I hate musicals!!!!!
 

There is a personal reason why I brought this up which I will mention later but I hate musicals for the following top 3 reasons.

1. The songs in most musicals are horrible. Without going in to specific examples in general most musicals are upbeat and or melodramatic garbage and in most musicals all the numbers sound the same without much diversity.

2. There is no such thing as a “serious” musical. How can you take a musical seriously since most of the acting (which I will get to in my next point) is sappy, melodramatic and just over the top. In other words all musicals are cheesy, even Repo! The genetic opera. I swear you can make Hitler in to a musical and it would still turn in to limburger cheese.

3. Most musicals are poorly acted. While they usually technically look good there is no emotional depth or “inner life” as we call it in the business. Musical actors tend to just go through the motions. They go through scenes with activities and that’s it. For example in every musical there is some scene where the character is crying. Well why does a character cry? It’s because they are sad right? But I could swear to you in every musical that I have ever seen both live and at home they don’t look sad. They just look like a actor just producing tears and just trying to achieve “scene needs”.


There are other reasons why I don’t like musicals but I wanted to give my top 3. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate all musicals as a matter of fact here are my favorites (In no particular order)

1. Repo! The Genetic Opera
2. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
3. Little Shop Of Horrors (as cheesy as it is there is something about a blood thristy plant that I love)
4. The Producers
5. Earth Girls are Easy

Now the personal reason why I hate musicals. Ever since I became a actor almost all the shows I have been in have had a musical number and just thinking about it gives me douche chills. Why do I have to do a number for a regular non-musical show. The whole reason why I got in to acting was so I wouldn’t have to sing not to mention I know a lot of “musical actors” and they tend to be drama queens and I like to stay as far away from those people as possible.

Anyway in this current production of “As You Like It” there is a big music number at the end and it’s being produced by this flaming queer. Don’t get me wrong I am gay myself but he is a stereotypical homosexual. He paints his nails pink, he speaks with a lisp, buys his clothes at the gap, etc. He’s so flamingly flamboyant to the point where he could set a room on fire. He annoys me like you couldn’t believe not to mention he doesn’t know what he is doing.

This version of “As You Like It” is being set in Early 1900’s France. So common sense tells you that this music number would be French themed, right? Wrong, It is like a country number but it’s even worse. The way it’s being produced there is no soul in it (Another thing I hate about musicals. NO SOUL). It’s just this high energy stereotypical musical garbage. Originaly Duke Senior was suppose to sing the whole number by himself but we all are suppose to sing it now.

I am thinking about getting revenge by lip syncing when we get to performance. They won’t know, not to mention why sing something I won’t enjoy singing in the first place? There is no point.

Hey! Tommy is awesome!

do you like sweeny todd

For a second I thought you wrote those 5 down as reasons why you didn't like musicals, you got my feathers in a bunch but I re-read it so yeah...

I understand your perspective though, it's not uncommon for people not to like musicals, and even though my degree (communications with a concentration in Theatre) may have me working with some, there are certainly musicals out there I think are horrible... and there are some I think are great. Different strokes for different folks!

I find musicals charming.

I completly forgot about that. Yeah I love that musical too but I haven't got a chance to see the movie.

I saw the previews for it and as much as I love Johnny Depp I thought he was "reaching" for it moments. In spite of that I'm still going to see it when I have time.

I pretty much hate musicals, too.

I do like a lot of them. I saw The Rocky Horror Show recently and I had the time of my life. I saw Grease last year and it was "meh." I haven't seen it performed yet but Jesus Christ Superstar still remains the best Biblical movie IMO.

But yeah, As You Like It having a musical number just sounds retarded.

I must admit I am a bit of a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado, and have seen good things of the U.S.S. Pinafore. But mostly I hate them as well, especialy that wreched Cerberus known as " high school musical". Believe me when I tell you this I've got a little list. They'd none of 'em be missed

While I will concede that there are a great many musicals that are essentially trivial and require the barest minimum of acting skills from the performers, there are some shows that live and die by the acting abilities of the lead players. I think it is also important to note that in many instances, musicals are not intended to be taken seriously. They are the lighthearted offspring of grand opera, made to appeal to the masses and provide a more accessible form of entertainment. This is not to say that only intellectually inferior people enjoy musicals, but rather that certain musicals, when done well, can prove uplifting and even inspiring to their audiences.

