Buzzfeed's 43 Best Musicals since 2000- Page 3

[Pauly3]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 2:56pm

"A list of the Best of Anything that ranks that tedious batch of dysfunctional family tropes NEXT TO NORMAL as #1, ranks the cliche-ridden PASSING STRANGE above THE GREAT COMET OF 1812, and actually includes that vile atrocity MEMPHIS is quite simply not worth the cyberspace it occupies."

Regarding MEMPHIS, what made it a vile atrocity? The show was a hit (if you believe as many do here that a show that recoups is a hit - or conversely, is a flop if not recouping), won Tony awards (4 I believe) and ran a successful tour all while the Broadway run was still going. And the story, like it or not, has a good message at its core. MEMPHIS has been successful by most any definition. You didn't like it, no problem. Are you simply unable or unwilling to express your opinion with the slightest bit of respect? I am wasting my breath, I know.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 3:05pm

Pauly, for some reason, there is a lot of Memphis hate on this board. A great story, amazing talent, incredible original cast that stayed for YEARS, Tony and other various awards. Its tour was successful, and people love the music. I adore Memphis, just watched the DVD last night. It wasn't "vile" in any way, it's just people being dramatic. HOCK-A-F*CKIN-DOOOOO!

[tazber]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 3:08pm

Yes, you are wasting your breath.

No one is going to change their opinion of this vastly mediocre show.

For the record I'm not a hater. I thought that Montego Glover was exceptional and I like much of the score.

But the show itself is so...flat. And then of course there is that bizarre (I'm being kind) performance by Chad Kimball.

Yes it won the Tony, but it seems like it was by default. It was the least bad of the four nominated shows (although I loved American Idiot but I think I stand alone there).

Overall the show is just one big "meh".

But it's certainly not "vile".

Updated On: 5/23/14 at 03:08 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 3:16pm

You are definitely not alone, I thought American Idiot was a lot of fun.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 3:31pm

"I don't know who that woman is in the picture of Tick Tick Boom. She sure wasn't in the show!"

That's the main picture I was referring to before. That's Colin Hanlon, not Raul. And that's certainly not Amy Spanger.

[Diamonds3]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 4:39pm

Thoroughly Modern Millie not on the list? I mean, they included Legally Blonde.

Updated On: 5/23/14 at 04:39 PM

[Pauly3]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 6:01pm

tazber, I have no intent of attempting to change anyone's mind. I asked a simple question, pretty much knowing I would not receive a reasonable answer (from Roscoe). My point regarding the show's successes is only that the show deserves a small bit of respect, whether deserving to be included in a best of list or not - and much more importantly that it does not deserve commentary typically reserved for terrorist acts and ilk such as that.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 6:04pm

I will never, ever understand all the love for Bridges. One of the most boring nights of theatre I've ever had. The Great Comet should most definitely be ranked higher, and including Legally Blonde and that horrific Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson was just idiocy.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/23/14 at 10:40pm

Well, Pauly, you know, I'm going to have to reserve the right to write disrespectfully about things that I have no respect for.

In re: that corn-studded piece of dung known as MEMPHIS: the book and the score were tedious batches of cliches. Seriously, a major Broadway musical in 2009 actually featured this exchange (Tony Award Winning Dialogue Follows):

Female Lead: You know how I know a man is lying to me?
Male Lead: How?
Female Lead: He opens his mouth.

It also featured a young man who'd been traumatized into silence by the sight of his father being lynched. Fair enough, but it was very clear that (a) at some properly dramatically loaded point in the proceedings he'd get the power of speech back and (b) still later, in order to get a laugh, someone would tell him that they liked it better when he wasn't talking. Someone else, I can't think of who, described it as the kind of show where a white guy walks into a black club and impresses everyone with how hip he is. The show never got beyond only the most basic sitcom level plot, storytelling and characterizations, and added a level of self-righteous bogus solemnity that got more and more choking as the show progressed.

The cast by and large did its best with this drivel, but all of their efforts were undone by Chad Kimball's appalling decision to play Huey Calhoun like some kind of spastic George W. Bush. It got to the point where I just couldn't look at him. A real shame, because Kimball was one of the reasons I was interested in seeing the show in the first place. I'd enjoyed his Milky White in the INTO THE WOODS revival, and his tiny role in GOOD VIBRATIONS was the sole positive memory I have of that catastrophe. Why one earth he's decided to make Huey into such an obnoxious ass completely escapes me. I felt no pity for him at all, and most damagingly thought the female lead was an idiot for hanging out with him. She could surely do better than that twitching poser.

