My lost love for musicals

[Snuffy]

I used to be quite a fan of musical theater, but over the last seven years, whenever I go see a show, I find myself incredibly bored. Is it me, or have shows of late become incredibly dull? Even "Pricilla Queen of The Desert" made me snooze.

During my teens, I was fanatical about them. From West Side Story to Les Miserables, I had an extensive collection spanning eight decades of shows.

I'm thinking of upgrading to something more challenging like opera. The only one I've seen was "Madam Butterfly" on VHS and I loved it.

 

[roadtripboy]

I think they've gotten bland. The model seems to be the "Disney" musical or pieces written by people who don't normally do musicals. Spiderman for example.

I think they're not true musicals. They're more a performance piece.

Lots of people will say this kind of musical has it's roots in Dream Girls. But, I don't think that's true. Dream Girls is really very much a traditional musical.

 

[Snuffy]

...or a band. I wanted to pull my hair out because "We Will Rock You" annoyed me to pieces with that horrible script. I'm so glad I didn't bother with the stage production of "Mamma Mia!" because the movie was torture enough.

 

[pat grimshaw]

Well real musicals have a story. Most of the new ones are just
expensive 'Juke Box' Musicals for nostalgic old people.

 

[braex27]

I absolutely love them - and I mostly find things to enjoy. Oddly, I found Les Mis to be accomplished but somewhat bland. I don't know why.

I London, I saw a great show called Blood Brothers which was very original and very very good.

 

[Snuffy]

Hmm.. the next one I think I'll try is Billy Eliot. But to be honest, the whole "inspiring" theme and boy flying through the air is already putting me off.

Most of the shows I really liked were somewhat subversive - Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chicago, Sweeny Todd. Others were just so over the top with great scores (Showboat).

But honestly, nothing has really made me say "wow" since Showboat back in the 90s. Rent was dull, except for the "Seasons of Love" number. Lord of the Rings was interesting for 10 minutes, and only because of the staging.

 

[AlmondMilk]

It's been about 5 or so years since I last went. I think I'd definitely go see Spiderman. I know it'll be bad, and I'd go for the stunts. I know personally I haven't been listening to any showtunes is because for some reason i'm getting tired of the music. If I do see something within the next few months, that might re-spark my interest again. It's not necessarily that I'm bored while watching, though.

 

[Snuffy]

It's been about 5 or so years since I last went. I think I'd definitely go see Spiderman. I know it'll be bad, and I'd go for the stunts. I know personally I haven't been listening to any showtunes is because for some reason i'm getting tired of the music. If I do see something within the next few months, that might re-spark my interest again. It's not necessarily that I'm bored while watching, though.

The last time I went to see a show for the stunts was "Lord of The Rings". For ten minutes of really cool action with the revolving sectional stage with counter rings and raising platforms, I had to sit and listen to three hours of horrible music, some of it sung in "Elivish".

Never again.

PS:... the stage sections rotated counterclockwise against each other as they rose and fell. Very cool... but for ten minutes...

 

[TickTockMan]

If you have not seen them I highly recommend the following:


Spring Awakening
Beauty and the Beast
The Secret Garden
Dreamgirls


They are all very good.

 

[braex27]

If you have not seen them I highly recommend the following:


Spring Awakening
Beauty and the Beast
The Secret Garden
Dreamgirls


They are all very good.

I love Spring Awakening. It was electric, and such a powerful musical.

I also really enjoyed Avenue Q. Loads of fun.

 

[TickTockMan]

I love Spring Awakening. It was electric, and such a powerful musical.

I also really enjoyed Avenue Q. Loads of fun.

My list was in order of my favorites. Spring Awakening is everything a play should be. It actually did something I never thought could happen, but it bumped Beauty & the Beast out of being my favorite.


I am still mad at myself for passing on seeing Avenue Q. I thought it was a kids show, but have since listened to some of the songs. It seems like I would have loved that one too.

 

[TickTockMan]

If you have not seen them I highly recommend the following:


Spring Awakening
Beauty and the Beast
The Secret Garden
In the Heights
Dreamgirls

They are all very good.

I missed one.

 

[braex27]

The other one I quite enjoyed is Spamalot, and Billy Elliot was absolutely remarkable. I'd go see it again.

 

[braex27]

I also wanted to mention a show which you may not have heard of [Title of Show] which is a show that chronicles it's own creation. A great achievement and incredibly funny. I am told that's constantly updated to reflect developments and experiences of the cast but I have only seen it once so I can't comment.

Here's a piece from it though. Very funny.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TswUU7h-cs[/ame]

 

[TickTockMan]

The other one I quite enjoyed is Spamalot, and Billy Elliot was absolutely remarkable. I'd go see it again.

Billy Elliot is the next one I get to see. I have been looking forward to it for over a year now.

 

[ILoveYouandFB]

If you're looking for an excited musical, I recommend The King and I. The Shall We Dance scene gave me goosebumps and it was electric!

I also liked Anything Goes, South Pacific, The Drowsy Chaperone, and If you are looking into opera Dialogues of the Carmelites is a good one...

 

[SonOfSlobone]

But honestly, nothing has really made me say "wow" since Showboat back in the 90s.

I saw that! The Hal Prince production, with Elaine Stritch. Or maybe they had a different cast in Toronto? But you can't go wrong with that show...

A while back, I used to listen to http://broadwayworld.com/radio.cfm. They play a lot of recent shows that aren't all jukebox or theme park shows. Of course, a lot of them never made it to Broadway. But there's still some good stuff out there.

 

[SonOfSlobone]

I'm thinking of upgrading to something more challenging like opera. The only one I've seen was "Madam Butterfly" on VHS and I loved it.

Watching operas on TV or DVD is a good way to get started, because they have subtitles in English and you can pause them if your ass gets numb...

If you liked Madam Butterfly you'll probably enjoy La Boheme, it's almost everybody's favorite. Carmen is another good bet, or Rigoletto, Barber of Seville, Marriage of Figaro. I think Netflix has a whole bunch of stuff.