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Post by winonaforever on Feb 3, 2019 13:42:00 GMT
Actually I want to take back what I said earlier in this thread about Company! The next time I saw it, I enjoyed it SO much more. I think it was a combination of things: I was in the second row this time, the audience was very well behaved, I found Rosalie's performance MUCH more likeable (the first time I thought she was good, she just didn't appeal to me)
Still really disliked 'Another Hundred People' though! (Not the song which I like, just everything about the way it's done in the show)
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Post by danb on Feb 3, 2019 13:46:20 GMT
Cats. Never got it. Never will. Absolutely dreadful. I do wonder what people would make of it today if it was something new. I find its success baffling. |
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Post by viserys on Feb 3, 2019 14:09:03 GMT
I was lucky enough to see The Fantasticks in its original home Sullivan Street Playhouse in NY where it ran for decades. I think its secret was its simplicity - very basic set, costumes, etc., making it all come alive through great lyrics (which are rarer than hen's teeth these days) and great performances in a very small theatre. I think it's probably too naive-sweet-innocent in its tone for today's cynic times and of course the whole "Rape" stuff is impossible to sing today (I think it was changed to "Abduction" at some point though) and I also can't see it work well in a bigger space/normal theatre. Southwark Playhouse thereabouts would be the right size for it.
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Post by tmesis on Feb 3, 2019 19:01:39 GMT
Where to start...
Phantom, Evita, Cats, Rent, Les Miserables, Matilda, Wicked all left me underwhelmed but the one that left me utterly cold was the execrable Dreamgirls.
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Post by ptwest on Feb 3, 2019 19:49:52 GMT
Cats. Never got it. Never will. Absolutely dreadful. Had to go twice as I thought I must have missed something first time around given that all my friends were raving about it. Turned out I was right the first time. |
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Post by ensembleswings on Feb 3, 2019 21:00:18 GMT
Hadestown.
Everyone around me loved it, I just couldn’t understand why. The whole thing felt samey and just dragged on and on. I got a cheap ticket and still felt like I’d wasted my money on it.
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Post by danb on Feb 3, 2019 21:20:18 GMT
Cats. Never got it. Never will. Absolutely dreadful. Had to go twice as I thought I must have missed something first time around given that all my friends were raving about it. Turned out I was right the first time. This sounds like me and ‘We Will Rock You’... ...but I love Queen...how on earth...what on earth...ooh she’s good...he’s good...whaat?...What was that?...really? This is cringeworthy? Who paid for this? Oof, I paid for this... |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Feb 3, 2019 21:27:54 GMT
Company. The current revival.
Thought it was absolutely appalling , yet everyone around me seemed to act like it was the funniest show ever staged.
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Post by centaured on Feb 3, 2019 23:37:16 GMT
Easy one for me. Cats and Mamma Mia. Utterly utterly mind numbingly awful. I have walked out of other shows though. Actually billy Elliot annoyed the hell out of me too,
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Post by bengal73 on Feb 3, 2019 23:55:49 GMT
Matilda I just didn't get. It left me completely cold. Billy Elliot likewise, struggle to see either shows popularity
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2019 0:02:39 GMT
I really don’t get wicked. I have seen it twice and both times I thought it would never end. Similar story with grease, that show I really did not like but everyone around me loved it. And another vote for Matilda here. It was ok, I was glad I saw it but don’t get the hype.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2019 8:06:14 GMT
Had to go twice as I thought I must have missed something first time around given that all my friends were raving about it. Turned out I was right the first time. This sounds like me and ‘We Will Rock You’... ...but I love Queen...how on earth...what on earth...ooh she’s good...he’s good...whaat?...What was that?...really? This is cringeworthy? Who paid for this? Oof, I paid for this... I remembered at the interval that I dislike Ben Elton’s writing...it was a bit late then... |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 4, 2019 8:22:36 GMT
Cats. Never got it. Never will. Absolutely dreadful. Had to go twice as I thought I must have missed something first time around given that all my friends were raving about it. Turned out I was right the first time. Snap. My mother and I did exactly the same |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Feb 4, 2019 9:21:23 GMT
Aw man, all the Cats hate. That was my first "proper" musical. I was about 11 and very impressionable. I still have the VHS somewhere with lovely Rosemary Ford as Bombalurina  |
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Post by danb on Feb 4, 2019 10:06:12 GMT
Aw man, all the Cats hate. That was my first "proper" musical. I was about 11 and very impressionable. I still have the VHS somewhere with lovely Rosemary Ford as Bombalurina Perhaps it was better then? Don’t let our dislike of it spoil your (clearly mental, culturally bereft) love of it. 😂😂😂😂x |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Feb 4, 2019 10:26:29 GMT
Aw man, all the Cats hate. That was my first "proper" musical. I was about 11 and very impressionable. I still have the VHS somewhere with lovely Rosemary Ford as Bombalurina Perhaps it was better then? Don’t let our dislike of it spoil your (clearly mental, culturally bereft) love of it. 😂😂😂😂x To be fair I was (as stated) the tender age of ELEVEN YEARS OLD, and it was prior to whatever terrible changes ALW wrought with the rapping. I haven't seen it onstage for 18 years... |
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Post by craig on Feb 5, 2019 12:57:11 GMT
Does anyone watch Crazy Ex Girlfriend? Rachel Bloom's hatred of Cats came to a head in a recent episode and I was howling.