A loathsome experience from start to finish. Sorry if I'm not being respectful enough of the show for you, Pauly. I found nothing, but nothing, about the show to be worth even the most basic respect, despite the Tonys, the long run, and the ongoing popularity. Opinions, you know -- they differ all over the place. If mine are too strongly worded for your tender sensibilities, Pauly dearest, feel free to block me. You won't be missing anything, and I doubt I will either.

Updated On: 5/23/14 at 10:40 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 3:41pm

You seem to be super angry about a Broadway musical. How strange.

The piece of dialogue you put in your post? That was a joke. Jokes, dumb or fantastic, are featured in pretty much all musicals. There's nothing dumb or sophomoric about that particular one. Also, when talking about Gator, and his father in the story, that line was also a joke, which was to relieve the tension. It worked. Again, nothing horrible about it. Those jokes happen all the time.

"Someone else, I can't think of who, described it as the kind of show where a white guy walks into a black club and impresses everyone with how hip he is."

Did you see the show? Like, really? He isn't cool when he goes into the club, he is laughed at and told to get out of there. He is never cool throughout the entire show, he is a slow, everyman who is searching for something. There is nothing obnoxious about him, he was heartbreaking and sweet in the role, he disappeared into the role and was incredible in it. There is a reason why he got a Tony nomination.

You can think whatever you want about the successful Memphis, but ranting about and calling a musical "vile", simply because it was brought up on a list written by a kid at Buzzfeed, just seems bizarre.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 3:47pm

Truly, no one cares what you think.

[Everlast85]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 3:51pm

I agree, Chad didn't seem to play Huey like he's some cool guy. I really enjoyed his interpretation of the role, and truly hated Adam Pascals'. At least Chad tried, Adam didn't even use a southern accent, and he acted like a five year old with Montego. He killed the show, after all.

Enjoyed Memphis, and I also think Bonnie and Clyde should have been included, even though this list really means nothing.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:07pm

Memphis was like a smoothie made from Miracle Whip and the Sparknotes of Hairspray and Dreamgirls.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:18pm

Miracle Whip, man, not even real Mayonnaise?

[Kad]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:19pm

No, because real mayonnaise is good.

[Everlast85]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:32pm

Hate Mayonnaise, love Memphis though! I hope it's successful in the West End. Killian Donnelly is fantastic.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 5:55pm

Sutton, the problem isn't that those lines were jokes. Of course they were jokes. The problem is that they were terribly LAME CLICHED jokes, dated and obvious beyond all belief, like pretty much everything else about MEMPHIS.

You can think whatever you want about the idiotic parade of cliches MEMPHIS, but saying somebody's bizarre because they didn't like it just seems, well too typical of fans of MEMPHIS who defend that idiotic show as if it was written produced directed and starring their sainted parents. And for what it's worth, I was ranting about it when I sat through it in previews, long before it wound up on some really ill-advised list on buzzfeed.

Updated On: 5/24/14 at 05:55 PM

[jawjuhh]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 5:58pm

"I don't know who that woman is in the picture of Tick Tick Boom. She sure wasn't in the show!"

I believe that woman is Pearl Sun, apparently this is a production from the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 7:33pm

Some of the choices and especially the ordering are very...off.

[qafgenius12]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 7:56pm

I could never really go into detail as far as the order is concerned though, I am very happy to see Next to Normal as Number 1, as it is my favorite show, not only since 200, but probably ever.

But I do find some omissions curious, A Gentleman's Guide, Matilda, Kinky Boots, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Xanadu, Rock of Ages, Mary Poppins, Boy From Oz, Mamma Mia & especially Spamalot, which people are seeming to forget. No not all of the ones I just listed deserve a spot on the list, but my shock at them not being there due to their popularity/cultural impact is what Im referring to. (Though I believe Matilda, Kinky Boots, GGLAM, Spamalot, Millie & Xanadu deserve spots)

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 5/24/14 at 8:26pm

How did Matilda, Kinky Boots, and Thoroughly Modern Millie not make it and yet Curtains, Fela, and Memphis made it? I'm happy to see the LaChiusa shows, [title of show], and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 made it.