What's the worst musical you have ever been to?

[Sonolanona]

I love musicals, and DS2 who has autism is obsessed so we go to as many as we can. We've seen Cats (not the film!) 7 times, JCSS 7 times, Blood Brothers, Les Mis, Evita, Chicago , Cabaret..and many others. (JCSS is my personal favourite)

Today we went to We Will Rock You.
OMG.
It was cringingly awful. Even if you love Queen, it was still so bad. Worst 'plot' and dialogue ever, the choreography was...interesting and it was played for cheap laughs and smutty out dated jokes, headed by Ben Elton who cannot..and should not..sing.
Never again!!!

Fair enough!

Amazon prime has a fair few musicals you can rent. The filmed stage version, such as phantom, or a really close approximation (such as Joseph! And the amazing technicolour dreamcoat, which is a filmed for TV stage version).

Try theatre cymru. Still a trek no doubt but lots of cheap accommodation nearby and loads of good west end productions.

DH and I left at the interval of Calendar Girls. I really wanted to like it and was so looking forward to it but it was absolutely awful, so overacted.

I also really didn't like the Jersey Boys. I mean, I do swear, but I just wasn't expecting that in a musical.

Les Mis and Phantom are my absolute favourites, we've seen them both multiple times.

Chess. Abysmal. Only high point was that song ( I know him so well) , everything else about it was dire.

Oh, Dear Evan Hansen! Probably would have loved it as a teenager, but as an adult I find aspects problematic.

And Spring Awakening. Soooooo depressing.

Agree 100%

Saw La La Land at the cinema and it was an absolute abomination.

Cats. Wicked a close second

I love Waitress, I'm a big Sara Bareilles fan and the second time I saw it was when she was playing Jenna in the London production not long before the first covid lockdown.

I also thought Hamilton was amazing, I was mesmerised from start to finish. I also really enjoyed Les Mis and Wicked. Six I enjoyed but not enough that I'd want to see it a second time.

Book of Mormon is the one I don't like. I have no problem at all with offensiveness (have seen and enjoyed Avenue Q), I was just so disappointed with it. I was expecting something hilarious and brilliant and found it just okay. Not awful but not great and much worse than the work of genius I'd been expecting.

There aren't any that I've seen that I've really disliked but when I saw Les Mis a few years ago, the actress playing Fantine was so awful that I was waiting for her to die!

In fairness I think this does demonstrate horses for courses.

I haven't seen the Heathers musical, but I know the film really well (which was a massive cult hit in the late 1980s) and that is a dark comedy that appeals to a certain audience, and I love it though I do get that describing the plot makes for uncomfortable listening.

It sounds like most of the audience the night you were there knew the story they were there to watch. Did you?

No-one has mentioned this one* *yet, but the first round of Mamma Mia in London. It was so shoddy, rubbish costumes, the songs just fell flat. Lots of people left although we stuck it out as the seats were free to us! It closed shortly after and then reopened as THE Mamma Mia and everyone went crazy for it. The plot is still shit though!

I got last-minute tickets for Dear Evan Hansen when it was on the West End, really didn’t enjoy it and found it quite disappointing. I’d listened to some of the songs beforehand and had high hopes but the storyline just didn’t do anything and I found it all a bit meh.

Other than that I’ve enjoyed most things I’ve seen. I generally try and research shows beforehand, listen to the music and watch trailers to get the vibe.

Thriller. I had the tickets booked for me and had no idea it was just a bad BGT type tribute act. Cringed throughout.

Agree with the person who said they would have walked out of Six had there been an interval. 80 mins of rubbish at West End prices on a milestone birthday.

Haven't seen this mentioned but the only one I have walked out of was The Commitments. Shocking. Dull and Fake Oirish accents, felt liberated, like I'd been freed!

I really didn't like Hamilton at all.

Cats was my first big musical aged seven and I absolutely loved it and still do. Love Phantom, Starlight express, Les Mis and Miss Saigon too. Saw most of them in their first couple of years.

Starlight Express. What a load of old bollocks that was.

I haven't seen that many but the Bob Dylan west end one didn't work for me. Plot was messy and too many characters plus his songs really don't work well in perfectly honed musical theatre voices, excellent though the singers were. I found it naff.

Worst ever was a one called Urinetown. I like seeing something different and the set was great but we left at half time.

It was actually the first time I'd had to sit through the whole thing. I'd only seen clips from the Julie Andrew's film before and wasn't exactly enamoured by that.

Had it not been a request by DD as a birthday trip I wouldn't have gone to be honest.

No, I'm with you.

Wicked. Saw it years ago in early pregnancy, already feeling nauseous and green around the gills. Only need to see a poster with that witch and all the green today and the nausea comes right back.

Cats

You're not going on Tuesday are you? I am taking my 3 children to Matilda on Tuesday.

I saw Heathers when it toured and loved it, agree it seems to have a cult following. The first row or two seemed to have people whooping and screaming at every other moment, when certain lines were said etc. They also threw handfuls of scrunchies during the bows.