Worst Hit Broadway Show of the Last 50 Years?

I walked out of Ragtime, and wanted to walk out of La Cage aux Folles.

Was La Cage that bad?

La Cage was very good, great music. Hamilton was awful.

A lot of the songs were melodious but the message was heavy-handed and strident

Sunset Boulevard is awful....

Rent. I thought it was a piece of shit, a musical about a bunch of assholes who don't want to pay their rent:

Last year's rent!

This year's rent!

Next year's rent!

Rent rent rent rent rent!

We're not gonna pay rent!

I would have walked out of Sunset but I was with my old auntie who is pleasantly entertained just sitting in any theatre.

R7 Even during "Oh! Calcutta!" or "Naked Boys Singing"? :)

OP, it took you two months to realize you didn’t like the show, and walk out?

Yeah wiseguy. I saw it about 2 months after it opened.

Les Miserables is not very good, but Andrew Lloyd Webber certainly keeps Les Mis from being the worst. There are half a dozen shitshows by ALW all competing for that accolade.

I saw Les Miserables in a touring production at the Wang Center in Boston in the late 1980s, and was sitting at a great distance from the stage. I could not figure out the plot at all since I had not read the novel at the time and I could not parse out most of the lyrics, and I greatly disliked that all the songs sounded like dirges. When I saw the movie a few years back I finally knew the plot (and so could follow the show), but all the songs still sounded like dirges.

I can see why someone had objections to "Sunset Boulevard," and some of the lyrics are dreadful, but it has some really first rate songs: "This Time Next Year," "The Perfect Year," and all of Norma's big songs. I certainly liked it much more than "The Phantom of the Opera" (which has great spectacle, but some really cheesy music--I still hate the title number and "Angel of Music" and the terrible opera pastiche numbers).

I have mixed feelings about "The Producers" (very slim as shows go, with no heart, and the songs are not much of an improvement over the original movie) and "Wicked" (some great songs, but some dreadful ones too, and overall not a patch on the superb novel on which it is based).

I love "Hamilton." There are great characters, the story is involving, the congressional debates work beautifully as rap battles, and it has some superb songs: "Say no to This," "The Room Where It Happens," and "What'd I Miss?" I can even forgive the awful incessant idiotic rhyming of "Burr" and "sir" for everything else good in the show.

Overall, I'd say "Les Miserables" is the worst.

Yes dirges, and bombastic staging, Les Mis. Plus I was with a hot guy and we were both itching to fuck so we left to do that.

.

What kind of tasteless, culturally deprived cunt walks out of Les Miserable or describes the music as "dirges?"

I'm not even a queer and I'm offended.

Chill, R14. The musical version of "Les Miserables" has nothing to do with culture.

It is pop schlock of a mediocre calibre.

ALW is pop schlock of the very worst sort.

Not only was Les Mis boring, it was depressing.

Not only was Les Mis boring, it was depressing.

"Sunset Boulevard" is indeed terrible, but my vote goes to "Dear Evan Hansen." It's cloying, insincere and sterile.

Anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber. He produces musicals designed for people who never go to musicals. So they come out not liking it, but not wanting to say anything, as they think it’s supposed to be good!

I think people must like ALW otherwise they wouldn't have been such hits, R19. Just not for me.

Another vote for Rent. Pure shit about kids who want to keep life real and eschew responsibility. Then the trannie comes back to life at the end. Jesus! That's real life.

Rent was pretty damned shitty, you're right.

Angel doesn't come back to life.

Cats. Now and Forever.

Cats was utter rubbish. See if the documentary of the making is still on You Tube. The original actors like Wayne Sleep were saying that in rehearsals (even in final dress) the whole cast were horrified as they believed the musical was going to be panned. And were then amazed when preview audiences loved it.

When I saw it (years ago) I was expecting it to be brilliant, I thought it was terrible. I can’t believe they are still talking about making a film of it. That was a plot joke in ‘Six degrees of seperation’

I’d rather have a root canal than experience the misery that is Cats. Such a wretched piece of shit.

Had my teen nephews in the city - was taking them to “Play that goes Wromg.” As we walked down W 45th st they started horsing around in a way that suburban kids don’t realize is rude on a crowded city street - so I yelled - “If you two don’t calm the fuck down I’m making you see Cats!” It got a laugh from a few passers-by

r24 wins. Thread closed.

Let's not forget Miss Saigon. 2 and a half hours of dreck with a catchy number for the secondary male lead and the HELICOPTER. Puccini did it much better 80 years earlier and had the skill not to give the character tenor the best number in the show early in the first act.

Follies.

I never saw it but Starlight Express looked terrible.

R31 It was.

the musical Titanic

Starlight Express? Titanic?!? OP specified a “hit”

R34 It was a massive hit on the West End

R34, I thought Titanic ran for two years & won the Tony for Best Musical

Finding Neverland

On Your Feet

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Another vote for Cats. I still have no idea how that show ran for as long as it did.

Were any of those hits, R37?

R38. I thought this but I don’t believe that crap will ever be seen on stage again - why? The internet.

ALW Shows like Cats succeeded because people paid a lot of money to see them thinking they were going to be brilliant. Then nobody liked to say anything for fear of looking stupid! Nowadays forums would be rife with how dreadful it was and nobody would care!

Hello Dolly with Bette Midler. Without her it's not that bad, but with her it stinks to high heavens.

Rent

R19, I generally agree with you but with one exception: Evita.

[quote]R27 Cats was utter rubbish. See if the documentary of the making is still on You Tube. The original actors like Wayne Sleep were saying that in rehearsals (even in final dress) the whole cast were horrified as they believed the musical was going to be panned. And were then amazed when preview audiences loved it.

I was reading just recently that JUDI DENCH was originally to play Grizabella. Then some dancer kicked her knee in rehearsal (?) and her achiles tendon snapped.

I was rather flumoxed by this!

Titanic was a disaster.

Les Miserables was the best show in the past 50 years. Outstanding.

[quote]I'm not even a queer and I'm offended.

Then I feel even fewer qualms about blocking you.

Bye-bye.

Company. Enough said.

Yeah, yeah - Cats, Le Miz, Rent, etc - all hits, all bad.

But how about Annie?

We saw the revival in London this summer. Christ, what a rotten show.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Not only was it interminably execrable, but at its supposed conclusion, the cast, formally dressed in technicolor accoutrements, disappears backstage to great relief, but then horrifically returns to reprise the entire musical repertoire clad symbolic in pure white.

I was sitting next to my despised mother who LOVED it, so that may have "colored" my revulsion.

R50, that’s perfectly dreadful.

AGREED. OP!!

Jesus Christ, Les Misérables is such a fucking stink bomb of a show! Caterwauled schlocky 80s power ballads, and a three-hour running time! I hated its mile-wide and inch deep music and felt I'd never get out of there alive. What a fucking bore!

I also really hated Wicked. RENT crawled up my ass because EVERY character was so unlikable, and while set in "the present" (1996), it was depicting events matching 1983 or so. It was hopelessly dated by opening night. The whole show got on my fucking nerves!

To be fair, ALW did have two good shows: JCS and Evita. I don't know if the original Broadway production of JCS was a hit. Surely none of the revivals.

[quote]R53 I don't know if the original Broadway production of JCS was a hit. Surely none of the revivals.

I loved Les Miserables. Played the album way too much in 1986-87.

