Stage Musicals That You Found Unexpectedly Disappointing

[MarmaladeSandwich7]

For me it was The Bodyguard & I was really surprised as I love the soundtrack & Whitney.. It was ok but I thought it would blow me away & it didn’t. Maybe some things just work.better on the big screen.

Seen dirty dancing years ago good job tickets were cheap , now we will rock you seen it about 11 times absolutley fantastic , bat out of hell went last month with my oldest son was very confusing as to the story line and music was strange

A version of Cabaret l saw at well known theatre in the Northern Powerhouse Region a few years back.

It was very loud, naff, cheesy and cheap. Involved unwarranted nudity and was almost soft porn in some of its production approach.

Seemed to be willing to do anything to get audience attention. Good or bad.

Shame really it had to sunk so low.

I loved Hamilton but I do think it’s one of the ones where even a rudimentary knowledge of the story in advance is a massive help.

i thought Wicked was never going to end. God it was awful.

I enjoyed Matilda in parts and it had some belting songs but Ms Honey was so annoying I wanted to slap her.

I liked Six (although I was glad I had earplugs) but it's more of an extended pop video with a smidge of Horrible Histories than a musical.

Yes I agree about Hamilton
Having a little bit of knowledge of the subject matter made a huge difference to me

I almost forgot. Saw Aladdin on Broadway.

It was not cheap but everything, the sets, the costumes and even the cast looked tired.

It just felt like they were doing it by numbers. Really lacklustre and we didn’t enjoy it at all.

I enjoyed Wicked but I saw it in London, I've heard others say some venues elsewhere didn't do it justice. I also though The Commitments was kind of rubbish and Hair, to be honest though musical theatre isn't really my cup of tea.

Wicked ...no idea what was going on. Loved Lion King. Loved Blood Brothers. Actually I've loved every musical I've seen except Wicked.

Wicked - boring
Lion King - might as well have watched the film and saved a couple of hundred quid
The Commitments - hectic, playing a few bars of a song before multiple scene changes
Miserables - Miserables, dreary overlong
Most are vastly overrated

Starlight Express many years ago - just dire. And oh my god, Wicked is utterly dreadful. Good to see so many on here agreeing with me as it doesn't seem to be the done thing to hate it!

Glad I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like Hamilton!

Ahhh im sad so many people haven't loved wicked. I have seen it twice in the WE and it blew my socks off, although both times were 18-20 years ago when it was new and once was with Idina Menzel who was AMAZING.

I was a tad disappointed by Frozen, I think my expectations were too high

Ditto, I love Wicked, &Juliet, Hamilton, Six and Matilda.

I’ve only seen an amateur production of We Will Rock You but loved that too.

When we went to see Lion King we were sat right next to where they brought the elephant out - we had no clue they were hiding it where they were!

And off to see Mary Poppins for a second time next month. Really looking forward to it!

We are a musical theatre family though and have friends in productions so probably appreciate how much work goes into a performance and usually already know the plot inside out before we go!

Calamity Jane. Both of us were so disappointed and both of us felt we should say it out loud.

Wicked. Had heard so many good things from the reviews and friends who’d seen it, but I was really disappointed. But then I seem to be underwhelmed by a lot of things - New York, where we saw it, didn't really do it for me. On the flip side I went to see Blood Brothers a couple of months ago, which I’d never heard of, and only went due to a friend being let down, and absolutely loved it! In fact, liked it so much, I went to see it again the following week with DH.

Hamilton is 30 minutes too long.

I like most ALW things but saw a production of Jesus Christ Superstar about 6 years back with very poor production values. Could hardly hear the lyrics so it was either poor enunciation or substandard sound engineering. As such even though I technically know the story it felt difficult to follow. Ultimately the soundtrack is very 80s too and even though I love 80s music this felt too much and like it had aged badly.

i also felt disappointed by The Lion King. Rafiki and puppets were great but I didn’t feel like the child performers were that good compared to other children I had seen on the West End (e.g. Matilda).

In general though I am mostly disappointed by other patrons’ behaviour. Sweets rustling, popcorn crunching, chatting, phones, getting drunk (people being a whole bottle of wine INTO THE THEATRE FFS, singing, even once dancing in a box and had to be told to sit down and shut up by an usher…the list is endless. So I am mainly disappointed in people’s apparent inability to sit down, shut up, and behave, because nobody wants to hear you,

*bringing, not being!

re: Wicked: saw it when it was quite new 20-odd years ago and IIRC I enjoyed it but even then didn’t find the soundtrack that singable/memorable compared to other musicals.

Loved ‘Come From Away’.
Also really enjoyed Jersey Boys and saw that multiple times.

I love Moulin Rouge - have seen it twice and surprised to see it mentioned here. Don’t discount it yet.

Cats. What was the fuss about?

Starlight Express. I loved it as a kid, but musicals seem to have upped their game and left Andrew Lloyd Webber behind.

Billy Elliot- walked out. Awful. I don’t like musicals really only the old ones (pre 1970s), love West Side Story… oh I do like Sondheim too.

Wicked
west side story

Hamilton
Come From Away
Back to the Future
Pretty Woman

All boring.