Basically, post any opinions about theatre/broadway/west end etc. that are in the minority. But it's not a discussion thread and people can't start attacking each other.

Ok to start,

I think Defying Gravity is fundamentally flawed and would enjoy going through the entire Wicked script with a red pen *nods*

- Cats is highly enjoyable.
- A surprisingly low number of musicals are actually happy and bouncy. Too few, in fact.
- Rock tenors aren't enjoyable to listen to. The guy playing Billy's brother in Billy Elliot currently has an edge to his upper range which I really don't like, and makes me think he should be playing Judas rather than a Northern miner. Similar with Jérome Pradon, although his voice was more suitable for the role I saw him in (Aragorn in LotR).
- There is only one reason why Will Young wouldn't be a good Fiyero: his voice is of too high a timbre. If he were shorter, he'd be a brilliant Boq.
- Riffs aren't all that - go grace notes.
- Julia Murney was a perfect Elphaba.
- ALL performers have worth in some measure. Just because a lead is a lead doesn't suddenly make them inferior to the understudy.
- The 'rest' of The Lion King isn't boring - it just doesn't necessarily make you cry.

-Andrew Lloyd Webber Stinks
-West Side Story isn't really that good
-Just because someone is famous doesn't mean they are good (aka Ethel Merman)

(First post! Hooray!)

- The first half of Miss Saigon is pretty boring.
- Wicked is mostly tired 80's pop (but I suppose Godspell was tired 70's pop, and the melodies in that weren't up to much either)
- Jonathan Larson didn't understand rock music
- Jukebox musicals are a Good Thing, as they are bringing in people who wouldn't normally go to see musical theatre
- There is a lot of good amateur theatre out there, but the amateur theatre company is a dying concept; today people audition for shows, not for the company
- Oh, and Elton John, legend that he is, really doesn't understand how to write songs for musical theatre, Lion King and Billy Elliot in particular

-The second act of Sunday in the Park with George is just as good as the first act.
-Patti LuPone can't act (same goes for Ethel Merman).
-Bernadette Peters and Angela Lansbury are the best Rose's in Gypsy to this date.
-The Sunday in the Park with George revival was robbed of Tonys for Set, Revival and Actress.
-Sondheim's tunes are not bad because they are "unhummable".

In regards to the comments about Ethel Merman - speaking to people who actually saw her in Gypsy at the time (that she won the Tony award for and got AMAZING reviews across the board) - they would violently disagree with you. They said she received a 10 minute standing ovation every night after most of her numbers. This was a regular occurence. I myself recently watched Call me madam and I think that when given the right part, Ethel Merman can indeed act, very well.

She was a one off and someone like her will never exist again. I have great respect for her talent and her work and so do many others in the business however difficult as a person she may have been. Most people also agree that Peters although she has the range - was violently miscast as Mama. The same people also saw Angela Lansbury and complained about the lack of singing voice required for this part (it was written by Jule Styne for Merman after all and her range) and also - she was too "nice". Sondheim in writings may have preferred Lansbury but most other professionals of the time - did not. She makes a great stab but having watched her do one of the songs of the show on Broadway's Lost Treasures - she doesn't have the bite, the grotesqueness, the "evil" that is needed for Mama. Incidentally, the original Baby June saw the musical and proclaimed Merman's performance to be one of the greatest of all time and the closest portrayal to her mother she could imagine.

In regards to Patti LuPone - it depends on the role.

Sorry Jennifer but Ethel didn't win for Gypsy (which is the show I would have wanted her to win for). Mary Martin won for her performance in either South Pacific or Sound of Music (sorry I can't remember.)

Thanks for your views though, they're very interesting.
Thanks,
sondheimfan.

P.S. I have to agree with you about LuPone. I thoroughly enjoyed her Mrs Lovett (though she's not my favourite) and Evita (which I find to be the best performance in her career and over others in the role.) It's just that sometimes she can get too comfortable and just be Patti LuPone (ie. Gypsy, despite her wonderful vocals.)

Sondheimfan - thanks for the clarification, clearly had a brain freeze at that moment!

Gone With The Wind wasn't nearly anywhere near as bad as the critics made it out to be.

I thought it was pretty terrible. Some of the acting and performances were very good but it just did NOT work on the stage as a musical and the score was dire.

Orchestrations were good, though! :-D

Of course. ;)

One thing : West Side Story is really not as good as everyone says.

this isn't really theatre, but:
The evita movie wasn't that bad(forgive me, it was the first musical movie i remember seeing)

Did you notice this was pretty much Thos' position in Ep. 101? :)

- Going to see a production more than once is acceptable.

A good CD is not good unless you have to listen to it more than once
A good CD sucks you in making you want more and more

Les Mis mostly fails as an Event Musical, but is excellent on small stages--I actually need to write a review of this for the reviews section, I think.

There are a lot of early shows I don't care for much, but I think part of it is that I grew up on a lot of 70s and 80s musicals, so what was amazing and ground-breaking at the time sounds cliched to me. That's more my fault than the shows', though.

As long as the music isn't awful, I care a lot more about lyrics than music. But I don't like Sondheim's lyrics much in most cases.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a waste of space.

*awaits stoning*

*gives Lisa various drugs* Stoned yet?

Whilst Chitty may not be for everyone - it has its audience! I just hope Andrew Corcoran doesn't see the comment!

To revive this topic:
-Really, really, really, really hate Bernadette Peters in Annie Get Your Gun 1999 (?) revival! She has such an ANNOYING voice!
-Wicked is lacking some heart and soul - onstage its pretty two dimensional, the book has more undertones which makes it less superficial.
-Blood Brothers (a show that has a special place in my heart) is amazing, arty, and relevant to today.
-Phantom of the Opera is quite over the top and hystrionic!
-'Epic theatre' (or 'didactic theatre' - Brecht) does work in musical theatre, though it has not yet found a commercially-viable outlet.
-Joseph am his [not-so] amazing technicolour dreamcoat is old, dated and cheese-mc-cheese-a-lot! Every production is a carbon copy of every other production! Please! Do something new with it!!
-Amplification has gone to far in some shows - you might as well just watch a film if you go that far! (Dont know if its unpopular or not!)

Hope that provides some food for thought! :D
Ed Theakston