Fuck ya'll. I loved Cats.

Another vote for fucking Les Miserables. Saw it in London 20 years ago. HATED IT.

I realize now I hate musicals that are all singing. I need the story to be dialog with songs interspersed.

R37, while terrible, Finding Neverland, On Your Feet and Charlie we’re/are not hits.

The worst hit of recent years was Memphis.

Got comp tickets for some shit that was Jackie Kennedy Onasis with Muppet-like things. Theater half full, aged and poor in attendance. Many walked out, myself included. Anyone remember this? Title?

I think that was at the Lyceum Theatre, R59, but cannot recall the name. I know someone who maintained the muppety costumes.

Hmmmmm.....

I googled it. It was Jackie: An American Life. Belasco. FIVE months 1997 to 1998. I'm surprised it went that long. I must have seen it at the end of its run.

I adore Les Mis. I’ve seen a lot of horrible musicals but Side Show is the worst. Songs about banging Siamese twins.

I also hated Ragtime. And I walked out of Spamalot. I was one of 10 audiences to see Triumph of Love and that was also dreadful - even Betty Buckley couldn’t save it. Titanic was also really bad. On my overrated list are Rent and Phantom.

I also fell asleep during Jersey Boys.

Les Miz just won't go away. It keeps coming back in revival after revival.

CATS is way worse

I went to college with the composer of Triumph of Love. I wanted to like it, but it was all such a bore

" A Chorus Line". It was all so predictable---yeah, that guy is gonna talk about being gay. Yeah, the Hispanic guy is worried about masculinity. Thank God when it ended. It was a birthday gift to a friend (and her choice) but even she was disappointed.

I agree that Cats was the worst show I ever saw. I couldn’t leave. My date loved that awful play. I escaped half way through the first act. Went to the bathroom and took a dump. Waited to return until intermission. I got drunk at intermission, but that didn’t help.

At least rent had 1 good song - Seasons of Love. Otherwise I thought it was painful to watch.

I’m just not a theater person. I consider Spring Awakening and American Idiot to be the best plays I’ve seen. Maybe because I had a crush on Johnny Gallagher.

I’m so glad I never saw Cats 😀

Jekyll and Hyde?

I call Les Mis " Me Lez"! (that ones for you ladies)

MEMPHIS.

Wasn't Avenue Q on Broadway? That was a decent late-night cabaret show, and a pretty bad Broadway musical. Not that it can compare to Titanic, et al.

Without their over the top sets, Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals completely fall flat. We saw this with recent revivals of Cats and Evita. The revivals utterly sucked.

R66 I assume A Chorus Line was revolutionary for its time. It's revival, which was almost an identical copy, seemed so dated

R70 Yes, MEMPHIS COMPLETELY SUCKED. I was floored when that piece of shit won Best Musical

Recently saw Wicked again after seeing the original with Mendel and Chenoweth. I enjoyed the original because the actresses were perfect for their roles. The recent viewing showed me what dreck the musical really is.

I forget there was a musical Titanic.

I first saw Les Miz in it's pre-Broadway run. It was stunning.

I last saw it the month before everyone got fired because they were just walking through it. I fell asleep. They deserved to fire the lot.

[quote]The worst hit of recent years was Memphis.

I haven't seen "Once," but I detested the movie and hated the music, so I would imagine it was pretty awful, too. I can't believe they both won Best Musical Tonys.

The current revival of "Hello, Dolly!" once Bernie P leaves and Lens Dunham takes over the lead roll.

R73, musicals aren't House Hunter kitchens.

F O L L I E S, there I said it and everyone of you queens knows it's true.

R78 - I completely forgot about Once. OMG that was beyond horrible! I wanted to walk out during the first song but couldn't because I was in the middle of the center section, and that would've involved me stepping on a number of people's feet.

I saw Follies with Bernadette and Elaine Paige and loved it. And I am normally meh on Sondheim. Saw a Company revival that was completely forgettable.

LOVE Jekyl and Hyde. But I adore Linda Eder and saw her in it when she was a complete unknown and was blown away by her pipes.

I saw Follies and never need to see it again.

I saw Gypsy and never need to see it again.

I saw Hello, Dolly and never need to see it again.

I saw Passion and never need to see it again

I saw Hamilton and never need to see it again

I walked out of Miss Saigon. I don't know just how bad it was.l but what I saw was pretty bad. Yeah I stayed till the helicopter scene like I was told.

I tried to walk out of the Les Mis film but it was an inflight movie

"....the congressional debates work beautifully as rap battles."

OMG.

Martin Guerre

It ended a friendship (wb) - him, not me...

Aida.

I walked out at intermission.

Also, Urinetown. Not clever. Just awful.

Anna Karenina: the Musical

Even the cast knew it sucked. It was at Circle in the Square Theatre which is tiny so the actors were practically sitting in your lap. I felt so bad for Ann Crumb. She kept rolling her eyes. The cast made it clear even they were glad the evening was over. It ran for 46 excruciating performances.

I walked out of Phantom of the Opera. ALW is a hack.

I enjoyed Aida and the original Miss Saigon. I expected nothing deep and that's what I got.

I was happy both times

^babytastes

Please don't bother listing shows they were not hits. Such as this Anna K shit.

STARLIGHT EXPRESS...The show stank, and everyone in the cast got ulcerated kneecaps

CATS and RENT

[quote]Maybe because I had a crush on Johnny Gallagher.

Oh, yes, r67. Johnny Gallagher.

[quote][R66] I assume A Chorus Line was revolutionary for its time. It's revival, which was almost an identical copy, seemed so dated

The problem was not the show. The problem was they were so determined not to repeat the mistakes of the movie that they made the actors basically impersonate the original cast. If it had had more leeway to grow and had been less dependent on stunt casting, it would have worked better. But for someone who had never seen the show or had only seen the movie, it's more than enough to see what made it work then.

[quote]Please don't bother listing shows they were not hits

Please don't bother writing posts they were not sentences

There are a lot of crappy shows listed above, such as Cats and Joseph and the Amazingly Stupid Show that should Never Be Performed by Adults.

But nothing beats the nasty shit-fest that is Book of Mormon.

[italic]Annie[/italic] is another show I don't get the hate for; even if the support of FDR is contrary to the original comic strip with or without the benefit of 40 years hindsight, the score is better than almost everything that's come after it. That was a case where the movie got more right than it got wrong but the things it missed were not inconsequential. If they'd done it as a roadshow, and they certainly had the money to, they could have kept more of the existing score in addition to the new ones.

I thought Lion King was pretty terrible. It was stunning to see, but the story was too different from the animated movie and caused it to be a miserable experience.

That's not the worst Disney show.

Another vote for the bombastic Les Miz. So fucking overwrought. And, long. Very, very long.

Sunset Blvd is not good. Brilliant film; dreadful musical.

I dislike the hamhanded Phantom of the Opera except for the "Masquerade" number which is great.

I really liked the original cast album of Rent but then I saw the actual stage show and it's not very good.

I don't like Wicked. I don't like Stephen Schwartz's screechy songs.

Once, for me, was ok. It had some charm. Didn't try to be something it wasn't. It's a small show and the performances were great.

Book of Mormon was fine...it has some good jokes but it doesn't "sit" well. That show is kinda creepy. Like the South Park dudes.

Memphis was dreck. American Idiot was moronic dreck though I saw a local production that actually was kinda fun...the show still made zero sense but the young cast had great energy.

