What's the very worst musical you ever saw?

[bostonman]

Wasn't the big number 'Singing in the Rain'?

 

I've personally never seen the stage version of Singin' In The Rain, but have been told that it's not all that satisfying because of the inevitable comparison to the film. (Same situations with Meet Me In St. Louis and State Fair.) I think it's one thing to make a musical out of a non-musical film, but translating a musical film to a stage show is tougher. I enjoyed Moulin Rouge when I saw the tryout in Boston, but I know a lot of people that didn't like it for similar reasons - comparison to the film was too easy to do. (I really wanted to get to NYC to see it there, to see if/how it had changed since the tryout - but, well, that never happened...)

[samhexum]

I've personally never seen the stage version of Singin' In The Rain

 

 

We're even... I've never seen the film version.

[bostonman]

We're even... I've never seen the film version.

 

THAT you need to see! It's a classic for a reason. ?

[samhexum]

THAT you need to see! It's a classic for a reason. ?

 

I don't enjoy musicals on screen or on stage. Although I did enjoy my niece's high school production of On The Town.

 

This isn't my niece; I just like her voice.

[bostonman]

Very nice job on "Carried Away." ? They really get the sense of the operatic parody that Comden and Green (and Bernstein) were aiming for, and I love that they got the "Buffalo" joke. I've seen much more elaborate and longer takes on the fantasy caveman dance, but frankly, what they did here works perfectly fine - short and sweet. (The only real plot point in the dance is that she has to wind up wrecking the dinosaur exhibit. Otherwise it's just to give the dancers another number lol.)

 

I love On The Town (I've actually been involved in 4 productions of it lol.) A shame that the film version, even with some awesome dancing, is such an outright trashing of the stage show. (Most of Bernstein's score got thrown out, Roger Edens' replacement songs are ok but not any kind of comparable substitute for Bernstein's originals - and too many plot points are altered. But the dancing is still great.)

 

I very much enjoyed the last Broadway revival - really well done, and with the full original orchestration which sounded like a million bucks. Only two misfires - one was the taxi duet which relied on a video gimmick that totally upstaged the song, and the casting of Jackie Hoffman, who upstaged every damn scene she was in, to no benefit. Otherwise, an outstanding production.

 

I won't comment on the performance of "I'm Not Afraid Of Anything" (from Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World, which I sometimes like to call Songs For a Cruel World) which is not a song I particularly enjoy. All that pretentious rambling on and on for what? Because she really IS afraid of her relationship with this David guy? Ok...but the song goes on way too long for that one point. Just my $.02... ?

Edited March 14, 2021 by bostonman

[samhexum]

I won't comment on the performance of "I'm Not Afraid Of Anything" (from Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World, which I sometimes like to call Songs For a Cruel World) which is not a song I particularly enjoy. All that pretentious rambling on and on for what? Because she really IS afraid of her relationship with this David guy? Ok...but the song goes on way too long for that one point. Just my $.02... ?

 

 

I'm just impressed that a high school student with only piano accompaniment can sound that good. And that song speaks to me... if I had to sing a song about how I've lived my life, it would be called I'm So Afraid Of Everything. I always let fear of failure stop me from trying anything scary or out of my comfort zone. So that song, sung by a high school student with the guts to be a performer, makes me sad and nostalgic for myself, but uplifted by her talent.

[Travelguy368]

All white cast production of The Wiz.

[Lchnsf]

Cabaret with Jolie Fisher, she couldn’t even hit the high notes and the title song.

[+ Lucky]

I saw Moulin Rouge in New York right before the pandemic hit. It was wonderful!

[Ajac]

Wasn't the big number 'Singing in the Rain'?

Trump gave it rave reviews he especially loved the Russian mattress number

[Ajac]

I've personally never seen the stage version of Singin' In The Rain, but have been told that it's not all that satisfying because of the inevitable comparison to the film. (Same situations with Meet Me In St. Louis and State Fair.) I think it's one thing to make a musical out of a non-musical film, but translating a musical film to a stage show is tougher. I enjoyed Moulin Rouge when I saw the tryout in Boston, but I know a lot of people that didn't like it for similar reasons - comparison to the film was too easy to do. (I really wanted to get to NYC to see it there, to see if/how it had changed since the tryout - but, well, that never happened...)

I saw White Christmas on stage it was very hard to get past No Clooney of Crosby but that being said it was very well staged and I enjoyed it after all was said and done.

[+ WilliamM]

I don't enjoy musicals on screen or on stage.

 

Didn't Ethel Merman say wonderful things about you?

