Your Favorite Broadway Shows/Musicals

High School Musical.

 

The last show on this earth I ever thought they'd try to revive and bring back to Broadway is Boeing, Boeing.

See the mid'60s movie with Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis, to determine the full extent of the horrors involved, for yourself.

 

La Boheme, si.

Rent? Nein.

 

Alright, Cynical Sally and Grumpy Gus. State your case.

spup and I willl mount the counter argument.

 

Like the basis of the show, much more than I like Larson's version.

 

revolutionized the industry -- good argument could be made it drove creation of original I Love NY ads

"for those of you interested in the OTHER 79 minutes of Pippin..."

 

Third-rate operetta, sung by a cast of completely unlikable layabouts, with AIDS tossed in as a disease ex machina and a grab for contemporary headlines.
Talented people, unlistenable dreck.

 

We'll break this down point by point.

1. Third-rate operetta: I will, in the interest of a healthy, spirited, respectful debate, give you this point. Larson's goal was to pen a rock opperetta for the MTV crowd (which, let's be fair, is much, much different than the current MTV crowd, both in its attention span and its intelligence) and I suppose you can argue that an entire play with zero dialoge is muddled and confusing as a play, and doesn't quite work as an opera.

2. Sung by a cast of completely unlikable layabouts: I think this is bogus. Roger's character is whiny, and Maureen's character is somewhat obnoxious if you take her for anything other than laughs. But young people are often whiny and obnoxious, and sometimes his behavior resonates with other whiny and obnoxious people. Exibit A would be Holden Caufield. However, the relationship between Tom Collins and Angel is the emotional core of the entire play in my opinion, and up until that point in Broadway theatre, I very much doubt you could say that about a African American philosophy professor and a latina drag queen. I think it's fair to say that Rent is a test of your heart. If you're a cynic, it's easy to snark about it. If you think that Bohemian lifestyle -- as ridiculous as it is on its face -- is somewhat romantic, then you can appreciate it for what it's trying to do.

3. With AIDS tossed in as a disease ex machina and a grab for contemporary headlines: This is completely bogus. Larson started working on the idea for RENT in 1989, when no one was talking about AIDS, and it took him seven freaking years to get it to the stage. If it's a shameless headline grab, it's a pretty poor one, considering how long it took to bring the idea to life and that Angels in America and the movie Philadelphia beat it by several years. Despite the fact that a lot of gay people were working on Broadway, including a lot of them suffering (but living) with AIDS, it wasn't exactly something regularly being discussed on the stage in front of old, white, Republican audiences. Rent may not have changed that on its own, but it certainly helped move the conversation forward. It represents a New York that no longer exists, which is why it probably seems so dated to Lugnuts. Gay kids who were living in poverty, creating new family structures and believing, naively, that art could change things. Larson saw his friends dying of AIDS and took inspiration from that. Sure, the message is simplistic, but it was hardly a marketing tool. It was a means of surviving. If you want to quibble with something, it's the ending. Mimi's recovery is a copout. That I concede. But Angel's fate stings.

4. Talented people, unlistenable dreck. You've got the talented part right. Hard to argue with an original cast that includes Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel, Jesse Martin and Taye Diggs. As for the unlistenable part, I can't back you there. La Vie Boheme is one of the most lively numbers in music theatre. Seasons of Love is nothing if not catchy. And Martin's rendition of

is sad and sweet and moved this hetero guy to tears.

So boo to you.

 

My favorites:

1. Guys and Dolls. Tom Wopat was the star in it. He was really good, but everytime I saw him, I kept thinking "Dukes of Hazard".

2. Will Rogers Follies: Fun show, starring Mac Davis. Gregory Peck had an off-stage speaking role as the Announcer, which I thought was really cool. The show I saw also had a great unscripted moment. One scene had a group of dogs doing tricks. After the scene was over, the lead actress came on and started doing her scene, but one of the dogs got loose and ran around the stage barking for a few seconds before leaving. The actress started doing her line, then burst out laughing. It took her a few seconds to get herself under composure.

3. Phantom of the Opera: Very nicely done.

4. My Favorite Year. I saw it at Lincoln Center. Funny show.

 

When my family came to visit last year several of them wanted to see a show. My dad didn't really want to see anything, so I had to come up with something that would appease all sides. So Avenue Q it was as I'd seen it before. My parents loved it, as did my cousins and uncle. I don't think I've ever seen my dad laugh that much. At one point, though, my aunt turned around, and yelled, "What kind of show did you bring us to?" But a few minutes later she was dying laughing as well.

Although, after my mom told my dad, "See, you liked a Broadway show," he still said, "Yeah, but I would have enjoyed it even more if it wasn't 80 bucks."

 

I saw it when it was on its national tour, and at the end of "My Girlfriend, Who Lives in Canada" when Rod shouts out, "And I can't wait to eat her pussy again!" the whole theatre was silent, agast in horror -- except for me, the wife, and my cousin, who were laughing our asses off.