All the juke box musicals are pretty terrible.

[quote]I tried to walk out of the Les Mis film but it was an inflight movie

Why did you let that stop you?

R97, that's just not true. I saw the original as well as with several replacement casts and Bennett himself tried to keep the performers close to the originals, even in their looks. There was a poster of the Bway casts put together and it was hard to tell them apart. As for the revival, Deidre Goodwin's Sheil was as far from Kelly Bishop as can be but still gave a striking performance and made the role her own. Although I didn't care for Charlotte D'amboise's Cassie, it was certainly not McKechnie's weepy, whiny version.

The show is just dated. It's almost quaint.

[quote]R75 Recently saw Wicked again after seeing the original...The recent viewing showed me what dreck the musical really is.

Didn't the score for WICKED get tepid reviews when the show first came out?

I'm going to share some real-life gossip now:

A good friend of mine is neighbors with Gregory Maguire, who wrote the novel it's based on (which is very good.) His husband (partner?) is an antiques dealer, and they have a comfortable New England home. But anyway, I was excited to be going to this author's house for lunch, as his novel was now a big Broadway hit, and I thought we'd get some lovely meal and there'd be some glittering conversation, etc.

Well! When we arrived, he'd just come back from a garage sale or something, and asked me to help him carry a bed up from the car to an upstairs bedroom. Which was fine...but not something you usually ask a guest in your home that you've just met to do. Then for lunch there were several plastic containers of deli takeout stuff; potatoe salad, tuna salad, crackers etc. I may have also been given a glass of unmemorable juice.

It was all a bit of a let down. I mean, what's the point of being a millionaire with a nice house if you can't even give guests a decent lunch?

I just zoned out and played with his little girl for most of the visit, while our "host" and my friend talked. I finally reclined on a chaise or something, and she curled up on my chest and fell asleep, which was cute. (I don't have any kids.) The only engaging part of the afternoon, actually!

It's not that quaint when gay boys still struggle to find self-acceptance despite all the gains we've made since then, R105.

I'm obviously in the minority on this one, but I thought "Kinky Boots"--message notwithstanding--was utterly forgettable.

The only show I've walked out of recently was the revival of "An American in Paris." It was the touring company, and the leads had all the appeal of a vending-machine bologna sandwich.

The original Lea Mis was excellent. Now you have losers from community college like Jean Baptists in it, they have ruined it. Wicked is horrifyingly bad, esp the screechy screaming Idina Mendel version. It is so stultifying stupid I don't even get why 7th grade girls and future queens like it. Bernadette Peters has no talent and stinks up everything she is in. Ditto David Hasselbeck in Jekyll and Hyde. Ditto Mormon after the first fifteen minutes. However, the absolute worst, most over rated over acted hamfisted over produced musical of all time, ever, is Hamilton. Major stench, hype, absolute bullshit. Anyone who likes it has no brains or taste.

I can't find anyone online who likes Come From Away but it sells out every week. Go figure.

Lots of places sell bad food but make good money, R110.

I hated Urinetown.

I saw Miss Saigon and Starlight Express in London, and loved them both. Another I saw there was Blood Brothers, equally enjoyable. One of my favorites that didn't get enough attention was "The Scarlet Pimpernel".

For just pure entertainment, I'd have to go with "42nd Street".

I’ll probably get crucified for this but Angels in America was horrible.

I saw "The King and I" with Paolo Montalban and LORD, he was terrible. Someone else paid for the tickets so I had to stay but otherwise I definitely would have walked about after 20 minutes.

To R110. For some reason I just loved Come from Away. I know a lot of people hate it but it just hit me and I got very emotional at the show. Maybe it's cause I am friends with 2 people in the cast and I was just in "that kind of mood" when I saw it. I see tons of theater and that just doesn't happen to me often. Go figure!

I also really liked Comr From Away - a friend had preview comps so I went expecting it to be average to bad - 9/11 the musical is a tough thing to previzialize - but after the hard to understand / follow opening number the show really got to me - it’s emotional without being 9/11 Porn.

Rent is over-rated. I walked out of the road version a few years ago. Wicked was a joke. Lots of cast members dressed in silly green costumes; unmemorable songs.

The Book of Mormon gets my vote. It is racist, broad, unimaginative and obvious. Making fun of Mormons is like shooting fish in a barrel. And having been to Africa, I felt that the racist stereotypes of Africans pander to most Americans completely uninformed ideas about what Africa is like. I found it insulting.

I didn’t like Cats either but I didn’t find it offensive.

Godspell. Yes, Godspell.

Damn, I forgot how shitty and lame "Kinky Boots" is!

Completely forgettable score, and the one decent song is sung by a non-lead character, of course! The guys playing the drag queens at the beginning were so sluggish and bad, not even as lively as real Hell's Kitchen gay bar drag queens down the block working for tips!

The beyond mawkish and phony, Harvey Fierstein's book yet again demanding that the ONLY way to be "authentic" is to be a gay guy in drag! Yawn.....again, Harvey?? Billy Porter was out and his understudy couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. The whole show is so empty and manipulative, and I found it cringeworthy in the end.

Worst thing I've seen on Broadway in the last few decades was the Christina Applegate revival of Sweet Charity. Just poo. And Denis O'Hare looked like he would rather have been pressure washing his driveway than been on that stage. Christina tried, but lord, she just wasn't up to it.

Any play that has won a Pulitzer in the 2000s...August: Osage County felt like a bad Eugene O'Neill parody. I Am My Own Wife was also notably crappy.

Carol Channing in the 90s revival of Hello Dolly.

Gawd DAMN, yes!!

"I Am My Own Wife" was pure bullshit! What tripe for eggheads! It may have started the whole "The only good people are TRANS people" movement! It was like a show they drag you to on a school field trip because it's educational. Yawn. The set of the Broadway production was like one of those shitty Louise Nevelson "sculptures" where a whole bunch of objects are glued together and painted all black. Pointless, non-engaging and pretentious as HELL!

r114 Are you talking about seeing the original B'way production of "Angels in America" or just some mediocre community theater production?

Because the original production was amazing theater.

I saw "Come From Away" and while it's not blessed with a score to remember, it was a well constructed, theatrical, emotionally involving and very well done show. I enjoyed seeing it.

That said, I don't think it will end up being a classic for all time but it doesn't aim super high.

Rent - God, what rubbish. Pay your fucking rent, deadbeats.

Wicked - can't stand parasitic re-writes of classics. Go buy a bag of talent and write your OWN fucking story.

Hello Dolly - embarrassingly corny in 2017.

Book of Mormon - WTF? Horrible. Nothing to redeem it.

A Little Night Music - fell asleep.

Forgot how racist Mormon was. I felt bad for the actors, being paid to say those dumb lines. It was so dull after the first few funny minutes that I forgot the disgusting racism. And this made lots of money. But then so did idiotic Wicked and so did and does childish dumb Lion King. Bus and truck Hamilton is gradually hitting flyover land. We'll see how the deplorables like it. It is a piece of shit, hyped to make dummies think it is great art. Great steaming pile.

Don't hold back, R129, tell us how you really feel.

Sunset Boulevard gets my vote for worst. I was actually angry after seeing it but the movie is one of my favorites. Billy Wilder turned over in his grave. Another worst is Civil War? I think that’s the name. I saw the touring production with Marilou Henner and Tom Wopat. BTW, they had a deep dive kiss that was completely unnecessary for the scene. I figured they were having an affair during the tour.