[+ Lucky]

Didn't Ethel Merman say wonderful things about you?

It makes me wonder why he (@samhexum) posts on a thread about musicals.

[+ WilliamM]

Wasn't the big number 'Singing in the Rain'?

No, that song was written long before "Urinetown."

[bostonman]

I saw White Christmas on stage it was very hard to get past No Clooney of Crosby but that being said it was very well staged and I enjoyed it after all was said and done.

 

Yes - I would say that's definitely one of the better screen musical to stage adaptations.

[bostonman]

Wasn't the big number 'Singing in the Rain'?

No, that song was written long before "Urinetown."

 

Let's not forget Golden Rainbow...

[Islesguy]

I love the play that goes wrong and also the bankrobbery that went wrong and I was a third play similar to it in London. The company that produced those plays has an entire season on broadway HD.

 

If you like broadway HD I would recomend watching Great Performances on PBS. Lea Selonga has a great concert she did at Sydney Opera House and she has this gay nurse sing a Whole New World with her and he totally lost it when he was selected to sing with her. Also the Anne Richards play and Driving miss daisy are part of it.

I saw The Play that Goes Wrong on Broadway and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery in London. Both were hilarious.

[Islesguy]

Ever heard of Richard Rodgers and Steven Sondheim? They wrote “Do I Hear a Waltz” for Broadway in 1965. played 220 performances and bombed. I saw it in Pasadena maybe 20 years ago - big production - by intermission half the audience left. Should have followed them. Gawd awful.

The musical may be bad (never saw it), but I do love the title song.

[Islesguy]

Petula Clark, David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy appeared on Broadway in the British musical "Blood Brothers." in the 1990s. Just ok if I remember

I saw that from the second row with Carole King. I remember getting emotional at the end but I was a teenager so I kind identified with the kids.

[Islesguy]

A wonderful colleague that I team teach with admitted today that First Date was among the worst shows he has seen on Broadway. (This in conjunction with one of our students who is working on a song from it, lol.) Anyone care to comment on that show? I never saw it, but I feel the score is ok, but not particularly outstanding.

I saw First Date mostly because I have a huge crush on Zachary Levi. I thought it was a fun and good starter musical for people who don't want to sit for a full 2 and half hours their first. The show itself was a little formulaic and scatter shot. Still I got to stare at Zachary for an hour live and in person. Got an autograph from him after the show so it was a winning night for me.

[Islesguy]

It's a GREAT show. Whip-smart and very entertaining if you have a cast that can handle it.

Saw the original cast twice but both times without John Cullum. I liked the first understudy more than the second because he was a dead ringer for a young Mr. Burns. Mr. Burns as Caldwell was too perfect.

[Islesguy]

I saw a tryout of a show called Nefertiti in Fort Lauderdale. Everyone I went with, including myself, slept through the first act. Why we stayed for the second act, I don't know. I'm the only person who remembered we went to the show. It won't be a surprise to know it never made it to Broadway.

[KrisParr]

The musical may be bad (never saw it), but I do love the title song.

Okay, I’ll agree. The 3/4 rhythm syncopation is catchy. Good lord, another earworm.

[bookmaven]

I saw a tryout of a show called Nefertiti in Fort Lauderdale. Everyone I went with, including myself, slept through the first act. Why we stayed for the second act, I don't know. I'm the only person who remembered we went to the show. It won't be a surprise to know it never made it to Broadway.

 

Nefertiti has an interesting history. I think it had a pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago, with Andrea Marcovicci and Michael Nouri. It was called Children of the Sun and was written by David Spangler and Christopher Gore (Leslie Gore's brother). It either never made it to Broadway or closed pretty quickly. There was a bootleg of Children kicking around for a while. It has approximately three good songs in it.

 

That tryout (which was at Parker Playhouse, and was really more of a staged concert) was a vain attempt to resurrect the show. Alas, it didn't work.

Edited March 18, 2021 by bookmaven

[bookmaven]

NEFERTITI was a musical that had its Chicago tryout in the Fall of 1977. Due too poor reception the planned Broadway production was canned. The cast included Andrea Marcovicci as Nefertiti and Robert LuPone (just off the success of originating Zach in "A Chorus Line") as her husband Akhenaten. Jane White, Marilyn Cooper and Michael Nouri of "Flashdance" fame were also in the cast. Despite its flop status the score by Christopher Gore and David Spangler caught the interest of Bruce and Doris Yeko who did a cast album on their Take Home Tunes label. The recording has not been re-released on CD however.