing, Take A Chance On Me, and Some Things Are Meant to Be. It's rather bland and just doesn't feel like my Little Women. 

2. Gypsy- I don't hate this show, but my choices are  surprisingly limited(which is a good thing!), so here we are: yes, I don't really care for Gypsy- the score is good, but not astonishing and the story holds little interest for me. 

3. Dear Evan Hansen- Some beautiful songs, but a very badly executed, even offensive story that really doesn't do anything to help the people it seeks to help. 

4. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels- I tried to like this score, but's it's pretty dull overall. 

5. Follies- I just don't get the love for this- Some amazing songs and an overall great, well-crafted show, but not mind-blowing or the greatest musical ever. Nope. Sorry. 

 

 

[usher2]

Posted: 11/28/17 at 2:17am

1. Jekyll and Hyde

2. Jekyll and Hyde

3. Jekyll and Hyde

4. Sugar

5. Rex  

Updated On: 11/28/17 at 02:17 AM