I had to walk out on the Donald O'Connor revival of Showboat. Just had to.

Anything by Andrew Lloyd Weber and that includes Phantom.

I saw last year the bus and truck Newsies. Impressive set and wonderful dance ensembles but stupid story and lots of shouting in horrible , unintelligible mock 1920's NY accents.

Hamilton is shite, 100%, current Broadway cast is nearly unwatchable.

Hamilton.

I don't remember if it was a hit, but the most boring show I've seen on Broadway was The Weir. It was basically a bunch of people telling ghost stories. It might have been electric in a more intimate setting, but was lost in a big Broadway house. I've wondered how well Rabbit Hole worked on Broadway. I saw a local production in a black box theater, which was ideal for a little domestic drama.

I'm not as hard on musicals, and can't muster up much disdain for a reasonably entertaining timepass like Wicked or Kinky Boots or even War Paint. I'm more perplexed than annoyed by shows based on stories that, it seems to me, will never work on stage, like Sunset Boulevard (Glenn was pretty good though) or Lord of the Rings (some good music though.)

My first Broadway show was a horrible piece of drek called Hallelujah Baby. It was 1968 (?), I was 14 years old, and I didn't see another show for ten years because of it.

[quote]Forgot how racist Mormon was. I felt bad for the actors, being paid to say those dumb lines. It was so dull after the first few funny minutes that I forgot the disgusting racism. And this made lots of money.

I have some issues with MORMON, but I don't think the show is "racist." Why do you say that? Can you give some examples? If anything, the show is a parody of racism, and you seem to have missed the boat.

Rabbit Hole was a Manhattan Theater Club production. Technically Broadway, but it was a limited run in a 650 seat theater. More like a LORT show out in the provinces.

[quote]The beyond mawkish and phony, Harvey Fierstein's book yet again demanding that the ONLY way to be "authentic" is to be a gay guy in drag!

He's been writing that same show since 1983. Except back then it had a Jerry Herman score.

Were Jonathan Larson and Stephen Sondheim fuck buddies?

Thanks, R140! Did you see it?

R139, maybe I did, but there ars so many bad stereotypes, lazy black people, oversexed, mang babies, shuffling etc. I interpreted that as racist, not a satire of It. What did the writers have in mind?

If you missed the point of MORMON then no one is going to be able to convince you otherwise. You sound quite stupid.

Yes, Book of Mormon was so profound...

...when they weren’t fucking frogs or having maggots in their scrotums.

[QUOTE] You sound quite stupid.

We all can't be brainy like Fern here.

Heterosexuals of all races live up to the so-called stereotypes every single time. It's when they project their inferiority, stupidity, and bigotry onto gay people that it becomes a problem.

My Mummy and Daddy took me to see "Boy from Oz" because it's what I wanted for my 13th birthday. I had a terrible infatuation with Hugh Jackman at the time, and thought that seeing him live and in person would be wonderful. Well, said to say I was very disappointed. I didn't care for the show in that he was playing Peter Allen and not himself. I thought he was the boy from Oz. So underwhelmed. Even at 13 I knew trash and trivialities when I saw it/them. My parents were dumbfounded and guilty for exposing me to this. To this day it is a sore point in our conversation.

Applause

Have any actual Mormons ever appeared in "Mormon"?

I saw the first national tour of "Mormon" and I moderately liked it...it has some funny moments and a couple of good numbers but it didn't sit well with me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it really is racist shit. All the African characters are either very stupid or murderous hoods.

And, it's really a very trite story. Two good numbers and a clever title and its 'naughty' reputation managed to make it a hit.

More proof that Broadway is dying and audiences frequently have questionable taste.

R151

[quote]My parents were dumbfounded and guilty for exposing me to this. To this day it is a sore point in our conversation.

Why would they feel guilty about taking you to a show you begged them to see?

THE BAND’S VISIT. Boring, nothing happens. ONCE is dreadful and cloying. MEMPHIS is the worst.

Memphis had its problems, but it was certainly an enjoyable musical. And let's not tarnish Chad Kimball, the lead in the musical, with the play itself. Kimball is a talented performer.

R156 kimball played the character as have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Isn’t that kinda how it’s written?

R157, some advice to you: Get off your "redeeming quality" bullshit line. You might be too young to know this, but that is one of the oldest cliched lines in English. When people hear it, they roll their eyes.

Rent.

I also hated Jekyl & Hyde, but I had low expectations. Rent, however, was hyped to the nth degree for some reason.

R158 that's likely how it was written, which is why no one gave a shit whether he lived or died.

Now, what successful musical would have a main character like that?

I hated Billy Elliott. I enjoyed the movie, but the musical was just meh.

What made it worst was all the internet shills talking about how this was one of the best musicals ever.

And yet we have all forgotten about it

Applause! The whole theatah stank.

R161, ummm.....maybe Billy Bigelow in "Carousel"?

"Rent."

"Billy Elliott"

That Mormon piece of shit. And not because some idiot wants to pretend it was racist (People who do not understand satire and parody shouldn't type opinions because they're culturally illiterate.) I hated "Book of Mormon" because it was heartlessly formulaic and cynical against the audience. I don't like anything that is cynical towards it audience.

I saw the 1990s Carol Channing "Dolly." It was embarrassing, but to call it the worst is to miss the echoes of the past and the tradition of "one last try." She wasn't that bad. She was just mostly immobile. She didn't sound bad at all.

'Cats'. Jesus PETE on a UNICYCLE, that was some stunningly pointless cos-play, overwrought, stupid, BORING SHIT.

Spice Girl Mel-B as Mimi in Rent proved the show was the worst in Broadway history, until Hamilton, there’s a shit piece and a half, that mugging female ensemble is community theater level and worse!

R145 is a rude bitch desperate cunt.

OP is a CIA funded astroturfer

[quote] R163 [italic] Applause! [/italic] The whole theatah stank.

I was wondering if ANY of Betty Bacall's plays/musicals have ever been revived. They're utter dreck.

Maybe I didn’t express myself very well in my opinions about the Book of Mormon. However, the dictionary defines satire as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices.” I think that the targets of “satire” in the Book of Mormon (if that is what the Mormons are) are ones whose stupidity and vices are on flagrant display already and that nothing new or clever is actually exposed. The same goes for the in-denial gay character who is hiding out in the Mormon fellowship. I find “satirizing” a young man who is unaware of his sexual identity painful, not funny, and sadly out of date. FInally, there is nothing to satirize about African tribespeople. They do not need to be criticized for stupidity or vices. Most Americans are so completely unfamiliar with the lives and habits of African people (whatever that means) that presenting them in a ridiculous or exaggerated manner does nothing but reinforce the out-of-touch attitudes most American people already have (unless it serves to give them new incorrect ideas they may not have had before they saw the show).

As long as Ricky Schroder and Gladys Knight are still stuck in that cult, then that show has failed as a satire.

As already said, no one is going to convince you otherwise, R171. But thanks for proving your stupidity with that special ed analysis of the show.

[quote]Now, what successful musical would have a main character like that?

Sweeney Todd?

HAMILTON was not only the WORST but the most EMBARRASSING for ALL concerned

And that included ME

I realized the art form had fallen to unrecoverable depths

But then, so had America. But you guys restore my faith!!

