Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Stage Musicals

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Stage Musicals

    G-Woman and I rather like to go to stage musicals, and for the past couple of years we have spent New Years Eve at the theatre (though on both occasions we saw ballets).

    This year the big show in town is Evita. I'm not sure whether I want to see it or not. I know only one song from it, and it is Andrew Lloyd-Webber, to whose art I have no particular devotion. Plus, I saw the film with Madonna and was bored by it.

    On the other hand, it is one of those great classics.

    So, what should I do?

    And can talk stage musicals in general, of course.

    #2
    I'd go. Julie Covington's recording of DCFMA is still drop dead gorgeous. If they can approach that, rather than the wimpy Madonna version, they'll be doing OK. Tim Rice was still doing Lord Wanker's words, and they aren't matched by anything he's done since, so far as I'm aware.

    Lyricists often save anodyne musicals, I think. Sometimes unintentionally. Oscar Hammerstein's words frequently make Richard Rodgers music worth multiple listenings. Not because they're clever or profound, just unintentionally weird.
    Last edited by Amor de Cosmos; 16-11-2017, 17:07.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
      I'd go. Julie Covington's recording of DCFMA is still drop dead gorgeous.
      Oh man, my mother played that loudly and on loop after my father died. Last record they heard together, poignantly enough. In my ear, her sobbing is part of the song's arrangement.

      Comment


        #4
        My 14 year old daughter has really developed a passion for musicals in the last year or so. We've always gone to the occasional one like 'Matilda', 'Wicked' and 'Les Mis' as a family and had the cast albums in the car - even though my wife is wary of the genre.

        I was trying to persuade the daughter to go to the London revival of 'Evita' with me...checks tickets now this thread has reminded me...ah, it's deliberately limited run has already closed, scratch that...but I could sense she was in to more modern ones.

        We're going to 'Les Mis' (again - my ten year old son is very put out we didn't take him when we went three years ago) and 'Hamilton' over Xmas/NY and I have a £150 gift card from Ticketmaster that I have vowed to use for a couple of tickets to another musical for me and the afore-mentioned 14 year old if anyone has any London recommendations?
        Last edited by Ray de Galles; 17-11-2017, 12:48.

        Comment


          #5
          If you're London-ish then people may want to consider Chess being put on at the ENO next year. For all that I'm not sure the ENO doing musicals is a good idea it'll be a rare chance to see a much lauded musical.

          Comment


            #6
            I really enjoyed Girl From The North Country at The Old Vic in the summer and it is reopening in the West End after Christmas. It's basically a high end jukebox musical based around Bob Dylan songs. It is set in a boarding house during the Great Depression so isn't the sparkliest of shows, but the music and movement are more uplifting than the premise might suggest.

            The only other musical that I've seen in recent years was Groundhog Day at the same venue last year. If that comes back I'd recommend it without any reservations.

            Comment


              #7
              Yeah, I really want to see 'Groundhog Day' and I believe it's coming back to London after it's surprising lack of success on Broadway.

              Comment


                #8
                I'm no great fan of Lloyd Webber but I have to admit I really enjoyed seeing Jesus Christ Superstar at the Regents Park Open air Theatre in the summer.

                I'm off to see 42nd Street in London tomorrow which should be good fun.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I'm hoping to see 42nd Street too. I saw it a few times during its eighties run.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Benjm View Post
                    Groundhog Day at the same venue last year. If that comes back I'd recommend it without any reservations.
                    Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                    Yeah, I really want to see 'Groundhog Day' and I believe it's coming back
                    There's a joke to be made here, somewhere, methinks.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Heh!

                      I saw a production of Singing In The Rain a couple of years ago. Seeing as I'm a big fan of the film, I was ready to go in like a cynical Come Dine With Me dinner guest and give it a 6. It was magnificent.

                      I think I'll give Evita a shot. South African musical theatre companies are excellent, so I hope the thing will be better than the awful movie. I'll also get tickets for the great South African musical King Kong, in which Miriam Makeba first found fame. And next year there'll be a run of West Side Story, which I'm looking forward to, and The Sound Of Music, which I'm not so keen on.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        So my daughter has expressed an interest in ‘The Book of Mormon’ which has previously been recommended to me by a few people and I know is a huge hit.

                        If anyone here has seen it, a couple of questions ;

                        A) I never found ‘South Park’ remotely funny and ‘Team America’ never appealed to me - am I likely to have the same problem with ‘Mormon’.

