Any Fans of Musicals out there?

I like a musical now and then. I used to work for the Portland Civic Theater many moons back on the stage crew. I helped with performances of The Music Man, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof and a couple of other shows. Never got into the performance side of it. Id have to say Music Man as one of my favorites.


yer pal Brian

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DL Hegel said:

Follow the link
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=19

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Judging by the thread title (Any Musical Fans out there?), I thought the same thing at first. Then I realized what the OP really meant to ask was whether there are any fans of musicals out there.

So I changed the title to better reflect the mission of this discussion.

(As you know, I take my job of Thread Title Clarity VERY seriously!)

Absolutely love musicals. One of my favs is Kiss Me Kate

I Hate Men​

*When I grow up, I wanna be a wordsmith like Cole Porter...

Love 'em (much to my hubby's disgust.) Thing is I've never ever seen one live, except for G & S, which is usually classified as operetta.

Favorite film musical? Tough one, but I'm gonna plump for 'Cabaret.'

I love them. And my husband actually enjoys them...if we're in NYC watching one. I've really only seen a couple, but I love them and always have. When I was in high school, I also performed (acted, sung, and danced) in several.

Wavy_Blue said:

So I'm a musical junkie, and I was wondering if I'm all alone here, or if there are other musical lovers on AW. If so, speak now! What are your favorite musicals? Least favorites? Ever been in any shows? I'd love to hear from you all!

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Favorite - Phantom of the Opera
Least fave - Thoroughly Modern Millie
When I was 10 I was in Carousel at our local dinner theatre for an 8 week run.

And, yes! I love musicals!

i'm the child of a demented music teacher mother. i would like to say i loathe musicals but it's a pose. i'm cornball to the core. just whistle "OOOO-klahoma" or "76 Trombones" and i break out humming, tapping and twitching. my favorite is "Paint Your Wagon". "got a dream boy, got a song! paint your wagon and come along!"

i even liked the movie and i'm not ashamed to say it. my poor husband left the cinema in tears when clint eastwood started singing-- but i stuck it out!--s6!

How come no one's mentioned 'Pirates of Penzance'?? That's seriously the best musical out there, ever.

I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General, the Pirate King song, the Ingenious Paradox ... it's full of awesome songs. And it's funny!


... oh, Cathy Rigby in 'Peter Pan' = rock-ish-ness.



... ... My mom's a music teacher too, shakeysix. I got to watch all the good movies when I was little-er, too.

even my kids like pirates of penzance--and they are too cool for anything but "grease" which they have seen a thousand times.

a couple of years ago i showed my high school students "grease" for a treat. i expected the girls to know all the lines but when the boys (big, football playing cowboys) sang "greased lightning" by heart--they even knew all the moves-- i was laughing so hard i the principal came in to see what was wrong--s6

After a long and relatively comfortable career in professional theatre, I would like to state for the record that IMO there are only a couple of bearable musicals in the history of the theatre.

That being said, Gerard Butler is hawt in Phantom, Assassins is Sondheim's best work, and Evita is only redeemable if someone good is playing Che. All the other musicals were specifically designed to torture those poor souls who had to work on them.

Celina, after summarily dismissing an aspect of the arts that paid her bills for several years.

Calamity Jane, with Doris Day is right up there. Phantom was very haunting and moody.

Tri

Phantom fan here, more for the music than the actual story. I'll go to see just about anything, including some of the worst Broadway has had to offer, such as the very short-lived "Jeeves," based on P.G. Wodehouse's series (which I loved but the musical was absolutely awful), and "Lestat," from the Anne Rice series, which didn't make it past previews (and my partner dragged me to see). "Curtains" was great...and I'll admit it, I loved "Xanadu." Cheyenne Jackson...hotchie motchie

You know I'm gonna vote for 'Phantom'. Michael Crawford or Gerard Butler, either one. 'Brigadoon'. 'Singin' in the Rain'. 'King and I'. So many...

Another vote for Phantom, either Butler or Crawford.

There's a special place in my heart, though, for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Singing in the Rain and Hello, Dolly! though.

For more contemporary, I adore Chicago and the recently closed Musical Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

I wish I lived closer to Broadway so I could see more of them.

Grease. And go ahead and kill me, but I did like the music in Xanadu, not the acting, direction or writing.

Tri

My daughter (it's so nice to share this kind of thing with one of your kids) is a big fan of Rent, Assassins, Cats and Wicked.

III and quickwit will be along any minute to talk up 'high school musical II'
is that a musical? it says 'musical' in the title.

cray said:

III and quickwit will be along any minute to talk up 'high school musical II'
is that a musical? it says 'musical' in the title.

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Don't pretend. You've seen that twenty-one times already, with III and quickie.

I have to say my favorite stage musical is Les Miserables -- it's simply epic. And then there's Damn Yankees -- I saw the revival with Victor Garber as the Devil, then the tour with Jerry Lewis. What a fun show.

I also have a special place for Into the Woods. What a wicked, loonie bin of a show.

I also really like the old movie musicals, especially in the 50s and 60s. Those are really classics. I was only a child when I saw Oliver! and I was hooked.



(As an actor/singer, I've been in a few productions: South Pacific, The King and I, Triumph of Love, Pirates of Penzance...Lots of fun)

Into The Woods is actually the musical that made me allergic to musical theatre. There's only so many times during the run of a show that any person can bear hearing that darn Into The Woods song that they sing before they do anything to forward the plot.

*shudders*

Granted, the Big Bad Wolf song is teh awesum.

There are only a few musicals I actually tolerate.

Music Man.

and... hmmm.

I thought I loved West Side Story, because it's something that was put on in High School and my friend's sister had a part in it and I had a major crush on her and... well... I knew all the songs in it. But I sat and watched it recently and realized, it's long and boring except for only a few decent songs, like Gee Officer Crumpky, Crump you!

And I enjoy Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond.

And I have the original soundtrack to Jesus Christ, Superstar on vinyl.

Hmm. Maybe I dont like musicals after all.

How about:
1. Guys and Dolls - Brando singing, at the least, is worth a watch.
2. Singin' in the Rain has to be up there in the top 10.
3. Hello Dolly: no matter what you think about Streisand, her voice was tops
4. Cabaret: that said, I also have to give Liza Minella her due
5. Meet Me in St. Louis: and that said, kudos to Judy Garland. No one, except maybe Rosemary Clooney, could sing "Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas" like Garland
5. And speaking of Clooney: White Christmas
6. Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver!, My Fair Lady, West Side Story
AND
more recently I saw Hairspray on cable and loved it

Doh! Completely forgot about Singing in the Rain.

Does Wizard of Oz count?

What about things like Holiday Inn and White Christmas?

And it's been years since I saw Cabaret, but I loved the soundtrack to that one.

I was considering Wizard of Oz but opted instead for Meet Me in St Louis because of that one song
but I think Oz fits into the musical category