Hamilton my ASS

[R173]. I’m actually not stupid; I’m not sure what makes you think that. However, I was glad to get all that off my chest.

[quote] I hated "Book of Mormon" because it was heartlessly formulaic and cynical against the audience.

And they lapped it up like pigs at a trough.

Lin-smelluwell Cantsstandya is a curse upon the Rialto and soon will fester and rot the silver screen with MaryPoopins Poo! BAD!

Yes^R178

It/him/Ham made me really lose respect for musicals-ESPECIALLY the recent ones.

Bad taste in the mouth

^^^ Those anal hairs will do that to you.

r173 is a stupid cuntstick who's pissed some of us don't adore fucking Book of Mormon....which is NOT a clever satire of anything. It's the moronic South Park dicks gently tweaking Mormonism with questionable and somewhat racist stereotypes of Africans as ignorant morons or thuggish killers.

The satire is so fucking weak in this show that the Mormon Church is not only NOT offended by it, they buy fucking ADS in programs across the country touting their despicable religion. The Church ADORES The Book of Mormon!

Pretty shitty satire if your subject approves of it, dumbass.

Bile is so attractive.

We don't like you, R181. We don't like you at all.

Miss Saigon

R183-Dont speak for us

CATS is the worst crap I ever sat through. Avoided it for years, finally got corralled into seeing it when a guy I was sort of dating took me to a local priduction, which looked good enough, The local cast wasn’t bad; it was the structure that bored me to tears. Episodic, rambling, dull; I was so relieved to get out of there.

Saw original cast of RENT. Awful, pretentious garbage. Only one good song, at the top of the second act. But who cares? I still believe what a friend said about this, “If that guy hadn’t died before the opening, this show would have been a big flop.”

Finally saw CHORUS LINE when it had been playing for about ten years. Awful, boring, smug show. Has really made me sick of shows about theater people and their lives. No, they are not the most interesting subjects for anything. But they sure make up for it with self-important braying, trying to make their pointless sacrifices mean something to audiences who mostly couldn’t care less. (The most memorable detail of that evening was watching fellow audience member Peter Martins discussing it with others afterward.)

Frankly, I liked LES MIZ, but then I saw it in previews, when Frances Ruffele was still in it. It had a freshness then, and had not yet become an institution.

I saw the original cast of MISS SAIGON in London, twice, about a month after it opened, when it was more raw, and still had a number of anti-American references, later shaved away for the U.S. production. Too bad composer Schonberg hasn’t done all that much since then.

I'm glad to see mentions of URINETOWN and especially, SPAMALOT. Both were fashionable hits in their day. Many people don't remember them even now.

I hated these shows: their laziness, their smug, artless "meta-commentary" on book musicals, their terrible, terrible scores.

Others? TITANIC was awful, although the physical production (sets, costumes, etc.) was so epically awful that one could hardly judge the show. LES MIZ is a long bore, but there's some genuinely lovely music in there: I could never say the same about MISS SAIGON, which just sucks in every possible way. Even TRIUMPH OF LOVE (not a hit, decidedly) had a gorgeous song or two in there.

Miss Saigon has some gorgeous melodies but they’re all in Act 1 and come one right after the other so it starts to drone on. It is a terrible show.

Likewise, CATS has some great music as long as you don’t have to watch it being performed within the context of the show.

Other than “Memory”, what great music does Cats have?

I’m not going to create a list but many of the individual songs are fun.

Another vote for Cats.

But I loved Rent even though it was about assholes who refused to pay their rent.

Oh bullshit. Cats shows why poetry is not lyrics. Memory, the one original song, has a beautiful melody. Everything is crap.

I saw the Producers after the original cast had gone. Utter dreck. It was proof that Nathan Lane could turn any shit into gold.

Also didn't get the hype about Spamalot either-- but saw the second cast there too.

Mormon was okay, just not what the hype made it to be.

I really enjoyed Hamilton but I saw it BEFORE all the hype

Let's be fair, R178, some things are going to suck no matter who's in them. That just assured the biggest black hole from Disney since [italic]The Black Hole[/italic].

I’d rather sit through Cats 10 times than ever have to see Wicked again. And I saw it with the original cast. Five minutes in I turned to my boyfriend and said, This is going to be torture. I was right!

Many of you are saying you saw Blah Blah ten years after it opened... It’s odd to think that “Cats”, “A Chorus Line”, “Miss Saigon”, “Les Mis” and even “Rent” were something new and different when they premiered on Broadway years ago. They all moved musical theater to where it is today. Ah hem.

That said, I’ve seen plenty of shows and I may not have enjoyed them the first time ( Movin’ Out) and enjoyed them upon viewing them a second time. I saw Jekyl and Hyde THREE times and each time it was worse then the last. As a previous poster said the only decent part in the show was Linda Eders SINGING. (Not acting, mind you) Singing.

I’m surprised no one mentioned “Matilda”- who could understand those accents? Or “Momma Mia”-no comment.

r196 - Please, can you explain what is Blah Blah? Did it open in 2007? On Broadway? I am not familiar.

R195!!!!!!!!!I felt/did exactly the same thing! I too saw the original WICKED as I wanted to gage how much I actually hated Chenowith and was not disappointed. I really really hate her. Wanted to leave after 5 minutes as well. What a piece of shit.

I first show I walked out of was Starlight Express. As bad luck would have it, GOD decided to send me to Las Vegas for 5 years where I worked on this show years later. The money was great, but for 5 years I felt my soul had left my body. But I did get to see DL fav Andy Karl in various states of undress every day. And yes, it is gigantic.

The original Oklahoma. Dreck. Walked out at the end of Act 2.

Haha. Oklahoma! opened in 1943 and does not qualify for this thread. Phooey!

We need a best musicals thread. Mine is and will always be West Side Story.

Hamilton and Rent.

Hurt Locker - The Musical

I walked out at intermission.

R200 are you referring to the reboot that brought the London cast to NYC except for Hugh Jackman?

That shit was ponderous. For the love of God cut the fucking ballet sequence and end the show once they sing Oklahoma.

Any show that considers itself "a valentine to the Broadway musical".

I sat through Titanic, looking forward to the moment when everyone on stage would die.

^and even that was underwhelming

The hype over Hamilton makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Had a ticket and sold it to a friend. Also hate Les Miz, Ragtime, and Wonderdull Town. The recent production of Newsies is on Netflix if you feel like punishing yourself.

Sold your Ham tix????

Wish I had been so wise.

Man after my own art!

The worst time for Broadway is now.

Now and Forever!

A Chorus Line. All that whining and dancing. Oy! Walked out at intermission.

There's no intermission in [italic]A Chorus Line[/italic], R211.

r212 - Oh. Well thank goodness for that.

[quote]The recent production of Newsies is on Netflix if you feel like punishing yourself.

[italic]Midnight Madness[/italic] had hotter guys, to tell you the truth.

What is "Midnight Madness," r214?

A Disney college comedy from the early 1980s released without the Disney name as an experiment to see whether teenagers, the group research showed was the least interested in their films, would be more likely to see it. It was not a hit, yet today it plays better than some of the movies of that era that actually do carry the Disney name.

I liked Midnight Madness with a very young Michael J. Fox and nerdy Eddie Deezen.

“gentlemen’s guide to love and murder” Could not get out of the Theatre fast enough at intermission. A musical about fast costume changes?