Of course, it is entirely pointless to insert some gaudy song and dance number into a classic Shakespearian play. Bad form, indeed.

I don't know. Forbidden Zone was pretty kickass.

99% of work in any medium is invariably utter shit, but no art form is inherently, unilaterally awful. There are good musicals, just as there's good metal and even good anime. Check out a good production of Les Mis or Spring Awakening.

Anyway, as I seem to be forced to do once a month on this forum, I need to correct a minor misconception you allegedly literate people hold about Shakespeare. As You Like it is not a non-musical play-- it featured several songs even when it was staged at the Globe, notably "When Daisies Pied", which I assume is the number you're performing, eternalcrimson.

Ugh, fuck Les Mis.

Literacy does not necessarily imply that one has read The Complete Works of William Shakespeare cover to cover. However, consider me enlightened and thankful for that bit of trivia. That being said, I applaud you for pointing out that insofar as the output of quality in comparison to quantity of material in any creative medium, there is little of the former, and great deal of the latter.

I've read the play, and sadly there was no mention of a musical number at the end.

Please tell me there was one also at the end of Macbeth. With jazz hands.

Oh, come now, Les Miserables is not all that bad. After all, you could be forced to watch Wicked, instead. Now there's a fine example of a musical travesty.

I'm glad Spring Awakening came back. I know it was banned for a while, probably a long time ago, but none the less...

Was Lestat a musical when it was on Broadway?

A very short-lived one, yes. Elton John composed songs for a musical about Anne Rice's vampires. Hardly surprising that it failed.

It is actually that bad.
Not only is it actually that bad, but it's like four fucking days long.

I wondered why it didn't last... I didn't really look into it other then I saw it one day when I was going online to see shows my sophomore year of high-school, then junior year it was gone when I went to see Phantom.

I wouldn't watch that if you paid me.
No, I would.
But I've heard it's terrible.

When I think about Lestat, it just makes me angry.
Everything makes me angry, though, so that's not really a big deal.

What's funny is my senile biology teacher told me her daughter wrote Lestat.

I feel like you're lying, but that's funny anyway.

Dancer in the Dark actually got to me.

Normally I don't dig musicals, but I found that one exceptional.

I wish I could make up her stories, she was insane. She was convinced two dragon statues in front of her house guarded the house with a forcefeild.

I like musicals...but I have to be in the mood for them...which only happens once in a blue moon.

So yeah.

Well you know, the show I saw of Wicked was fucking amazing, it achieved everything it set out to achieve, which was to be catchy, fun, and memorable.

Of course the best show I've ever seen wasn't a musical, it was an opera of Through the Looking Glass.

If I can ever manage to see the Nibelung Saga then I'll be content.

I like musicals.
I can sorta see why people would hate them, but I don't. Even really awful ones are fun to see at the theatre, methinks. There's just so much energy. The general atmosphere's always nice.

As for Sweeney Todd, I've only seen videos of the Broadway performances. I intend to see a version of it one of these days.

Operas are better, but still.

Phantom of the Paradise!
and yeah, JC Superstar, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story...there are a lot of great musicals which were enjoyable, as Havelock said, because of the abilities of the actors.

Marlon Brando actually wasn't that bad of a singer.

they're ok.

I was surprised with sweeney todd.

I couldn't get over how happy it made me feel. the outfits and certain lines...

just the way he said ' AND THE TOWN WAS FULL OF SHITTT!'
(:

"There's a hole in the world like a great black pit, and it's filled with people who are filled with shit", perhaps?
Haha.

Loved that movie!!

Burton rules !!!!!

There are no stage directions in any of Shakespeare save for exits and entrances, however scholarship has determined which plays contained songs.

Actually, the Hectate scene in Macbeth is musical, but it's an addition not authored by Shakespeare, widely accounted to Thomas Middleton, possibly an excerpt from his play The Witch. In short, the most widely read text of Macbeth is a version edited to be more 'fun' by a theatre director who might have, in another time, worn pink nail polish.

I actually saw it. It was hilarious, but not as hilarious as Frank Wildhorn's Dracula musical, which featured the count plodding across the stage screeching "FRESH BLOOOOD! I NEED FRESH BLOOOOOOD!"

Oh Wow. I'd probably burst out laughing at that point... that's horrible!

