Wicked is the worst musical theatre EVER

[imsofancy]

Just returned for taking my 13 and 15 year olds to see Wicked at the Apollo in London.

OMG this is the worst show I have ever seen!

The storyline is weak, the singing is screechy and the songs forgettable. Kids hated it too.

We had great seats which cost me +£300, but sooo wish we had left during the interval. I didn't because I think it is rude to the actors but you couldn't pay me to sit through this again.

We go to the theatre a lot and have seen many musicals and straight drama productions. But I wouldn't recommend this show to my worst enemy.

AIBU Wicked the musical is an abomination?

It left me cold when I saw it ten years ago. Cats is worse. Rock of Ages is amazing.

Sorry, that's just my opinion on musicals as a whole. I've yet to see anything, from a wide range, at all to change my mind. I don't mind some opera, oddly enough.

Not intended to be snobbish, so sorry if it came across that way. They attract mainstream masses. There's more problems with the musicals genre and antisocial behaviour at the theatre, than any other. Just check out the threads here.

I’ve never been so bored it dragged on and on and on

Had no idea what it was about.

I went as my friend had a spare ticket (her then husband had wisely faked illness), her parents had paid and her mum after apologised for subjecting us to such tedious drivel 😆

I loved it!

Defiying gravity is one of my favorite musical numbers.

But there are other shows that other love and I hated.

I loved Back to the Future last year, and I consistently recommend it to friends who want to see just one musical. But, I could hum one bit of music from it now, or tell you a single lyric line. Nor could I have done a week later. I didn’t leave the theatre wanting to play the soundtrack, even though I left it saying, “I would happily go back tomorrow!”

Whereas with Wicked the first time, I couldn’t wait to play the soundtrack, and had multiple ear worms from it.

Which is not to say you’re wrong and I’m right (hey - we both loved BTTF!) but just to show how wonderful it is that we’re all different!

Come From Away is another one that I couldn’t hum you a single line now… but hands down is the best thing I’ve seen in years. It was so clever, I was captivated by the set changes, and I cried my eyes out.

Six - I loved the soundtrack, great songs, clever lyrics. But the experience on stage I found a bit dull and cringed in places.

Someone upthread loved Heathers - I was bored.

I love how there is so much choice and so many responses!

I didn't enjoy it, but you've clearly never seen Titanic the musical.

@Testina i agree, the soundtrack isn’t one I’d listen to all ongoing, like I do for for Evita for example. They’re more of an integral part of the storyline, rather than stand alone songs.

But if anyone has thinking of going, then GO! It’s definantly worth seeing.

Six - I loved the soundtrack, great songs, clever lyrics. But the experience on stage I found a bit dull and cringed in places.

I wanted to try this one, but was warned off by someone who actually also used the word 'cringe' to describe some of it. Interesting!

I liked it. But admit I’m no connoisseur of musicals. Thought it was same level as Les Mis, much better than Grease. Nowhere near as good as Blood Brothers.

Oh dear. DS is studying it for GCSE music, and is going in April. Not London though. Maybe Manchester or Bradford.

To me, it felt like the writers had had a great idea for some songs, and then wrote some fantastic songs. The lyrics are (in my opinion!) really clever. I love the timing of them - like “Henry’s little / prick up your”. Some of the songs really made me think - we’re all so used the story, but when you think about how these women were treated, it’s horrific. I learned headlines about these women at school, then you get the line about Katherine Howard being 13… I sometimes cry at the line, “but it’s never ever different”.
I love the songs because they’re intelligent, cleverly done, thought provoking AND just hugely catchy singalong fun.

But then it felt like they had to find some way to put the songs together - and that’s where it failed for me. The “plot” (very very thin anyway) was just silly. That’s why I say cringe. It felt like the words were clever but the way they were put together just lame. Like when people resort to saying, “and he woke up and it was all a dream” in a story!

I’d actually love to see the Six songs given the Hamilton treatment - and put together with others to tell the story in a more rounded way. Hamilton leads the way in showing you can make a musical from political intrigue over multiple years!

My advice to anyone that loves the Six songs, is to go to a Singalong event of the musical - because all the fun is in blasting them out, not following a (lack of) plot.

Tbf to Six - there’s no interval, they were clearly aware that what they’ve done isn’t strong enough to be a full length musical theatre event.

I'm admittedly less of a musicals person than I am a cinema person, but I think I'm the only one I know who was mildly bored during Cabaret.

I loved Chicago, walked out of Amelie cringing in horror and was surprised at how much I enjoyed Jersey Boys (which I took my mum to see and was expecting to be a bit of a trial). I've been meaning to see Wicked for years but never got to it so I'm enjoying the thread

I do think all musicals are going to be a bit cringe to a certain extent. I mean, all that emotion and storytelling - expressed through music and dance.

It’s down to the writers and performers to make it feel less “stage school show offs” and more “talented people taking you on a journey”.

This is why, in general, my DH hates theatre. He says it’s all so overacted and cringy and sort of embarrassing. Even Shakespeare, he says plays of it are so awkward.

The Tina Turner and Carole King musicals were very far from cringe or stage school, but then they had the very best of songs and music - would have been hard to go wrong!

Which is where Les Mis for me surpasses a lot of others.

there was a good Motown one too, forgot the name…

It is down to the writers and actors, a good script and a good actor means you concentrate less on the fact that it’s a musical and more on the fact it’s a journey story.

I've seen loads of shows and thought if was terrible too!

I am guessing you have never seen Shrek then… now that was shit.

We actually set that as a bar in that “nothing can be as bad as Shrek”.

So does your husband also hate opera? As this also tells a story?

I agree with him about Shakespeare to a degree. Yes they’re well done and interesting but I personally can’t get worked up enough about him to consider them worth seeing more than once. He was superbly talented and wrote about interesting topics but of course most actors want to act Shakespeare and we are meant to worship him even if we don’t like it much.

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain yes! He says Opera is the worst for overacting and being over dramatic. I’m like “that’s the point sweetie” but he is NOT convinced.
He likes things to be much more subtle - he likes films etc but just can’t get on with the theatre.

The simplicity of the set and costumes is one of the things I love about Hamilton!

I unexpectedly loved Billy Elliot. Do not normally go for musicals but we had friends from abroad who really wanted it. Different-ish from the movie, in interesting ways.

Couldn't pay me to sit through Wicked.

I did enjoy the Lion King with the kids.

I love Wicked. It has some fantastic songs - The Wizard and I' is up there with any 'tends to be track 3 on the soundtrack - this is who I am and what I want to achieve by the end of the show' protagonist's song. And the final ballad 'For Good' is amazing and sums up one of the man reasons I love it - two female protagonists, both strong characters though very different, and in this song, singing movingly about their friendship.

I also love Hamilton, though I do agree it helps to know a fair bit about it before going to the show. Cats is another favourite, though it's very different from other musicals and is far more dependant on dancing and the overall spectacle than a strong storyline, which it doesn't really pretend to have.

All these 'X is awful' comments are a bit silly. You not liking something doesn't make it awful and plenty of people do like all the shows named here. It's interesting to discuss different opinions and the reasons behind them, but sweeping statements are not terribly convincing.

I loved Hamilton. However, it is advisable to do a bit of research before watching the show or you just end up feeling confused.
Listen to the songs on YouTube. Really does make a difference

Not ‘the mainstream masses’ shudder. How awful. No wonder you avoid musical theatre, they let just anyone in.