I have to say "Sunset BLVd" ---what a lame, boring SNOOZEfest...and I mean that literally, I fucking fell asleep in the middle of it.

CAMELTOE for da win!

Stomp, what a piece of shit!

I am NOT throwin away that SHIT I am not throwin away that shit Whats the worst Bway show but also greatest success? I am NOT goin to name that shit!

STOMP is the only show I walked out of. Simply terrible.

[quote]Now you have losers from community college like Jean Baptists in it, they have ruined it.

In English?

That fool with the fake name John Baptiste, who fell off a balcony. Looked foolish in his glued on cotton beard. His character was NOT black yet hd was cast.

I don't know if it ever made it to Broadway after all the previews and workshopping, but my vote goes to ‘Jasper in Deadland'.

How did this piece of shit attract investors? It could have only been created by people who grew up worshipping 'Rent'. I can't even describe it because I forgot everything about it the moment it was over. It's the equivalent of letting some asshole with a big YouTube following create a musical because producers thought they might have their finger on the pulse of what young people like. It's so Millennial. So cut and paste. I've never felt so used as an audience member as I did when I saw 'Jasper in Deadland'. And I've seen a lot of shitty theatre in my time.

Happy to see how many here cite ALW as a horror--my parents subjected me to JCS as a "treat" for my first Broadway show. I'd rather that they'd beaten me with wire hangers.

There was no intermission in A Chorus Line on Broadway, but there was one when it toured.

[quote]my vote goes to ‘Jasper in Deadland'.

Why even mention this terrible show? Let it stay dead and buried.

R228, where did they place the intermission?

If I remember correctly, after “Dance Ten, Looks Three”.

Which meant that “Music and the Mirror” opened Act 2.

[quote]Jasper in Deadland

Was Jasper a Deadhead who died and went to heaven and Jerry Garcia was God and you could eat Cherry Garcia as often as you wanted?

[quote]I'd rather that they'd beaten me with wire hangers.

You'd think wooden ones would hurt more since they're bigger.

[quote]Was Jasper a Deadhead who died and went to heaven and Jerry Garcia was God and you could eat Cherry Garcia as often as you wanted?

That would have been 1000x more interesting.

r231 Isn't that a little late for an intermission? Plus The Music and the Mirror seems like a number to build up to, not open an act with.

I think the JCS concept album is great. Has there been a production of JCS, including outside of Broadway, that lived up the score? It doesn't seem like any of the Broadway productions were any good, so I don't blame the posters above. (I liked the film's concept, but the Andre Previn's orchestral treatment robbed the score of a lot of its excitement and urgency.)

There is no acceptable place to put an intermission into Chorus Line, r235.

Oh, and I’m loving the stadium version of JCS that’s on Broadway HD. It actually makes sense of that mess of a show. (And several of the dancers are nice and muscled.)

Little Mermaid. Thoroughly Modern Millie. Sunset Blvd. Cats.

Since Music/Mirror is the first song on side two of ACL, why not have intermission before it?

Thanks, r236, I will look it up.

BTW, it's too bad that the 2012 Broadway version wasn't any good. I heard an audio recording and the singing is fantastic. For the most part, the cast doesn't do 1970's Ted Neeley-style rock voices, just legit Broadway singing. (I realize some might argue that the score is best done in screech.)

R238, there is the moment where Connie asks if the performers could take a break so the curtain just comes down? Tits and Ass is a showstopper so the audience goes into the lobby happy.

Carrie the Musical. Shite from the go get.

[post]Miss Saigon has some gorgeous melodies but they’re all in Act 1

I can think of maybe two gorgeous melodies in SAIGON: "The Movie in My Mind" (which I'd call pretty, not gorgeous) and "Why, God?" And the most beautiful phrase of the second one sounds like "There's a Small Hotel" by Richard Rodgers.

I would say the most likeable and the smartest character in THE BOOK OF MORMON is the African female lead, which is part of the reason why I don't see the show as racist.

Rent. And as a young gay in the 90s, I heard it a lot and thought it sucked ass.

I saw a production of Superstar in Prague several years ago that was simply stunning, even when sung in Czech.

r241 That's about as far from a "hit Broadway show" as you can get.

Starlight Express was bad beyond comprehension and ran for years here in the West End. I always described the experience as like being raped by ALW with your eyes forced open.

(Oh, and ‘Bernadette the Musical’, but that wasn’t a hit. It was, however, epically bad.)

Jesus! The Musical! was just plain God-awful (pardon the pun). Saw it at the Schenectady Playhouse back in the '70's. Peeee-Yewwww.

“HIT” musicals

There’s a lot of crap out there, but some of it made a lot of money. Jesus and Carrie did not.

I wanted to like Thoroughly Modern Millie., but I found it depressing. Also Mary Poppins.

The problem with musicals made from movies is that a movie has a three-act structure. Trying to put that structure into a two-act format is actually a real challenge, one that very few musicals on stage can figure out.

I do like the song The Speed Test from TMM though.

Phantom of the Opera

My favorite version.

The 2000 Broadway production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Horrendous.

Fat Pig (Neil La Bute) - my self loathing fat sister insisted we go, on her dime, to this mysoginistic shit fest.

Cats (in Chicago, for free) WALKED OUT

The Mystery of Drood- I was in high school, late ‘80s and was very bored.

Captain Intolerance: anyone else find this individual intolerable?

I have heard parts of Mary Poppins on one of the streaming stations. I actually like the movie, but from what I have heard of the Broadway show. any of the new lyrics see, like filler and the characters seem unlikable. The kids seem like straight out brats, whereas in the movie they are pretty likable. Also, while Julie probably did not deserve an Oscar, she was perfect in the role and was good at balancing the character so she was neither too sweet nor too bitchy. It is a character that would be easy to make insufferable, and the little I have heard from the Broadway recording - she is.

Thoroughly Modern Millie gets my vote with Sutton Foster having the least amount of charisma and personality of any Broadway performer I have ever seen. She certainly though got an A for smiling a lot. It was one long Miss America talent spot with no talent.

And shockingly it's even more racist than the film. A stony faced Asian family was sitting near me and I felt like I was watching Birth of a Nation with African Americans. I know it was supposed to be mocking stereotypes. Well it failed.

And the film was in two acts. It had one intermission.

Not only did Billy Wilder not turn over in his grave he appeared on stage at the curtain call on opening night of SB with ALW and Nancy Olsen.

And as the film is owned outright by Paramount he got no royalties from it.

What the fuck is Jasper in Deadland? The writer seems to get produced all the time despite never having had a success. Weird.

Hamilton wins this thread. But Annie Get Your Gun with untalented old bag fotos B. Peters also was a shithole. I love the word shithole! It is so useful. HOLLYWOOD actors, plays, Muslims, etc.

[quote]I do like the song The Speed Test from TMM though.

I like it better in Ruddigore. Or even the Joe Papp Pirates. And don’t get me started on the awful new lyrics, which scan so poorly and have no wit.

I never understood why they stuck a G&S song in Millie. It’s so out of place. Was Tesori not able to write a patter song?

It wasnt Tesori so much as the lyricist and book writer Dick Scanlan who has great ambition but is soulless as a writer and cant write a true honest person to save his life. I mean have you seen his Molly Brown redo???

He's a child in a 6 foot body.

Thoroughly Modern Millie is a huge slog and a boring MESS!

