_____ ruined one of my favorite shows

[phantom8019]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:20am

Curious to know... have you ever seen a performance of a show that you love that was totally ruined by one actor/aspect of the production? Is there anything worse than seeing a show you love butchered before your eyes?

I immediately think of Sebastian Bach in Jesus Christ Superstar--a show I adore but could not wait to be over while I was watching it.

And then there's the classic culprit "good show, bad sound design." The Merriam Theatre in Philadelphia is just awful.

Updated On: 6/16/06 at 10:20 AM

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:28am

Joey Fatone killed Little Shop of Horrors for me.

[OasisBroadway]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:29am

When I saw the title of your thread, I immediately thought of Sebastian Bach. He was absolutely unbearable to listen to. I agree with you 100% on that. I also saw it at the Merrian Theatre in Philadelphia, and I don't think the sound was the problem.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:34am

Unfortunately, for me, it's a FILM musical that comes to mind instantly... and that's "Phantom of the Opera." The MUSICAL DIRECTION almost single-handedly ruined this film. It was drastically under-tempo to the point of killing any tension, the (potential) acting, spontaneity (since we could feel what was coming SIX WEEKS in advance), the excitement, the passion, and the "natural" (if you can call it that) aspects of this piece. And then there's "Masquerade" which was ridiculously fast. I have no idea WHY those choices were made, but they were ill-advised... and ANY any actor/singer's performance you can name would have been RUINED while crawling along with those crappy tempos, no matter how gifted they might be.

So any beefs I have with the film's cast and direction are secondary to the BASEBALL BAT that passed for a conductor's baton.

Updated On: 6/16/06 at 10:34 AM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:45am

I immediately thought of Lonny Price, one of the worst directors on the planet who ruined the last revival of MASTER HAROLD and the boys -- one of the greatest plays of the past 30 years -- through gross miscasting and bad staging. I also dislike his concert stagings and found him grating as an actor (A CLASS ACT).

Wayne Cilento's lame and uninspired choreography (among other things) killed the SWEET CHARITY revival for me.

And don't get me started on the overrated Joe Mantello

[waddledee524]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:47am

The Merriam didn't seem too bad when I was there a few years ago. Maybe it depends on the show.

[starletta8]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:50am

Paul Stanley as the Phantom in the Toronto production.

I was very upset that my family had driven that far for that performance.

[Imchristine4real]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:54am

I also thought of a film musical first:

THE MUSIC MAN, starring Matthew Brodrick (sp?) and Kristin Chenoweth.

Matthew was HORRIBLE! He had showed no feelings for Kristin the entire movie. His singing almost made me skip on the soundtrack. Fortunetly, I did get it and loved Kristin's solos, at least. Her "My White Knight" is my favorite number in the movie.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 10:59am

Try Jennifer Ehle as Lady MacBeth in Central Park this summer.

Talk about miscast! She has no mastery of the verse, does not incorporate the rhythm of it, races through important language without comprehension of its meaning, and squeals up in hideous high head voice, screeching away for what she thinks is emphasis, when she is not trying to deliver comedic one-liners out of what is not a comedy.

I gather there was no audition process in the miscasting of the role.
Updated On: 6/16/06 at 10:59 AM

[gymman]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:02am

Margo writes:

"Wayne Cilento's lame and uninspired choreography (among other things) killed the SWEET CHARITY revival for me.

And don't get me started on the overrated Joe Mantello."

AMEN TO BOTH OF THOSE; I have never understood Cilento's continued "success" in the business; perhaps it is that he is well liked, and has the Chorus Line mystique.

Mantello has never impressed me as a director, and I think that this season showed him for the hack that he is; I liked him as an actor, however.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:02am

The 4 or 5 different High School performances of West Side Story I've attended.

[phantom8019]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:03am

The Merriam Theatre sound is hit or miss... Hairspray in Sept. and Miss Saigon a few years back were a mess. I could barely hear a word.

And for that matter, why does the beautiful Forrest Theatre stay dark all the time?
Updated On: 6/16/06 at 11:03 AM

[OasisBroadway]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:26am

"And for that matter, why does the beautiful Forrest Theatre stay dark all the time?"

YEs, this is a shame isn't it? I was glad to see that Les Mis was there a few months back, and they do have Phantom coming in the fall. But they do need to have more shows there. It is much better than the Merriam. I think the Merriam is more appealing to some touring shows since it is on Broad Street.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:30am

Off topic: "The last mosquito that bit me had to book into the Betty Ford Clinic."

The last time I saw Les Mis it was at a high school. I went to see it because I knew the three female leads, and they were great. It's the boys that couldn't do anything.

Haven't liked it since.

*Hopes OasisBroadway gets the quote.* Updated On: 6/16/06 at 11:30 AM

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:42am

Sebastian Bach was a mess, wasn't he? I kept thinking that this guy had an amazing voice, if only someone could reign him in and stop the SCREAMING! We also have wretched acoustics at the Bass Concert Hall here in Austin, where JCS played, so we had bad sound as well.

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:45am

Well it isn't my favorite show, but Mickey Dolenz ruined Aida.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:45am

Roz Russell's (or Lisa Kirk's) singing in the film of GYPSY. Stops the film dead in its tracks.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:47am

This is a little off topic, but if we're going to talk about actors stopping movies in their tracks, it's Allie and Noah's children in THE NOTEBOOK. Awful actors! And it's such a good movie to that point too.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 11:56am

Is Jennifer Ehle really that bad as Lady Macbeth? That's sort of disappointing to hear.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:16pm

The concert cast of JaH (yes, it is a guilty pleasure of mine)... can't remember her name offhand, but the girl who plays Lisa/Emma. She belts EVERYTHING. Would it kill her to use her upper register every so often? Gahhh!

Gary Morris ruins the Les Mis CSR for me. Which is sad, because otherwise it's practically perfect.

Oh, and Patti LuPone ruined Passion for me in that concert production. I HATED her Fosca.

Updated On: 6/16/06 at 12:16 PM

[mijofly19]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:17pm

J&H is also a guilty pleasure of mine, but Hasselfhof really ruined the show for me.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:24pm

John Schneider ----> The Music Man

Robert Preston he ain't. He wasn't even a Craig Bierko.

Le sigh.

[trikaraokeidol]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:25pm

I had the misfortune of seeing Linda Lavin on Broadway in GYPSY. She took over for Tyne Daly at the very end of the Broadway run. Really, REALLY miscast. She chose to do the entire part in an Irish brogue. Perhaps the rest wouldn't have been so bad, but the accent was awful.

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:45pm

Second on the GYPSY movie, although the true abomination was Lucille Ball in MAME. Talk about wanting to block something out! I had to go back and listen to Angela for two days.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:51pm

Even if the entire cast of RENT besides Matt Caplan was brilliant, I still think Matt Caplan could ruin RENT for me.


EDIT: *slaps forehead* And how did I forget Chris Columbus! He completely ruined the RENT movie for me...even with that great cast intact. Updated On: 6/16/06 at 12:51 PM