bickster Posted April 30, 2018 Moderator Share Posted April 30, 2018 52 minutes ago, mjmooney said: Musicals from the 1930s and 40s (Busby-Berkeley, Astaire & Rogers, etc.) were great. The last decent one was South Pacific (1948?). All that Sondheim, Lloyd Webber, Les Mis stuff is shite. Yep completely agree, A Hard Days Night, Help! Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour all shite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 30, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, bickster said: Yep completely agree, A Hard Days Night, Help! Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour all shite Well, I don't really regard them as 'musicals' in the usual sense, but you have a point. AHDN was probably the best of the bunch - quite an influential film in its day. The other three I'd have to say were pretty mediocre (I'd rather hear the music without the visuals). Edited April 30, 2018 by mjmooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 30, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2018 Actually, I just thought of one that's not too bad - 'Beautiful' (the Carole King jukebox musical). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted April 30, 2018 Moderator Share Posted April 30, 2018 Look, you lot in here talking about musicals Get a grip. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted April 30, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2018 5 hours ago, hogso said: I like Wicked so much I can list my top 5 songs from it The Wizard and I No Good Deed Defying Gravity One Short Day Popular We saw it again at the Hippodrome last week. My wife plays in the orchestra for Wicked on Broadway here in NYC and I sub in there quite a lot too. Even if the music is not your thing it's visually spectacular, and the story is pretty cool if you've seen the Wizard of Oz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted April 30, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2018 4 hours ago, mjmooney said: Musicals from the 1930s and 40s (Busby-Berkeley, Astaire & Rogers, etc.) were great. The last decent one was South Pacific (1948?). All that Sondheim, Lloyd Webber, Les Mis stuff is shite. Hello Dolly is currently having a revival on Broadway which is more of a traditional 'classic' musical. It started with Bette Midler and now Bernadette Peters has taken over. Interesting how different the show was with Bette in charge - much more big band style and swingy, and with Bernadette it's more like a 'period piece' if that makes sense. First thing Bette did on the 2nd day was fire the drummer which did not endear her to the musicians very much!!! Agree with you about Lloyd Webber - 99% of his stuff is cheap crap. But, I did play Sunset Boulevard last year and that, very surprisingly, has good music. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 8 hours ago, blandy said: Get a grip. Spit on the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Watching Les Mis was one of the worst experiences I've ever paid for. They just never stopped singing and I had no idea what was going on. We'd been to the pub beforehand so I bursting for a piss for almost entire first half and the theatre was too old and cramped to nip out without making a bit of a scene. I know one show is a small sample but I think I hate all musicals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) I met one of my all time heroes at Cats in that London Palladium. No idea who he was, the show was truly **** awful. Cramped little wooden seats to watch ponces in leotards singing bollocks about cats. At the interval, I stood up to try and get some circulation back in the lower half of my body. A bloke of about my age and my size in the row behind did the same, but with so much more style. He stood, stretched, and announced in a booming voice 'well, that's my lot, I'll be in the bar or stood outside'. And he never came back. Sir, I salute you. Edited April 30, 2018 by chrisp65 singing, not signing, though I wished I was deaf 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 50 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: ... Les Mis... ... I had no idea what was going on... A very French story. An older man and his younger mistress eat pungent food, smoke strong fags and don't wash as often they might. Much of it is set during their 2 hour lunch breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 1 hour ago, chrisp65 said: Cramped little wooden seats to watch ponces in leotards singing bollocks about cats. Given the title, the content must have come as quite a surprise 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Just now, ml1dch said: Given the title, the content must have come as quite a surprise I had mariana trench low expectations and it failed to meet them. I knew it was about 'cats', I hadn't appreciated quite how 100% bollocks about pretending to be cats it could possibly be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted May 1, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 1, 2018 The Book of Mormon was fantastic. Though i tend to agree with mjmooney's assessment of the quality of musicals from the last few decades, I can think of a number of good ones from the '50's and '60's. Cabaret, for instance. Kander and Ebb wrote some great stuff. Some musicals may not be so strong overall but have some great music. I've never seen the show this it's taken from, but I think this is a great example of the gems that can be found in even lesser known shows (the slow part is the setup. The impressive part starts at ~1:20) : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted May 1, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 1, 2018 2 hours ago, il_serpente said: The Book of Mormon was fantastic. Though i tend to agree with mjmooney's assessment of the quality of musicals from the last few decades, I can think of a number of good ones from the '50's and '60's. Cabaret, for instance. Kander and Ebb wrote some great stuff. Some musicals may not be so strong overall but have some great music. I've never seen the show this it's taken from, but I think this is a great example of the gems that can be found in even lesser known shows (the slow part is the setup. The impressive part starts at ~1:20) : Quote Two on the Aisle is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The project marked Comden and Green's return to Broadway following their successful reign at MGM(where they penned the classic Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon, among others) and their first teaming with composer Styne. An evening of comedy routines and splashy musical numbers with Las Vegas-type showgirls, it was developed specifically to showcase the talents of Bert Lahr. Show Train Hold Me, Hold Me, Hold Me East River Hoe Down (Here She Comes Now) There Never Was a Baby Like My Baby If/If You Hadn't, But You Did The Clown Vaudeville Ain't Dead/Catch Our Act at the Met Everlasting Give a Little, Get a Little How Will He Know? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_on_the_Aisle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 1, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 1, 2018 I did consider an honourable exception for Cabaret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Saw Wicked in London, it was OK but the missus loved it. We also saw Jersey Boys in London, now THAT was good stuff. And I don't like musicals in the slightest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 I went to see Hamilton today in London. It was absolutely brilliant. Easily the best musical I’ve ever seen, it was really entertaining. Songs were (mainly) ace and of a really decent standard, much better than your normal musical. The only let down was the seating in the Victoria Palace. The seats were about half the size of one on a Ryanair flight and even less leg room. I’m 5’11”/medium(ish) build and my knees were rammed in rear of the seat infront and I was sat bolt upright. Started to panic one of my hamstrings were gonna cramp in the last few mins. Absolutely shocking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 49 minutes ago, wazzap24 said: The only let down was the seating in the Victoria Palace. The seats were about half the size of one on a Ryanair flight and even less leg room. I’m 5’11”/medium(ish) build and my knees were rammed in rear of the seat infront and I was sat bolt upright. Rise up? (sorry, I spent ten minutes trying to think of a witty and appropriate lyric and had to settle for something pretty mediocre) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 My lot do musicals. They've got Hamilton tagged as their absolute fave, they got tickets quite early in the run and the cast were outside later doing promo and signing and stuff. They've since gone and seen Jamie, which they tell me is quite different to Hamilton, but brilliant. I just take them in there and go off doing other schizz. I've seen my last musical thanks much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Belter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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