I was sitting there in previews thinking, "Cut this. Cut ALL of that! Get rid of this WHOLE part!"

Plus can you imagine the caucasian Harriet Harris an an "inscrutable Asian" today? My stars!

The Broadway version of "Starlight Express" was distressingly loud, dumb, and VERY boring....and I sat through "Timbuktu"!

the g dam one woman show that lynn redgrave did ages ago.

many of walked out after 20 min

unreal horrid.

r262, do you mean "Shakespeare for My Father"? I LOVED it!

Book of Mormon. I can't get the money or the time wasted back from that awful, incomprehensible bore. Only 2 musicals are worth a damn: The original Chorus Line at the Drury Lane Theatre in London and Cabaret with Liza, Joel et al. Everything else is on the spectrum of rubbish.

Liza never did the perform the whole show of "Cabaret" on Broadway (or elsewhere) though. What a shanda!

I thought the Lynn Redgrave show was terrific as well.

It was worth it for her recounting of the compelling charm and unfeeling coldness that was Olivier and Coward's brilliant line, "On a VERY clear day you can see Marlowe, Beaumont and Fletcher.

I was pinching myself to stay awake during Stomp.

I thought Rent was a bore until Seasons.

Wicked wins for me. I like the idea of exploring the Oz characters lives before Dorothy, but I thought the music was utterly forgettable. I saw it in Chicago in the late 00's, and just recently in the West End just to see if I still hated it, and I still feel the same. I couldn't hum even one of the songs after it was finished.

With Les Mis, you're humming damn near every song. Still a stunning show. The only fault I noticed the last (and 2nd) time I saw it, was that the musical themes are reused quite a bit.

Cats

A tie between 'Billy Elliot' & 'Matilda'

I H-A-T-E-D Rent. I would have left at intermission, but a friend has bought the tickets as a treat and it would be rude to even say I didn't like it.

Miss Saigon was rubbish.

Cats was so annoying.

I really don't understand why Wicked is so popular. It bored the shit out of me. The book was much more interesting -- and the music was very lame.

I think Hello Dolly is a shitty show. There is no book.

[quote]Wicked wins for me. I like the idea of exploring the Oz characters lives before Dorothy, but I thought the music was utterly forgettable. I saw it in Chicago in the late 00's, and just recently in the West End just to see if I still hated it, and I still feel the same. I couldn't hum even one of the songs after it was finished.

[italic]Return to Oz[/italic] had more memorable music, and that wasn't even a musical.

[quote] It was all a bit of a let down. I mean, what's the point of being a millionaire with a nice house if you can't even give guests a decent lunch?

How dare the free lunch he served you be nothing short of expensive and memorable!!! You must have suffered so!!!

I never realized there were dedicated Bernadette Peters detractors.

There are detractors for everything and everyone, toots.

Peters was so fabulous in the '71 On the Town I will always think she's great.

She and Jess Richards were hilarious.

The recent cast Hildy and Chip were musical theater department majors from some Midwestern college.

The ones they put through the take out all the personality and charisma machine.

Rent. Ugh, I hated it so much. I've seen tons of Broadway and that was one of the worst.

God, I hope I get it. A Chorus Line should be up here.

Chorus Line was a crock of shit when it opened. What made it so dazzling was Bennett's Broadway genius.

That original production was exhilarating.

I'm not a fan of 42nd Street. I have never seen it in a Broadway-level production, only in two local and one stock/regional production, but I just find it a cynical throwback to all the musical clichés that people who hate musicals love to rag on. Yes, most older musicals have character "types" and are more about the songs and dances than the plot, but most of them are much more compellingly written than 42nd Street, with characters who literally ARE their types (ingénue, juvenile lead, sassy soubrette, etc.) with nothing else to individualize them and NOTHING for an actor to play, except the broken leg diva's bitchiness and bitter resignation when she has to give up the show to the young cutie. The songs and dance numbers are fun but completely brainless and most have NOTHING to do with anything that is going on on stage, even the show within a show is incomprehensible (which I know was the style in the 30s, but...still).

Call me a pretentious Sondheim-ite. But I LOVE Guys and Dolls!

"Our American Cousin" -- the play just rubbed me the wrong way.

R249---the lyrics of that number in Modern Millie shows a mind that is indeed bereft of great ideas. Who would think that was entertaining to an audience?? Why do theses people think thy can write musicals? You were right though: depressing indeed.

Has anyone seen The Scarlett Pimpernel musical? I listened to the soundtrack and it was dreadful. Did the stage performance work better?

So they steal My Eyes are Fully Open which is a pretty appalling idea in the first place for a thing called Speed Test and then sing it at half speed. How do people working in the professional theater today get a very bad idea and then manage to compound it and then consider themselves pros?

I had totally forgotten that and it was probably one of the reason I considered the show such dreck. They cut songs from the film both original(pretty good) and standards(terrific) which at least made sense in their context for just bad bad song writing. And none of the creative team notices.

Nick and Nora, Carrie, The Red Shoes

On what planet were they considered hit shows? I could just as easily have said Into the Light.

Once you immerse yourself in it and have empathy for the characters, Les Miserables is magnificent. 'Empty Chairs At Empty Tables' captures the essence brilliantly.

I hate most things Andrew Lloyd Weber. I cannot stand Evita and Cats! Cats is cut price popcorn being thrown at the audience.

R284 - I had no idea there was a Nick and Nora play. Love the movie. Can’t picture it as a musical.

R283-How?? Dick Scanlan is how!

" How do people working in the professional theater today get a very bad idea and then manage to compound it and then consider themselves pros? They cut songs from the film both original(pretty good) and standards(terrific) which at least made sense in their context for just bad bad song writing. And none of the creative team notices. "

This, as with the Molly Brown crapfest were spearheaded by Dick Scanlan

Two of the least talented ugliest divas of all time: Bernadette Peters and Idina Menzel. Bernadette stole her schtick fro Betty Boop. Idina screams she does not sing. shit floats.

The Fantasticks except for one song, "Try to Remember", the show is a snooze fest.

R282 There were a few different versions of "Scarlet Pimpernel" since they kept trying to improve it. I saw it with Douglas Sills, and my God, was he overacting and pushing it. Some foreign tourists were laughing, but I just thought it was the hammiest performance I ever saw (until I saw Christian Borle somehow getting a Tony for the "Peter and the Starfcatchers" hamfest). There were a few nice numbers in the score though.

R290, when it was the longest running show in NY, there were rumors it was kept running by a group of insomniacs who paid to see it every night.

[quote][R284] - I had no idea there was a Nick and Nora play. Love the movie. Can’t picture it as a musical.

Neither could anyone else.

[quote]I never realized there were dedicated Bernadette Peters detractors.

Not "dedicated" Oh black & white one!

After seeing her in both "Gypsy", and "Follies" I was struck by how little acting talent Bernadette Peters has, and I'd always really enjoyed her. I thought she stank up both of those otherwise pretty solid productions with her lousy acting chops. It's all so surface and obvious with her. I loved her in "Song and Dance", and even "The Goodbye Girl", but the charm is gone. Nobody likes a Grandma Kewpie Doll, I guess.

Sorry but have to agree with R293. I also saw her on a few talk shows and shes rather bland and uninteresting.

I used to love her though. I dont know if I changed or she did but the love is gone

I have to disagree with two of the posts here. R279 misses the point. 42nd Street was both a tribute and send-up of the those old-fashioned "Let's put on a show!" type musicals of the 30s. It makes no pretense to be nothing more than mindless entertainment. Loved every minute of it!