I laughed pretty consistently through the entire first act.

You mention two excellent musicals which I am fond of. My compliments on your taste. *hat tip*

Generally speaking I am not very fond of shows that are reminiscent of a Disney theme park attraction, which is how I perceive Wicked. I confess that the constant and pervasive frequency with which the drama students at my university would suddenly burst out singing 'Popular' and 'Defying Gravity' during social gatherings did little to improve my view. But again, here is a question of personal preference.

Wicked was big at my school too... then again, so was Grease and West Side Story and BLAH BLAH BLAH! The stories there to me serve little interest as far as the high school cliques and gangs that dance and other such nonsense... I prefer Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Les Mis, and other such things...

Defying Gravity was THE song that made Wicked for me, the rest of the songs were catchy and made you wanna dance a little at times but Defying Gravity was something.

Contrary to a lot of folks, I hate West Side Story, it pissed me off.

Yeah, that one.
(:

gothicusmaximus got it right. While there is no stage direction that implies that there is going to be a music there is singing in several acts but still why make it into a number. I understand why there is singing but why dancing? I just personally think that it takes away from the lines. Spoken word is easier to understand than when it is sung.

It is ultimatly up to the director if there should be music or for that fact if it should be sung at all. I've seen several productions of Shakespeare where any singing is cut out of the script which IMHO is the way it should be. Shakespeare is known more for his writing than he is for his music.

I personally really like Chicago as a musical. The movie didn't seem melodramatic or over-the-top to me except that the character strove to be such in order to grab attention to herself. The story seemed pretty low-key to me in comparison to other musicals in that it wasn't cheesy and dramatic without reason.

I enjoy the music from Jekyll and Hyde...

You seem like the type who woulndn't enjoy EVil Dead the Musical.


But i love musicals. Sorry they don't catch your fancy. The ones you named weren't the greatest, but it's not to see there are SOME aren't there you like.

I can agree with that.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is really good too!

Les Misérables fucking ruled.
I saw it at The Queens Theatre in London.

The longer this thread goes the more I think I do like musicals but I haven't had a good exposure to it thus far.

Keep in mind I've been dragged to a lot of bad musicals in my time. The one that ultimatly killed it for me was Rent (The only reason why I saw it was because some of my school mates wanted to see it). OH GOD! Bad music, bad scriptwriting and (when I saw it) bad acting plus it's stereotypicaly gay. It traumatized me on musicals since then but now that I'm reading these posts I'm deffinatly reconsidering. I've always wanted to see Les Misérables...

I saw a -really- good production of Les Mis in Trondheim some years ago, and it had me burst into tears several times. Then I saw it again here in Oslo a month ago, with the same actor playing the male lead, and it was absolutely horrible. Musicals really bring out the best and the worst in a director; they´re very artistically demanding. I should know, I was cast as Mrs. Sherman in "Fame the Musical" a year ago. There are quite a lot of musicals with lots of depth to them - Show Boat being a prime example. No wonder it was controversial in its day. Perhaps you should just watch a few more before deeming them the Work of the Devil (tm). :)

And, historically speaking, musicals evolved from the operetta. Now if you´ve ever seen "Die Fledermaus" or pretty much anything composed by Strauss, you will see where many musicals got their fluffiness/ airheadedness from. xD

Keeping an open mind is key, well that and remembering that the musical lovers tend to disown High school Musical as anything remotely decent.

Sound of Music and I go way back...I like a lot of musicals actually. Can't stand Oklahoma.

Oooh, that reminds me! Fiddler On The Roof is awesome too! I forgot about that, I lent my copy to a friend and haven't seen it in months. Its on the list of movies that can make me cry.

It reminded me because as kids my sister and I always fought over what movies to watch, Sound Of Music vs Fiddler On The Roof was usually the argument when we wanted to watch a musical. She'd end up taking the Fiddler cassette out of the vcr while I was watching it and put the Sound of Music in, the bitch.

Saya... I only have 4 words for you apart from (Watch this asap) And those 4 words are...

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (And yes it's a musical)

Too build on Ophelia's perception of a lie...

All that comes to mind now is Don Quixote...

ALSO.... I'll say my top 3 favorite musicals of all time..

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (If you haven't yet... watch it now.. no srsly. Now)

"Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter"

and "Newsies"