It really is a DREADFUL score and DREADFUL show. Love "Memory" though.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 13:11:09 GMT
Does anyone watch Crazy Ex Girlfriend? Rachel Bloom's hatred of Cats came to a head in a recent episode and I was howling. It really is a DREADFUL score and DREADFUL show. Love "Memory" though. And they parodied the show in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt if anyone is interested (fourth season, second to last episode) . Hunky Norm Lewis is in it all dressed up as a cat. Meow! |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Feb 5, 2019 13:12:05 GMT
Does anyone watch Crazy Ex Girlfriend? Rachel Bloom's hatred of Cats came to a head in a recent episode and I was howling. It really is a DREADFUL score and DREADFUL show. Love "Memory" though. You mean you DON'T APPRECIATE the GENIUS of poems-turned-lyrics SUCH AS: "For he will do, as he do (do) and there's no doing anything abow-awow-about it"?! I'm kidding, I completely understand why people hate this show. If I saw it for the first time now, I'd probably sit there like  . |
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Post by craig on Feb 5, 2019 13:33:21 GMT
Perhaps it was better then? Don’t let our dislike of it spoil your (clearly mental, culturally bereft) love of it. 😂😂😂😂x To be fair I was (as stated) the tender age of ELEVEN YEARS OLD, and it was prior to whatever terrible changes ALW wrought with the rapping. I haven't seen it onstage for 18 years... I saw Joseph at the age of NINE with (then) dreamy Jason Donovan in the role. It was the start of my love affair with musical theatre. I'm sure if I saw it now, it would make my skin crawl. I did see a production of it as an adult with H from Steps back in the day but I had had a lot of wine beforehand. |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Feb 5, 2019 14:41:44 GMT
To be fair I was (as stated) the tender age of ELEVEN YEARS OLD, and it was prior to whatever terrible changes ALW wrought with the rapping. I haven't seen it onstage for 18 years... I saw Joseph at the age of NINE with (then) dreamy Jason Donovan in the role. It was the start of my love affair with musical theatre. I'm sure if I saw it now, it would make my skin crawl. I did see a production of it as an adult with H from Steps back in the day but I had had a lot of wine beforehand. The H-from-Steps production was my first time seeing Joseph! I was in my early teens (would have been in 2002/3 I think...?). If the Donny Osmond soundtrack hadn't been the first thing I ever learned the words to as a tiny toddler, I wouldn't like the show at all  |
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Feb 5, 2019 16:53:53 GMT
Blood Brothers
Not that I thought it was bad, per se, but you could cut out a good 20-30 minutes without affecting the plot. A lot of time in act 1 is dedicated to the children running around being children, and the stand-off right at the end is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it.
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Post by hannechalk on Feb 6, 2019 22:41:58 GMT
Blood Brothers Not that I thought it was bad, per se, but you could cut out a good 20-30 minutes without affecting the plot. A lot of time in act 1 is dedicated to the children running around being children, and the stand-off right at the end is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. I'm the everyone else to your Blood Brothers. 😂 Mine is Flashdance - what a shower that was! ruby suggested we'd go and I was sat there during act I 'Surely it's gonna get better any minute now, it's one of those slow starters. Any minute now...... Okay, when ruby asks during interval, just smile nicely and say it's really good.'. So interval comes, I look at her, she looks at me, and she said 'I'm so so sorry.'. 😂 Walking out, heard several people go 'Wow, that was brilliant!'. |
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Post by ruby on Feb 6, 2019 22:50:50 GMT
hannechalk Yes, my biggest theatre regret is that we did not follow my OH's excellent example and leave Flashdance at the interval. There's an offer on for Fame in Bath this week, but even the temptation of £20 best stalls seats is not enough to quench the fear that we would relive a very similar experience.
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 6, 2019 23:41:57 GMT
One of the Showstopper shows I saw last week I didn't enjoy that much, although it did have some amusing moments. I think it was because it ended up being about LGBTQ rights in 1960s America & that's not a subject I'm interested in. The rest of the audience gave it a standing ovation. However that's improv: some you love, some you don't. Oh, I saw Showstopper years ago and hated it.
I felt in order to get a show up and running quickly, it just resorted to lazy stereotypes and easy targets to parody.
I think being precious about musicals and how much they mean to me, I didn't like seeing them ripped apart (in my eyes) and taken the piss out of. For me - and I expect I need to lighten up - it was just an exercise in cheapening the musical artform and performers being all smug about how quick they were to bring it together.
The audiences were roaring with laughter and full engaged though, so...
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