I knew nothing of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" when I saw it years ago. (I just knew it was available for half price at the TKTS booth). I've never been more pleasantly surprised by a show. The acting was fine, there were several charming songs and it moved along quickly. Not one of the greatest ever, but a very nice musical.

Nick $& Nora starred Joanna Gleason and Barry Bostwick. Didn't last long.

American Psycho = horrifically bad songs.

Duncan needs to cut the carbs

[quote]After seeing her in both "Gypsy", and "Follies" I was struck by how little acting talent Bernadette Peters has, and I'd always really enjoyed her. I thought she stank up both of those otherwise pretty solid productions with her lousy acting chops. It's all so surface and obvious with her. I loved her in "Song and Dance", and even "The Goodbye Girl", but the charm is gone.

Interesting that you didn't like her in two shows with great material and loved her in two shows with (mostly) bad material. Bernadette was very good when she took over in "A Little Night Music."

Pippin

"The Magic Show." And it ran almost 2000 performances -- longer than

La Cage

Hair

The Wiz

Spamalot

Whorehouse

Evita

42nd St

Dreamgirls

Mame

Sound of Music

How to Succeed

Music Man

Funny Girl

1776

Guys and Dolls

Cabaret

Annie Get Your Gun

Damn Yankees

... and ANYTHING by Sondheim.

and The Greatest Showman, which bypassed Bway will outperform them all.

Soon to be the worst most profitable movie musical of them all.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

CIRCA 2018

Pippin

Is The Greatest Showman as bad as everyone says it is? Is this one of the movies where everyone has to see for themselves because they can't believe it? I'd like to know what Jackman's points on the gross are.

Who says the closet is stifling and destructive? I'd rather be fabulously wealthy than struggling and honest. Ok I'm superficial but I was born that way. Nothing to do about it.

yes it is as bad ,after the first 20 minutes. No issues about the closet. But its getting in the way of him portraying any kind of real sexual power in his persona. He's a limp "nice" guy and doesnt seem to have chemistry with anyone in that film except Zac.

Strangely off putting in his scenes with his wife. Not real and NO lust.

Clooney is similar.

R305 - You're off-topic. You bore me.

Moulan Rouge. Horrible and NIcole: Please.

Any thing that Andy Randells has been in. A total embarrassment.

R306 Thank god this thread isnt only here for you and your interests. That kind of narcissism is a bore PERIOD! I was answering R304 .

Deep breaths, R309. Deep breaths.

Dont fear men who dont put up with shit R310. No need for your breaths,thank you.

Don't cry for me, Barbra Streisand.

Girls! Shhh! We're enjoying the show, here.

Isn't that from The Rink?

Rent sucks ass.

couldnt agree more, R315.

Now go see Showman for something that REALLY is a laugh!

I remember seeing that god awful revival of Falsettos and was astonished at the way Andy Randells was so brazen in carrying around the script on stage. I paid big bucks for my ticket - the last thing I want to see is actors on script! Unless it's an Encores production, of course, and then it's perfectly fine.

I couldn't help but notice that not a single one of my musicals made it on to your wretched list.

r318 That's because none of them were hits, Steve.

[quote]R241 Carrie the Musical. Shite from the go get.

SACRILEDGE!

Shows I've hated lately include Falsettos, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and, most of all, Come from Away. Two hours of self-satisfied, supposedly altruistic people (although I have no doubt that the real people the show was based on were truly altruistic) tooting their own horns about how many meals they served, how many blankets they provided and on and on. The worst was the smug strutting female airline pilot who described her career as some sort of miracle achievement. Imagine that, a female pilot ! Oh yes, it's all about you, honey ! The simpering gay couple brought to tears because they were treated with something less than open hostility were an embarrassment. This show was beyond terrible.

R320- that is a great moment in a not great show.

ALSO---So glad I didnt give in to that shit R321.

It would have been right up there with Passion and Hamilton for me.

Book of Mormon! Ick.

Rochelle, Rochelle the Musical

Follies.

I'm so surprised about the Book of Mormon here. Everyone who wrote a column raved about how damn funny it is, even the Fox channel.

Was the Muriel thread made not accessible?

When I click on it it says site not found.

Did Muriel take umbrage?

Book of Mormon was just okay. Granted, I saw it very late in the run, with its billionth cast, but it wasn't particularly shocking by that point. I was already familiar with South Park on TV and the movies so, while fun, Mormon wasn't the revelation you would think from the reviews.

The Producers and Spamalot were like that for me as well. Again, I saw a later cast and I barely chuckled either time. I wish I had seen The Producers with Nathan Lane because he can make any like funny. Instead I saw it with Brad Oscar, who had obviously been directly to pretend he was Nathan Lane. It was terrible

[quote]I remember seeing that god awful revival of Falsettos and was astonished at the way Andy Randells was so brazen in carrying around the script on stage. I paid big bucks for my ticket - the last thing I want to see is actors on script! Unless it's an Encores production, of course, and then it's perfectly fine.

I think maybe this is a parody post, but I'm not sure what it's trying to parody. And it's not funny.

[quote]Come from Away. Two hours of self-satisfied, supposedly altruistic people (although I have no doubt that the real people the show was based on were truly altruistic) tooting their own horns about how many meals they served, how many blankets they provided and on and on. The worst was the smug strutting female airline pilot who described her career as some sort of miracle achievement. Imagine that, a female pilot ! Oh yes, it's all about you, honey!

I didn't react that way to the characters. And I'm not sure, but I think female pilots of commercial airlines are still rare enough that it's worth calling attention to.

The Addams Family was sheer hell.

Through a Series of Unfortunate Events, my ex ended up having to sit through Stomp three times! I've never experienced it.

Once is certainly enough for Stomp.

Well maybe more like 3/4’s...

No, actually half is plenty for Stomp.

Cats!

Honorable Mention: Hamilton. So overrated it’s insane. But Broadway goes ape shit over a bad show at least once a decade.

Cats and Rent

Yes-Hamilton was so overrated it WAS insane.

But then it just shows you where the world was during these sorry years.

Hope to god we're not adding The Greatest Showman to the list next year!

That ill-conceived revival of Showboat with Paul Lynde as Cap'n Andy. Peeee ooooo.

Although it is just opening, I am going to say MARGARITAVILLE the Musical. The parrot heads will swarm to the theater.

I haven't seen Hamilton, but in all the songs I have heard from it he comes off really whiny.

It looks like "Cats" for the win.

Another one whose success always puzzled me was "The Fantastiks".

Ok, it was Off-B'way, but it ran for a gazillion years. I can understand it getting some mileage from it's hit song, but other than that?

CONTACT......how the fuck can a show win best musical,when the music is canned (pre-recorded) and nobody fucking sings really even speaks! It was fucking horrible. As for Les Mis goes, you queens have no taste. It was brilliant back in the 80s and still is. I wish I'd have seen the original prouduction with Patti Lupone

Would Patti have gone to the theater with you, R340?

Anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I cannot believe to this day that Phantom of the Opera was such a hit.

Jersey Boys was so boring and dull. The high pitched screaming throughout most songs is what made me instantly hate it.

So maybe I should start a new thread—any good musicals out there? In full disclosure, I hate musicals but my friends love them, so every single one of the posts in this thread are valid to me.