Musical AIBU

[HelloPossums]

Random thread, but wrote this out of curiosity.

Am I alone in sometimes finding musicals a bit cringey?

[Notreallyarsed]

I hate them, my mum loved them. I suppose it’s all dependent on taste really. I love stuff that other people can’t abide and vice versa. That said, the musical episode of Buffy was nothing short of genius!

[ShatnersWig]

No, I suspect not, but I think many people don't realise how broad a church the word "musical" is. There are so many different kinds and types. There are many pieces which I term musical theatre which don't involve dancing or jazz hands or big chorus numbers and where people don't just burst into song and hold up the plot but where the songs move the plot on and evolve naturally out of the dialogue.

[MemeGirls]

Hate them. They make me feel embarrassed for the actors. I just don’t get them 🤷🏼‍♀️

[EvilDoctorBallerinaRoastDuck]

I find the "Let's do the show right here!" ones a bit cringey.

[sayyouwill]

As PP said, you’ve got musicals where the songs as developed to progress the story, tell another side, give a different POV, say something powerful, and then you’ve got musicals where the songs are purely used to create an upbeat atmosphere so the viewer is left feeling upbeat.
It depends on how the songs are used in the film/play for me. For example, blood brothers wouldn’t be the same without the songs as plot devices, rocky horror never would have reached its ‘cult’ status without the songs, high school musical would be even more boring without its music etc

[ShatnersWig]

sayyouwill Interesting what you say about Blood Brothers, as Willy Russell wrote it as a play first before then turning it into a musical. The play is still performed quite frequently too.

[2014newme]

Yes.
Musicals are fab.
I hate opera because there's no dancing 😂

[2014newme]

@hesterton
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
That would be hilarious

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

I don't like them in general.

With a hive exception for Moulin Rouge.

Saw Aladdin in the west end recently. Literally 'ohhhhh stollle a loafffffff of breadddddd'

'A lammmmmmmmmmmpppppp'

Everything was turned into a right mediocre song, it was relentless!

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

Sorry, huge not hive!!

I adore MoulinRouge.

[pinkliquorice]

My eldest has just graduated from preforming arts school and has been in musicals since she was 5, that is where her talent and career lies.
Tbh before I had her I would of said I hated musicals but her love and gift for musical theatre has really turned me, it is extremely impressive to be able to sing dance and act all at the same time (I can’t do any of those on there own!)

[ShatnersWig]

2014 So do you hate musicals/musical theatre that don't have dancing in them? There's shed loads of them. And some operas do have dance in them, albeit not showstopping tap dancing like 42nd Street; Carmen, for one.

[2014newme]

@ShatnersWig Hmmm I've never seen a musical with dancing. So I don't know is the answer. What do you recommend that has great music but no dancing?

[sayyouwill]

@ShatnersWig yeah it’s often marketed as the musical for those who hate musicals as Russell himself hated them.
I’ve never seen the non-musical play, I love it so much I daren’t ruin it for myself if I hated it lol. The songs in blood brothers absolutely drive the play forward and are very cleverly injected in the performance where they almost feel ‘natural’ (eg kids games, devils got your number) I just can’t imagine it without them! Have you seen it?

[sayyouwill]

2014 blood brothers lol

[ElphabaTheGreen]

YABVU

[sayyouwill]

@ElphabaTheGreen

[ElphabaTheGreen]

I challenge you to listen/watch a musical like Jason Robert Brown’s ‘Parade’ and not end up ugly-crying and rocking in a corner.

I also agree that Blood Brothers is a prime example of the power of musicals. I could sing that bugger fore to aft I know it so well, but it still leaves me howling whenever I see it.

[ShatnersWig]

2014 Depends what you perceive as great music, of course. There are some musicals that have some movement rather than actual dance. Most musicals by Stephen Sondheim have no dance. His Follies (currently sold out to rave reviews at the National) has only one dance number in it but loads of catchy tunes. His Sweeney Todd has no dance at all. Nor does his Company.

[ShatnersWig]

Bizarrely, as someone who likes a LOT of musicals and has been in a LOT of musicals and musical theatre of all types, one of the ones I most dislike is....Blood Brothers! Takes all sorts!

[BatteredBreadedOrSouthernFried]

With the exception of Grease 2 I hate them.

I also hate hate hate those stupid cup/clappy performances people do to the tune of some pop song. Who invented that shit? Was it glee?

[sayyouwill]

I’ve performed in many musicals, watched them since I was tiny, even studied them at uni and I have a guilty pleasure for some of the really twee ones. I just get sucked in!! Can’t resist.

[SpuriouserAndSpuriouser]

I think it's a bit unreasonable to discount all musicals to be honest. I always think it's a knee jerk, slightly snobbish, reaction.

As for feeling sorry for the actors, like Meme, don't. On the West End or Broadway they are talented professionals at the top of their game who will have trained for years and beaten many others to have got the role, why on earth would you feel sorry for them?

[AppleKatie]

The original play of blood brothers is still a 'play with songs'. There are less than the musical though and I do prefer it. The musical overdoes the band in a way that doesn't add as much to the emotion as it should imo.