                        B) How suitable would it be for an, admittedly very mature, 14 year old. Or to be more precise, how excruciating might it be for her to watch it with her dad?
                        Last edited by Ray de Galles; 20-11-2017, 14:09.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I was about to go to a local production of My Fair Lady until I found out it was in Bavarian.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                            So my daughter has expressed an interest in ‘The Book of Mormon’ which has previously been recommended to me by a few people and I know is a huge hit.

                            If anyone here has even it, a couple of questions ;

                            A) I never found ‘South Park’ remotely funny and ‘Team America’ never appealed to me - am I likely to have the same problem with ‘Mormon’.

                            B) How suitable would it be for an, admittedly very mature, 14 year old. Or to be more precise, how excruciating might it be for her to watch it with her dad?
                            A) Not necessarily; I liked the latter, not the former, and have never laughed so much in a theatre as I did at The Book of Mormon (though my cousin loved both, and didn't like TBOM).

                            B) There's a particular song that ends up with a freeze-frame of one of the main characters fucking his own dad, with a devil's head on IIRC. Your call.

                            To Levin; I used to work for ENO, they've been desperate to 'appeal to new audiences' for years now, and Chess is part of that I guess, a way of getting people/income into the Coliseum. They should just leave the place, and become a touring company, with a lot less subsidy. Fuckers.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I'm really not sure of the appeal of 'Chess', very few people under the age of 50 are going to be interested, are they (though that is a lucrative market and different and still younger than the ENO's usual patrons) ? I suppose the ABBA angle may be useful. Then again, I only ever recall it because of 'One Night in Bangkok' - for some reason I never link 'I Know Him So Well' with it.

                              I've seen the recent most revival of Jonathan Miller's version of 'The Mikado' and Mike Leigh's 'Pirates of Penzance' at the ENO and they were both fantastic.
                              Last edited by Ray de Galles; 20-11-2017, 14:09.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Originally posted by Gangster Octopus View Post
                                I'm hoping to see 42nd Street too. I saw it a few times during its eighties run.
                                Did you see the show with Catherine Zeta Jones in it? My sister absolutely adored musicals, and I wound up having to listen to every fucking musical in the world every night falling asleep, but 42nd street was a musical that I would actively listen to myself. It is after all a best of the 30's confection. Shuffle off to buffalo indeed.

                                I have also seen er, Ricky Martin as Marius in Les Mis in New York, which lead casting aside, was a ripping yarn/romp, and Miss saigon, which is fucking dogshit.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                                  So my daughter has expressed an interest in ‘The Book of Mormon’ which has previously been recommended to me by a few people and I know is a huge hit.

                                  If anyone here has even it, a couple of questions ;

                                  A) I never found ‘South Park’ remotely funny and ‘Team America’ never appealed to me - am I likely to have the same problem with ‘Mormon’.

                                  B) How suitable would it be for an, admittedly very mature, 14 year old. Or to be more precise, how excruciating might it be for her to watch it with her dad?
                                  Have you watched the South Park Movie? It's the best musical of the last 30 years.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    No, having never enjoyed the TV show watching the movie didn't seem a great idea.

                                    I love the musical numbers in The Simpsons ( I had a selection from 'Planet Of The Apes - The Musical' going round my head only this morning) and my CDs of those have been dug out since my children discovered the show - to great delight.
                                    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 20-11-2017, 12:50.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      I was pretty unimpressed by the TV show until I saw the movie. It is a thing that stands alone, and a reminder of a time when all that people had to get excited about was swearing on television.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View Post
                                        Did you see [42nd Street] with Catherine Zeta Jones in it? My sister absolutely adored musicals, and I wound up having to listen to every fucking musical in the world every night falling asleep, but 42nd street was a musical that I would actively listen to myself. It is after all a best of the 30's confection. Shuffle off to buffalo indeed.
                                        Dunno, but Frankie Vaughan was in it once.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          I'm talking about the touring version that was doing the rounds in 1988. It was a big day out for my sister's birthday, though I think it was as much for my dad as anything else.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Book of Mormon is absolutely fantastic. No doubt, go. And a 14 y/o will be fine.

                                            Cannibal The Musical, their other effort, was not that great, though.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Chess is a head-scratcher. It seemed to come and go in the '80s, with that one Murray Head single. I've never seen it make an appearance over here in my adult lifetime, so I suspected it just wasn't that good.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Chess is scheduled for a revival on Broadway next year.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  I'm still annoyed I couldn't persuade anyone to accompany me to 'Bat Out of Hell' on it's London run recently. I realise there is a very good chance it was rubbish (the plot sounded a bit 'We Will Rock You') but it is one to be seen.

                                                  I think it's coming back to London next year and will drag the daughter to it.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X